Ted Mahsun

Apologies for the constantly changing look and feel of this blog. I'm currently experimenting with the look and feel and messing about with Blogger's template editor. I've yet to settle on something I truly feel reflects what this blog should look like so more changes in the coming days are likely. For the longest time this blog looked very generic and I've always been wanting to change that and I now feel it is time to do something about it.

Just a small update for you. I've just had the craziest week... and signs are pointing that the weeks to come are just going to get crazier. Probably not as crazy as winning RM50,000 though, which I (along with my fellow team members, Ash and Lina) did. A couple of months ago, me, Ash and Lina decided to take part in a little competition . All we had to do was send in a proposal to design a computer game. No problem. Except that I was doing (and am still doing) the CELTA course , an intensive English teacher training course. I ended up having to accomodate sleepless nights just to get the presentation for the game proposal, my lesson plan for a class the day before the game presentation AND an assignment done in time. So! The lesson here: burn the midnight oil if you want to end up holding a mock cheque like this: Hurray!

1. Excuse, please. Guys, it's "excuse me , please." Every time I hear this on the train I have to fight the urge to reply, "excuse who ?" and not move aside. 2. Pronouncing the word "liaise" as "lie-us". It's pronounced "lee-eh-zz", not "liars". I swear if I hear someone call me a liar(s) again I'm gonna punch him/her in the ear. 3. Could of, should of, would of, must of It's could've, should've, would've, must've . Why the hell is that so hard to get??? Signed, Ted Your Friendly Neighbourhood Grammar Nazi

Waking up before 11am would be nice. Also might get me in less trouble at work. UPDATE: Epic fail. Woke up at 10 minutes to noon. UPDATEUPDATE: I can no longer tell the difference between June and July. DOUBLE EPIC FAIL

I have a little time on my hands again! Time to blog! Can't be bothered to continue where I left off the previous time because I don't remember I wanted to talk about now so I'll just mention something strange I saw in the online edition of a widely read national newspaper. The recent issue our esteemed politicians have gotten themselves in a fit concerns The Red Menace, more specifically, Chin Peng, leader of the ageing and no longer scary Communist Party of Malaya, and whether he can be forgiven and allowed to return home to our country to die. With that in mind, here's a screenshot of today's local news page of said national newspaper: Take note of the news items in the red boxes. While our benevolent leaders don't seem to want to forgive the communists closer to home, they seem to have no qualms with getting in bed with Chin Peng's sponsors. It all becomes even more weird when you take into account that the newspaper in question here is called " The...

I'm still breathing! But this blog seems to be on life support. Well, you know the story ... busy and all that. Hopefully I'll be back in full force around March or April.

Yes! What an excellent idea! Unfortunately, though excellent it may be, it is only impossible for me to do so. Therefore, permit me to pass you an equally excellent link: Soiled Doves of the Old West . And if you're wondering what prompted this non sequitur of a post, I will have to say I've changed genres in my reading. For the past year or so, I've been telling everyone who's bothered to listen to me that I was in my Science Fiction phase and most of my reading has been SF-related. I guess it's safe to say I've since switched to reading Westerns... ...yeah, I know. Not an improvement on my literary tastes, but I rewatched Sergio Leone's masterpiece, Once Upon a Time in the West recently and it dredged up a longing inside me for the Wild West. Am currently reading Louis L'amour's Flint , which is enjoyable but the writing keeps raising my inner editor's warning sirens (Character perspectives change mid-paragraph! Repetition!). I also fo...

Met an old friend last night. It was his wedding. Haven't met him in at least 8 or 9 years. And now he's a doctor!

Three eggs. Hah! Take that, George Orwell !

Am having net problems, so won't be blogging until my ISP gets its priorities right.

The Gallery had a buka puasa cum launch event yesterday so I left later than usual from work. Even stopped by Kinokuniya to pick up a copy of Murakami's Running Book. But if I had left like usual, I probably would have been on one of the trains involved in the collision near the Bukit Jalil station on the Ampang LRT line yesterday. The time and place of the accident is right about the time and place I would have been on the train if I hadn't gone home late. That is a very scary thought. (But not as scary as the thought that the Ampang Line has been becoming less and less reliable ever since RapidKL took over 4 years ago.) It was a really unusual scene when I got on the platform at Masjid Jamek around 10pm. I was expecting it to be more or less devoid of people, but what greeted me was a scene equal to rush hour at 6pm! Had to wait for the train for ages, and it only went on till Tasik Selatan. From there there was a temporary feeder bus service to ferry passengers to the ...

Feeling a little sad. No. Scratch that. A lot sad. My iPod Shuffle just died. It's a first gen Shuffle so it looks like a stick of gum rather than a silly clip-on. I bought it right after launch and has served me well for the past 3 or so years. I guess it was time. The headphone socket had been having problems recently with the audio dying out on one side of the 'phones, and then switching to the other for no reason at all. But even then I loved using it as a general-use thumbdrive. When not using it as a music device, just plug it in and it becomes a spare backup drive. Very useful, unlike the 2nd gen clip-on Shuffle, which you have to plug into a dock before you can connect it to a computer. I'll miss you 1st gen iPod Shuffle! *sniff* On the upside! The new shuffle doesn't cost more than RM200 while I bought my old 1GB Shuffle for RM500. (It was right before CNY and my old company had recently given out a bonus). These days you could get a Nano with 8 times the memor...

Okay! Moving on. After all the brouhaha about Ahmad Ismail's unwelcome commentary , as well as the subsequent illogical actions , I found it heartwarming to read Amitabh Bachchan's quote on apologising : Bachchan, 66, had asked for "forgiveness" for his wife's remarks, saying they were without "malice." When asked whether he felt it demeaning for a star of his standing being forced to apologise to a political group, he told reporters in New Delhi, "by apologising no one becomes small" . ( Emphasis mine. ) I've always wondered my Malaysian politicians have always found it hard to apologise even though it's very clear to everyone with half a mind that they're in the wrong. After all, no one becomes small .

Okay. Google Chrome ? Total awesome. After using Chrome, using Firefox 3 is like driving a lorry after driving a Lotus Elise. Too bad the EULA isn't very writer-friendly . Update: Looks like Google is fixing that EULA snafu . Now if only they'd release a Mac version, I'll be ready to sell my soul to Google. Oh wait I already did. (I heart Google Reader.) Update 2: I forgot to include this, and I really should, because it's a comic by Scott McCloud . Yes, the very same Scott McCloud of Understand Comics !). The comic explains the whys and hows of Google Chrome and is a very good primer on understanding the reasoning behind the design decisions in the new browser.) Update 3: They've updated the EULA, so everything's peachy now . Well, except for the bugs I've been noticing. Doesn't work so well with Facebook.

In the first time he's actually done something I'm impressed with since he became Prime Minister, Pak Lah took a ride on the city's LRT : He said the existing services were not systematic, there were not enough coaches and coverage was not comprehensive, leaving many areas not serviced. "I just saw the plight of people using the trains to get to work every morning. They were jostling to get on board every time a train arrived. There appeared to be no system. "I'm not happy with this because the people are not getting satisfaction from riding the trains. This we must fix," he said. "I found the trains really packed with so many passengers. Some had waited for three trains and yet could not board. "There's no queue. People push their way in, women with children and old people are pushed aside," he added. I'm glad you've finally noticed, Mr Prime Minister, even if it has taken you four bleeding years to realise it. If...

My brother-in-law got married yesterday and I was the best man. Let me tell you something. If you ever get the chance to become a best man at someone's wedding, at that wedding happens to be a Malay wedding and takes place in Johor, then I suggest you don't do it. It's pure madness I tell you! And don't come to me crying afterwards. It'll be too late by then. I'll spare you the told-you-so s. I have never seen such uncivilised behaviour at a wedding. Is that what the Malays call adat? Count me out of service, out of Johor, I wouldn't hang about . But I'm one for talk aren't I? Should I be talking about barbarism in Johor when I will be seeing Wall-e tonight in IOI Puchong? You think the Goths and the Vikings were barbaric. Hah! I say you wouldn't know barbarism before you have had a chance to see a movie in IOI Puchong. Also if anyone finds my syntax atrocious , please feel free to resyntax this post.

I guess no one can roll twenties forever. Rest in peace, Mr. Gygax. Your contribution to the gaming world and culture in general exceeds boundaries. For those interested, io9 also has a science fiction-skewed look at his influence . Via Wired .

YES. This is what stories for men SHOULD BE .

2007 was not a bad year for me. Good stuff that happened in 2007 I Got Married .^_^ Married life has so far gone well and there are no little Teddies on the way, thanks for asking. I read 48 books. Quite a feat, although my initial target was 54. Oh well. The longest time it took me to read one book was one month, for Mervyn Peake's Titus Groan . Good book, but totally unsuited for reading on a crowded train during the rush hour. For the first time in the three years I've done NaNoWriMo, I actually won . The novel's still not done so I am still slogging my way through until I get to the end. I had wanted to finish it before the end of December, but that does not appear to be feasible at the moment. *grin* I had three reviews published in The Star this year. Doesn't sound like a lot, but consider this: the previous year I only had two book reviews published and both times I had to pay for the books myself. This year, the three books I reviewed were donated by Big Name Bo...

This blog has been mentioned on The Literary Saloon . I can now die happily.