I wish all of you a Happy 2008!

This is my last post of the year. How time flies aye. I would like to wish all my friends, readers, fellow bloggers and everyone a Happy New Year and to those who are going out to celebrate the start of the new year later tonight, remember to party hard (video above, hehehe)! See you people in 2008. Cheers!

MIT's Live Action Anime

The folks at MIT Dance Theater Ensemble recently did a live anime show called Madness at Mokuba. This original theatrical production features giant robots, a Japanese schoolgirl, a lovelorn otaku, a masterless samurai, a female gamer, evil media magnates and a vengeful deathgod. Watch it here (in four parts).

Dude sun tanning at HDB carpark

Wanna get a tan but the beach or the swimming pool is too far away for you? Why not just head to your nearest HDB carpark like what this crazy guy did. Hopefully this doesn't become a trend in Singapore or the authorities have to start putting up "No Sun Tanning" sign at all carparks.

(Thanks Mr Big)

Today's Singapore News

1. Get 37 days off with 8 days of leave
2. S'pore student selling her worn-cum-unwashed lingerie online
3. Singapore celebrities are not paid to party
4. Parties galore in Singapore to usher in 2008
5. Record number of litter-bugs nabbed in Singapore
6. Park-goers are still feeding monkeys
7. MOH to publicise dental fees online
8. Motorsports Carnival goes to the heartlands in Punggol
9. PrimaDeli outlets to open on 1 January
10. Cartoonist draws 952 caricatures in 24 hours for charity

Read them all at Topix Singapore News, edited by yours truly.

Game Boy Around The World

Boy takes a photo of himself playing his Nintendo Game Boy at famous places around the world. Brilliant photoset, I must say but shouldn't he be admiring those beautiful places instead of playing Game Boy? Ha! I think we should invite him to Singapore and ask him to pose in front of the Merlion.

Claudine Hellmuth's Mixed Media Collages

The beautiful Claudine Hellmuth creates cute mixed media collages that incorporate paper, paint, fabric, pen and photocopies. Besides using her own photos for her collages, she also makes her own photo heads by combining 3 or 4 photo images together. And at a price, she can create a personalized, original artwork exclusively for you using photos of your favorite friends, family members, etc. Here's her blog.

Street Fighter III Character Moves

I think fans of Street Fighter III will love this cool website. It has animations of all the various moves of the characters in the game. I really love the interface of the site. It's like playing Street Fighter. Just select the character and then you can click on all the "non-attacks" and "attacks" and see how the character moves.

The most retro PC mod ever

Dude is building a blazing-fast, modern computer into antique fine cabinetry. It is so retro beautiful! He plans on eventually releasing a line of fully themed, matching office suites which would include keyboard, mice, monitors, PC cases, scanners, printers and perhaps even custom office furniture to house them.

Hello Kitty for Men

God no! Hello Kitty will soon be appearing on products targeting young men. From Yahoo News:

"We think Hello Kitty is accepted by young men as a design statement in fashion," he (Sanrio company spokesman) said.

The feline for-men products will go on sale in Japan next month, and will be sold soon in the U.S. and other Asian nations, according to Sanrio.

The usual bubble-headed shape of Hello Kitty was slightly changed for a more rugged, cool look to appeal to men in their teens and early 20s.

..."Young men these days grew up with character goods," said Tohmatsu. "That generation feels no embarrassment about wearing Hello Kitty."

Young men? Hmm. I think he meant to say ONLY young crazy Japanese men.

150 years of advertising in the Netherlands

Collection of 12,000 advertisements covering 150 years of advertising in the Netherlands. Includes posters, advertisements, leaflets, brochures, show cards, booklets, price lists, radio and television commercials, enamel signs, cinema slides, packagings and board games.

(via BibliOdyssey)

On the set of X-Files 2

This is for all you X-philes (I know there's still a lot of you out there)! FlynetOnline has an exclusive video on the set of the new X-Files movie that is currently being shot in Vancouver. The clip shows David Duchovny as Agent Fox Mulder doing a scene with Amanda Peet who plays one of the FBI agents, I think. Gosh, I can't wait for X-Files 2!

World Of Warcraft Movies

WarcraftMovies.com is a site that collects movies made by fans of the World Of Warcraft computer games. Here's how you can make a movie like the one above.

Today's Singapore News

1. 4 new sports academies to identify, develop talents from primary school
2. 287,000 workers to get $146m in Workfare Income Supplements
3. Singapore girl found on YouTube gets a role in Hollywood
4. Don't post your sex videos online
5. Half say 'yes' to routine HIV test
6. A peek into a School of the Future
7. Let Singaporeans read your favourite book
8. Singapore "shocked, horrified" over Bhutto killing
9. Girl's leg caught in MRT platform gap
10. SMRT launches Tunnel TV in Singapore

Read them all at Topix Singapore News, edited by yours truly.

Singapore Escort Ads on Yellow Pages

According to Gerrie Lim, the author of Invisible Trade, a book about high class sex for sale in Singapore, "people generally have this perception that Singapore is a squeaky clean, prim and proper kind of place so they tend to be very surprised when they find out that there is a thriving escort industry here."

So I flipped the Yellow Pages recently and surprise, surprise, found lots of huge colourful ads by escort agencies here. I took some pics and here they are. Oh boy, the industry is thriving alright.











I couldn't help but wonder after looking at these ads. Do these companies use the same illustrator to draw the girls? LOL.

Tiny Buildings

Tiny Buildings is a blog written by Sharon about her collection of tiny buildings crafted from business cards, packaging and other nice paper material. It all started in the 70s when she and her husband first started making these tiny buildings as Christmas decorations.

Pac-Man Maze Hoodie

I love this Pac-Man Maze hoodie. The maze is imprinted all over the hoodie with Pac-Man and ghosts too. Has front zip closure and pouch pockets. I want one!

(Thanks Eric)

Jen Stark's Coloured Paper Sculptures

Artist Jen Stark makes beautiful paper sculptures by cleverly cutting intricate designs out of stacks of coloured paper. I think her work is amazing.

Star Wars Model Kit Gallery

Dude has been collecting Star Wars model kits for years. Here's a complete list of every single Star Wars model kit he owns. Includes pics of the kits and write-ups of all his personal experiences working with the kits.

Today's Singapore News

1. CommunicAsia, HD content among 2007's IT highlights
2. Singapore Red Cross stops tsunami funding programme
3. Consumers not cutting back on buying household items
4. End of free Net access to spell 1m dip in user figures
5. Man loses part of leg after being hit by MRT train at Marsiling
6. Coach operators to battle budget carriers for travellers
7. More drivers making the switch to GAS
8. Electricity bills to go up by an average 5.94% from 2008
9. S'pore residential market world's hottest
10. Singapore's services sector tops list of job vacancies

Read them all at Topix Singapore News, edited by yours truly.

Zouk's Do-It-Yourself Mistletoe

Last week, I blogged about Zouk's flyer making a good Christmas gift wrapper. This week's Zouk mailer comes with a do-it-yourself mistletoe!



The envelope with the words "Your Disco Loves You" on the front and the instructions to assemble the mistletoe at the back.





Inside the envelope are the Parts A and B die-cut pieces that you have to detach and then assemble both parts with the strings provided.



Ho! Ho! Ho! Here's the mistletoe after assembly.



Ain't it pretty? Merry Kissmas!

Morning Musume Christmas Medley

My favourite girls from Morning Musume went back to 1964 to perform a Christmas medley (in English!) for The Ed Sullivan Show complete with a faux Ed Sullivan as host. They are so cute! Ahem.

Also read:
Morning Musume's Mikan
Morning Musume visits Taiwan. Taiwanese go crazy!
I dreamt of Morning Musume
Mexican boys imitating Morning Musume

Japanese Toy Modelling Kits

Interesting gallery of toy modelling kits found in Japan. The site is in Japanese so just enjoy the pics when you click on the links.

(Thanks T. Ikeda)

Unborn Baby Ornament

This is just so wrong. Plastic replica of an 11-12 week old fetus holding a rifle and carrying an army bag, encased in a translucent plastic ornament, with a patriotic yellow ribbon on top.

Design your own plush toy with Plushie

Plushie is a brilliant interactive system made by Japanese students Yuki Mori and Takeo Igarashi, that allows non professional users to design their own original plush toys. Just sketch your design using strokes and the software will automatically render the 3D model and 2D patterns that you can then use to sew your plush toy.

myBook: Dream Mac machine

myBook is the dream of product designer Yan. It is the lightest portable mac ever. It's small, light and semi-rugged. You can fold it into its portrait mode where it then becomes an ideal book and news reader. Lovely. How I wish Apple will make and sell it.

Elmo lives!

Dude puts on a costume and lives his everyday life as Elmo from Sesame Street. Elmo is a cute character but I think a giant Elmo looks a little too scary for my liking.

(Thanks oli)

The Weekend's Singapore News

1. Orchard Road's blockheads creating festive jams
2. Sharity Gift Box falls short of annual target, appeals for more donations
3. Consumer finds 2.5cm nail in Carrefour loaf
4. Why Hady won Asian Idol
5. Singapore Spent S$5 Billion On R&D Last Year
6. Rush for land to sweep away last Singapore village
7. 2008 to be a busy year for sports in Singapore
8. Singapore to spend 1.4 billion US dollars to expand port
9. Singapore receives year's 10 millionth foreign tourist
10. Life's a Bentley for ultra-rich in Singapore hotel

Read them all at Topix Singapore News, edited by yours truly.

My new baby has arrived!

On Thursday night, the lovely people from LG delivered to me their new 42 inch LCD HD TV as part of their Blogger Review Program. This is my second time doing a blogging assignment for LG. The first was for the beautiful LG Shine mobile phone. That's my new baby (pic above) in its box. I expected it to be big but never thought it would be this big. It's a giant alright. Yesterday evening, one of their guys finally showed up to set it up and briefed me about its features, etc. My first impression: WOW! Will post more pics, videos and reviews later.

Also read:
The LG Shine review
Enter the Dragon: First pics of the new HP Dragon
HP Dragon Video
HP Dragon: Setting up its integrated HDTV tuner
More iPaq porn!
Using the iPaq rw6828: Photo taking and Printing

Download a Christmas Tree

Get your free downloadable graphic Christmas tree here. The file is in PDF. Print it out on a 8.5 x 11 piece of paper, cut around the pattern and fold where indicated. Makes a good decoration for your dinner table this Christmas.

Star Trek Bluetooth Communicator

I think this is a great gift for any Trekkie - a Star Trek Bluetooth Communicator, based on the Communicator used in the original series. From eBay:

This Comm will pair with any cell phone that is Bluetooth capable! Once paired you can stick your cell in your pocket then send, receive and make calls using your Comm just like Kirk and the boys! Imagine the response you'll get pulling this bad boy out at the next convention! It even accepts voice commands!

This is a highly modified STTE Comm and is very similar to the Master Replicas, it is nearly identical and is made in China, probably at the same plant the MRs were, with the same molds. In fact, you can interchange most parts between them. The STTE Comms are physically identical to the MR but basically were still just a toy So, Working with a Bluetooth electronics company in China, I got some custom electronics that with some serious mods, I make fit inside and operate with all the Comms original lights and buttons!

Tampon Christmas Crafts

Ladies, bring your menstrual joy to this festive season. Tampon Crafts teaches you how to make Christmas tree decorations such as angels, snowflakes and bells using tampons. Yes, tampons.

25 awesome Monopoly boards

There are probably hundreds of localised and licensed Monopoly versions out in the market. Here is 25 of the most awesome Monopoly boards. Included in the list are my favourites, Star Wars Monopoly and Transformers Monopoly.

Japanese stops humpback whale hunt

I've been complaining to friends and as many people as I can, about the cruelty of the Japanese whale hunts. Japan has been killing whales in the name of science (ya right!) and this year it will kill 1,000 whales including for the first time the humpback whales, but it has surprisingly announced that it will spare the humpbacks. From BBC:

Nobutaka Machimura said the humpback hunt would not go ahead - although the fleet will still hunt about 1,000 other whales in the area.

The BBC's Chris Hogg, in Tokyo, says Japan is now unlikely to chase the humpbacks for at least a year.

The move comes after pressure from the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

Japan is regularly condemned for its annual whaling missions.

But this year's Antarctic expedition was particularly controversial because, in addition to 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales, the fleet intended to kill up to 50 humpbacks.

It was the first time Japan had targeted the humpbacks since a moratorium was introduced in the mid-1960s - when the species had been hunted almost to extinction.

Now if only they stop hunting all types of whales. The killing of endangered intelligent whales is barbaric and inhumane and it must stop.

The Galactically Hot Women of Star Trek TOS

Hardcore trekkies will enjoy this one. This Flickr photoset contains pictures of galactically hot women (fully clothed, of course) that appeared in Star Trek: The Original Series. It's a work in progress so expect to see more babes in the set soon.

Chinese LEGO Knock-off

This made in China Riot Police Super Power toy is an obvious LEGO knock-off. Most of the contents in the box are almost direct copies of Lego pieces. Also comes with a selection of firearms for the riot police to use.

Paper AK-47

Make your own paper AK-47 (aka Kalashnikov) assault rifle with this amazing 1:1 paper model construction set. If you're gonna play with guns, then use paper ones instead aye.

Eco Christmas Tree

Stay green this Christmas with the Eco Christmas Tree. Its designers say that the plywood flat-packed tree is 80% more environmentally friendly than the traditional Christmas tree.

(Thanks finatiq)

Battlestar Galactica Propaganda Poster Set

These awesome Battlestar Galactica propaganda posters by Quantum Mechanix are a must have for any Battlestar Galactica fan. There are 5 posters in this special set. This poster on the left is Mechanics: "Your skills are needed! (Being a Viper pilot might be glamorous, but if wasn't for the proud men and women keeping those birds running, our aces could never get off the flight deck!)." I want all of them.

(Thanks Marcel)

DJ Riko Merry Mixmas 2007

For the past two years, DJ Riko Merry Mixmas has been an essential listening for me during the Christmas holidays. The 2007 mix is available for download now. Yay! Tracklist includes mixes of "Hey Mister Santa", "Jingle Bells" and "Merry Christmas, Neighbor". There are 25 tracks in all. Go download. Go.

How to smoke pot without being caught

This comic shows how you can avoid being caught smoking pot. 1st tip is to keep the smell away from your front door. Ha! Pretty obvious isn't it? Remember kids. Smoking pot is not allowed in Singapore. Don't smoke pot ok.

(Thanks Sir Thomas)

Thumb Calender

Adam Sporka designed this clever Thumb Calender. To use it, find the month you want to read and then use your thumb/s to cover the numbers that are not directly below the month header.

Staged Medical Resuscitation Clips

Here's something really bizarre found on YouTube. 911Bio-med has posted several video clips of staged emergency medical resuscitation scenes. 911Bio-med started over 3 years ago as a website displaying pictures and videos of medical personnel trying to revive patients in emergency situations and thanks to their popularity, they decided to start mixing their material into an online web series they called PALE.

Today's Singapore News

1. 5,000 apply for 316 new HDB flats
2. Competition commission clears Nets of anti-competitive practice
3. More tertiary options in 2008 and beyond
4. Maths books from S'pore endorsed for use in Californian schools
5. More donors pitching in for the needy this Christmas
6. Watch out for floods during Christmas period
7. Thousands of sheep and goats arrive in Singapore for sacrifice
8. Australian food chain’s Singapore surprise
9. S$25m education fund launched in Singapore
10. Singapore's Tiger order 20 Airbus A320s

Read them all at Topix Singapore News, edited by yours truly.

Santa refuses to wear pillow under his suit

Old dude who dresses up as Santa Claus in a shopping mall in Edinburgh refuses to wear a pillow under his suit because he believes it promotes child obesity. Yay! Santa 1 Obesity 0. From BBC:

"The parents and kids have been asking why I'm so thin and I say 'Santa's been on a diet' and everyone is in agreement that it is a good idea.

"I have always eaten healthily and have run a healthy eating course in the past. I gave up cola years ago when I saw what it did to a penny.

"I hope other Santas across the country follow suit so that parents start taking responsibility for their children's diets."

Lifehacker's 2007 Guide to Free Software and Webapps

One of my favourite blogs, Lifehacker has posted its 2007 guide to free software and web apps available online. Go get busy downloading! From Lifehacker:

Throughout Lifehacker's archive of over 14,000 posts, we've mentioned hundreds of free web and desktop apps that help you get things done—but which are the best? As we wrap up the year 2007, it's the perfect time to put together an authoritative guide to our favorite pieces of free software and web services for common computing tasks on every platform.

30 Years of Lucasfilm Christmas Cards

For the last 30 years, Lucasfilm has created special holiday greeting cards for its employees and business partners. View some of the cards here. This one on the left is a 1979 card featuring C3PO dressed as Santa and R2-D2 dressed as Rudolph. Damn. Next year, I must try to get into their Christmas card list.

Laptops designed by kids

The Laptop Club was started by a bunch of 7 to 9 year olds in an after-school program in North Carolina last year. The children make drawings of laptops with keyboards that have buttons dedicated to their friends, family, pets, different ways to shop and pop-culture icons. The drawings say a lot about how children think about computers these days and their early adoption of pop-culture.

USB Wine

I don't read French but I'm bloody damn sure that this French made USB Wine is a fake. To use it, plug it into your computer, go to the USB Wine website to choose the wine you want to buy, wait for the "download" to finish, then turn on the tap and wala... wine! Check out the video.

Today's Singapore News

1. Singapore's pilot voluntary HIV-testing scheme starts
2. Singapore's cruise industry bolstered
3. One-size-fits-all health messages miss the mark
4. Passengers still having hard time getting cabs in CBD areas
5. Drop in call bookings as higher taxi fares kick in
6. The rise and rise of Hady Mirza
7. Singapore to scan US-bound cargo for hazardous material
8. Pink bikini gets Singapore serviceman into trouble
9. No shortage of taxis at city fringe stands
10. PrimaDeli to stay shut as AVA conducts lab tests

Read them all at Topix Singapore News, edited by yours truly.

It's Jello Time!

Turn on your volume, move the cursor to the jello and enjoy the beautiful sight and sound of a jello wiggle. Ha! I know it's a waste of time. Sorry. You can blame this guy for making it.

(Thanks finatiq)

Portable Wooden Super Nintendo

This Super Nintendo is made of custom-built wooden case, has speakers, a modified PSOne display and a headphone jack. And the best thing is it is portable. Sweet.

Homer Simpson's A Picture A Day For 39 Years

A Homer Simpson parody of Noah's famous photo time lapse video. Check out Homer's hair!

(Thanks GeekGod)

Previously: Dude photographs himself everyday since 2000

Kit Kats of the World

I love Kit Kat! This Flickr photoset has pictures of Kit Kats found in Japan and other parts of the world. Lots of interesting and never before seen Kit Kat varieties. I wanna try them all!

Previously: Kit Kat from Japan

Clean Cartoonists' Dirty Drawings

Clean Cartoonists' Dirty Drawings by Craig Yoe collects for the first time, scores of rare, previously suppressed, underground, kinky and sexy sketches by 69 mainstream cartoonists famous for their creations of Mickey Mouse, Superman, Beetle Bailey, Wonder Woman, Batman and more. I'm adding it to the list of books I want to buy.

Infant pillow simulates mother's hands

The Zaky Infant Pillow is an ergonomic infant pillow that can help calm your baby and help your baby sleep better through the night. It is designed to mimic the size, weight, touch, and feel of a mother's hand and forearm to help the baby with comfort, support, protection, and development. I think those hands look scary.