Monday, June 27, 2005
got my hands on Dream Theater's Octavarium at HMV today. im 3/4 thru it, save for the epic of a last song, the 24min long Octavarium, and i like wat i hear so far. they've returned to their Metropolis Part 2 roots somewhat and still have some of the Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence/Train of Thought influence. but it still can't beat the metropolis and images and words albums..those were the best.
anyway the whole listening experience was marred by some defects on the cd on the whole: the cd case has some ugly scratches, the little piece which holds the cd together is broken off, the sleeve has creases and even the printed words on the cd have worn off a little. wat the hell man...gonna call to complain and get it exchanged. if this is the case i might as well have dled the album.
must be because i took the first one on the shelf..dammit.
Posted at 11:56 PM
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
It's back!! who wants to go? highlights this time would be brandtson and copeland, both indie emo bands. this is brandtson's second appearance...they performed 2 years ago i think, and i quite liked their stuff, which prompted me to dl a couple of albums haha..so this time, at least i would know most of their songs. on the asian front, or shld i say, south east asian front, there are some familiar names like tempered metal and love me butch (tho ive never heard them play) from m'sia and of cos electrico, whom im kinda bored hearing their songs live, unless they play new material. so other than the US bands and electrico, and maybe concave scream (?), there isnt much to look out for this time i guess, in my opinion. but i'll still be down there, cos it's a well organised gig with quality sound, and who knows? maybe there are some other bands to take note of.
still on the topic of music, seems like this june is the month for many of the bands i like to release new albums. here's what has been released:
1) Fall Out Boy - From under the cork tree
2) The Starting Line - Based on a true story
3) Lifehouse - Lifehouse
4) System Of A Down - Mezmerize
5) Weezer - Make believe
6) Audioslave - Out of exile
7) Trust Company - True parallels
8) Funeral For A Friend - Hours
9) Finch - Say hello to sunshine
10) Dreamtheater - Octavarium
i havent gotten my hands on dreamtheater's album yet, cos i intend to buy the cd haha yes i only buy cds of my all time fav bands, like weezer too. i heard abit of finch's album, and i dun really like it, they sound kinda different song-wise, and its more raw and less catchy than their first album. the rest are good stuff, with outstanding follow ups from funeral for a friend, fall out boy, audioslave and trust company. oh and i havent listened to oasis' and foo fighters' new albums too...not that keen tho heh..
this is aural diarrhea man..but im enjoying it.
Posted at 6:11 PM
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
ok thanks to boo i realised that the little weezer teaser on the left was causing my tagboard to screw up.
so those of u dying to tag, tag on hahah.
Posted at 4:44 AM
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
So i made a decision to buy a new mp3 player, and i was more or less going for the zen neeon. i went down to the mp3 fair at simlim on sunday, and ended up getting this instead:
The 5GB Zen Micro.
The sales guy was telling me the neeon is currently in its first production batch, and therefore isnt tt stable, which he explained, would justify its incredibly low starting price of $329. Instead he was encouraging me to go for the zen micro, as he claimed it was way better, even than the ipod mini. well, in terms of looks, i prefer this than the ipod mini. anyway i must say that im fortunate to have gotten the zen micro instead: it operates just like an ipod using the touch pad, while the neeon has the clunky scroll wheel; it has a larger display screen with better music organising features; it looks better too after seeing both haha. and the micro comes with a wired remote too! didnt realise it until i opened up the box. it sure is a huge convenience when i need to operate the basic functions. oh and contrary to my past experiences with the creative's supplied earphones, this time round it even beats my default sony headphones, and i've switched to the new earphones alr haha. i can see y it cost me $399 though...even the packaging is sleek and though it's definitely trying to copy apple (think white glossy surfaces, right down to the adapter and remote!), it still manages to stand out on its own.
but my god it took me almost 4 hrs to transfer the songs and rename the song details. and im still kinda reeling from the after effects of spending $399 in one go.
Posted at 3:54 AM
Monday, June 06, 2005
i'm in a dilemma right now. one which costs hundreds of dollars. here's how it goes.
about a month back, on my way back to my room after a night of fruitful studying, i dropped my mp3 player. it slipped from the top of my file as i was carrying a million and one things (file, pencil case, textbook, calculator, water bottle). so i watched in horror as it fell from waist level, hit the floor with a heart wrenching crack sound, and bounced up only to hit the floor one more sickening time. i immediately checked for damge, i realised that there were no cracks or chips. but that was only on the surface...i crossed my fingers in the hopes that nothing happened to the internal hard drive (it was a 1.5GB hard drive model) as i played it, and fortunately it seemed fine. my worst fears were realised when i tried to copy new songs into it...it took damn long and it jus hung after a while...well, at least it could play, but that lasted for a while cos when i tried copying songs again at home, this time round the player just couldnt startup, always bringing me to the recovery mode. anyway, brought it down to creative (oh its a creative muvo2 player haha) for repair and they told me that they dun replace the hard drive for this model anymore cos its gonna become obselete. instead my option was to get an upgrade to another model.
it costs $239 to upgrade to the muvo2 FM, which is 5GB and has radio capability which i dun need, and voice recording which i would like. but it looks the same as mine, and the larger storage and voice recording are the only attractive features. oh it retails for $299.
on the other hand, i was thinking of getting this, the zen neeon. its storage capacity and features are the same as the muvo2 FM though it looks much cooler. but it costs $329.
so for $90 more, i get a much nicer looking player. hm come to think of it, im not sure if the upgrade policy means i return only my player and get only the new player for $239, without the accessories. if thats the case, it's not exactly cheaper than the retail price, since the $60 difference might include the cost of the charger, earphones, carrying case and cables. so the question now is: $239 for a similar looking player, or $329 for a funkier one.
oh and i do need the money...but i still can't get a job. maybe i'll blog about that when i finally get one.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
went to esplanade today to catch
EIC for the first time and i must agree with the general consensus that they're good. they sound really pleasant on the ears, with great sounding vocals and harmonies. individually, they didnt really show off, so i cant really tell their standard, but i can tell that their drummer is good haha. well i noe him and the elec guitarist / saxophonist cos they were my seniors in band last time in sec sch...and yeah the drummer was alr good last time. altho it wasnt him who taught me much haha it was another senior. so anyway, they did mainly covers, and the vocals are suitable for stuff like maroon 5 and john mayer, but not u2, cos they sound too clean, doesnt have that rough edge to it.but it was a enjoyable performance nontheless.
results out today and im disappointed man. CAP still remains at 2.92..not an easy feat eh, to maintain it right to the 2nd decimal point. quite disappointed with 2 modules, which i tot i wld do much better, at least 2 grades better, cos i felt quite confident after those papers: high B instead of C+ and B+/A- instead of B-. thus ive learnt a lesson: never try to expect what grades u would get, even after considering how well/badly u've done in ur CA/assignments. hm i think ppl have told me this b4, but i guess i was overconfident. well at least for the comp module which i dreaded to do this sem cos it had a programming project and it's a concept heavy module, turned out better than wat i expected heh. ah wat to do, next sem just try again lor.
Posted at 2:29 AM
