mrbrown.com

the mrbrown show: all you can eat package

Wah, package is so attractive, maybe you should sign up at mrbrownshow.com!

PlayedOutLoud: Tuesday Afternoon Office blast

Because of a special R&B request by Ben Quek, today's PlayedOutLoud by DJ mrbrown is (mostly) R&B:

I'm Ready - Tevin Campbell
Missing You - Trey Songz
Hate That I Love You - Rihanna ft Neyo
We All Want The Same Thing ft. Lupe Fiasco - Kevin Michael
Open Your Heart - Lavender Diamond
Cupid - 112
Weak - SWV
Officially Missing You - Tamia
Can We Talk - Tevin Campbell
Hold On - En Vogue

the wtf show (video) 11 June 2007: 3 Fast 3 Furious

The WTF! Show takes me to the Annual Police Carnival where I got to do some drifting in souped-up race cars! I also met Jane, the only female drifter there, and loads of other models (er, I mean the cars, of course).

the mrbrown show: fish and chips

What the fish! They got chips on their little bodies now! Swim over to mrbrownshow.com!

the mrbrown show: road block

Moron alert at the junction near mrbrownshow.com!

the mrbrown show: man in the nets

Caught in a net of intrigue and mystery at mrbrownshow.com!

the mrbrown show: Durian’s Eleven

How did they get Richard out of Singapore so easily? They had Durian's 11! See them in action at mrbrownshow.com!

Start carrying more cash

I went to the hardware store today, and they told me they were no longer accepting NETS payments, just cash. Looks like we better start drawing more cash at the ATM from now on.

But hor, NETS CEO Poh Mui Hoon says their 400% merchant fee hike "is not a consumer issue in any way, and it should not be made out in any way to be one".

Suuuuuure, merchants affected only mah. Why should customers be worried? Merchants will not pass the costs to customers one! Retailers are not allowed to transfer the extra fee directly to consumers what!

Besides, all of you should be used to a monopoly raising their charges as and when they like. Ministerial pay hike, GST hike, and now NETS hike.

Anyway, their reason seems reasonable what!

"...there has been a growing trend of merchants accepting debit cards by international card schemes. As a result, more international debit cards have been introduced to the market. To sum up, Nets is a debit payment facility facing competition from international card schemes. To respond more effectively to this increasing competition, Nets has had to align itself with the business model of the international card schemes."

The X-files logic is airtight! Let me see if I can translate that into English.

"Many merchants now accept debit cards. Debit cards charge higher merchant fees. So NETS must charge higher merchant fees to fight back this competition."

"Er, why not charge less?" you ask. Then more people will use NETS instead of debit cards.

Aiyah, don't talk about high finance and banking lah. We are just clueless customers!

Says NETS, "...the price realignment exercise ensures Nets' viability as a business, to continue serving the interests of card issuers, consumers and merchants here. Without the future presence of Nets to protect merchants' interest, merchants will be left paying the higher rates charged by the international card schemes."

So you see! The NETS hike is to PROTECT the merchants! Because, if the NETS folk do not raise their fees, they may be forced to abandon NETS because, hey! Debit cards are more profitable! Such a noble, socially responsible monopoly is NETS! NETS CEO Poh Mui Hoon was already talking about helping merchants in 2004! Read this quote:

"The mindset change was possible because electronic payment was able to deliver on its promises: Convenience for consumers; lower processing costs and higher security for merchants." -Show me the E-money!, Computer Times, 2004)

Er, ok, the lower processing costs thing is not applicable in 2007. But still got security leh!

But I'm still going to go back to cash. Cash is better anyway. You spend less, you are more aware of the money you have in your wallet (doncha just hate breaking a $50 note?) and you are less prone to impulse buys.

Cash is king!

Cycling winner (Youtube)

I've been looking at cycling videos lately (got new bike is liddat one). This one was sent to me by Mr Tan.

Lesson of the day: Don't celebrate too early. (Youtube text link)

Other cool cycling videos include this clip with Lance Armstrong from Nike, a demo of the tiny foldable A-Bike and the equally cool Mobiky Genius.

10000 Fathers Reading!

10000 Fathers Reading! is an NLB-organised event to encourage fathers to read to their children on a regular basis. I think reading and fatherhood are cool things to promote, so I contributed a post to their blog. You can read my little contribution there.

You can also go to their site and find out what the activities are.

Mirror Mirror

I was humming M2M's Mirror Mirror, and suddenly the office folk started making requests, so I played the song out loud on my Rokit RP5s. I am proud to say, I own M2M's album and my wife has a M2M T-shirt given out by White Sands Mall in Pasir Ris yonks ago.

After exhausting my own collection of retro pop, I found a great music site, Imeem.com, that allowed me to stream songs other people upload. And so, we went down memory lane. We laughed, sang along, got nostalgic and the requests just kept coming in.

Songs played in the office today, after we went into a boyband/girlfriend moment:

Mirror Mirror - M2M
Pretty boy - M2M
Show Me The Meaning Of Being Lonely - Backstreet Boys
The Right Kind of Love - Jeremy Jordan
Girl You Know It's True - Milli Vanilli
Like a Rose - A1
Can't Touch This - MC Hammer
2 Become 1 - Spice Girls
Mama - Spice Girls
I Swear - All 4 One
2 Become 1 - Paul Gilbert
Never Had a Dream Come True - S Club 7
I Adore Mi Amor - Color Me Badd
On Bended Knee - Boyz II Men
How Deep Is Your Love - Take That
I Believe (Acoustic version) - Blessid Union of Souls
As Long As You Love Me - Backstreet Boys
MMBop - Hanson (the guys and gals in the office freakin' CLAPPED when this was played)
When You Say Nothing At All - Boyzone
Just the Two of Us - Will Smith
Bye Bye Bye - N'Sync
The Call - Backstreet Boys
Flying Without Wings (accapella mix) - Westlife
Signed Sealed Delivered I'm Yours (feat Stevie Wonder) - Blue
Take on Me - Aha

Shiokness. As one of the guys said, makes you want to dig up your old mix tapes, man. Emo already.

The fastest path between two points is a straight line

Update: Looks like they fixed it liao. No fun one, hahaha!

Reader Ryan sent me this link to try out Gleneagles Hospital's highly sophisticated map routing system.

You enter your address or postal code, and it tells you how to get to the hospital.

I suppose it assumes you are urgent, and need to get to Gleneagles really fast, which is why they compute the fastest way there — a straight line!

Nothing gets in the way of their ambulances, man! Not even houses.

Have fun trying it out. It's true what they say, the fastest path between two points is a straight line.

the wtf show (video) 5 June 2007: mobileweapon.net

The WTF! Show visits the team responsible for the popular RPG, Mobile Weapon! Made in Singapore too!

Retro Casio

The studio is going through a Casio retro fever. And we're all buying one for fun. I think we are all just geeks at heart. This one is mine, got 30-name data memory, ok? Nerd heaven!

It's a Casio Illuminator Databank Watch (Gold) DB360G and I got it at theoldtech.com

the mrbrown show: mascot meeting

We need a mascot for ASEAN! Quick, go and find out the shortlisted animals at mrbrownshow.com!

Singapore's Beatbox Idol? (Youtube)

Blake Lewis, first runner-up of American Idol, you better watch out. Singapore is gunning for you in the Beatboxing department. (Youtube text link). I only got a little worried towards the end, when he was going red, and thought he might need an ambulance and a respirator.

And for those of you who cannot get enough Steven "Dragon" Lim, here is a Part 2.

the mrbrown show: special delivery

Want to save money? Give birth faster at mrbrownshow.com!

Singapore's Top Model Agency?

When you need to make it as a model or you are looking for talent, try Steven Lim's talent page. Here are some of the descriptions found on his models page. Mr Tan and I spent a pleasant evening dissecting the descriptions:

"Linda got the sad sad cute puppy look eyes n demure n pretty. All events including modeling. Linda n Xiu Mei r frenz 4ever!"

"Xiu Mei is a very spirited, bubbly adorable girl that is quick on poses. All events including modeling, photo shoots (casual). Linda n Xiu Mei r frenz!"
When you need models who are frenz 4ever, Steven has them.

"Du Du has a very gorgeous face but rather big but envious body."
What is her body envious of?

"Cathy Yan is gorgeous, sweet young thing. Brighten up any atmosphere"
She is a sun? Good for lighting ads?

"Ricky is a bouncy, n so so cute with a cute shape."
A model to hire if you need a ball?

"Ivy is Japanese look alike. Unique features n attractive. She is dedicating her life to teaching. I m very touched. Good for most events."
And being touched has to do with her modeling ability how? And if she's dedicating her life to teaching..how come she is also good for most events?

"Amanda is a very nice n pretty girl n is my Junior."
The Alma Mater school of modeling.

"Fiona is bound to be a tall refined beauty, good figure."
But for now she is still short?

"Gorgeous Angela is happily married to her beloved husband."
No projects that require her to work with slimey men?

"Carey is half Hong Kong Girl."
And what is the other half? Hong Kong guy?

"Jennifer got what all women wants for assets, good looks n larger than life female assets, plus good natured character."
Larger than life female assets... I mean, how BIG IS SHE? K Cup?

"Ci Ci got what all women wants for assets, unique Asian looks n larger than life female assets."
Another one, Jennifer's arch rival in the larger than life asset department.

"Cathy is a true beauty from TJC. She is so good at giving poses that makes people wanna snap more of her. All events including photo shoots (only casual), modeling."
No formal photo shoots please.

"Miak is a NTU's Hall 1 beauty pageant 1st runner up 2006. Sweet, pretty angelic face with proportionate figure."
Thank goodness. Proportionate people are so hard to come by these days.

"Serene is a pretty girl n certainly very attractive with a heart of gold involving in social activities. Great for modeling, photo shoots including bikini, commercials."
For those bikini charity photo shoots?

"Helen is a pretty pretty pretty, n figure is slim."
We're missing a noun here, I think.

"Cherise Khit looks like Hong Kong movie star."
Jackie Chan?

"Bao Zhen is such a sweet cutie! Her face like one of the members of 5566."
Waitaminute, isn't 5566 a Taiwanese BOY Band?

"Beverly Teo is looking good without wearing her glasses."
What happens when she wears them?

"Rebecca is an Eurasian! Eurasian always looks good n unique. East mix west look."
Win liao! Eurasian exclamation! Eurasian is AUTO WIN. ALWAYS looks good and unique leh.

"Jerene is so cute that only her little lady's voice can match."
Who's her little lady?

"Janet is a very slim n lanky beauty, with a pair of small small eyes. Good for all events including modeling n some acting."
Thank goodness it's a pair.

"Michelle got a very pretty n eurasian perfect face from heaven. Slim, not short body."
Slim, NOT short body. ok?

"Fadly is so handsome n cool. Look at the hair!!! Good for modeling, runway n photoshoots n acting. He also an expert in setting up stage n props for any good events."
You have to pay him one fee to hire the hair, and another for the setting up of the stage?

"Gina Mackay is hot stuff from Scotland UK. Great for all kinds of events, including commercial, photoshoots. She is leaving Singapore soon. Pay for her air tickets to be back."
Affordable foreign talent. Will work for airfare.

"Julia is tall, pretty n got class. Nice figure n holds a professional white collared job."
White collared job! Must have uniform.

"Nisa is a natural borne model. She got character, poses naturally n got utmost potential. Great for photo shoots n modeling including bikini & lingerie. Her body is super balanced n nice."
Natural borne? She's a virus? Ah, not only that, she is super balanced. Top and bottom same weight.

"Esther is a petite, shy yet really sweet n nice lady. She is yet careful n meticulous in handling things."
Good for modeling or acting jobs that deal with fragile products?

"Iris is really hot! Super good looks, sculpted body by swimming. She is unstoppable!"
Sounds like a superhero.

"Ivan is tall n handsome n photogenic. He looks the best without smiling with cool looks."
Good for work without smiling.

"Krystal is one of our more influential models who live in Orchard. But I strongly feel that she is very suitable for any advertisements that needs a professional look with more matured appeal. She will like to do cat walk. Walked with her for photoshoot, attracted many guys' attention, especially matured guys! All events especially photoshoot, modeling."
I say again, MATURED appeal for MATURED guys.

"Mishelle is not only a 6.3 pointers. She got x-factor, nice personality n mesmerizing smile. A face that only looks better every min. All events including modeling. A small body compared to her head with 25 inches waist."
That is a good score, 6.3, though I am not sure what it is for. And a face that looks better every minute means you have to wait maybe half an hour before you snap? Head to body to waist ratio is of course, always important. You don't want big headed models.

"Talents: (Cheryl) got super nice singing voice! Can sing for all events except bikini (wasted)"
No bikini singing events please. Wasted indeed.

"Great experience in Dancing (esp. in hip hop) n acting, gorgeous lady. All events but no bikini =("
*Sad face*

"Note: Li Wen is a Hong Kong-Singaporean Mix babe. Borne in Hong Kong. Now a Singaporean."
If you were borne in Indonesia and now a Singaporean, you would be an Indonesia-Singaporean Mix babe.

"Talents: Willing to do Bikini & All Events including acting (note: she got good female assets)"
Repeat, good female assets, and bikini events.

"Talents: Got Fashion Sense, Modeling experience, but no bikini (sorry guys, she says no)"
She does not own one? She has no bikini experience? What?

"Boyish Girl Role. Various events/ acting except wearing skirt roles."
None of that feminine role nonsense.

the mrbrown show: safety above all

Safety safety safety! Even for the F1. Get briefed at mrbrownshow.com!

The Sound of Music

Update: The earlier video of Joy had no sound in the second half, so this is a new version.

When you have three small children, and the oldest has autism, you see all kinds of changes in them as they learn new things. My three-and-half-year-old Isaac has been speaking in complete sentences lately, and developing quite a love for drawing.

Joy started to dance a lot lately, and the maids and Grandma also taught her some silly faces and animal sounds. She is also using "Please" in her requests for food , being the Princess of Food in the family. Joy is a 17-month-old Eating Machine. She can polish off a huge JB Char Siew Bun all by herself, I found out when I was having one myself (I ended up with only my first bite before she cornered me).

And because her older brother has been singing so many songs, like Do a Dear from the Sound of Music and the Alphabet song, Joy tries to sing too, though she still needs work with the lyrics when she sings the ABC song, as you can see in the video.

But the biggest surprise came from Faith, their big sister. Still unable to speak because of her autism, she was recently heard humming. My father first told me about it but I never heard it myself.

Yesterday, as we were dressing the kids up for their swimming outing, in an unguarded moment, Faith sang to herself again. She was probably singing because she was happy to be going out.

The tune to Do a Dear came out from her lips.

I grabbed the mobile phone camera and started recording, shh-ing everyone in the house. The tune she hummed was clear and accurate, demonstrating that she CAN recognise sounds and reproduce them.

She also demonstrated that she can be shy, because she stopped singing once she realised we were all watching her with silent delight and amusement, (and Papa was video-ing her performance).

It was brief, but it was the sweetest sound of music to my ears.

Youtube text link to Joy's little tricks
Youtube text link to Faith Sings