mrbrown.com

Don't forget to take the sun into account in your design

"Hey look, Mommy! Spaceships!"

Abercrombie & Fitch ad at Orchard Road suspended

It's about time they finally did something about that Abercrombie & Fitch ad at Orchard Road!

I told them so many times: stop using the photo of my ripped torso for their giant poster! I am a private and humble person and I'd hate to make other men jealous with my abs of steel.

London Weight Management: “We have not breached any regulation in accordance to the local regulation”

The LWM commercial itself

Ever since Anita Kapoor wrote her Open Letter to London Weight Management saying that their commercial was insulting to women, the Net has been abuzz with mostly brickbats for the company.

The company finally broke their silence and said, "We have not breached any regulation in accordance to the local regulation."

Their marketing and communications manager Hazel Tang also said, "We wish to remind you that we are neither discriminating nor nauseating the obese women in this territory."

Well, London Weight Management, I wish to remind you that if you want to call yourselves London, your England must improve.

Also, it doesn't change the fact that your commercial was nauseating.

Zombie Mirai

So like, the friendly Danny Choo of dannychoo.com gave me a lovely Figma Mirai figure when I visited him in Tokyo and my buddy Kai in the studio decided to make her Zombie Mirai, complete with exposed skull, drool, and bullet wounds.

Kai insists on calling her Zombirai.

Sorry Danny, I have demented artist friends in my studio. Hahaha!

Headline: "Republicans turned off by size of Obama's package"

Michelle Obama wouldn't complain.

{via}

the mrbrown show: halloween horrors

Photo by massdistraction

Happy Halloween! Don’t be scared, this is a very safe and family-friendly show. Get boo-ed at mrbrownshow.com!

Play "the mrbrown show: halloween horrors"

CNNGo column: 21 ways to save money at the next F1

Latest CNNGo.com "Say What? with mrbrown" column: CNNGo column: 21 ways to save money at the next F1

Excerpt:

When Second Minister for Trade and Industry Mr S Iswaran said that Singapore was in "no hurry" to extend the Formula One race beyond its current contract, and that he would "like to see it continue on a mutually beneficial basis", I read that as SingaporeSpeak for "Got discount or not?"

I don't blame the Government if they are having second thoughts about staging the F1 night race here for another five years. It costs S$150 million (US$115.4 million) annually to stage the race, the Singapore Government foots S$90 million (US$69 million) of the bill (with taxpayers' money) and we rake in about S$100 million (US$77 million) in tourism each year from it.

It doesn't take a math genius to see that this isn't exactly a lucrative thing for us to stage.

That is why I propose we try to find ways to save money for future F1 races in Singapore. I asked the greatest minds of the country to mull over this, with this hashtag: #waystosavemoneyatnextF1

1. @mrbrown: Lose the high-powered lights at the Singapore night circuit. #F1 drivers to drive with night-vision goggles.

2. @mrbrown: Computer graphics fireworks for TV audiences. (Actually, didn't China "enhance" their fireworks for tv too?) (cont'd)

CNNGo column: 35 burning questions for the PE2011 candidates

Latest CNNGo.com "Say What? with mrbrown" column: CNNGo column: 35 burning questions for the PE2011 candidates

Excerpt:

When the four presidential candidates were deemed eligible by the Presidential Elections Committee (PEC) to run for the 2011 Presidential Elections, Singaporeans were abuzz with the fact that: a) they all had the last name "Tan" and b) there was actually going to be a contest.

You have to forgive us. We went through two walkovers for the last president and after a 12-year dry spell, to have four guys to choose from is a big deal, even if the role is largely ceremonial.

Hey, the salary is S$4,267,500 (US$3,535,997) a year, so you bet we care about who we vote in.

The Straits Times started a hashtag called #AskSGPresident to, ahem, "crowdsource" questions from the Twitter community. Their top-ranked #AskSGPresident question so far is: "What would you do if you disagreed strongly with the Cabinet?"

Talk about a yawn fest.

So my partner-in-crime, Mr Miyagi (@miyagi), and I came up with our own hashtag for followers to ask the presidential candidates the real burning questions:

"Do you have a burning question to ask the #SGPresident candidates? Give a shout-out to #YoSGPresident!"

Here are some of the gems from #YoSGPresident (https://twitter.com/search?q=%23YoSGPresident):

1. @mrbrown: #YoSGPresident, Wazzuuuuuuuuuuuuup!

2. @mrbrown: #YoSGPresident, Where exactly is the G-spot? Does it really exist? (cont'd)

A visit to the Ferrari garage

Courtesy of Shell, I got to visit the Ferrari garage at the Singapore Grand Prix. I also got to hang out at their Sky Suite, and stuffed myself with Häagen-Dazs and some fine salmon too. But that's another story.

Shell has a lab right inside the thick of things, to help the Ferrari team analyse the petrol and lubricants used by the team at every race.

Here are some photos from that visit, taken with a Sony A77 and post-processed.

Everyday Life 20

Park bench, Kallang Riverside Park.

Morning ride, Changi Beach Park.

Read. Design. Create.

Paint me a window, good sir.

View from my accountant's office.

Pelton Canal, Circuit Rd.

Made with my iPhone and shared on Instagram.

Everyday Life 19

Sunset by the pool at Nirwana Gardens, Bintan.

Slice of cake in the car park.

Swimming at the top of the world.

Stairways to heaven.

The Ancient Art of War in the Void Deck

Made with my iPhone and shared on Instagram.

Sony XBA headphones launch in Tokyo

Together with more than 35 journalists and bloggers from around the region, I attended the launch of the new Sony XBA (Experience Balanced Armature) balanced armature headphones at their Tokyo HQ.

The entry level XBA-1 will come with a single full-range driver while the XBA-4 has the kitchen sink, with a full-range driver, a tweeter, a woofer and a super-woofer.

There are also other single-driver models: the noise-cancelling XBA-NC85D (a box-free model!), the waterproof Sports XBA-S65 model and the Bluetooth XBA-BT75.

There are also smartphone versions of XBA-1 to XBA-4, with the designation "iP" (probably stands for iPhone). These come with an inline remote and mic and cost slightly more.

The Bluetooth XBA-BT75 comes with a little carrying case with a battery inside, that acts as a charging unit too (you charge the carrying case, the case charges the headphones). You will need it as the Bluetooth model only lasts about 3.5 hours on one charge.

Estimated prices will range from S$89 (XBA-1) to S$499 (XBA-4).

The tiny balanced armatures inside the headphones are made in Japan, while the headphones are assembled in their Malaysia factory. The balanced armatures apparently have the sensitivity of 13.5mm Dynamic Drive driver, but at a quarter of the size.

I found myself liking the XBA-3 model most. It had the most balanced sound of the four main models. The XBA-4, with its super woofer inside, tended to overwhelm my music. Perhaps it also depends on the kind of music you like to listen to. If you like your bass, the XBA-4 should make you happier.

I also liked the fit of the Sports model, with the clever use of the wire to secure the cans so it doesn't move as much when you exercise.

Noise isolation is very good, especially if you use the Noise Isolation earbuds provided.

I am currently very fond of my Sony MDR-EX1000 which is designed more for studio monitoring (and hence the price tag) but the new range of consumer headphones do impress.

The only problem you might face is choosing from the 11(!) XBA models being offered. Talk about kitchen sink.

Everyday Life 18 (Tokyo edition)

Train driver, Yamanote Line, Tokyo.

Cyclist in Harajuku, Tokyo

One of the most photographed cosplayers at Tokyo Game Show.

Shibuya Crossing by night.

Street market at Shinjuku, Sunday night.

Ice Lolly man, Asakusa.

My train will come. Eventually.

Made with my iPhone and shared on Instagram.

Nicolas Cage is a Vampire!

This 1870s photo of a Tennessee man on Ebay is proof that Nic Cage is a blood-sucking vampire. Uncanny, the resemblance, ain't it?

#whyisabellalohcanceledhalloween

Isabella Loh Wai Kiew as "Miss December" in the SembCorp calendar when she was CEO there.

Naturally, the Twittersphere, with its devil worshipers, could not resist coming up with possible reasons why Wildlife Reserves Singapore CEO Isabella Loh Wai Kiew cancelled the popular Night Safari Halloween Horrors event, thereby flushing $1 million and 7 months of hard work by Singapore Polytechnic students and her own staff down the toilet.

Hence, the hashtag #whyisabellalohcanceledhalloween was born:

1. @mrbrown: She was worried the Night Safari animals would be afraid of the dark. #whyisabellalohcanceledhalloween

2. @mrbrown: She felt Lantern Festival at the Night Safari was more relevant to conservation than Halloween. #whyisabellalohcanceledhalloween

3. @BB_See: The animals might be offended by the blatant worship of the devil #whyisabellalohcanceledhalloween

4. @nurulsnomnoms: She was afraid that the celebrations included animal sacrifices. #whyisabellalohcanceledhalloween

5. @cynicmaverick: She scared Night Safari sold 10,000 tickets but 10,001 people turned up. #kiasee #whyisabellalohcanceledhalloween

6. @miyagi #whyisabellalohcanceledhalloween she kenah trick more than treat.

7. @Da_ERP: #whyisabellalohcanceledhalloween real ghost heard of the party and has sent her emails enquiring if they could join the party

8. @weiwulah: Her Halloween costumes are still in the washing machine. #whyisabellalohcanceledhalloween

9. @Jeremy_Yew: Her animal instincts told her so. #whyisabellalohcanceledhalloween

10. @mrbrown: She wanted to be a PR horror story case study. #whyisabellalohcanceledhalloween

11. @socialpr: She was afraid people mistake Wild Life reserves for After Life Reserves. #whyisabellalohcanceledhalloween

12. @Alexifying: She hated family gatherings. #whyisabellalohcanceledhalloween

13. @miyagi: Someone had to make a video about #whyisabellalohcanceledhalloween

And the best one of the lot:

14. @uberred86: She decided she didn't need a costume to be a witch. #whyisabellalohcanceledhalloween

And yes, #whyisabellalohcanceledhalloween has been trending on Twitter since yesterday.

I received some feedback that "canceled" should be spelled "cancelled". But Lee Kuan Yew said embrace American English too leh.

Forgot about the Most Important iPhone Whale of All

Lee Kuan Yew Whale

SIN: A Singapore Instagram Exhibition

Do drop by the National Library to check out "SIN: A Singapore Instagram Exhibition", a mobile photography exhibition celebrating Singapore.

150 Instagrams were curated from more than 8000 entries, capturing Singapore architecture, events, food and people with the iPhone.

Date: Saturday Sep 17, 2011 – Sunday Oct 30, 2011
Time: 05:00 PM – 09:00 PM
Venue: Level 8, Promenade in National Library Building

Full disclosure: One of my Instagrams is in the 150. I am, of course, deeply honoured to be chosen.

Poster above by @aikbengchia, one of the curators of this show and one of Singapore's best known Instagrammers.

Night Safari management cancels Halloween Horrors event last minute

Update: Now President Tony Tan also gets dragged into this. CEO Isabella Loh, *well done*.

Update 2: Here is a clipping where "Miss December" was interviewed for her bikini photo in the SembCorp calendar.

Message from Isabella Loh Wai Kiew:

Dear all,

Thank you for all your posts and comments. I know that the decision to cancel Halloween Horrors was sudden, and I am very sorry for all the upset it has caused.

In particular, I would like to reiterate my apology to the Singapore Polytechnic students. I have spoken with their Principal and I plan to meet them personally to discuss this matter early next week.

I would also like to clarify that I did not intend to link President Tan's comment from our Mid Autumn Festival "Moon Night" celebrations to the decision to close Halloween Horrors, which was made in consultation and agreed by the management of Wildlife Reserves Singapore. The Board was informed.

As CEO, I take full responsibility for this decision. I believe that it is the right one for WRS and remain committed to our mission in Singapore.

Isabella Loh

If I were the Principal, I will never let my students work on a project with the Night Safari again, as long as their current CEO is in charge. Why risk having future projects yanked at the last minute? If she can do it this time, what is to stop her from doing it again?

And those of you who think I am quoting unverified sources from forums may want to know that they are NOT unverified sources. I am in touch with a few sources. And if you heard some of the stories that I've been told, you'd be angry too.

--------

Halloween Horrors, a highly successful event that has been running for six years, was to be held at the Night Safari on September 30th, but the Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) management decided to to yank it 2 weeks before launch.

The event is run by students from Singapore Polytechnic's Diploma in Events and Project Management as their final year project. (TNP link and CNA link)

Seven months of hard work, almost $1 million dollars spent, 1000 tickets sold, all down the tubes.

Apparently, the new CEO, Isabella Loh, said that there was negative feedback from "corporations, friends of the zoo, the public and the media about the event, especially over the relevance in relation to conservation".

CEO Isabella Loh also said that it would focus on more multi-cultural family bonding events, and that the Halloween event was canceled because it clashed with a Deepavali event in October.

What was particularly disturbing was a report from the SP team that someone in the senior management said, in response to why the event was canceled, 'We should not worship the devil. We can be creative and turn the bad for good."

WRS would neither confirm or deny the quote.

There is an "official statement" by the new CEO, at their Facebook page. It is drawing many negative comments.

Me, I am boycotting the Night Safari and their "multi-cultural" and "family bonding" ways, not because I am against multi-culturalism and family bonding, but because what they did to those SP students was wrong. You heard me, I am boycotting the Night Safari.

Someone who was allegedly involved as a scare actor, named lolxuan, mentioned in a forum:

Hi guys, I was involved in last year's halloween horrors and was gonna be in this year's too as a scare actor.

The entire event was planned by a group of students from SP's Diploma in Events and Project Management as their final year project, just like last year. Everything from the theme, costume design, recruitment/audition of actors to the actual planning and exectution of the event was and would have been done by them. Most of the scare actors, about 90% of us, are either poly students or recently graduated poly students.

The last minute cancellation came as a huge shock to all of us involved because it's less than 3 weeks to the start of the actual event. I was actually at the night safari trying out my costume the other day and when i got home at night I heard that someone high up decided to pull the plug on it just like that.

This annual halloween event has been going on since 2007 and is always a huge success in both drawing crowds as well as making huge profits for the Night Safari/Singapore Zoo. it is ridiculous to expect anyone to believe that the actual reason of cancelling such a highly anticipated event so close to its start is to make way for events like a Deepavali festival or other 'family oriented' events.

If they were against this from the start they would and should have cancelled it a long time ago, not only now. Not when all the costumes are done, makeup artists have been hired, scare actors auditioned and trained, props and decoration on site been set up, roadshow booth opened at Orchard and even tickets already gone on sale.

To people speculating about there being a religious nut behind this last minute cancellation, that certainly seems to be a possibility. From what we understand so far, the decision came from Wildlife Reserves Singapore's new interim CEO, Isabella Loh. (you can google her elite, uncaring face) The reasons we got apart from the one they told the media is that 'having an event like Halloween Horrors is like worshipping the devil.' I'll say that the people working at the Night Safari/Singapore Zoo, members of the public and of course the students who are directly involved in creating this event are all extremely disappointed in this shocking decision. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions as to what is going on...

In an update, lolxuan posted:

Okay guys, here's the latest update.

It has been confirmed that the decision to cancel Halloween Horrors was a sole decision made by the CEO.

We are trying hard to get this decision overturned now so the event can go ahead as planned.

Please don't let 7 months of hard work and effort go down the drain like that. If you are involved in this event, have been involved in past years' events or simply would like to go to this event then I appeal to you to help make your feelings known in whatever way you can! Spread the word people!!!

A day at the Volkswagen Eco Driving Programme

A few weekends ago, I attended a special driving course at Volkswagen's showroom to learn how to drive in the most fuel efficient way. It's called the Volkswagen Eco Driving Programme.

We started the session with a 7km drive that was measured by a very cool computer inside a VW Golf Sport 1.4. Each of us had our data stored on an SD card so that the instructor, CK, could evaluate our driving later.

After one round of driving, we returned to the showroom for instruction and tips. Then it was back on the road again for a second round, to apply what we learned.

Even though I was already a light-footed driver, I still learned a thing or two that will help me save more fuel. The computer that measured our driving really captured all kinds of mindbogglingly useful data which could be graphed and charted.

This is me with my certificate of participation. Yes, I could not resist wearing my Infinity MPG Threadless t-shirt for a laugh. Despite being a daily cyclist, I do drive the family on weekends and when the need arises. And since I do drive, I may as well learn how to do it in the way that uses the least fuel, without compromising the driving experience.

You can find out more at the VW site and at thinkblue.sg.

More iPhone Whales

I got a little carried away with the whole iPhone Whale meme and did a few more.

PAP Whale

Teo Ser Luck Whale

President Tony Tan Whale

Bak Chor Mee Whale

Panda Whale (by Kai)

Poker Whale (by Kai)