mrbrown.com

Friday Sky

Lovely way to end Friday.

See What Show: Project Almanac

Project Almanac was a decent enough time travel yarn as long as you can take:

A) super shaky cam

B) major Microsoft product placement.

I mean, really? Kids all use Microsoft Surface tablets, Lumia phones and build time machines out of an Xbox? A bit obvious, right?

I think The Butterfly Effect is still the better movie but Project Almanac is light and entertaining fluff.

You do have to suspend disbelief in many areas. I mean, this is a found footage movie, and by that I mean the whole movie is shot like it has been edited together from video from consumer cameras. Like the movie Cloverfield.

They try to make you think there is a reason the young people in this movie are video-recording. Every. Freaking. Moment of their lives.

Sure, ok. We can accept that. But wow, their camera can zoom in from super far away and you still hear the audio of the couple talking as if they are standing next to the other teenager shooting the scene.

And the low light performance of these consumer cameras are astounding. Next to no light and you can still shoot so much detail!

I want that kind of high tech camera too.

The characters are likable enough. And we enjoyed the movie. But we did feel a little nauseous after the end credits.

Singaporean Sniper

America has American Sniper. Singapore has… Singaporean Sniper.

One shot, one summon. You are dead, you just don't know it yet.

[Image used with permission, by @VinnieMah, who teaches guitar at Vinnie Classroom: FB link, YouTube link.]

What my kids say to me a lot

Seen at Fairprice: What my kids say to me a lot.

I couldn't stay very long at the supermarket though. I was being Dong Dong Dong Chianged out of my freakin' mind there. So I bought my groceries quickly and got the heck out of there.

POSB National School Savings Campaign for kids

When I was growing up, my parents set up a POSB Savings Account for my brothers and me. We deposited our Chinese New Year ang pows into the account every year (well, in the early years, I think it was my parents who deposited it for us, because babies are too short for over-the-counter banking).

We were even taught to save our allowance, to put aside some of it for a rainy day. At one stage, I was so hardcore at saving my allowance, I even went without buying food during recess, bringing food from home instead. Partly because I was saving up for a really cool yo-yo, that the school bus auntie sold on the bus (along with snacks like “rat satay”).

I still remember the old National School Savings Campaign, run by the Postal Savings Bank, later called the POSB. We saved by buying 10 cent stamps, then fixed the stamps on cards until we had $2 of stamps. The filled card would then be dropped off at the bank as a deposit.

I remember there was Smiley the Squirrel, admonishing us to save. I also remember the sticky fingers (mine, not Smiley the Squirrel’s) from handling all those savings stamps. Good times.

So when we had kids of our own, the wife and I also chose to impart this saving ethic to them. I look at their bank accounts now, and feel a little poor but proud. They have quite a bit of ang pow money saved in there.

On a daily basis, they also set aside their allowance. I allow some of the allowance to go towards a toy fund, but there must be some set aside for pure savings.

I lugged some of those coins from their allowance piggy banks to the coin sorting machine recently. It was really heavy but satisfying to deposit their savings for them.

You know what? POSB is bringing back the National School Savings Campaign, supported by MOE. I am quite excited about it. Yes, the saving stamps, the stamp card, and even Smiley the Squirrel.

-------

Sponsored message:

Find out more about the campaign here and pledge your support.

Parents and primary school students can get their POSB National School Savings stamp card from any POSB/DBS branch, SingPost outlet and at Pacific or Popular bookstores in schools from 2nd February 2015 onwards. Students can then deposit the completed stamp card into any POSB/DBS Quick Cheque Deposit location and earn a $1 bonus (limited to one stamp card per child, per month and only valid for POSBkids account holders).

Sign up here for an ePOSBkids account if your child doesn’t have one.

If anything, stamps will be way easier to carry to the bank than a 5kg bag of coins.


[Image of old POSB stamp card above by Mel Naa, used with permission]

Gahmen: Win a hotel stay to make babies!

Gahmen offers hotel package for you to have sex and make kids. Excuse me, a hotel package for you to "romance your spouse".

Hey, who knows, if you work hard, can still make an SG50 baby. #SimisaiAlsoSG50

So er, if after 9 months, you don't produce a baby, must refund the hotel charges or not?

[photo via @sruthykumar]

Singapore's new Mini-Prohibition law

In view of the upcoming law that bans public consumption of alcohol from 10.30pm to 7am islandwide, I suggest we all start drinking during office hours.

A simple phone for the kids

The kids have been bugging me for a better phone (the son uses a Nokia cameraless Stupid, sorry, Feature Phone, and the youngest daughter has no phone at all). So I decided it was time for an upgrade. This Nokia 208 Dual Sim model comes with a 1.3MP camera, radio, music player, and even supports Facebook and YouTube over 3.5G.

Not that the kids will get to go online (I am withholding the data plan till they are older) but it is nice to have that option.

For now, they can call us, SMS us, take some photos, and listen to some MP3s. That's already way more than I could do when I was in Primary School.

Photo: Sunset over Serangoon Central

The sunset yesterday was particularly lovely and I managed to capture it with my Fuji X100T.

Snoopy Swee's debut on Heartland Hubby

Catch my villain character on Heartland Hubby tonight at 9.30pm, Channel 5.

Here is a little teaser video:

Post by Heartland Hubby.

Meet my little Fuji X100 family (and Wotancraft bag)

A couple of months back, John of drew&barry asked if I wanted to try some of their camera bags and accessories. You know me, bag addict that I am, I said, "Sure!"

The Wotancraft Ryker was the bag I got to use, and I have to say, this bag oozes luxury and leather loveliness. I am told this bag is not always available for sale because the Wotancraft folk are really fussy about the premium leather they use, so if that leather is not available, they won't make the bag.

The Ryker is just the right size for my mirrorless cameras and lenses, but I found it most suitable for my Fuji X100 cameras, both in size and in spirit.

I can carry an X100S (the silver one on the left) and an X100T (the black one on the right) in it, together with the WCL-X100 Wide conversion lens and TCL-X100 Tele conversion lens (seen in the middle). There is space to spare for other accessories like batteries and memory cards, and also a suede sleeve with flap, for my iPad Mini 3.

It is not the lightest bag in the world, since this much leather and metal does make it somewhat on the heavy side. But it isn't mean to be an ultralight travel bag anyway.

And another plus, I love that they don't use velcro or buckles, just a simple leather strip to hold the main flap down. Or if you want quick access, just leave the big flap be and use the magentic catches.

You can also close the inner main compartment with the zippered top cover for security, and leave it unzipped for quick access during use.

The hand strap on my silver Fuji X100S is a Barton1972 strap. I love the feel of it. The stretchiness of the strap design feels very natural. My black Fuji X100T is fitted with a longer Cub & Co. shoulder strap.

And who can resist decorating the X100's with soft shutter release buttons? These are Artisan Obscura ones made of wood. The only small annoyance I have is they sometimes come unscrewed. Nothing that can't be fixed with a little Loctite.

Just to be clear, this isn't a paid post. I shared this because I like their stuff and they make my cameras happy. Also, I have a soft spot for the smell and feel of premium leather and the look of real wood.

I just hope auntie next door didn't think I was off my rocker taking photos along the corridor, on my tummy.

As long as you love me…

Tired of my two younger ones organizing massive Nerf battles in my living room, I told the kids to make a target to shoot at with their new Nerf guns. And they made this.

I swear I had nothing to do with it. They decided for themselves what the target photo was going to be.

I did get a little upset though. They printed it with the family color laser printer and that Justin Bieber photo cost me 60 cents.

See What Show: Taken 3

Stay here in the toilet, Kim. Daddy will protect you. Again.

Taken 3 was… ok. I wish I can say it was as good as the first but it was serviceable. Not to be Taken too seriously.

The plot is like The Fugitive (Tommy Lee Jones, Harrison Ford) except with more killing and neck-snapping.

And really, by now, you'd think Bryan Mills should know how to keep his loved ones safe. But nooooo, the movie may as well be renamed Woefully Negligent Parenting.

I think the idea of having the police after him and at the same time having to deal with bad guys was interesting. But you never really saw it resolved in an artful way.

And without a clear villain, you aren't really rooting for Bryan Mills here. Who is the bad guy? Who?!

And as Liam Neeson huffed and puffed his way through some of the running scenes, you can't help but wonder if the franchise is getting somewhat tired.

Perhaps it is apt that the movie tagline is "It ends here."

Yes, please.

Tweet so long already

Wow, I just realized that it has been EXACTLY eight years since I joined Twitter on the 5th of January, 2007. Has it been THAT long?

Other signs you are getting old: A new musician friend says to you, "When I read your blog and listened your podcasts, I was in Primary School."

I am Pioneer Generation for Twitter. Got any special promotion or not?

Everyone loses it sometimes

We were at the mall today, to deposit the piggy bank coins that the kids have been diligently saving from their allowance. It was heavy to lug those coins to the machine, but fascinating to watch the machine count the coins so well.

Faith didn't quite like it there and she freaked out a little. It was probably the crowd and the music and the general noisiness overwhelming her senses. She can be a little vocal when she expresses her displeasure.

It is always interesting to see the reactions of people when Faith screams or shouts in a public place like this.

Some stare. Some look on with a smile of empathy.

Some actually get up from their seats and scurry away.

Faith's younger siblings ask me, "Why do they do that? Cheh Cheh is not a monster. They are being silly."

I tell them it's ok. Some people just don't understand the quirks of her autism so they are afraid. Or they think they might be blamed for causing her behaviour. People fear what they don't understand.

We who understand our daughter's condition, also understand why people don't understand. So we rarely get mad at them.

the mrbrown show: Kim Huat: This not your Mother's Army

YouTube link: http://mrbrwn.co/13MDOPq

Kim Huat reads a forum letter that makes him angry.