the Moon stood still on Blueberry Hill ....

I've got noise on Sunday nights again now that I tune in to BostonPete's (here), amongst other radio stations. Makes the end of the weekend so much more ............ nostalgic ? In any case, it reminds me of my younger days.

Guess the kitten had a pretty productive weekend as well, play-wise.

swing !

Somebody gave her a bottle of soap bubbles in church

Akai's audition

Just saw Akai's audition in Got To Dance UK. This kid can really bust a move.

Danny Ainge rolls the dice again ...

Well ! Phew ……..

There’s one thing that you can’t accuse Celtics GM Danny Ainge of, and that one thing is that he is afraid to roll the dice.

Trading away the Celtics starting center Kendrick Perkins for OKC Thunder’s Jeff Green is a big gamble. Not that Perkins was the most important member of the Celtics starting five – he was the least important member of that starting five – but he was an essential part of it. Plus the Celtics’ defensive schemes have depended on Perkins guarding the opposing center without any help from his team mates. And as the Cavaliers showed against Dwight Howard’s Magic last season, that’s a game plan for losing if your center cannot handle the job against a very good opposing center. And Perkins was one of the best in the NBA at handling that job on the defensive end.

Also, basketball is such a tactical game that shifting a starter out changes the dynamics of the team. You have to tweak the game plan for the replacement as he brings a different set of strengths and weaknesses onto the court. The replacement has to learn the play book, which for some players and teams can take up to a period of one year, depending on how intricate that play book is. It’s not like football where a new guy can fit in and make adjustments along the way. When a play is called during a basketball game, if one guy runs to the wrong spot, the play breaks down for the entire team. And since basketball has a shot clock, there is little time to make adjustments when a play break down.

Coupled with the fact that Celtics coach Doc Rivers has constantly claimed that “this starting five (of Garnett, Pierce, Allen, Rondo and Perkins) has never lost a playoff series while healthy”.

It’s true. They’ve had 3 years together : won an NBA championship, lost in the Eastern Conference Finals and came within 5 minutes of another NBA championship. The past 2 years, one of the starters was injured when they lost that playoff series. I guess Doc Rivers can retire that claim now. That starting five has never lost a playoff series while healthy – and they won’t get another chance to.

Having said that, I won’t say that this is necessarily a bad trade. Ainge has earned the right to roll the dice based on his track record. Coupled with the fact that the Celtics desperately needed a backup small forward since Marquis Daniels got injured last month – and Jeff Green is a higher quality small forward than anybody expected the Celtics to get …….. it’s just that nobody in the NBA saw this coming. Which is pretty much a typical Ainge maneuver.

That trade, coupled with another 2 trades, has opened up 3 roster spots for Ainge to fill. So the full shebang will only be known when Ainge has filled those 3 spots. A few names have already been floated as buyout candidates / free agents that Ainge would be interested in. Plus there’s one retired guy whom I suspect the Big Three will be calling to suit up ….. (Sheed!)

In the meantime, Boston - the quintessential American Irish city – will be calling upon the O’Neal brothers – the quintessential Irish name – to hold the fort.

Jermaine O'Neal and Shaquille O'Neal (clue : it ain't the guy in the middle)

on play lists

You know how you go about making a play list for songs ? Very possible nowadays with MP3s.

Sometimes the focus is on folk songs, country songs, jazz songs, songs from the 60's, 70's, 80's - or just a random batch of songs thrown together that work well at just that precise moment in time ? How about a play list of the best break up songs, chill out songs, songs to cook a jambalaya with, or songs for a road trip ? I guess that's a big reason why iPods are so popular.

Well, I've been making play lists for years now and sometimes you'll see certain songs pop up more often than others - regardless of the main genre of music in those play lists. There are quite a number of those songs for me and Bod Dylan's 'Tight Connection to My Heart' (here) is one of those songs.

a Girl called Blondie

It's hard to believe that at the age of 65, Debbie Harry is still making music - but she is. She's currently recording an album with her group Blondie. It'll be interesting to see if they can pull another rabbit out of the hat just like they did with "Maria" in 1999 - the single went all the way to #1 in the UK.

But the reason I have been reminded of Debbie Harry and Blondie is not "The Tide is High" or "Heart of Glass" or any of their numerous hit songs. No ...... the reason is that I found a song by Debbie Harry this week which, though obscure and not a hit, is one which I've been searching for.

Good stuff.

Gym Nation early bird Discount - by 28/02/2011

For those interested - as Gym Nation has just moved into their new premises, they are offering an early bird discount on their 12-month fee.

If you join by 28th February 2011, you can save RM200 on the 12-month fee. Grab it now for the best value gym in Penang !

You can call them at 04-644 9789 and their friendly staff will be glad to assist you (as usual, T&C apply).

What would you do if you had 3 minutes for an ad ?

It's a commercial for a bank.

It's pretty cool.

It makes me wonder whether I will do a similar thing one day.

Maybe I should just start now.

Malacca hopefully for the last time ...

It's strange. I must have seen the photos I took in Malacca some half-a-dozen times. Picked out the ones I liked at first glance .... picked and cropped another few the second time around. And yet ...........

I always liked this photo ..... or rather, some elements of the photo. It's just that I didn't like it quite enough. But this morning as I was browsing through the folder, the light bulb started to flash, and I started to crop.

I think that the resulting photo is pretty decent.

vol. VI

Lion

on Poles

lights

milk drunk

Macheda

Mouse nibbling on bread

Sunshine

Pink Floyd

This past few days the soundtrack has been psychedelic, and all Pink Floyd.

The main feature album being 'The Dark Side Of The Moon', Pink Floyd's most famous album, and rightly regarded as one of the greatest rock albums of all time. It was recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London in 1972-73 and over 45 million copies have been sold. I also remember it as one of the CDs that were taken when my car was stolen some years back.

Now, this is one album which doesn't work well as an MP3. Reason being, one song segues into the next song seamlessly - and this goes on from track 1 right through to track 10 on the album. So while you may like specific songs in the album, the album sounds better if you play it from beginning to end in one sitting. Personally, I sometimes play just tracks 7 to 10, which is my favourite part of the album.

track 7 on 'The Dark Side of the Moon' : "Us and Them"

Another Pink Floyd song which frequently makes an appearance on my play list is "Learning to Fly".

the One Shot that Will Stand Out ...

That's what Ray Allen called it.

He may have made 2,560 3 pointers before this One shot but this is the One that will stand out. This shot being the One that broke the record for most 3 pointers made by a player in NBA history. The One shot that will be played and replayed when any review is made of his career.

It's an achievement which looks even more remarkable when you consider what his college coach, Jim Calhoun, said about his jump shot : "That's the flattest jump shot I've ever seen."

Now, having a flat jump shot doesn't mean that you can't make shots - but it does mean that your percentage of success with jump shots is significantly lower. So, to progress from having a very flat jump shot in college to being frequently described now as having a "perfect stroke, perfect shooting form, pure jump shooter, etc." indicates that a lot of work has been put into that jump shot.

And to break the 3 point record indicates that the hard work has been maintained for many, many years.

So, props to Ray Allen - the NBA's most prolific 3 point shooter.

on the proliferation of mobile devices

I think that this sometimes really happens ......

in the Mood for Love

It's really quite a movie : great script, wonderfully paced, beautifully shot, brilliantly acted. Few people make movies the way Wong Kar Wai can, and just as few can do cinematography the way Christopher Doyle can.

There's a method to watching their movies - the room has got to be dark, there must not be any distractions, and you cannot go to the toilet for the entire movie. Exactly like a movie theatre - but without the whispering from movie goers who do not wish to make the effort to concentrate on the movie. Concentration is essential as WKW often lets the story unfold through things unsaid - not exactly everybody's cup of tea. But make the effort and you'll be rewarded.

And going to the toilet is a big no-no as Wong Kar Wai is a director who builds moods and walking away will just break that mood. Just check out the number of people who say that the smoke in this movie is brilliant : smoke from a kettle, smoke from a pot, smoke from a cigarette ...... smoke !

And just check out this scene from the movie where not a single word is uttered for 2 minutes :

CNY in Penang

Some of the rest of the photos taken in Penang during the CNY.

Contemplation

Tradition

Saturation

Yee Sang

iPhone

Photo Shoot

Queensbay

Curiosity Killed The Cat

I was just on YouTube and typed in "Down to Earth" and what turned out was a bunch of Justin Bieber referrals. Absolutely NOT what I was looking for !

Instead I was trying to get a band called Curiosity Killed The Cat. Like a bunch of British bands in the 80's they seemed to turn up with a hit song or two or three; and then disappeared. Not necessarily a substantial body of memorable work, just a few memorable songs but those songs coloured the soundtrack of my life.

I liked the song then, I like the song now. I don't think that they had a hit anywhere outside the UK though.

the Beach

Ever since we first introduced the beach to Catriona, every trip to Penang has been prefaced by a request from her to head to the beach. Being a Penang boy myself, it has not been too difficult for me to accede to her requests - usually with a camera in hand.

the same beach again

says it all

fishing

the waves were miniscule, but a few kids did the best they could

wipeout

tippy toes

I feel like this belongs in a bank ad somewhere

respite

and a big Grin at the end

vol. V

on Gary Neville's retirement

He was never universally liked and was often derided for the quality of his play. There were frequent comments that he only made the England team because he was playing for Manchester United.

But having seen his many years of service in winning Manchester United teams (8 EPL titles and 2 Champions' League titles amongst others), his consistency and determination, and the fact that 5 different managers chose him as the first choice England right back ............ leads me to conclude that his detractors have under valued his contributions. There were the odd mistakes, but those were notable mainly because it showcased how remarkably consistent he was throughout his playing career.

And it was a long and fulfilling careeer - the guy was Man United's first choice right back for some 11-12 years, for goodness sake. That must count for something considering that it spanned the most successful period of the club's history.

But anyway, as Gary Neville rides off into the sunset of retirement, it's time to say "ciao !". As his play proved this season, it was time to go. Even as Gary leaves the playing staff, you can practically hear Sir Alex thinking, "where can I put him in the coaching set up ?"

GYM NATION update: Ceased Operations

One place we made sure to stop at in Penang was GYM NATION, a new gym near Queensbay Mall. It's owned by some relatives and friends of mine, and is an offshoot of an earlier successful gym located a few km away - Priority Fitness.

The gym is open on :

Mon - Fri : 9.30am -10.30pm
Sat-Sun : 9.30am - 6.00p.m.

Address: 25, Persiaran Bayan Indah. Opposite of HSBC Queensbay.

The contact no. is 04-6449789 for enquiries.

While we were there, we took the opportunity to take a few photos.

the sign board was being installed while we were there

we were there during off peak hours

the blinds did wonderful things to the light

the thingamajig

dumb bell workout

monkey bars ?

the whatchamacallit

There's more equipment turning up and the place is still being fitted out, so I'll be checking the place out the next time I'm back in Penang.