People are reading less and less books these days. Apparently book sales are declining with the exception of event books like the Harry Potter and Twilight books (both have recently ended their run), which leaves the publishing industry in a lurch and scrambling to find the next phenomenon to drive book sales.
I grew up reading comics and books, and to this day i still love the going to Borders to browse the selection they have and try to find good reading. That's how i found Ender's Game, Gates of Fire, Watchmen, and so many other literature that i cherish to this day. I still have my favorite book and comic stores i frequent, and if sales are down that means less books and less shops, that is not a good thing for me.
Enter the Kindle.
This thing is gonna do what the iPod did for the music industry, create mass hype and consumption for books the way Apple's product did for music (it even looks like an Apple product). People will be buying digital books and swapping them just like how music is handled nowadays, I am seriously looking forward to that happening in the future.
Could books in the future exist solely in digital form??? hmmm....that is an interesting question and i don't really know how i feel about that. I love the fact that books are not just about the text, but its also about cover art and the presentation side of it. Nothing replaces the sight of my books and comics side by side on my book shelf.
But then again, the thought of being able to carry hundreds of books with you everywhere is delicious idea hehehe. Will we see a black market emerging in the trade of digital books ala music MP3s??? that is an interesting thought...
Monday, August 25, 2008
The Art Of Reading
A Man On The Moon
I've been quite busy lately with my work load almost reaching breaking point, so i haven't had the time to post some stuff thats been bubbling around in my head. Finally got some time this morning so i thought i'd make a post about my Lil Wayne, who everyone should know by now hehehe.
This is apparently the cover of the upcoming XXL magazine which features Wayne on the cover wearing an astronaut suit. Dear god. What the hell is happening here?!!! (see below)
hehehe that is just wrong on soooooo many levels. But then again that's what I and so many people love about Weezy, he's unpredictable! you can never tell what he's going to do next. He pushes the boundaries of HipHop on many levels, infusing it with creativity and excitement that was not there before.
Did you know 50 Cent and the G Unit just released an album? bet you didn't. Yep they just released an album but nobody cared, which is why it didn't sell that many records (it was a huge flop). Remember the battle between 50's album and Kanye's? that was won by Kanye with a huge margin.
What does it mean? i think that people are getting tired of gangsta rappers, they want someone with creativity and provide them with a new dimension to give them fresh HipHop. To me thats the Kanyes-Weezys-Lupes-Pharrells of the world, they're going to take over and gangsta rappers better watch out!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Can Am Spyder
This is the coolest "bike" i've ever seen!
Built by a company called BRP, which specializes in ATVs and Jet skis, the Can Am Spyder is a 998cc three wheeled motorcycle soon to be launched in the US. It's created for people that want to have the sensation of riding a bike but don't want the danger associated with having one. It also looks pretty cool hehehe.
This is a bold move by BRP and is bound to be a huge hit in my opinion. The motorcycle market is dominated by two wheelers produced by companies like Ducati and Harley, but this three wheeler is going to break new ground in this allready saturated market.
It actually not the first one of its kind, i think the Piaggio MP3 is probably the first, but it's bulky shape is not the most attractive design i've ever seen. The Spyder is the sleek sports oriented cousin to the MP3 and clearly a lot better looking. It's more powerfull too since it packs a 998cc engine, versus the 250cc Piaggio.
If i were to get one i would get the yellow version (see below)
In Case Waterworld Actually Happens
A design for a self sufficient floating "water city", created by Belgian designer Vincent Callebaut. It has a capacity to house 50,000 people, and could drift around the world carried by sea current. It also recycles waste and rain water, as well as harness energy created by the wind, water and sun.
We'll, land is scarce as it is and world population just keeps growing and growing, who knows? in the even that the polar ice caps melt (ala Waterworld) and the world is submerged in water, maybe the idea will take off.
But then again, the design could have commercial potential, i can totally see it used as a floating real estate or theme park project. How about airports? Japan and Hong Kong had to reclaim land to make their airports, and apparently the land is sinking a couple of inches every year and will be totally gone in 15-20 years. Obviously one of the reason for doing it is the lack of land those countries have, why not take this approach instead?
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
If They Live In Springfield
Check out Springfield Punx, an excellent fansite of the Simpsons with a twist. The artists does envisions what various comic and movie characters would look like if they exist in the Simpsons universe. For instance:
Superman
The Joker (Heath Ledger's version)
Thundercats! hehehe
Neo (of The Matrix), pretty cool.
And Iron Man.
Check out their website for more.
Want An Asian Wife?
I found this article about a 70 something years old man that married a 23 years old Indonesian girl, and started a website promoting other "lovematches" for other lonely people that can't find their "true love".
I dont know what to say man...are some people that desperate they gotta buy wives from some village in Indonesia??? or some Indonesians that desperate the would agree to this kind of arrangement??? whoa, it blows my mind.
The article is actually quite interesting, cause they argue that the arrangement actually helps impoverished girls and gives them a better standard of living, while fulfilling the needs of...i guess people who can't find wives.
I'm really really trying to stay in the middle and not let my own opinion overtake my writing, but...thats just frickin' hard!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
New Facebook Virus
Interesting article about a virus thats been going around Facebook called "The Joker", which apparently has allready infected 1800 profiles on the social networking site. Viruses and Trojans are becoming more and more sophisticated these days it seems, so we gotta be extra carefull. Its not surprising to me that they're targeting social networking sites, since they have millions of registered and active users. It used to be that email accounts like Hotmail and Yahoo were the main target, we might see a shift towards the Facebooks and Friendsters of the internet.
New Transformers Car
Here is a shot of the Chevrolet Centennial design concept car that is supposedly featured in the new Transformers movie, thats a nice looking car. If you notice, Michael Bay has a good relationship with GM, which is why most of their cars are featured in many of his films. The first Transformers had the Hummer and Chevrolet cars, while The Island also featured some GM cars. Thats a sweet looking car though...wonder which character is it going to transform into?
Check it out here for more images and info about the concept car!
Prolonging Shelf Life
RIM is coming out with ever more colour variants of their Blackberry Curve and Pearl line, nice ones too, that pink Curve and Pearl is definitely gonna go real well with the ladies hehehe. It's nice that more and more companies are not restricting their products to 2-3 colour variants, as that can make it really boring if EVERYONE has the same stuff as you (I'm looking at you iPod). It can also trigger a collecting craze where people are fighting over each other to get that one of a kind product that nobody else has hehehe i like that!
Check out Crackberry for more info!
Monday, August 11, 2008
Bathe You Apes!!
Love that wallet, gotta get me one fo those, but BAPE is notoriously hard to find cause they only make a limited amount and only sell their stuff through their official stores (which doesn't count Jakarta worthy enough to have one). Apparently BAPE is also the number one most counterfeited brand , which is not hard to believe, high demand - low supply = black market!
EEs
Had the BIGGEST es kacang i've ever seen in this Malaysian restaurant, called funny enough Ee's, hahaha. Ask any indonesian what that means in our language (hint: it rhymes with sit). The food was okay, but that es kacang was amaaaaaaziiiiiiiing.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Breakfast Viewing
Gotta keep updated on the (E) news man hehehe, i watch it every morning with my cup of coffee man. I don't wanna get stressed out seeing a story about a guy who kills his homosexual boyfriend and buries him in the backyard, along with 11 other people he has also killed! (big story in Indonesia at the moment). I'd rather find out Miley Cyrus has beef with the High School Musical cast or whether Britney has won paternity over her kids hehehe
Leather Bracelet
Bought a cool leather Massimo Dutti woven bracelet at Pondok Indah Mall a week ago, just got around to posting about it. Been wanting to get one of these for ages, finally found one to my liking and couldn't resist getting it. It's dark brown (though you cant tell from the picture), and its got a magnetic clasp to hold it together. The funny thing is, everytime i'm trying to eat the magnet keeps attracting spoons and forks hahahhaha.
Chicken & Avocado
Had lunch a couple of days ago at Y&Y in Pacific Place, excellent food as usual. The mushroom chowder opened my lunch, it was cold man, we were sitting near the air conditioner so i wanted to get something warm. Followed that up with a chicken and avocado sandwhich, and fresh apple juice (sick of oj at the moment). Someone ordered the wagyu pizza and a roast duck on rice, it was good too.
I like the glassed the juice came in. Small though hehehe.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Touche
Beberapa pekerja sedang menggali saluran pipa gas di pinggir sebuah jalan besar di Jakarta. Salah satu pekerja menggali sambil merokok.
Seorang ibu-ibu menurunkan kaca mobilnya dan berteriak kepada pekerja itu.
"Mas! Mas! Masa gali pipa gas sambil ngerokok sih! Bahaya atuh!"
Sang pekerja senyum sambil mengelap keringat di dahinya.
"Aman kok bu, kan pake helm!"
Touche!
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Tuesday, August 5, 2008
FX
Checked out the new concept mall FX in Sudirman, and was suprised at how brave the developers made the place stood out in Jakarta's sea of malls. Its bigger and close cousin of the EX mall in the Plaza Indonesian complex, focusing more on hangouts like cafes/restaurant/cinema instead of retail stuff. I only saw watches for sale, maybe in a few months they might have more, but its clear the focus is not on buying.
It had an impressive balconny facing the Sudirman road, with a variety of coffee places and restaurants offering for you to choose. I can totally see this being popular with the Jakarta populace, especially at night when the weather is cooler for you to sit outside. 
The place also has an 8 storey slide! i wanted to try it out but it didn't open until 6 pm or sumtin.
300+ Club
Its official, The Dark Knight has reached the US$300 million mark in 10 days and looks to gain even more. We saw the movie last week and i gotta say i was totally blown away, probably the best Batman movie to date. Heath Ledger's performance IS as good as they say, and i do hope that he wins an award/Oscar for it. It's a brave and amazing creation, showing again how fierce and experimental he is as an actor. The only complaint i have is Batman's voice hehehe i guess i'm spoiled by Kevin Conroy (the voice of the animated Batman series), i always thought he had the perfect Batman voice and i keep picturing it coming out of Christian Bale's mouth. Which didn't happen. Oh well...
Up To No Good
Went out to Blowfish for a friend's bachelorette party last saturday, apparently saving the day cause most of the invites cancelled at the last moment. Had a good time with the DJ playing surprisingly good hiphop and R&B, coupled with good house music too back and forth. But then again, anything after some shots are good hehehe.
The Bachelorette! hehehe
