A string of events

Been busy lately and thus not much updates on my life…

…actually there’s still nothing much that I can inform right here that you all didn’t already know. Just some recap of the past few events in my life.

First up was the APIIT MultiCultural Night. Thinking it was my final year at college I might as well attend it. And perhaps joining friends for a few cups of drinks after that. And for the same reason, I didn’t invite any of my friends to join this year. Less being the host and more being a gathering of college friends I guess.

However turns out not inviting my friends was a blessing in disguise. The event SUCKS!

Anyone who had been there would agree with me that the sound system is bad, the microphone is not loud enough, the lighting is the worst. For majority of the hip hop dances, the default lighting is flashing white lights that alternate every few seconds with NO BACKDROP LIGHTS. Imagine being in a dark room and constantly being exposed to a barrage of camera flashes.. constantly.. every second.. for the next 6 minutes.

I didn’t even bothered to bring out my camera for there’s just nothing worthy of my photos (hahaha). But I did see an increase of dSLR’s swarming the front stage. Not sure what they are taking anyway since it’s not a fashion show. 70% of those shots turned out similar to a catwalk photo shoot anyway and the rest was just the same as a portrait. BORING!!!

I guess using a dSLR means dumbing everything down and not taking pictures of the visitors and the surrounding scenes nor the barrage of handsom guys and pretty girls sitting behind them.

“HEY! We’re dressed to the nines too ok? What about some pictures of people behind the stage!”

I did a search on FLickr for any shots of those ‘catwalk’ and ‘portraits’ and only managed to find some by the author name of Reggie Yuan. Check it out below:

 

Both pictures are sharp, full of attention to the subject and leaving viewers absolutely confused whether it’s a catwalk parade or a multicultural show. FYI, the first picture was from a fashion show and the second picture was of a performance.

Anyway also due to the number of dSLR’s, you don’t get to see any video of the event. Which is another blessing in disguise. Who wants to watch a dark, smoke filled, blur & noisy hall anyway.

NOW…

On the other hand, I did went to a fireworks competition in Putrajaya yesterday and it was a total visual galore!

The occasion was to celebrate Malaysia’s 50 years of independence and thus there would be a series of fireworks competition from countries such as Japan, Italy, Australia, Team Global (??) and Malaysia.

^ Kevin Long, Kai Jun, Kevin Kok, Me

^Kevin Long, Kai Jun, Jimmy, Kevin Kok

Yesterday’s was Team Australia’s turn to shine and they didn’t dissapoint. Stipulated duration was 20 minutes and starts at 10pm.

For the first time, I’m impressed even before the show proper starts. Unlike Malaysian ‘time’ where stated 10pm meant a delay till 10:30 pm, Team Australia had a countdown from 30 minutes prior.

They shot 3 fireworks at the 2130 and two shots more at 2140, then a single shot at 2150 and we know it’s going BIG at 2200.

True enough, on the exact second the show started.

There was high and low shots, there was big blooms and small puffy blooms. There was color coordinated shots from left to right and there was 3D shots where flat discs of aeriel fireworks spin to the glory of everyone down below.

I was making a video recording for this and looking at the timer when they finally stopped, it was on the dot. FULL 20 MINUTES!No more, no less. And to cap of the ending, they had these red flares shot from below which very slowly, slowly drifted to the ground like a closing curtain… DAMN SYOK!

We arrived early and managed to secure some good close up positions, but perhaps due to the large flat venue and the height of the fireworks, we never once felt it was too pack. Considering there was 100,000 over people there, the situation was cordial. There wasn’t any pushing or pulling neither was there any gangs of Mat Rempit. Even after the show is over, people walked back to their car in relative peace. Sure there was excited talk among everyone but there wasn’t any hooligan-ism at all. Wonderful! Maybe people are finally being civic here in Putrajaya.

I’m still in the process of re-encoding my video to 1200 DIVX HD format. Don’t wanna miss the details. Once it’s done..

.. I’m gonna put it to YouTube! HAHAHAHAHA….

Meanwhile some lucky friends of mine will get a CD to go along with photos..
:P

PS: You all should really consider using Stage6 instead of YouTube. It’s from DIVX and allows download of videos in their original format. And even displays it in full reso too!

[Update:] Fellow blogger LazyNest has some great fireworks photos to share. Sample below: