Right and wrong?
Cold and hot?
Darkness and light?
New and old?

There always seems to be this gray area in the middle, where we don’t know when it is right and wrong…or we maybe caught in the middle of a dark tunnel. Even though there is light on the other side, but we fail to walk near it.

Let’s go a little deeper, somewhere between…

my heart and my hands
my faith and my plans
a whisper and a roar
the altar and the door
contented peace and always wanting more

If you really think about it…these are our decisions that we make everyday!! One end to the other is just soooo close! But, are you caught in the middle of these decisions you make? Maybe, you’ve been in the middle…and you want to get out. It’s easy…jump to either side and you’re out!! But, which side you jump to…is up to U!

To end off this blog, I’d like to share a video with you. It’s called: “Somewhere in the Middle” by Casting Crowns

So last night I had the privelege of going to see a musical that swept the world with a couple of good friends! I have to say that it swept me away. Never knew I had this thing for musical until recently this past year. It’s truly a piece of art! The most interesting thing is…it’s so REAL, even though it’s only an act!!

My best part: I’ve got to admit my favourite part of the whole act was when Valjean sang “Bring Him Home” in Act2. Why? I loved his high voice, but more importantly…he had that faith for Marius! He wanted Marius to get home to Cosette so bad that he could have given up anything! Now, that’s unconditional love!

My best character: I loved Ms. young Cosette just because she reminds me of someone I know! But, moreover she’s so cute!!I know…shallow! My next favourite character is, of course, Jean Valjean which was played by Kieran Martin Murphy, his vocal range was absolutely stunning! Although I’ve got to say I love his soprano voice better! I wonder if he sing talk to his kids?!

Special Ending: There was an unexpected ending at the end of the show! “O Canada” Since, it was Canada’s Day … which I totally have forgotten after the show cause it was THAT good! Or that it was just getting late. The whole crew sang the national anthem of Canada! That..totally was cool…I bet no other dates would they sing that! Just a little EXTRA.

Would I go see it again? Definately!! It’s totally worth seeing it again, but they better be BETTER than the first time! So, for those who still wants to see it…they’ve extended their last show to August 2nd!! But, tickets are selling fast, so get them while you can! Don’t miss out!! If you are a student, there’s a speical student price of $19.50 at the front-est row @ studentrush.com. But, you’ll have to keep your head UP all the time! And you’ll be covered by smoke by the end of it! But, hey…it’s $19.50 for a musical that swept the world. You do the MATH! =P

(a musical by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, Lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer)

Following through is easier said than done. We, humans, say alot but do little. Or maybe we say alot of things, but the things we say is a complete opposite of our actions. Well, this was sort of the main encap for the whole conference, but not quite. There’s more than that… For those who have been coming to my church, we’ve been working on a mini-summer project on how to reach out to our community. Ideas flowed and flowed… (more talking than action likewise!) But, for some reason…when these ideas flowed, it wasn’t in my own interest to actually reach my community. To me, I didn’t feel a sense of purpose in reaching out to the community. I mean why do we even want to reachout. What was our purpose? Evangelism? Who was our target audience? Why the community? Why OUR community? Why should I CARE? All these questions and thoughts kept swirveling in my mind.

So, after this camp…did I have an answer? YES. But, am I going to tell you the answer? NO. But, I will tell you this. Even if I told you the answer, you will probably memorize the answer (cause that’s what we are good at doing) and move on. Only if life was like that…just an answer textbook! Everything was either right or wrong. But, we all know it’s not!! However, I will share something that really TOUCHED me! Something that really WOW-ed me! And something that have changed my view! I hope it’ll change yours too!

So, here it is! A song, “Does Anybody Hear Her?”By Casting Crowns. I’ve probably heard this song played well over a hundred times and the lyrics never really revealed itself to me nor was I really attracted to the lyrics! But, when I first watched the music video…I was ASTOUND! I was STRUCK! I was INSPIRED!

Before you start reading this post, may I suggest turning up your volume. And enjoy this masterpiece called “Married Life” by Michael Giacchino. This was probably one of the most inspiring soundtrack from this film. And maybe it was this music that inspired me to write up on this success from Pixar.

I actually wanted to see this movie before it was released, but too bad I never got to see it during the opening weekend due to my hectic schedule. So, I finally got to watch it tonight with @alyssapizarro. Not only did we watched it, we watched it in 3D!!! Don’t think I ever watched something 3D since high school. (Even though our life is pretty much 3D, just not animated) However, there’s a price for everything! And this meant missing my group meeting. But, like Mr.Fredrick son…wouldn’t it be more adventurous to go to the movies than a meeting? Haha. Bad. Bad.

Anyhow, back to the movie. Every time after watching a Pixar film, there’s always something that I tend to get out of its films. Yes, they are humorous. And certainly they do make you laugh. But, there’s always the STORY behind it. And for this one, I guess Pixar did an excellent job at selecting audience. And doesn’t matter if you’re just a kid or an old grandpa…you will not feel left out in this movie! And depending on the age you are…you’ll get different messages. Being a grown-up young adult, I think I stand right in between the old and the young. Well, for those who’ve watched the movie…I think I’m the guys in the suits at the construction site on my phone! Why? Besides that I’m always on the phone, but we tend to neglect the elders.

The main point of the film was really a BIG QUESTION MARK! I can’t really explain it, but when you get to watch it…you’ll understand. IMO…the main point of the movie is “LIFE GOES BY FAST…TREASURE IT! MAKE THE BEST OF LIFE” And I kid you not, life sure travels by fast…in the movie…it was approximately 5 minutes but in real life..well, it’s just as fast. There’s this kinda bitter feeling when you watch the beginning, maybe cause I didn’t expect that they portrayed life so fast, but it was really! Second part, “treasure it”, I think this is more of myself. When something goes by fast, it makes sense to treasure every second of it. And lastly, I think this is what Pixar wanted to portray…MAKE THE BEST OF LIFE! And it didn’t matter if you were a young adventurous or old like holding a cane. It is YOU who chooses what’s best for your LIFE! So, stop living and start DOING!!

My favourite character in the movie: No doubt, Russell (the young fella)

My favourite part of the movie: Of course, Mr.Russell knocks on the door the first time!! Absolutely FUNNY!

For those who haven’t watched UP yet…I totally recommend it! Prepared to be inspired by Pixar. There’s always a life lesson learned. And who knows where ideas could flow…

-UP

When I got into the water, it was totally not what I had assumed. Well, getting in was kind of hard…but in general I felt really spacious inside this thing. In fact, it’s got more room than I need. And in just 10minutes of training by my uncle… I was ready to row. (I know…I’m a fast learner.)

Picture taken by Duncan Stickings

Edited by Robin Leung

Here’s her latest:

Links: PopCafe Music

My first hand on this camera didn’t really give me a WOW as the Canon SX10 did. But, it was mediocre. I think the camera that Nikon makes are more for those users that know what they are dealing with. After playing with it for a month now, I’m getting more comfortable in using the more manual functions. I think the Nikon family is more for experienced users, I find the more “manual” functions take better pictures than the Auto. And since the Nikon family does not have “Intelligent Auto” as does the Panasonic. You’re pushed to use more of its Manual functions, which I guess is why I got this camera. The 18x zoom was not as impressive as it says. When you reach 18x, it’s really hard to keep still and shoot stills, 16x still does the job. But, when you hit 18…it’s another story.

One of the main features that deserves an A is its weight. It is relatively lighter than most long-zoom cameras, yet still gets the job done. I think this camera is great for the beginners who wants to get a crack for D-SLR. It’s a great camera to start playing with before upgrading to an D-SLR.

One major thing I didn’t like about the camera is the screen, I think because I’m really fuzzy about the quality of LCD screens…I have high expectations of LCD screens. That is why I cannot stand poor quality LCD screens and Nikon stands right at the edge here. The screen is definately not superb but still do-able! I would complain that it shows too much noise when you start shooting in low lighting.

So, do I reccommend the Nikon P80? Yes, if you are a beginner in the D-SLR family and no, if you are in your intermediate-advanced level. It’s quite hard to say. But, for the long-zoom…it’s totally worth it! With this kind of zoom, this is as light as it gets…unless you want to carry a brick with you on the run and with super long lenses! It’s your choice!!

Have a great Long Weekend!

So, this is my first digital camera. A Sony DSC-U20.

It’s one of the smallest camera in the world back in those days with a whopping 2MegaPixels and using 2AAA alkaline batteries. It’s got a really small screen that you gotta squint your eyes to see what’s inside. So, this is definately for the latest in fashion.

Aside from that, this camera was very light. But, wasn’t reliable at all. This thing lasted me not more than a year when there was something wrong with the chip and had to be taken back to Sony, but after fixing, it only lasted me a few short months and gone down to drain.  It was around $1500HK when I bought this camera from memory.

My next camera was a Casio EX-S770:
This camera was another SLIM one in its class. With a high 7.2MegaPixel, which was the highest at the time. I loved this camera for its slimness and ease of navigation. Casio had put in a very nice menu for its users with 3 clicks and you are where you want to go. One of the strengths of this camera was its 2.7″ screen, which was bigger than the rest back then.Noticed how I went from small screen to huge screen.

The video recording feature was a plus on this camera, as the recoridng button is just one click away. After a fatal drop by @anothersamchan, this camera was still working at its capacity. Amazing!

This was a gift from my aunt in HK, I think the price value back then was about $3000HK. Nevertheless, a solid one from Casio.

My 3rd camera was back to Sony, a gorgeous Sony DSC-T200:
This was the newest touch screen display with a 3.5″ screen, the biggest I’ve used so far. This is another solid camera form Sony, the switch back to Sony is because it had capturing design. It is slim! It’s got a 5x optical zoom which is pretty good for how small the lense are. The controls are mostly alll touch screen on the back. And there is 1080P photo playback with this camera. Just plug it into any HDTV and you have photos playing on your tv as slideshow.

Video recording is not bad either, even though it lacks HD recording, still wasn’t so popular at the time, but definately not poor quality at all. The camera however feels heavier than other cameras in its class but this is probably due to the hardware of the screen that makes it so heavy. Battery life is mediocre, again because of the large screen.

And now finally I’m ready to move on! I was motivated to get a Nikon D90 before Christmas, but that was before. Instead I spent the money on a trip to Vegas with a group of friends. So, now being jobless … I’ve got to keep my budget tight. And why all of a sudden rant about cameras, it’s cause my friend @anothersamchan got his new Panasonic FZ-28K last week. This is what it looks like:
This camera is half-way between a “Point-and-shoot” and a state of the art D-SLR. One of the advantages of these long range cameras are is that it is light. And it is capable of doing what a D-SLR does. Well, most of the manual functions can be played around with using this thing.  This thing zoom’s far…upto 18x optical zoom and it’s got an intelligant Auto mode that helps the unprofessional to take professional pictures. One of the major advantages of this camera was that it has 720P HD video recording. Even though, it was not tested, but HD is better than no HD.

The camera was very comfortable to hand and really only required one-hand to life this baby up. It’s got an internal flash that really was not needed under well-lighted areas. And best of all, this thing is a Panasonic, known for its lens. However, reviews have said that this camera had funny problems with focus. I did not noticed it at all, after playing with it once.

So, during this week, which I should be concentrating on my exams. (Well, one done…one to go.) I’ve did some searching for my new camera. I realized maybe it was a bit too early for a D-SLR…taking into consideration I probably can’t afford it now. And probably one of those long range camera would probably be capable of serving me for a year or two. So, instead of looking at the Nikon D90, I looked at the Nikon P90:

I was so excited to find out this was THE camera for me because I don’t take video’s as much. So, HD vs No-HD video recording for me ain’t going to matter much. This camera offers a 24x optical zoom that’s a 8x more than the Panasonic. It’s got a 12.1MegaPixel compared to 10.1MegaPixels from the Panasonic and its predecessor, the Nikon P80. This thing weights pretty much the same as the Panasonic but it also has some cool features. It’s got a 3.0″ big LCD screen compared to only 2.7″ on the Panasonic model. But, it also has a two-way tilting screen (up/down) for the angle and the shot! This was added on the P90 and was not a feature on the P80. I was captured by this camera when I first did my research. But, because this is a 2009 model, it is still quite pricy standing at $350-400US.

From the external to the internal, this was a solid camera. Even though lacking HD video recording, but it’s not a biggie for me. While I’m at it, I was also thinking of the Nikon P80, this was last year’s model.
Its predecessor was not bad either, it has comparable specs to the Pansonic FZ28K. Let me quickly compare, this camera has a 18x optical zoom taking only 13fps, whereas the P90 can take 15fps upto 45 frames. This camera, only having 10.1MP and a 2.7″ LCD screen…other than that…it is still a solid camera. Sitting at $100 less than the P90.

Now the big question, the P80 or the P90? Is it worth spending $100 more?