The new craze, 3D

3D,

We can't overcome the feeling that the latest craze in television land,......3D......, is another cash-cow for the consumer product manufacturers.....

Not that long ago, LCD and plasma were the must-haves, and admittedly, LCD/Plasma screens do provide a sharper picture, but it all comes at a cost....

Now that LCD/Plasma screens have pummeled down to reasonable levels, technonista's want us to believe that the next step forwards is 3D.....

Remember the time when 3D in its infancy in the '60s and 70's was a pure novelty, requiring the audience to wear cheap, cardboard red/green glasses....and in the end gave us a whizzying headache in return....doh!!!....

Technology has not stood still ofcourse, today's glasses are made of much better materials and granted, the 3D technology has grown out of its teething problems.....

The various roadshows here, have provided us with the opportunity to test this latest craze out, and yups, it looks quite swelly....

TV sets which automatically change signals from 2D to 3D and vice versa depending on the signal source, glasses which are finally comfortable to wear and other numerous enticing features.......

There is a catch though.....apparently there is a difference of technique used by the competing manufacturers, resulting that specific glasses for a specific brand can't be used to view 3D on a different brand of 3D television....., ouch, we are going back to the Betamax vs VHS, HDD vs BluRay war again.

World Cup Football 2010 in 3D or not..........we are patiently, stubbornly and wisely sitting this one out.....our ol' trusted 52" projector TV of 10 years has given us enough viewing pleasure despite all the hype of LCD/Plasma/3D and whatever else.........

Never chuck away ol' things, they still provide usefulness....

Home Party Cooking

Home Party Cooking,

A sales concept that has become mainstream since 'Tupperware' made it a furore back in the mid-last century that neatly coincided with the empowerment of cash-rich housewives.

And needless to say, still going strong today......

All sorts of companies have been using this concept to try to dish their goods and services, ranging from lingerie, insurances, 'intimate tinted, arousal,...ahem objects:p' and the list goes on......

So on an ordinary relaxing Sunday, hearing a lot of commotion downstairs, we found out a whole group of people attending a home party cooking session......"what the @#!&".....

Somebody who knew aunty Lily and so forth, introduced this particular lady+gent team to perform a presentation at our 'casa',......needless to say that aunty Lily rounded up our immediate neighbours to attend the party, thus filling the living room to the brink in no time...

(Instead of Home Party Cooking I should rebadge this post as House Warming Party instead)

Back to the point....granted, this particular lady in question did whipped up some mean dishes, ranging from appetizers, main courses and even ice-cream with the help of her 'magical' pots, pans and stoves.....

All at no costs to us, whatsoever,.....erm....correction.....correct, we were not utterly convinced that those particular cooking utensils produced those delicious dishes, it was more the skill of the lady cook herself.....

But aunty Lily was suckered into buying a few pieces,....mmhhhmm, not a few....she practically bought the whole range....doh!!!

Does aunty Lily perform magic now in the kitchen? Too early to tell, but keep this between us, knowing that the food is cooked with precious new pots and pans nowadays, we duly oblige to tell her that her food is wonderful........don't want to break her heart, do we?!

The Dark Side is upon us

The Dark Side,..........

Science Fiction fans will immediately recognize it, as the 'Dark Side' is an integral part of the Star Wars folklore............."The Light side versus the Dark side"..........."Luke Skywalker versus Darth Vader"......

A bit of history first........

A long, long time ago............

1977 : A young mother taking her 2 sons to the movies....., that mother is our mum :)...and even though she barely understood the lingo, she had developed a love for watching movies, especially if those movies were Oscarwinning blockbusters.....so it was a common thing for us 3 to go to the movie regularly (daddy was always too busy tending his business)....

Thus on this 1977, she took us to watch "Star Wars"....and from the moment the movie opened up with the now infamous 5 words "A long, long time ago...." and accompanying John Williams pompous score......the whole audience including me were thrown into a rollercoaster ride........the phenomenon "Star Wars" was and still captures the imagination of generations of people....

Fast forward today, the second installment of the original trilogy, "The Empire Strikes Back", is celebrating its 30th birthday, and for the local Star Wars fan club a reason to celebrate it in style at a nearby cineplex.

Stormtroopers, Boba Fett the bountyhunter, Imperial officers, a Jedi Knight and even Darth Vader made their appearances, (ermmm......up close I didn't realize that Darth Vader is so short, 'cos in the movie he commands a towering presence :p).......

Laetitia and her friends were totally mesmerized by the whole Star Wars experience, turning them into true believers of the eternal fight between the Light and Dark side......

Talking about 'true believers'........I was barely 8 years old when I saw the first movie in the cinema, but I suspect most if not all of the dudes at the Star Wars Fair were still in their mummy's wombs when the first movie was screened or at best were still in their diapers sucking their thumbs.....

So who gives them the right to be die-hard Star Wars fans of the first hour then ?!?....:p Who holds the most bragging right !!!!

Let's pull out the light sabres and decide this issue for once and for good.....