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Darien's Doodles

Not so everyday personal doodles...
August 17

Some 'healthy' Penang fun with Mr. Public Relations, Microsoft

It was good to get down to Penang the week before last at our annual Microsoft Malaysia company offsite. These days I don't get the chance to share that many light moments at work, but the Penang trip, together with around 100 other Microsoft employees, was a string of lighter moments all tied together. Case in point, getting pounced upon by Michael Ang, our senior PR guy, whilst trying to check in at the hotel after a long drive.

What started off as a friendly hello, and a nice photo opportunity...

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soon turned ugly.... ;-)

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Have no idea what caused it.. something about me spilling secrets... couldn't quite get the details as I was getting choked. ;-) Anyway, all good fun, and quite a spectacle for onlookers in the lobby of the g-hotel. Good one, Mike. Lol!

February 10

Check this out.. The Zoom H4 Handy Recorder

Zoom H4 in HandI came across this a a while back, thanks to an AES Malaysia fellow, the Zoom H4 Handy Recorder. This is an amazing device for those of you looking to do a 'quick and not-so dirty' portable stereo recording for editing later. You get 2 electret condenser microphones in an X/Y configuration, so there's no mucking about with placement, and you'll get an excellent stereo image every time. Plug in a couple of AA-sized batteries (for about 4 hours of life), a healthy sized SD card (at least 2GB), and you're off recording 24bit, 96KHz digital audio in either raw WAV format or MP3 format.

Imagine the scenarios.. in the practice studio jamming... you arrange the band, take an overall X/Y stereo mix (this is gonna sound rough for sure, but it will hold the whole thing together), then you can take a direct input from the lead singer through the phantom powered direct XLR inputs, and the other XLR input?... maybe a direct feed of the bass guitar (which you can run through an onboard simulator to fatten it up before going to tape... er, SD card). Nice. Oh yeah, for those wanting to inject a bit of discipline into those jam sessions (always a good idea), it comes with a built in tuner and metronome - fire up that click track boys! ;-)

Zoom H4 Side ControlsOr, how about this... Big Band recording... put the Zoom up high on a stand, X/Y the whole band, then reinforce it with a direct feed from the double bass, and direct input from the vocalist. Nice. And later, just upload the audio via USB (or direct via an SD Card reader) into your Nuendo/ProTools/Cubase (actually it ships with Cubase LE)/Logic/Sonar etc.. workstation and mix it sweetly (if you must, there are also the onboard effects and simulators, so you can add them in real time too as you record).

Oh yes, firmware is updatable too. Classy. Be sure to get the latest firmware here (Version 2.10 includes support for 4GB SD Cards, increased font size, WAV to MP3 conversion etc..), you can also get the ASIO driver for Windows XP too, so you can use it as an external Analog to Digital Converter (ADC)... way cool.

Finally, portable, high quality digital recording is a reality with devices like the Zoom (the M-Audio Microtrack II might also be something you could consider). Get a Zoom (it's about USD$500 retail). Start doing decent stereo recordings. Edit them up. Change the world with your music! Let me know how you get on.

November 04

Renelle's Baptism at Our Lady of Fatima, Brickfields

Last Sunday was indeed a special day for us being Renelle's Baptism at Our Lady of Fatima in Brickfields; special for many reasons.. it's a significant day in her life.. it was the church we were married.. the ceremony was performed by a long-time friend of mine, Fr. Clarence. Here's a summary photo chronology of the day:-


Renelle with Mum sleeping in the car in her baptism dress (which we had made for the day in white satin with lace) just before going into the church for the ceremony.
"The white garment symbolizes that the person baptized has 'put on Christ', has risen with Christ." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CEPAC, 1994)


God-mother Sr Rosalie, fsp. Although she couldn't be physically present during the ceremony she certainly was present spiritually, and we are beyond thrilled that she consented to be Renelle's God-mother.


Fr. Clarence giving the reading.

  

Renelle during the sign of the cross.
"The sign of the cross, on the threshold of the celebration, marks with the imprint of Christ the one who is going to belong to him and signifies the grace of the redemption Christ won for us by his cross" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CEPAC, 1994)


Renelle during the anointing of the Holy Oil.
"The catechumen now makes the triple renunciation of Satan, his works and his pomps, and he is anointed with the oil of catechumens on the breast and between the shoulders: "On the breast, that by the gift of the Holy Ghost, he may cast off error and ignorance and may receive the true faith, 'for the just man liveth by faith' (Galatians 3:11); on the shoulders, that by the grace of the Holy Spirit, he may shake off negligence and torpor and engage in the performance of good works; 'faith without works is dead' (James 2:26)", says the Catechism." (http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02258b.htm)


The pivotal moment... Renelle during the rights of Baptism.
"[Baptism] signifies and actually brings about death to sin and entry into the life of the Most Holy Trinity through configuration to the Paschal mystery of Christ. Baptism is performed in the most expressive way by triple immersion in the baptismal water. However, from ancient times it has also been able to be conferred by pouring the water three times over the candidate's head" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CEPAC, 1994)


Renelle during the anointing with sacred chrism.
"The anointing with sacred chrism, perfumed oil consecrated by the bishop, signifies the gift of the Holy Spirit to the newly baptized, who has become a Christian, that is, one anointed by the Holy Spirit, incorporated into Christ who is anointed priest, prophet and king" (Catechism of the Catholic Church, CEPAC, 1994)

 
All very happy. Dad, Mum, Fr. Clarence and Renelle after the ceremony.

October 17

Another foray into sampling excellence - Jojo's, "Anything"

Currently, one of my favourite re-sampled tracks of yester year is "Anything" by Jojo. This amazing original track, Africa, written by amazing keyboardist and session musician, David Paich, and drummer, Jeff Porcaro, from the classic rock band Toto, was always a favourite of mine, not only to listen to, but also being written by a keyboardist, it's a really enjoyable "technical" track too - not to mention a classic for keyboardists everywhere to play in a band.
 
Here's what I find interesting... there are really only two main loops taken from the original song, and so powerful musically that these loops are, they carry all the way through Jojo's "Anything" without requiring sampling of the original chorus - once again, testament to the technical complexity of keyboardist David Paich's original. The other thing that's amazing is that new "club bottom end" - just check out the bass in that bottom octave and a half of the audio spectrum - really kickin'. Haven't heard this in a decent system in a club yet, but clearly it would get you rocking on the dance floor in no time, not to mention the extra percussion hit right over the original snare. Excellent work by producer Beau Dozier.
 
Real class. Great song - both new and original, giving life in modern times to a classic rock song written in the late 70's. Excellent job by all.
 
October 15

Talking about Renelle in the baby carrier at MidValley

Some great videos we just shot. Yeah, yeah, yet another "daddy" post, but the Internet is really allowing my remote family and friends to stay in touch - so the "daddy" posts are here to stay. Wink 

This first video shows the success of a baby carrier we purchased. It's less than RM40, which is amazing because we were checking out Amazon and the one we liked was nearly RM400 - bit of a difference compared to that. Anyway, turns out she's super-happy and relaxed in it, and for me, I can walk for hours carrying her around. Winner. Open-mouthed

Renelle in the baby carrier at MidValley

   
Video: Renelle in the baby carrier at MidValley 

This second video is a candid moment of Renelle getting up from sleep. She's honestly a little angel when she wakes up with a smile. Here's a look...

Renelle getting up from sleep

  
Video: Renelle getting up from sleep

 

 

September 23

My first outing with the Car Seat in the Park

We had quite an experience with Renelle today; the frist time with the car seat in the car, and then first time outside in the Bukit Jalil park near our house - of which, I'm glad to say, both experiences went really well. The car seat started off a pretty serious affair, so I nick-named her "Serious Sam" in the car seat - you can see why here. When we got to the park, she didn't like the sun at all, so we thought we were in for trouble, but after we found a shady spot under a tree, the ever-famous "spider-fang" came out and it was all excitement. Coming back in the car was just too much though, after all the activities, and with the rocking motion of the car it was "lights out".
September 16

Some quick photo updates

 I've been so busy with TechEd SEA 2007, that I haven't seen Renelle for about 2 and a half weeks, so yesterday it was time to play outside. She does something that I call, "Spider Fang", because she lears up with her arms out just like the fangs of a Spider. Here's a shot of a funnel web spider doing "Spider Fang" so you can compare. Wink
 
Other than that, she loves to stand and "dance", especially on my car where she's got some traction. I suspect she'll be walking soon, which is great, because it's pretty tiring holding her up so she can do "Spider Fang" and "Dance" all the time.
 
Enjoy the photos.
August 18

Day Six with Renelle

Here we are six days on, and honestly things are starting to work out. I finally got the time to get down to Midvalley today, and the shops nearby, to get a cot, play pen, car seat, some wonderful coloured accesories (which she loves so much) etc.. etc.. I'm totally not a handyman DIY guy at all... so putting everything together has been a real challenge for me, but after many hours the rewards are worth it.
 
Here's a video of her first time looking at the battery powered mobile from my camera (apologies for the darkness. it was shot under less-than-ideal circumstances).
 
Renelle's first time with the mobile

    
Video: Renelle's first time with the mobile
Here's another one, this time demostrating my success at getting her to hold something, her teething toy, at the same time successfully chewing on it (much better light on this one).
First use of the teether

  
Video: First use of the teether
Again, no "new baby" post would be complete without the photos as well, so here they are. 
August 12

Our lives have changed forever

Well, what a day ... our lives have changed forever, with someone we've been waiting for for a long, long time.  Today we introduce Renelle into our family. Such mixed emotions that run so deep, but overall, excitement. Excitement in how she will change our lives, excitement in what it's like to bring up our own child, excitement in what lies in the years far ahead.
 
A "Day One" entry wouldn't be complete without photos. So here they are.
August 04

Yummiest Porterhouse steak ever at Morton's Steakhouse Seattle

 
I do love my steak, and it just so happened that the venue of choice for our team dinner whilst at TechReady5 was Morton's, The SteakHouse in Seattle, arguably one of the best steak houses in the US. Although we went just with the main course, I couldn't take my eyes off the 48oz Double Porterhouse, a dish designed to be shared between two, given each person around 24 ounces of delicious meat.
 
So how was it? It was the best porterhouse I've ever tasted in my life. Yep, damn straight. Really tender, really flavoursome with a rich combination of flavours depending on where the meat was cut from. Lovely. I'll be definately going back there again. If you're curious about Morton's other offerings you can check our their menu Morton's Menu.
July 18

Disney World - no big deal really

So headed out for a walk (not a good idea because it was so hot and I got burnt ) for lunch to Downtown Disney part of Disney World, which the Buena Vista Palace (photos here and here), where I'm staying, is like 5 minutes away from. Guess I'm getting old, but I didn't see anything except many opportunities for parents to spend lots of money on their children. I took the obligitory photos (even a picture of a duck - gosh) so you can all share in the "moment".
Suffice to say, that after having my McDonalds (ah, a classic, and somehow yummier in the US), I headed straight back to the hotel. So much for Disney World...