Ya, setelah lelah berkeliling di sekitar area pameran, mampirlah aku ke Resto & Lounge Solaria di lantai 4 Plaza Slipi Jaya. Apalagi tujuannya selain untuk kegiatan makan-memakan. Siang hari itu pengunjung resto tersebut tidak terlalu ramai, sehingga aku bisa memilih tempat duduk favoritku yaitu tepat di sisi jendela kaca besar. Aku paling suka duduk di situ karena bisa lihat pemandangan ke luar sambil duduk nyaman di atas sofa yang empuk, apalagi pas malam.... Wah, indah banget deh pemandangannya!

So, sambil nunggu pesanan ku datang aku iseng-iseng jeprat-jepret ambil foto pakai kamera hp :) .

Ini suasana lalu-lintas di depan Plaza Slipi Jaya. Karena hari minggu, lalu-lintasnya lengang banget yah. Coba kalau hari kerja, apalagi pas jam pulang kantor.... Jangan harap bisa menikmati jalanan selengang ini deh.

Masih diambil dari jendela Solaria, kali ini aku mengambil view lebih ke sisi kiri dari Plaza Slipi Jaya. Kalau memperhatikan, gedung bernuansa merah di situ adalah Rumah Sakit Kanker Dharmais. Udah, cuma pengen bilang gitu doang sih.... he he he, ga penting yah! ^_^

Yuks... lanjutttttt

Nah, kalau yang ini adalah view di sisi kanan Plaza Slipi Jaya. Ada mobil, motor.... eh ada bendera merah putih juga, lho!

Karena keasyikan foto-foto, aku nggak sadar kalau orang yang di depan mejaku sudah mulai memandangku aneh. Mungkin ia pikir..."Ngapain nih cewek, gila kali yah?! Atau masih norak karena baru punya hape baru?" Ha ha ha... jadi malu. Akhirnya  aku berhenti mengambil foto deh... Dan tepat saat itu hidangan yang kupesan tiba di atas mejaku... Frozen Cappuccino dan Chicken Katsu Teriyaki Sauce. Hmm, yummy! Tapi sebelum dimakan, difoto dulu ah.....

Itadakimasuuuuuuuuuu :)

Learn To Sculpt And Just About Anything Else Right At Home

Summer is here and where I live, it's becoming too hot to spend much time outdoors unless you can spend it in water. Many of us already know that watching movies on DVD is a great way to get through these "dog days" of summer. Why not change the routine a bit this year and learn a new skill or check out a new hobby as well? SmartFlix DVD's give you the opportunity to educate the kids while they think you're just amusing them.

The SmartFlix Top Ten List this month features the 10 highest rated SmartFlix videos of all time. Representing a variety of categories and subcategories, these DVD's are the absolute cream of the crop, rated by the best critics...SmartFlix users! Try out a new skill or hobby with one of these DVDs and you won't be sorry. Leave your own review, too...your opinion is as important to SmartFlix as it is to other customers searching for the perfect video!

#10 Water Media Collage Workshop

All 16 customers that rated this DVD gave it a 5-out-of-5. You'll learn to use colors harmonies to unify your work and a design grid to help make sense of the organization of materials and build confidence in your own artistic abilities.

Learn to sandwich fibers, combine and alter pre-existing materials to make them more light fast, personal and satisfying and to create a rainbow of colored tissue prefect for layering.

Carrie Burns Brown's presentation is sequential and well organized. She shares the tips and tricks she has learned over 30 years to help ensure success. Carrie's workshop is inspiring, thorough and will keep you busy for years of creative expression. Here's a customer review for more info:

• "I loved this DVD so much that I rented it a second time! Carrie Brown shares everything she knows about creating great Water Media Collages, from creating your own materials to putting it all togther. It really inspired me and I'm looking forward to teaching these techniques to my students in the fall. Thanks Carrie and thank you SmartFlix for making learning so affordable!" - Eva M.

Rent Water Media Collage Workshop and create a beautiful work of art with a unique approach!

#9 Sculpting Polymer figures for Beginners

Sculpting a Polyer Mermaid Made Easy
Learn step by step from Patricia Rose how to sculpt a cute mermaid out of polymer clay. This is a great video for beginners interested in sculpting. This DVD is about 110 minutes.

How to Sculpt a Fairy in Polymer Clay
Learn step by step from Patricia how to sculpt a sweet 7" fairy in polymer clay in this beginners video. Learn to sculpt facial features, sweet pouty lips, toes and fingers, ankles and knees. Learn posing,expressions, how to choose settings and tip and tricks and wing design. This DVD is about 120 minutes.

Learn to Sculpt Detailed Faces in Polymer Clay
Learn to sculpt beautiful female facial features with Patricia in this very detailed Instructional video. You will learn the tricks to make a pretty female face very time you sculpt! This DVD runs about 120 minutes.

Here is a customer comment on this unanimously-rated-5-out-of-5 video:

• "Fantastic video!!! I can't recommend too much that you see this. Everything she says you will learn, you will! The ease of sculpting she introduces is exceptional. The mystery is gone. The delight of picking up your tools and following along with her, turns into a song and not a drudge! You will truly make items just like she does from this video!!!" - Doris J.

Rent Sculpting Polymer figures for Beginners today!

#8 Making Motorcycle Gas Tanks

In this video, Ron Covell goes through the process of making two very different motorcycle gas tanks. The first part of the video shows a chopper-style tank being made from steel. Design, layout, patterning and buck construction are shown in detail. Hand shaping is demonstrated, as well as the use ofa manual shrinker and the benchtop English wheel.

The second part shows a comma-shaped tank being made from aluminum. Design, layout, and patterning are shown, along with annealing, hand shaping, and metalfinishing. Both the benchtop and full-size English wheel are demonstrated, and both TIG and gas welding are utilized. The tank is leak-tested, and a method is shown for making hidden rubber mounts.Each step is clearly detailed, and described in a manner that is easy to understand. The techniques shown in this program can be used to make motorcycle tanks of any shape. Here's what a customer thought about this favorite:

• "Ron Covell does a great job in his videos. Not only does he explain how he does things but how you could do them using what you have at your disosal. If you're at all interested in making a gas tank then I wouldn't hesitate about watching this video. Very well produced, very well laid out, and the information is top notch. I don't think you'll be disappointed in it." - Chris R.

Rent Making Motorcycle Gas Tanks today!

#7 Housebuilding - Framing Walls

This one is bound to save you some serious bucks, and in a time of gas prices beyond $4 per gallon, every dollar really counts!
In this wall-framing video, Larry Haun and his brother Joe build the exterior and interior walls of a basic 1,600-sq. ft. house. Starting from the completed floor deck, they take you step by step through the entire process, showing you practical ways to organize tasks, streamline procedures and handle tools and materials efficiently.

Here's your chance to watch a framing master at work, and to become a better, more efficient carpenter yourself.

Each section of the video covers a specific topic in detail: layout, plating, headers, cripples, trimmers and rough sills, detailing plates, building and raising walls, plumbing and lining, sheathing walls, and more.

Larry Haun has been a production framer for almost 40 years and a teacher of apprentices for almost 25. He has honed his skills and techniques on hundreds of tract and custom houses, finding countless ways to save time, reduce costs, minimize problems and improve quality. Here's a customer comment for more info:

• "Larry's second in a three part series. These are probably some of the best how to series I've ever seen. Lots of information but still keeps the video moving smoothly along with out undue footage perfectly edited I'd say. Watching this I'd compare it to an apprenticeship program. Everything broken down in simple steps and he shows various framing methods for different applications." - Chad O.

Rent Housebuilding - Framing Walls today!

#6 Expanded Portrait Techniques With Painter

The Painted Portrait for Photographers - Watercolor in Painter & Photoshop
Learn how to use Photoshop to enhance each facial feature of a retouched image and transform it gracefully into a painting using Corel Painter IX. Create classic portraits in styles of watercolor, hand tinting, sketching, pastel and oil painting. See how brush expression makes a difference in the mood of the painting and how to pull color into interesting shapes.

Learn to balance rough art techniques with photo-realism in a believable and artistic manner and learn how to achieve the hand-painted look while preserving the ultimate photo realism. You will also learn how to make and save custom color sets and how to correctly apply styles of texture to your painting. Expand your vision within Painter and create your own artistic photo image paintings.

Working with the Image Files, Workspace Set Up for Photoshop, Preparing the Face, Workspace Set Up for Painter, Creating the Composition, The Basic Blend, Adding Interest with Paint, The Details, Textures, Final Adjustments

Expanded Portrait Techniques with Painter
Advanced Preparation Techniques, Painter as an Enhancement Tool for Photography, Tinting Techniques in Painter, Chalk Techniques in Painter, Sketching Techniques in Painter, The Classic Photo Oil Painting, Leaving the Photograph WAY Behind!, Conclusion.

Here's what a customer thought about these 5-out-of-5 rated videos:

• "WOW! These DVDs are just excellent! I learned so many new techniques. Be sure to take plenty of notes - you'll forget things and want to refer back to them. There are so many lessons included - it was hard to watch and digest them in just one week! Jane Conner-Sizer is and excellent teacher. She explains in detail what she's doing and why. I would highly recommend them for anyone wanting to learn more of Photoshop and Corel Painter." - Patty M.

Rent Expanded Portrait Techniques With Painter today!

#5 Oil Painting - The Lady Of Shalott

Techniques Learned: Grid Method of Drawing Enlargement, Tonal Wash/Ink Wash Underpainting, Opaque Academic Grisaille Underpainting, Underpainting Glazes, Opaque Overpainting, Drybrush, Glazing, Scumbling.

This video was filmed during the School of Oil Painting, where this painting was the subject of the Old Master (Venetian Method) workshop. It was filmed over a six-day period and shows every demonstration performed for the class. You can be a part of the workshop and paint along with me, just as the participants of the class did. The package contains everything you need to understand and execute the project. Take advantage of this unique product to learn Old Master methods used to reproduce this popular painting, originally done by the great Victorian artist, John William Waterhouse

In reproducing this great masterpiece, She chose to use the most complete academic method available to explore this painting. A grisaille underpainting in shades of which, black and gray is the foundation of this beautiful work. Lessons presented in this lengthy work include instructions on how to enlarge the drawing from 18" x 24" to 30" x 40" or 36" x 48". Here's what a customer thought:

• "A very informative video about the classical grisaille technique. Highly recommended. The techniques presented can be applied to any style of painting and improve the end result. Well organized and presented! I also thought it was interesting that Waterhouse who created the original painting did not use this technique but the workshop's end result was a reasonable facsimile." - Samuel C.

Rent Oil Painting - The Lady Of Shalott today!

#4 Clocks - Advanced Clock Repair

Learn the advanced repair techniques used by many of the top professionally trained clock repair experts.

A few of the many topics covered:

Straightening pivots and arbors, Repairing lantern pinions, Replacing worn or broken pivots, Wheel tooth replacement, Working with spring barrels, Barrel tooth replacement, Barrel hook replacement, Soldering technique, Clock repair using a lathe, Pivot polishing on a lathe, How to use various clock repair tools, Alternative repair techniques, Bushing movement plates, Tools used in clock repair.

Here's what a customer thought about this video:

• "Clock repair is almost a lost trade there is not that many clock repair tradesmen doing it any more mostly because a lot of old-time clock repair men have passed away or they are to old and cannot continue doing repairs. Times have changed and we live in a throwaway world where you buy a new clock and if it stops running you just throw it away and buy new one. There is still a lot of clocks out there that people want to have repaired this is why we have to keep this trade going. This is my first time watching a course on clock repair. I am glad that John has made these courses to get a new generation of clock repair people interested again in the trade. John tope has done a good job with this advanced course. This course on Advanced clock repair has good techniques and gives you step-by-step procedures on repairs. This course is for someone that has already some knowledge of clock repair,you must already know how to completely take apart and reassemble a clock before going through this course. I recommend it and if you already know how to do some of the repairs on this course it is always a good opportunity to watch a other clock repair person to get their techniques to make you more knowledgeable for repairs. I look forward to watching his other clock courses." - William W.

Rent Advanced Clock Repair today!

#3 Sculptural Glassworking

Disc 1 - Introduction
The basics of working Pyrex brand of sodium borosilicate crystal, including geometric solids, beginning techniques and many small animals. This DVD runs about 120 minutes.

Disc 2 - Small, Quick, Moneymaking Items
Pendants, earrings, small animals, marbles, buttons, napkin rings and much more out of borosilicate glass. This DVD runs about 120 minutes.

Disc 3 - Fantasy
Larger pieces, including dragons, pegasus, unicorns, wizards and mermaids- a more advanced tape. This disc runs about 120 minutes.

Disc 4 - Aquatic Life
Larger pieces, including dolphins, whale, shark, turtle, seal with ball, octopus, seahorse and scuba diver on this advanced tape. This disc runs about 120 minutes.

Disc 5 - Wildlife
This advanced video includes ram, deer, giraffe, eagle, elephant, trees and cactus. This disc runs about 120 minutes.

Here's a customer comment on this fantastic series:

"A great introduction to flameworking Pyrex glass. Lewis makes it look really easy. I now am very motivated to get myself a torch and start making Pyrex animals and pendants. I can just see myself at my local county fair, with a big group of watching customers waiting to give me their money as I turn out hummingbirds, dragons, and dichroic pendants. Lots of fun!" - Gabriel W.

Rent Sculptural Glasswork today and you could make a bundle of pieces and sell them...for a bundle of cash!

#2 Woodturning - Turn it Up with Jimmy Clewes

Disc 1
A colored form turned from Maple with hand carving and a 12 carat white gold.

A simple hat turned thinly without any jigs - just careful tooling.

Extra Features: Jimmy talks about various methods for mixing and using coloring.

Disc 2
A natural edge bowl from Acacida burr, discussing shape, tooling and forming.

A lidded box turned from Box Elder burr with chattered Ebony Insert.

Disc 3
A double natural-edge turning from Australian Mallee Burr.

Jimmy Experiments: a unique multi-offcenter sculpture with Ash with Ebony highlights.

Here's what a customer had to say about this video:

• "Excellent DVDs! Great production values and brilliant instruction. My only complaint is that he makes it look much easier than it will ever be for me. My fault, not his. Very highly recommended!!!!!" - Gordon R.

Rent Woodturning - Turn it Up with Jimmy Clewes today!

#1 Oil Painting - Victoria: Painting Portraits in Oils from Photographs

Learn fine art techniques including the direct alla-prima painting method to produce a work of art in a loose, impressionistic style. Project materials include computer-prepared guides and maps that will make it easy to see the shape, planes and values on the human head.

This program is designed for beginning portrait painters, and is useful in understanding basic portrait painting concepts, whether the painter uses photographic references or works from the live model, as both scenarios are compared and contrasted.

"Victoria" is painted with a limited palette of colors and shows how you can create realistic fleshtones from just a few basic colors. Recipes for generic flesh colors and values are given, which can be adjusted subtly to match the flesh color of your model, whether it is painted from life or from photographs.

The simplicity of this head and the composition make it the ideal program for a first attempt at portrait painting, as all the photographic references used in the program are included in the printed materials that accompany the video. Here's what a customer had to say:

• "This video is great! My husband doesn't even paint and he was fascinated by it. We watched it twice. She explains every step in great detail. It was so inspiring that I wanted to run out and buy tons of canvas. I'm a beginner and she made it look achievable." - Terry O.

Rent Victoria: Painting Portraits in Oils from Photographs today!

We all have tons of friends and family with summer birthdays...and I'll bet you do too! For a gift that's guaranteed to bring a smile to a loved one's face, give them a SmartFlix Gift Card! This is a cool and different kind of gift for anyone in your life, and perfect for any occasion.

Gift cards are available in $10, $25, $50, and $100 denominations. So surprise someone you love with a real treat, and take it from us - people think these gift cards are fantastic as well as extremely useful!
Click here to purchase a gift card that is redeemable for renting any of the thousands of videos SmartFlix offers!

Happy Renting and Happy Summer! and a big Thank You to all of my loyal readers!

You may also be interested in my

Tutorials Page at Parthena Black, Dreams In Polymer Clay and Wire

It happened Sunday, in the cathedral of the sport, Centre Court at Wimbledon, when typhoon Roger Federer met cyclone Rafael Nadal. Even for those who don't cognizant of a backhand from a backbite, what transpired was mesmerizing. That Nadal forge Federer for the men's singles crown was only part of the story. So were all the statistics, including the end of Federer's five-year manage as champion, the end of his 65-match win streak on grass, the end of his endearing streak at Wimbledon at 40 matches. Even the final score, the 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7 that looked to the layman more be partial to an algebra equation than a sports result, could only cue at what really took place.

This was athletic competition on the highest level. And nothing else. Two of the greatest tennis players ever, not to bring up athletes, competed against each other for nearly five hours and the gest was as much what didn't happen as what did. Nobody got hurt.

Nadal, who gave Spain its at the outset Wimbledon men's title since 1966, tweaked a knee early in the match, shrugged it off and kept whacking shots at Federer. This was six hours of Tiger Woods in the U.S. Open, minus the limp.

Nobody wimped out, backed down, made excuses, took potty breaks, tried gamesmanship, yelled at the umpire, blamed the camera that calls the lines or whimpered about the three shower delays. They just played, hitting shots such as we may never conceive again, under arm neither may ever appear again, with stakes the highest they play for in this sport. And when it was over, when the greatest forehand in the antiquity of the game let Federer down on match point and settled into the net, the five-time prince praised the new kid on the throne as a worthy champion and the new kid was decently deferential to the replaced royalty.

Which is not only refreshing, in this era of me-only sports stars and Egos-R-Us pro athletes, but it is how it ought to be. Think of all the events you have watched recently and test to remember when you axiom this great a competition in sports and this much great sportsmanship. The former antithesis of such things, now-grown-up broadcaster John McEnroe, led us through the compact with his credible appreciation of the greatness he was witnessing.

He used the warranty "unbelievable" at least a dozen times, and for once, that did not seem to be overdone hyperbole. He should know about preposterous matches. He was on the short end of one in the 1980 Wimbledon final, when Bjorn Borg beat him, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (16), 8-6.

Now, after Nadal-Federer, McEnroe-Borg 1980 seems to have lickety-split acquired significance as "the second-greatest tennis match ever played." Even those with both a great information of the sport and a stake in the outcome could not resist the exclamation points. Pete Sampras watched from his institution in Beverly Hills and called the match "absolutely terrific.

One of the best tennis matches I've ever seen." Sampras should know. Several of his profuse in the top 10 of all time. He holds the information for most major tennis titles -- Australian, French, Wimbledon and U.S. Open -- with 14.

It is an accomplishment that brings with it a mathematical argument that he was tennis' greatest tennis player. Sampras won the at the rear of his 14 majors at the U.S. Open in 2002, retired and soon watched in awe as Federer took over the sport. When Federer's U.S. Open triumph in 2007 brought him his 12th major title, Sampras shrugged along with the rest of the tennis faction at the inevitability of his 14 titles being surpassed.

Now, even with Federer without a major title this year and, at discretion 26, stuck on that No. 12, Sampras knows that his record likely won't last and doesn't even seem to mind.

Estimation post: click

Novel tersebut mengisahkan tentang perjuangan seorang istri untuk mempertahankan rumah tangganya, karena suaminya berselingkuh dengan perempuan lagi. Anna, sang istri yang digambarkan sebagai sosok perempuan mandiri dan tegar. Seorang ibu beranak dua yang sukses berkarir, namun harus menerima kenyataan pahit saat mengetahui suaminya, Toni berselingkuh dengan seorang perempuan bernama Dini. Bersama dengan tokoh "Aku" yaitu sahabat laki-lakinya, Anna berusaha membongkar perselingkuhan itu dan merebut suaminya kembali dengan cara yang tidak biasa. Yaitu dengan berteman dengan selingkuhan suaminya itu.

Novel yang cukup menarik untukku, karena ceritanya sangat detail menjelaskan alasan-alasan seseorang bisa berselingkuh. Hm, bisa jadi bahan referensi juga nih! Selain itu dari novel ini aku bisa makin menyakini bahwa persahabatan antara laki-laki dan perempuan memang bisa terjalin tanpa dirusak embel-embel cinta. Memang sangat mungkin timbul rasa cinta dari keduanya, tapi mereka sadar bahwa selama ini mereka sangat nyaman hanya dengan bersahabat. Karena dapat saling berbagi, bercerita, menyayangi tetapi tanpa dirusak oleh rasa cemburu, curiga, dan sakit hati ketika cinta itu mulai tumbuh.

Namun, sepertinya ada ketidakpuasan dalam diriku setelah membaca novel ini. Mungkin karena ekspektasiku di awal sangat jauh berbeda dengan cerita novelnya. Saat memutuskan membeli novel ini aku berharap sang penulis akan bercerita kesedihan Anna saat mengetahui suaminya berselingkuh, setelah itu menceritakan perjuangan Anna melalui hari-harinya sehingga ia bisa tegar. Yah, seperti kisah novel P.S. I Love You deh.... yang bisa menguras emosi dan air mataku. Tapi di novel ini Anna digambarkan terlalu tegar dan dingin. Sangat menggambarkan seorang wanita yang independent, atau memang sengaja begitu yah?! Hm, tau deh. Pokoknya Anna itu terlihat agak SEMPURNA.

Mungkin saja kesan seperti ini aku dapatkan karena pengisahan cerita novel itu dilakukan oleh tokoh "Aku" yang seorang laki-laki. Di mana ia pastinya tak bisa menggambarkan dengan detail tentang kesedihan Anna. Hal dominan yang "Aku" gambarkan adalah tentang detail para perempuan seksi itu (Anna dan Dini) yang sempat sangat menggoda dirinya.... Ha ha ha, dasar laki-laki! Begitulah, jika yang bercerita adalah seorang perempuan, pastinya mellow-mellow-nya dapet banget deh.

Makanya, tadinya aku berharap bisa sesengukan nangis... eh, tapi perasaanku malah datar-datar aja. Tidak ada lonjakan rasa haru seperti saat baca P.S. I Love You. Yah, ekspektasiku terlalu berbeda dengan kenyataan sih... he he he :) . Tapi overall, novel ini bagus banget. Cocok untuk pasangan yang sudah menikah, akan menikah, atau para-para jombo. Tapi hanya untuk pembaca dewasa saja yah, karena ada beberapa deskripsi hubungan seksual yang agak-agak gimana gitu... :) .

The Austen books in my library:

• Emma
• Persuasion
• Pride and Prejudice
• Sense and Sensibility

Anyone know where I can get some more for cheap? Also, if you've read any of these books, let me know how they are. Just don't tell me what happens! :)

P.S. At Barnes & Noble, where I found the Austen books on sale, I also found a huge cookbook of all sorts of chocolate recipes! It was only a dollar! AMAZING!

Nå, nu är det väl inte så illa. Många bitar har fallit på plats. En del med buller och bång. Andra lika smidigt som den enklaste biten i ett tolvbitars barnpussel. Vilken märklig jämförelse. Jaja.

Söndag kväll. Lugn dag efter en lördag med besök och umgänge i trivsam ton. F1 på tävän på eftermiddagen. Nu vete fan vad jag ska glo på. Fler repriser jag redan sett kanske? Det går det med. Ety ...

... om endast 72 timmar drar jag och ludd iväg på campingäventyr. Helt utan skyddsnät. Ha ha! Jag är helt jävla galen. Asocial ordningsmänniska får för sig att frottera sig på camping mitt i semestertider, med strulig stor hund. Jojo!

Men jag lär få nya intryck och saker att skriva om. Det tar jag för övertroligt. Det kanske blir riktigt roligt. Nä, jag har för mycket i huvudet för att få till nåt bättre än såhär just nu.

Hasta luego you low ridin´ punks!

/grandebarda

My Toe

Opened the bandage... It still hurts whenever I apply some force to it...

may consult the sifu again if it still hurts...

I know, I know.. my leg is disgusting...

What The HECK?

Well, I just bought the April 2008's Dengeki Hobby... Dengeki Hobby is a Japanese monthly magazine about models and figures, It has HongKong translation and Taiwan translation versions too...

of course, I always buy the HK or Taiwan translation version... cause I still cant read Japanese... Even if I can read Japanese, where can I get the Japanese version in Sitiawan...^^

Buying this magazine is not what I want blog about, but the tag included in the magazine...

When a certain magazine/book imports to Malaysia, I donno what what Jabatan got check the contents of the magazine/book.. then, they'll rate the magazine/book...

Well, this is Malaysia, those M*l*ys rate anything...

but... this is not Pl*yb0y magazine wor.... I think the M*l*yP1Gs dont even know what is model and figures... I do admit some figures may have their clothes striped... but.. I dont think looking at the striped figures will make someone do some yellow-yellow stuff.. well, if Gundams... =.=|| that guy needs some phycological attention..

No Graphics Card

as I said before, I toasted my GC... but later I found out the problem is not the GC, the GC is working, the problem comes from the driver... ChoonYong told me that nVidia's driver has lots of problems and not 100%... but I dont have any problems with the nVidia drivers until the last Thursday...

I tried to repair the problem, I used all kinds of methods and failed... It is driving me crazy...

so I tried to change the nVidia GC to ATI GC, but... my comp couldn't detect the GC... and I'm tired (actually is lazy) of these problems...

At last my decision is NOT to install a GC...

NO Graphics Card = No advanced graphics processing = NO GAMEs (still got pinball)

Graphics card removed...

ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 (left) and nVidia GeForce 6200A-LE (right)

Melissa Seraphy

Nendroidified Melissa Seraphy from Wagamama Capriccio. This cutie is going to be released by Good Smile Company in this month... costs 3500yen... my gosh

comparison of 1/8 scale Melissa Seraphy and Nendroid Melissa Seraphy.

ChoonYong will definitely say: "This is cute."

Very nice... but too bad.. I used my money on my external HDD...

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mille_Bornes

 I cheated once and kept the “Driving Ace” card in my pocket. Sorry Nathan!

The cake got a bit wobbly, and not smooth edges at all. Because I had to cut it down in size. And the fondant was a PITA. Especially the red. Because it got so much more sticky and wet after adding the food coloring. Was happy when I was finished though :)

ni dia para personel YoBAND, dari sebelah kiri, Imam (yg lg cium ketie) pada drum, Joko (yg lagi pamer ketie) megang Bass, saya sendiri (yg lg senyum maniezzz:) )di rythem, Darwis (yang lagi kacak pinggang) pada "mic", wek (yg lagi ngambil gambarnya) pada lead guitar. Trus Sis yg juga vokal lg ga ikut poto2an (Palingan dia lg drumah tidur).

Setiap latihan ngeband, ada 7 prinsip yang kami pegang, yaitu

1. Sumbangan

2. Urunan

3. Sokongan

4. Kontengan

5. Kekompakan

6. Skill

7. Disiplinitas

Prinsip 1 s/d 4 sangat memegang peranan penting setiap ngeband, karena tanpa ke-4 prinsip itu YoBAND tak akan pernah ada, xixixixixixixixixixixixixi.........,,

Berangkat dari rumah jam 10.00 WIB, mampir ke ATM sebentar, lalu langsung naik Patas 45 jurusan Blok M. Sampai di Istora Senayan sekitar jam 11.00 WIB. Sampai di sana panas matahari menyambutku, beserta deretan mobil pribadi yang diparkir rapih di pelataran parkir. Suasa hiruk-pikuk pun semakin terasa jelas di pintu masuk menuju ruang pameran. Dan karena hari ini adalah hari minggu, pengunjung yang datang pun lebih banyak yang membawa keluarga. Rame dah pokoknya.

Aku sempat mengabadikan suasana di pelataran depan pintu masuk, tempat diadakannya diskusi buku. Foto ini aku ambil dengan kamera hp-ku Nokia 5310 XpressMusic, dengan resolusi yang pas-pasan.. maklumlah cuma 2 MP :) .

Lalu mari kita masuk ke ruang pameran. Di dekat pintu masuk ini sudah berjajar stand-stand dari berbagai penerbit, yang setiap standnya penuh dikerumuni para pengunjung. Aku sempat bingung mau ke mana dulu nih, akhirnya kuputuskan untuk muter-muter sambil lihat-lihat. Survei dulu untuk mengetahui situasi dan kondisi di sana. Hm, sebetulnya karena aku bingung mau ke mana dulu sih. Makanya aku berjalan tak tentu arah tujuan.. he he he.

Sampai akhirnya aku berjalan menuju hall utama tempat berdirinya stand penerbit besar, yaitu Gramedia, M&C, Elex Media Komputindo, dan lain-lain. Langsunglah aku menuju tempat manga alias komik Jepang :) . Karena di tempat itu banyak banget dipenuhi orang-orang terutama anak-anak kecil dan remaja, aku jadi kurang leluasa memilih komik-komik. Lagi pula komik-komik yang ada kebanyakan tidak terlalu familiar buatku, yah kaya serial cantik, terus komik-komik yang ceritanya romantis-romantis gitu, palingan yang cukup aku kenal itu Naruto.... Tapi aku justu mengikuti cerita Naruto lewat manga scan di internet yang lebih up-to-date. Sempat pengen beli Bleach dan Death Note, tapi kan aku juga udah punya manga scan-nya. Akhirnya aku beli Prince of Tennis tiga buah, semuanya seharga Rp.18.000. Ho ho ho... artinya satu bijinya itu seharga Rp. 6.000. Senangnya....

Setelah itu aku muter-muter lagi di stand-stand lain, menjelajah di hall utama, sampai ke pelosok Istora Senayan, lantai dua juga didatengin. Capek banget, tapi aku puas karena bisa membeli beberapa buku bagus dan murah pula.

Kalau direkap, hasil buruanku hari ini antara lain:
1. Manga Prince of Tennis volume 27, 28, 29. Sudah lama banget nggak baca kelanjutan cerita Echizen dan kawan-kawan.
2. In the Miso Soup, sebuah novel thriller-psikologi dari seorang novelis terkemuka Jepang, Ryu Murakami. Aku selalu tertarik dengan novel-novel triller Jepang, karena terkesan lebih dark dan misterius. Setahun yang lalu pun saat diadakan even yang sama, aku membeli novel jenis ini yang berjudul 'Out'.
3. An Affair to Forget ditulis oleh Armaya Junior. Setelah baca resensi di balik novel ini, aku langsung saja memutuskan untuk membelinya tanpa pikir panjang. Sebuah novel yang mengisahkan penghianatan seorang suami terhadap istrinya, tapi sang istri yang tegar dan mandiri memutuskan untuk mencari informasi tentang selingkuhan suaminya itu dan berteman dengannya. Jadi penasaran bagaimana akhir cerita ini, selain itu aku pun ingin tahu bagaimana cara sang istri untuk mengesampingkan rasa sakit dan pedih dihatinya.
4. Sherlock Holmes dan Laskar Jalanan Baker Street adalah buku terakhir yang kubeli. Sebagai penggemar Sherlock Holmes, buku ini wajib untuk dibeli.

Sebetulnya banyak buku lain yang tak kalah bagusnya tidak jadi ku beli. Misalnya The Kite Runner, lalu Musashi... agh, pengen banget beli buku Musashi ini. Seandainya setelah didiskon harganya jadi dibawah Rp. 100.000 pasti aku rela bawa-bawa buku setebal bantal itu ke rumahku di Tangerang. Tapi, walaupun sudah didiskon harganya masih Rp.180.000-an. Ah, kaga dah!

Setelah lelah muter-muter di sekitar area pameran, aku memutuskan pulang sekitar jam 13.30 WIB. Mampir dulu sebentar di Slipi Jaya untuk makan siang di Solaria, lalu meluncur menuju rumah.

Hah... hari yang menyenangkan :) . Sering-sering aja event seperti ini diadakan, sebetulnya minat baca masyarakat itu cukup tinggi lho! Buktinya bisa dilihat dengan bejubelnya pengunjung di setiap acara bazar buku. Hanya saja memang buku-buku sekarang harganya kurang terjangkau, apalagi untuk masyarakat menengah ke bawah. Oleh karena itu, bazar buku seperti ini sangat bermanfaat, salah satunya untuk menyediakan berbagai buku berkualitas namun dengan harga yang terjangkau.

Griffin (15-4 overall, 5-2 UFC), who turned 29 this week, is also coming off a prolonged non-existence from the ring. Last September, in UFC 76, he stopped Mauricio Rua with a nurse naked choke, but a shoulder tear suffered even before the Rua struggle forced Griffin to have surgery last fall, and he has been rehabilitating since. His trim was also an issue in April 2007 when he was scratched from the UFC 70 card because of a staph infection in his knee.

This will be his initial title fight. "It's a lot of pressure," Griffin said. "But I do the same fixation I always do. I train hard, I've done my homework and I skilled in I won't quit. The rest is up to whatever, you know, fate.

" Jackson, a last Tennessee all-state high school wrestler, has the strength advantage and the wrestling edge, but he said he's dauntless of having success if the bout is fought mainly on the feet.

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Limited quantities available; customers requesting opinion units may be waitlisted for the next available unit. It will be at the sagacity of Fluke Networks to accept or decline requests for this free evaluation.

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Apa buku favoritmu waktu kecil? Sebagai anak ke-3 dari 4 bersaudara, dimana kedua kakakmu dan dirimu sendiri adalah perempuan, dan adikmu yang bontot adalah laki2, hampir bisa dipastikan semua mainan atau minatmu berhubungan erat dengan mereka (setidaknya itulah yang terjadi padaku). Waktu kecil, aku sepertinya tidak punya hobi dan minat sendiri karena apa yang disukai saudara-saudaraku akan menjadi kesukaanku juga (sebenarnya sampai besar pun aku suka mengekor kesukaan mereka ). Anyway, buku atau majalah yang dibelikan orang tuaku selalu menjadi bacaan bersama. Dulu kami berlangganan Bobo (aku suka cerita Pak Janggut dengan Buntelan ajaibnya) dan Donal Bebek, sebenarnya sempat kepikiran juga untuk melakukan hal yang sama besok jika aku sudah punya anak, tapi melihat harga majalah sekarang……………………… yaiks, mahalnya minta ampun (Oh Tuhan, jadikan aku orang kaya, setidaknya cukup beberapa tingkat dibawah Aburizal Bakrie , hahaha (mimpi di siang bolong!!!!!!)) Yah, kembali ke topik awal, buku kami waktu kecil cukup banyak, Orang tuaku adalah penggemar Enid Blyton (sebenarnya mungkin tidak bisa dikatakan penggemar, karena aku ragu orang tuaku juga membaca buku-buku yang dibelikan untuk kami…..), pokoknya aku bilang penggemar karena sebagian besar buku kami adalah karangan Nyonya Enyd Blyton (Dia seorang cewek kan? Harus ku cek di Wikipedia). Judul buku-buku itu antara lain adalah Lima Sekawan (George, Julian, Dick, Anne, aku lupa nama anjingnya, tunggu dulu…, mereka punya anjing kan? Payah… payah….. otakku semakin lemah daya ingatnya, namanya Timmy mungkin…., kami juga punya buku Gamenya, lengkap dengan peta, teropong, dan perlengkapan lainnya), Pasukan Mau Tahu (Fatty a.k.a Frederick Algernon Troteville, trus, trus, trus, oh Tuhan aku lupa nama-nama tokoh lainnya), Buku yang tokoh utamanya bernama Jack, Philip, Dinah, dan Lucy-an (sekarang aku malah lupa judul bukunya!!!), dan 2 judul buku tentang sekolah asrama perempuan, kalau ga salah judulnya ST.Clare dan Mallory Towers. Buku-buku tersebut semua adalah buku berseri, dulu sih komplit semua, tapi sekarang udah ga tersisa satu pun (padahal kangen juga bacanya). Kemarin sewaktu ibuku membongkar gudang dan menyingkirkan hampir setengah isinya, kakakku menemukan beberapa buku yang sudah hampir aku lupakan, nama Tokohnya Noddy, karangan Enid Blyton juga, tentang seorang boneka kayu yang hobbynya mengangguk2an kepalanya dan mempunyai sahabat bernama Telinga lebar. Mungkin akan kubahas Noddy-noddy yang tersisa ini, siapa tahu diantara kalian ada yang suka membacanya juga. Dulu kesukaanku yang berbeda dari saudaraku adalah membeli buku-buku cerita tentang Nabi, seingatku bukunya besar dan penuh gambar, walaupun penuh gambar, tapi tidak ada gambar nabinya tentu (ga boleh kan……???), Oh ya, kami juga punya beberapa buku Nina dan Petualangan Tin Tin.

Setelah dewasa, yang paling suka membeli buku adalah kakaku yang kedua, dari bukunya Michael Chricton, John Grisham, Marry Higgins Clark, Beraneka Chicklit, Harry Potter, Dan Brown, sampe yang Indonesia punya, dari Dewi D sampai Moammar Emka. Sedangkan aku? Aku hanya menikmati apa yang dibelinya, hahaha, tapi ga semuanya aku baca, aku lebih suka baca buku “luar” dari pada “dalam”, bukan mau mengecilkan sastra Indonesia, tapi aku lebih suka baca fiksi karangan orang luar, temponya cepat dan tidak (jarang banget) membosankan, biasanya buku karangan orang luar baru dibaca beberapa halaman saja kita sudah merasa terikat dengan tokoh2nya dan tertarik untuk membaca ceritanya sampai habis, sebaliknya dengan pengarang indonesia seringkali temponya lambat, kurang mengikat emosi dan akhirnya berhenti aku baca sebelum tuntas (bahkan untuk iseng melihat endingnya pun malas (maap banget buat pengarang Indonesia, kesalahan bukan terletak pada anda2 semua tapi terletak padaku yang ga tau bagusnya karangan anda2 semua, dan males untuk mencoba membaca lebih lanjut atau mencoba menyukainya)).

Lindsay Lohan is an actress who grew up on Long Island and starred in movies including "Freaky Friday," "Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen," "Mean Girls" and "Herbie: Fully Loaded." She also has released two stick out music albums. Her off-screen and off-stage elasticity has faced sifting following influentially publicized car accidents, arrests and admittance to alcohol and treat rehabilitation programs. Sort By:.

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Does anyone know how to fix this? Or can anyone provide me other desktop blogging tools?

Many star athletes lend their names to bars or machine dealerships and say they're in business. Not being content with that, Johnson parlayed his illustriousness into a groundbreaking role in urban development. "His role was quite revolutionary," said Chicago-based trusted estate investor Quintin Primo, who occasionally competes against Johnson for deals. "And you still can't require that urban investment is commonplace today.

His involvement still speaks to the apparition has had." Johnson has other ventures cooking as well. In March, he signed a multiyear marketing deal to lend a hand electronics retailer bolster sales in urban neighborhoods.

His Beverly Hills-based Magic Johnson Enterprises has AMC Magic Johnson theaters in four cities, 116 in 14 states and Washington, 31 Burger King restaurants in the Southeast, and 13 24-Hour Fitness/Magic Johnson Sport healthfulness clubs. He also owns a nearly 5 percent equity of the. Johnson daily has declined to salvation financial data for his privately held businesses and himself. But a dealing associate, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak by Johnson, estimated the value of the old NBA star's various holdings at $700 million.

This associate estimated Johnson's deprecating net worth at nearly $500 million. Pioneering investment Johnson was a customary retired athlete in 1995, when he approached the California Public Employees' Retirement System about a pioneering investment in black, Hispanic and other urban neighborhoods. But when the earlier Laker spoke before the Calpers board, "He said, 'I'm almost as highly-strung as I would be shooting a free throw at a championship game,' " recalled ancient Calpers executive Robert Aguallo Jr., who manages the Los Angeles City Employees Retirement System, which invested in the flash Canyon-Johnson fund.

"At the time, there unqualifiedly weren't many developers going into urban areas." Johnson, 48, began to structure his business career while commuting to and from Laker games. He was drawn to the commonplace Santa Barbara Plaza shopping center in the Crenshaw district. Although attempts to terminate deals on the property failed, Johnson saw the potential for profiting from urban redevelopment, a procedure that formed the foundation for subsequent transactions.

His post-basketball career began earlier than expected, after he was diagnosed with HIV in 1991. (Johnson said he remains healthy, the virus all but motionless backing him.) Initially he was frustrated, though, because a string of potential business partners turned down his overtures. "A lot of them wanted my autograph and a facsimile with me," Johnson said. "But they didn't want to sink with me.

"People said, 'If you believe in urban America so much, why don't you supply your money and prove it?' " Johnson did just that in 1995, taking an equity stake along with what was then the Loews restrict in a 12-screen movie theater in Baldwin Hills, Calif. Three years later, he opened a Starbucks coffee store in south Los Angeles and remains the Seattle-based coffee company's only joint-venture partner. Making improvements He raised eyebrows, but mostly was proved right, with ideas such as restocking theater revival stands in predominantly black areas with sweeter drinks, spicier intense dogs and Buffalo wings. He followed the same strategy at many of his Starbucks, changing the music to R&B tracks and contribution sweet potato pie in addition to scones, he said.

Johnson since has struck even-handedness and licensing deals with such diverse partners as Burger King, Royal Caribbean International, grub services firm Sodexho and health insurer. Johnson also joined forces with Los Angeles billionaire Ron Burkle on a pool focused on urban markets. Johnson's urban investments are flow through an alliance with , a managing partner of Canyon Capital. The Century City investment comrades manages about $20 billion quality of assets. The first Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund struggled for two years to jack up $300 million to invest in urban neighborhoods.

A subsequent fund raised $600 million in a puzzle of months and the third iteration was oversubscribed in a matter of weeks, Turner said. The funds have helped banking affordable housing and retail space in Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Brooklyn, Houston and San Diego.

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Yes, I like to underline some sentences or phrases that I find worth underlining. The only problem is that sometimes I just do it too often and my book starts looking like a lined copy-book.

And here is the paradox of my "hobby": there is no guarantee, that I'll open this book someday only for reading the things, that I found interesting some time ago. Sometimes I even know, that I'll hardly do that.

But why do I keep on underlining?

I want to have a hope to be amused by the same thing twice.

Back in the days of black-and-white TV, churches offered kids lemonade, cookies and flannel-board stories about Jesus, all set to a clanging piano. Children sat in pocket doltish chairs and listened to the tales for what seemed with an eternity. Things are opposite in 2008. DVDs and video screens are everywhere, along with professionally recorded music, dancing and suave lesson books.

Kids are as likely to move on inflatable moon bounces or go to water parks as play on a church swingset once Bible schedule is done. Vacation Bible school, once a homestyle tradition, has become big business, with families helping to foot the reckoning through registration fees and donations. A handful of Christian publishers provide the curriculum, thereby mounting the summertime agenda for millions of elementary-age kids at thousands of churches nationwide.

"Gone are the days of making bird houses and cherished macaroni frames," said Kevin Clark, children's minister at Life Church in suburban Birmingham for the last eight years. "It costs a lot more compared to what it did when I elementary came here, but it's really good." At Mountain Brook Community Church, volunteer John Byrd pulls on a threatening wig, puts on a extensive white coat and gyrates at the front of the chapel for his role as a professor in this year's "Power Lab" VBS, a curriculum produced by the Colorado-based Group Publishing Inc. Jumping around with a keyboard slung around his neck, he lip syncs a air with about the sovereignty of Jesus - the most persuasive thing there is, the lyrics say. WORTH IT "What did we learn yesterday?" a ruler calls out above the buzz of excited children.

"Jesus gives us the power to be thankful!" they yell back. Used by hundreds of churches this year, the "Power Lab" monograph incorporates music, DVDs, crafts and handouts. Children's priest Walter Arroyo said the $2,000 investment was well worth it for the nondenominational church. Small groups of children actuate between classrooms every few minutes rather than sitting in one place, and all the activities and lessons stop in to a central daily idea.

Arroyo acts as the supervisor, patrolling the church campus with a walkie-talkie and clipboard. "What it has helped us do is begin and keep things moving," said Arroyo. "We're committed to the implication of the Gospel, but we also have to engage them in their world.

" For children's churchwoman Chuck McCammon, 38, VBS 2.0 is all about using new tools to reach children who have grown up on TVs and computers. "The biggest variation between now and when I was a kid is we try to make it more interactive, with things that are more tactile," said McCammon.

His church does its best to seductiveness in children from a wide area. This year, Valleydale Baptist advertised VBS with a billboard on Interstate 65. The roots of vacation Bible college go back at least 130 years, when Christian summer camps began operating. A doctor's trouble and strife in New York City is extensively credited with having the victory true vacation Bible school in 1898 in a rented beer hall. Baptists began publishing vacation Bible tutor materials in 1922, and the format was mostly unchanged for decades, according to Mary Katharine Hunt of LifeWay Christian Resources, the Southern Baptist publishing arm.

BIGGER PACKAGES But in the 1990s, LifeWay, the nondenominational Group Publishing and other companies began turning out sociable packages with the total from Bible-based curriculum to talent supplies and professionally produced music and videos. Publishers won't notice sales figures on their VBS products. But the Southern Baptist Convention said nearly 26,600 churches reported using LifeWay's VBS materials termination year, with a outright enrollment of almost 2.9 million children.

Vacation Bible way of life is most popular in the Southeast, where it's seen as an important tool for bringing new families into the church, but it's hardly a regional phenomenon. "We have churches all over the territory using our vacation Bible school material," Hunt said. "Obviously it's strongest in the Bible Belt, but we have tons of churches using our matter in California. It's phenomenon in New York." Small churches generally spend no more than a few hundred dollars on VBS, she said, but some dissipate $2,000, or even more.

Many churches seek donations, enjoin registration fees or sell T-shirts to make up for the increased cost of materials benefit camp-style extras like visits to water parks, said Jody Brolsma, chief vacation Bible school editor at Group Publishing in Loveland, Colo. "Thirty dollars isn't unheard of for a daytime camp-style experience, and some charge more," said Brolsma. To support defray costs, many churches that purchase materials from companies like Group Publishing allotment as much as they can. Copyright laws prohibit copying most music and videos, but most everything else is even-handed game.

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