BenZ Babbles

Lego Death Star Canteen

2010-04-30T16:01:00.005+08:00

This is a classic that my colleagues and I were talking about over lunch.

Eddie Izzard did a stand-up routine about how it would be like at the Death Star canteen. By itself it was hilarious, but some genius decided to make a stop-motion video of it using LEGO making it a visual comical masterpiece!

*ROTFLMAO*

DEATH BY TRAY!

WTF

2010-04-23T10:31:00.002+08:00

How true...

I ran naked with a porn star because I was horny

2010-03-15T19:29:00.002+08:00

... How I wish this was true... =D

Pissed Off Cat

2010-03-12T14:49:00.003+08:00

Yes, yes, I know it's been a long time since my last update. And yes, yes, I know that I still have one last entry to make to complete my Road to American Idol 2009 Finale posts. And yes, yes, I do know that Season 9 has started already... Just haven't had the time to sit down and finish it up.

So to tide things over, here's a video that I thought was just too good not to share.

That yellow cat must have watched one too many soap operas...

Pre-Fame Lady Gaga

2009-09-30T15:16:00.002+08:00

Now here's something interesting - A no make-up, no crazy-outfit, brunette Lady Gaga! Or back then (actually just in January 2006) she was just plain ol' Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta.

Quite a difference from the Lady Gaga during the recent VMA's huh?

My Road to American Idol 2009 Part 7: Day 2 - Red Carpet

2009-09-23T18:34:00.009+08:00

Sheesh... I started this blog four months ago to document my trip to the American Idol 2009 finales and I still haven't finished posting everything yet!

Ok... Every little step counts, so here's the next update. Should only be another two more to go after this.

So it was May 20th 2009 and I had just watched the AI finale face-off between Kris Allen and Adam Lambert the night before. Adam definitely was the better of the two, but I had the sneaking suspicion that Kris was going to win it (needless to say, this proved true).

We had the morning free, so Futaba and I decided to take a trip to Pasadena, where Futaba used to stay when she was studying here.

This is where Futaba's aunt's old music shop/cafe used to be. It's now a Spanish cafe.

After a massive shopping spree (lots of stuff for the kiddies ok!), we made our way back to Downtown LA to get ready for the AI Results show!

Since heaps of people brought their cameras the previous day, I decided that I was going to smuggle my camera in too! Heck, this was a once in a lifetime experience and I was going to make sure I had a proper camera on me instead of my mobile phone!

We decided to leave early in case there was a crowd getting in, and a good thing we did too or else we would have missed the red carpet in front of the Nokia theater!

I was actually on the phone with JJ and Ean from the Hitz.FM morning crew when I stumbled across the red carpet and told them that I was just steps away from Daughtry, to which JJ screamed "I HATE YOU!!". Hahahaha!! After that I snapped this pic...

See JJ? I wasn't fibbing! =)

Next up on the red carpet was Season 7 runner up David Archuleta. He seemed really bubbly and excited to be there, just 1 year after he at the center of the AI circus.

Another runner-up - Bo Bice. Back in season 4, I thought that he was going to win over Carrie Underwood. Really liked his Southern Rock sound. Too bad the record company gave him crap material for his album The Real Thing. It was FAAAAR from the real thing at all. Tried to make him more like Nickelback. I've got nothing against Nickelback's music, but it's just not Bo Bice...

Hey Paula! Too bad she's gone from Idol. Think the contestants really appreciated having her around. She was the only judge who took the trouble to go to the post-results show press area to wish all the contestants good luck for the future and even brought them all gifts. Ellen's got big shoes to fill. Hope she doesn't blabber like Paula does though...

And here's part of the reason why Paula got the boot - Kara DioGuardi. Sure she's got recording industry cred, but man is she annoying... And the coronation song that she wrote was just AWFUL!!! Oh, but her bikini stunt during the finale was cool though. =)

Now here's a classy guy - Nicole Kidman's other half - Keith Urban. He was only 1 of 2 artists who took the trouble to make it pass the barricades to talk to the fans and sign autographs. Too bad I wasn't close enough to get one. Too bad Nicole didn't make the finales too. =p Oh, he rocked the house with Kris on Kiss A Girl though!

Carlos Santana! The Rock GOD performed smooth with the Top 13 during the finale.

Season 7 winner David Cook asking his screaming fans to tone it down a tad.

Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood looking gorgeous in pink! She looks beautiful in real life! Good thing my wife said it first so that I could just nod in agreement and not get in trouble. =)

Another super friendly and down to earth super star - Jason Mraz. He was the only other celebrity to pass the barrier to meet the fans and sign autographs. Again - bummer that I didn't get one. I kinda owe my trip to the AI finale to him since I sang I'm Yours to win the ticket during the Star World competition! =)

Unfortunately, the stars of the evening Kris Allen and Adam Lambert did not go through the main entrance to the red carpet. Their security just ushered them into the center for the larger press crews to get their time with them. This was the best shot that I managed to get of them...

Oh, I also got a glimpse of Season 6 runner-up Blake Lewis (well, at least his back) and Season 7 contestant Michael Johns having a chit-chat on the red carpet.

Ok! That's it for the red carpet. Next up - THE RESULTS SHOW!

(Yes, my seat was that far away from the stage. Thank God for the big screens!)

Kara Dioguardi sings No Boundaries

2009-08-31T10:46:00.003+08:00

Ok, here's Kara taking a shot at her universally panned American Idol 2009 coronation song. Probably suits her voice more than Kris', but a horrible song is still a horrible song...

What do you think?

(Also, I wonder what was the person who created the video thinking between 2:01 and 2:39 of the song...)

Massive orgy in Terengganu!!!

2009-08-27T08:49:00.003+08:00

This is a classic case of misleading headlines...

The headline makes it seem as if there was some massive teenage orgy going on in Terengganu. But it then goes on to clarify that this was the statistics over a 7 month span over 7 districts.

Talk about attention grabbing headlines. Or just something to amuse filthy minds...

Full article link is here: http://bit.ly/2Gzqx

(For those not familiar with the term khalwat, is when non-married people of opposite genders are found in close proximity in private. It is a punishable offense for Muslims here in Malaysia)

Lego and 8-bit goodness!

2009-08-25T10:57:00.003+08:00

I got geeky-giddy just watching this! Brought back a lot of NES 8-bit memories...

The video is made up of 1,500 hours of moving Lego bricks. Such awesomeness deserves kudos!

How to Dirty Dance

2009-08-24T12:23:00.002+08:00

Where was this video when I was doing the clubbing scene???

Dirty Dancing for Dummies! Patrick Swayze eat your heart out!

Awesome Michael Jackson A Capella Medley

2009-08-21T19:50:00.004+08:00

I love a capella music and in the wake of Michael Jackson's untimely passing, I'm sure there have been many tributes to him by many a capella bands all over the world.

This next video is one of such tributes and what an awesome piece it is!

And the most amazing part? Except for the percussions, this was mostly just done by ONE guy! I thought it was sextuplets for a moment... Kudos to Sam Tsui and Kurt Schneider for a fantastic medley! MJ would be proud!

Taylor Swift pranks Keith Urban

2009-08-11T12:36:00.005+08:00

Besides being country music's little darling, Taylor Swift is quite the prankster as well. She already did a hilarious turn with T-Pain at the CMA this year (look here if you missed it) and now she pulls this stunt on Keith Urban, midway through his Kiss A Girl set.

Love the Kiss gear and the bit at the end when they are synchronously swaying with their guitars!

Hopefully Taylor keeps her head on straight and keeps churning out catchy little ditties like her latest You Belong With Me.

One Man Band cover of I Got A Feeling by Black Eyed Peas

2009-08-10T20:06:00.003+08:00

Well, whadya know... Two posts in one day after a long absence! I really must miss blogging... Anyways, this suddenly just popped up on the radar and I thought it was a bit too cool not to share.

This guy did a One Man Band cover of the Black Eyed Peas' I've Got A Feeling. Starts off a capella and then he adds in the guitar. Could do without the funny faces he makes, but it's still a good cover! Check it out!

David Cook, Kris Allen and Adam Lambert rock GMA

2009-08-10T19:15:00.004+08:00

Hey all... Sorry for not blogging recently. Have been enjoying my time with my family after they took a month long vacation back to Tokyo and I got stuck back in Malaysia due to work.

Here's a little something for all the American Idol fans out there though - Team Kradam with past champ David Cook burning up the stage with Little Lies during Good Morning America.

Hope I can find some time to blog soon. But in the meantime - ENJOY!

My Road to American Idol 2009 Part 6: Meeting the Idols - Day 1

2009-07-26T03:51:00.003+08:00

Man! It's been a while since my last post on my American Idol experience. It's just that I've been finding a lot of other interesting stuff to post that I keep postponing putting my experience down into words.

Ok, better start again or else it's gonna get fuzzy and slip away...

After we left the Nokia Theater, we noticed a crowd building up at a big tent that was set up outside. So we decided to be a couple of busy bodies to check it out. And lucky thing we did! The Idols were scheduled to come out to talk to the press and meet the fans!

So after a short wait, the first of the Idols arrived! Here come the ladies!

Post-show Press Tent

The TV reporters from the bigger networks got first dibs at the Idols, and this was done most at the center of the tent. The other reporters from the smaller news stations were sandwiched between an inner barrier and an outer barrier, which was where all the fans were. So most of my photos from this all had either a reporter or TV camera in it, like this...

Lil Rounds

I have to admit that I wasn't really a big fan of Lil during Season 9. It was obvious she could sing but she never really blew any song out of the park, like Fantasia before her. But she'll always mean something special to me because when I won the ticket to see the finale, each contestant had to wear a t-shirt with a name of an Idol contestant on it, and mine was Lil Rounds. So - Thanks Lil for bringing me good luck! =)

Jasmine Murray

Jasmine Murray looked really great in the long evening gown she was wearing. But I felt really bad for her when a woman kept calling her Paris. Wrong season lady! Don't think she got an autograph...

After a while, the Idols started meeting the fans. We were located at the side and they kept going to the front where the majority of the fans were. But eventually, they started coming around the side and even came between the inner and outer barrier, so we got to get autographs and even some close up pictures, like this one:

Megan Joy

Megan is really pretty and was very friendly and kept signing autographs and taking pictures with fans. Unfortunately, I couldn't get a 1-to-1 photo as she was called away for an interview. Best shot I got was the one above. A bit blurred out, but you can still see the great tattoo on her arm.

Allison Iraheta

The above is the best picture that I got of Allison during the session. I don't know why Simon says that she has no personality because she was really bubbly and wacky through out the whole interview and meet the fan session. All her responses seemed very off the cuff and unscripted. She was really goofy, as you can see in the photo, and was wearing a pair of sneakers that had a hole in it. A stark contrast between her and the other more prim and proper Idol females!

My favourite photo of the entire session has to be this one...

Alexis Grace

Yes, you can tell from my smiley mug how happy I was to finally manage to get a photo with an Idol contestant, and a pretty one at that! Alexis spent a lot of time with the fans at the side and look really gorgeous in a purple spaghetti strap dress and jeans. Didn't realise how petite and fair she is until I saw her in person.

Ok... That's it for Day 1. Next up, Result Day! I'll probably do it in 3 posts - Red Carpet, Result Show and finally the post-show press conference. Stay tuned!

Fun Wedding March

2009-07-24T09:53:00.001+08:00

All wedding marches should be this fun!

Now, if only they didn't choose a song by the girlfriend-beater Chris Brown...

Sweden's Got Talent

2009-07-23T18:33:00.003+08:00

Well, I don't know if these Swedes got talent, but they've sure got balls... Literally!

New meaning to Going Postal

2009-07-23T17:25:00.002+08:00

*GASP!* *SHOCK!* *HORRORS!*

Ok, now go HERE...

They sure don't make chairs like they used to...

2009-07-21T00:26:00.002+08:00

RIP Study chair (2006-2009)

Ok, looks like it's time for me to hit the gym... I broke my study chair this morning as I was trying to do a quick peak-a-boo with my kids over the webcam...

Good thing Ikea's having a sale on now... =p

Stop giving me those guilt-inducing stares, chair! STOP IT!!!

Lucky and... Happy? Joi Chua duet with Jason Mraz in Singapore

2009-07-17T20:06:00.003+08:00

Joi Chua was the lucky Singaporean singer who got to duet with Jason Mraz on the song Lucky during his recent concert in Singapore. Here's a video of their performance.

Now, is it just me or is Joi Chua just very happy to see Jason?

"I thought I was supposed to duet with a chick..."

I've no comment about how the duet sounds because I was just too mesmerized by the swaying 'dress dong' that I couldn't really pay attention to anything else.

Office 2010: Coming to a desktop near you!

2009-07-17T16:41:00.005+08:00

My favourite scene?

Word! \/\/

What's yours?

I Miss Being A Little Boy

2009-07-16T14:17:00.002+08:00

Ah... To be young again...

Kids have all the fun...

Japanese Spider-Man

2009-07-15T11:41:00.005+08:00

Peter Parker's got nothing on this Japanese Spider-man!

Change Leopardon???

It's way back in the 70's and this Supaida-Man already has his own Transformer! Eat your heart out Shia LaBeouf!

I bet he could have even give Bruce Wayne a run for his money, but unfortunately he lost big in the Japanese stock market crash and has had to resort to this to make ends meet now...

Transformers 2

2009-07-15T02:08:00.009+08:00

Ok, I just got back from watching the surprise (NOT!) blockbuster of this summer - Transformers 2, and before I continue with this post, I need to go take a cold shower... Why? This is why...

I'd wreck my bike just so The Fox can fix it...

..........

Wha---? Ok.... Able to focus again....

Man, if the reports of how Korean star Rain rejected her is true, the guy has got to be the gayest person on the face of the Earth!

Anyway, back to the movie. I must admit I wasn't really into the first Transformers, though most people were piling praise on it. I thought there was just way too much human and too little robots. If I wanted to watch Army folk and Shia LaBeouf jabber away, I'd go watch Indiana Jones 4 instead. And what was with that scene where the Autobots were trying to hide from Sam's family by going hide-and-seek all over the house? I mean, this is Optimus Prime we are talking about here! I wanted to see him and the other big robot kick major steel butt, and there just wasn't enough of that going on (except for that cool Optimus fight scene where he shows Bonecrusher who's boss).

Well, there's a whole lot more robot butt-whooping in the sequel! And a lot less human, or at least the scenes with the humans now were more tolerable, especially the ones with Agent Simmons (John Turturro). I think there's just the right balance now as most time is spent expanding on Sam's (Shia LaBeouf) and Mikaela's (Megan Fox) characters, with just serviceable screen time for the supporting cast.

Now back to the robot butt-whooping. There was this one scene in the movie where Optimus took on a team of Decepticons in the forest trying to protect Sam. This scene really reminded me of the 1987 animated movie's classic scene, using Stan Bush's The Touch as the background.

Man, that movie was the bomb... I still think it's a classic up until today. I remember my friends and I were just so shocked that the animated movie killed off Optimus that we were just numb.

Whoops! Perhaps some people didn't know that Optimus was killed off in the cartoon series back in 1987 to clear off some shelf-space for Hasbro to introduce new toy models... My bad, but don't worry... He was resurrected later, after the the producers got swamped with fan mail from people who protested killing off Prime.

Ok, so spoiler alert! I'm about to go into some rants about Transformers 2 next, so if you haven't watched it yet, come back after you have.....

OK... Ready? Good!

I really do like Transformers 2. Much more than I do the first movie as I think I'm getting more of what I paid for this time around. However, I do have a couple of gripes...

Firstly, what's with all the toilet humor? I mean, do we really need to look at Devastator's balls? This is even lower (pun not intended...) than when Bumblebee peed on Agent Simmons in the first movie. Wonder if Devastator's balls will be included in the new toy line. Gotta keep it real right?

Is that all you've got? I thought you were made of sterner stuff!

Second, last and biggest gripe of the movie - What an anti-climatic final fight scene between Optimus, Megatron and The Fallen!!! How long did it last? 5 minutes? After all the hype about how only a Prime can defeat The Fallen, it ends way, waaaaay too quickly. Ok, Prime might be jacked up on Jetfire's spare parts, but Megatron and The Fallen could have piled on some pain first before getting their asses handed to them. Really a let down after all the high-octane action throughout the movie.

Well, all in all, Transformers 2 was a good watch. And listen too! If there is ever a movie that proves that THX rocks in cinemas, it's Transformers 2! BOOM BOOM POW!

Go watch it if you haven't already. Or if it's still full at your favourite cinema, wait a couple more days until Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is released. Should easily be able to get tickets then.

Save a Buck, Bang by Bike

2009-07-14T17:31:00.004+08:00

Now, here's an interesting way of fighting the recession...

Berlin brothel offers discounts for cyclists

BERLIN (Reuters) – A Berlin brothel has come up with a novel way to negate the impact of the global economic crisis and target a new group of customers at the same time -- offering a discount to patrons who arrive on bicycles.

"The recession has hit our industry hard," said Thomas Goetz, owner of the "Maison d'envie" brothel.

"Obviously we hope that the discount will attract more people," he added. "It's good for business, it's good for the environment -- and it's good for the girls."

Customers who arrive on bicycle or who can prove they took public transportation get a 5-euro (4 pounds) discount from the usual 70-euro ($100) fee for 45 minute sessions, Goetz told Reuters. He said the environmentally friendly offer was working.

"We have around 3-5 new customers coming in daily to take advantage of the discount," he said, adding the green rebate has helped alleviate traffic and parking congestion in the neighbourhood.

Germany is one of the few countries in the world where prostitution is legal. It has about 400,000 prostitutes who, since 2002, have been allowed to enter formal labour contracts.

Not only are these lovely ladies helping to stimulate consumer spending (among other things), but they are also doing their bit to help ease Berlin's traffic AND also saving the environment by reducing the carbon footprint!

Bless their hearts...

(Article taken from Yahoo News)