lotto fever
With less than 2 hours to go until the draw that could change people's lives, the nation is going through a last minute lotto fever! Why wouldn't you be though? With at least $100 million going off tonight, it's worth your while to be involved.
Some basic stats for tonight's draw:
Your odds in winning are 1 in 45million- If you bought every game in the draw, you would only need to spend $54 million
- That would guarantee a win and a potential profit of at least $36 million (a 67% return on investment)
- That is provided no one else wins
- $200 million has been wagered on this draw so far (2pm)
- Newsagents are opening until 1930 tonight to cope with the long queues of eager punters
- More money has been spent on this draw than in the Melbourne Cup
- Draws of this magnitude happen once every 28 years
- We will have mortgages and kids to look after the next time this happens (we'll be 51)
benny | Tuesday, June 30, 2009 
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end of an era
With the death of the superstar, let's reflect on Michael Jackson culture and life in the 80s and 90s.
I think the cult status that Michael Jackson achieved in his prime will not be replicated by any artist in the modern era. The release of his 'Thriller' album was momentous. The way artists were worshipped in the 80s for their charisma and talent was left behind long ago. People do not revere their idols in such droves anymore, and with such passion.
It was the era of superstars. Jackson was one of those superstars, much like the 四大天王 in Hong Kong. Everything was super. You had your golden era of supermodels who were very super in status, money and fame. I'm sure even markets became supermarkets in Hong Kong. Superman was famous in that time. So super!
In the end, Jackson left the world as suddenly, colourfully and weirdly as he had lived it. The moonwalk will continue to live on... through the millions he inspired to take up dance.
benny | Friday, June 26, 2009
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最後一「周」杰倫
One week to go
One week to go
benny | Thursday, June 25, 2009
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i dont know many ppl who are going due to the high cost of the ticket :p lol~
|
Monday, June 29, 2009 4:36:00 pm
lol a lot more people than you think =P
i have seen that shop. it's crazy! so what happens when its over?
benny |
Monday, June 29, 2009 6:53:00 pm
about time
Time and time again this week, Sydney has seen its mantle been taken from underneath it by Melbourne. In two successive polls this week, Sydney has been outdone by Melbourne in the rankings of "best city to live".Monocle placed Sydney 13th this year and Melbourne 9th in their livability index citing our passionate car culture to blame for our downfall. Tokyo was 3rd. It said that we had an enviable lifestyle, were blessed by nature and had a thriving restaurant culture. Our downside was our lack of culture and overly-bureaucratic councils.
I hate it when ministers 死撐 and defend the city rather than improve it. It's just not good enough. Back to the drawing board I say and go plan a better city. But first, let's sack all the ministers and get a new government!
benny | Saturday, June 20, 2009
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do the unthinkable
I hadn't really given this annual tradition much thought until now. Even now, I am not giving it much thought. GO all the way. It's only when you realise you're getting old and time waits for no-one that's given the sudden impetus to try something new and expand those narrow horizons. So this year I think I will enter and at the least walk (maybe run) the 14km in the City 2 Surf.What a great way to start getting into a little shape, but who knows, I might not even do that. It has at least kicked something into gear- that motivation for trying something new, which is something to be happy about. That is if I get my application in by the time it closes... and I haven't done that as yet.
If you plan on doing the City 2 Surf this year, then you only have one day left for early-bird prices. Check it out and get fit this year! You save about 10 bucks by registering before close of business Wednesday June 17, 2009.
benny | Tuesday, June 16, 2009
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fire water puffs out
If this is what you envisaged would happen across Campbell's Cove, then you will surely be がっくりed (disappointed). I was expecting fire, fireworks and explosions, but all I got was prolonged fire-smoking, name-calling and watching boats float aimlessly. To say I was がっくりed is an understatement. That's not to say I did not enjoy it. At least the weather held up and I did not freeze. My arse did just that after an hour of sitting though. The end sequence was exactly what I wanted to see, but that was after 1 hour+ of sitting. All my angst exacerbated by the fact I was busting from the beginning, so I never really was in the right frame of mind. Sigh.
The whole concept of Vivid Sydney has been an outstanding success in luring people out of their houses in winter and out to the harbourside. One can feel the culture Sydney is trying to exude, at times too crude and unrefined like this brash city really is. We are trying. I think that up is the only way to go from here. Overall, I have been impressed at the event as a whole. It made me walk to Observatory Hill in the dark for the first time. I would not have done it otherwise because but for the lights, it truly is darker than inside a black hole. Neither would I have ventured out to Circular Quay in the first place. So well done all those involved for inspiring Sydneysiders for the last 3 weeks.
benny | Saturday, June 13, 2009
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don't get swiped for no reason
Everyone has seen how the Reserve Bank has cut interest rates over the last few years and lending rates have also fallen as a result. That includes mortgage lending rates as well as rates on personal loans, car loans and so on. Rates are now at about 8-13% depending on the type of loan.
What bemuses most people though is that credit card rates have not come down substantially over the same period. Most cards are still in the high 10s and low 20s. What ever happened to that? Or should I say, what didn't happen to that?
Anyway, my point is that you don't really notice how high this rate is until you are charged interest because you had fallen into trap of forgetting fine print in the contract. My card's interest is comparably lower than most at 15.5%. But imagine that rate charged daily until you made the payment. What's worse is that you didn't even know it was being charged until it had you get the shock from looking at the statement.
Firstly, I didn't even know I had to make the payment. I had always thought I had interest free days. Well I do, but my definiton was obviously different to theirs. Mind you, when I called them today, they did say that I had my 45 interest-free days, but that's if you count from a particular day. If I had unfortunately made a transaction on a very unlucky day (end of the period- which was new news to me... I didn't know I had periods), I would only have 14 days. They clearly said to me on the phone "up to" 45 days. How deluded was I...I was totally stumped. I had interest incurring on my balance that I didn't even know was overdue. How stupid. It's like I was asking to be robbed of money. You don't truly appreciate what you have until you lose it. This applies so aptly to money too.
Then the next deluded thing was that I was paying interest on the total amount outstanding after the period even though I had already made partial payment. Apparently, I had 14 days after the period end to make payment (that was new news again). I paid half of it before then, but left the other half, on the delusion that I had 45 days. At the end of the month (which was 2 weeks away) you find out that interest at exhorbitant levels was charged and you think to yourself "what the hell?". Then you call up and find out that interest was charged not on the half remaining, but on the total amount from period end. That's insanity I tell you.
So after all that it made me feel like wringing the necks of those lawyers that put everything into fine print, and those sales staff that didn't put all this into their flashy brochures in big bold print or take time taking you through the "how to pay off your credit card and not incur interest" in a mini-tutorial or the like.
Jipped. That was a rather expensive lesson to have learnt. I could have used that money more wisely, say, on Lotto and won millions, or bought something to stimulate the Australian economy. Paying school fees just like mahjong isn't something I like to do...
benny | Thursday, June 11, 2009
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You sure love the banks Benny. First the ATM charge, and now this!
=)
pang |
Wednesday, June 17, 2009 12:11:00 am
hush!
Onto more controversial topics once again. This time it's all about censorship. You may have read on the news about China's plans to introduce internet filtering software as prerequisites on all new computers in China. As well, you may also know that school children will be the first 'beneficiaries' of this new policy direction.
As expected, this move by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (中華人民共和國工業和信息化部) has drawn swift condemnation by the online community and western media alike. Sceptics of the plan believe this is an extension of the country's censorship might beyond internet server and internet cafe management directly into the homes of its citizens.
This is the internet site people can download the censorship software. The software is called "绿坝·花季护航", which is a "绿色屏障" (green screen) created by the Chinese youth for the youth. 255,432 people have already downloaded the program at the time of writing. Interestingly, this software is also split into multiple versions for different users, namingly home users, internet cafe operators, schools and for servers.
China says that this software aims to prevent pornographic and immoral material from reaching the naive population. Many believe that the list of blocked websites contains more than just level-3 content websites. Hardly surprising when during the Tiananmen Square incident anniversary, major western media sites including news agencies, Youtube, Blogger, Twitter, etc were blocked.
What I found most funny throughout the whole process was the picture used to sell the idea to the public.
Translation: the black germs say "不良網站" (bad websites) "不良信息" (bad communications), the hands say "國家" (country) "財政" (finances), and the screen is the software project name. The focus of the project is to protect the youth of China. I am not quite sure if I understand the word 'protect' or if it should be 'suppress', but I will refrain from speaking my mind especially after all I have said in the last post.
Will Australia follow with our internet screening to be implemented by the government and enforced on all participating ISPs?
benny | Wednesday, June 10, 2009
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squares and circles
It's still a very politically sensitive topic twenty years on from the event itself. June 4 is the date of the Tiananmen Square incident. Note how I am trying to neturalise my words so next time I go to China I don't end up getting arrested and detained.I stand for freedom of speech so I disprove of China's efforts of censoring the internet and media for fear of a similar uprising. I disprove of erasing textbooks of facts. Here, I'm not just isolating China. Did I just undo my neutrality?
Well did you know what the protests were all about? It all started 2 months earlier when pro-democracy, pro-capitalism and anti-corruption government official Hu Yaobang (胡耀邦) died. 2 years prior, he resigned from his position as General Secretary of the Communist party. Many believe he was forced by socialists hardliners who resented his public anti-Maoist stance. He had brought market liberation and political reform during his 5 years as the highest ranking officer of the party. It seemed to happen too fast for Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平), who many believe was instrumental in making Hu the scapegoat he became. He was blamed for the protests of 1986-1987. The irony was clear. To this day, many believe Deng was responsible for the vast reaching reforms. It was his protege Hu who was really at the forefront of these. Undoubtedly, this legacy remains somewhat hidden. This was precisely the point of the protests.
After Hu's death, people mainly students gathered in Beijing and Shanghai to mourn. On the eve of his funeral, 100,000 people had gathered in Tiananmen Square with a common dislike of the authoritarian government and call for economic change. The protests became more vocal. The Party were keen to negotiate, but with so many people with such diverging agendas it became almost impossible. The General Secretary at the time Zhao Zhiyang (趙紫陽) advocated for a more soft-lined approach towards the protestors. He was ousted and subsequently placed under house arrest until his death.
The party elders supported a more hard-lined approach because to disband the one-party rule will send China back into Cultural Revolution chaos. They supported Li Peng's (李鵬) use of force to quash the protests. Deng took charge of the military and called martial law to restore stability on May 20. The army had to retreat from Beijing due to strong resistance. This escalated to the final seige on June 4 and was captured in the legendary video of the unknown rebel blocking the path of incoming tanks (in above picture) in one of the most enduring images of the 21st century. He was named one of the 100 most influential people in the 21st century.
The rest as they say is history.
benny | Wednesday, June 03, 2009
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vivid sydney
If after you've had dinner and you don't know what to do afterwards, for the next two weeks you can head out to the harbour foreshore and enjoy the inaugural Vivid Sydney festival.
Until June 14, Sydney's Opera House, Museum of Contemporary and twenty various other locations around the foreshore/The Rocks area will light up in a 'Smart Sydney' light display aimed at promoting the need to ironically turn lights off.The cool nights make the walk from the Opera House around to The Rocks a very pleasant experience. It is a photographer's delight. I was rather surprised at the relatively few amount of people that were in the area enjoying these lights.
A must do is to ride the exercise bike to turn on the LED lights in an installation just before the Overseas Passenger Terminal. Chat to the guy that created the installation and feel his passion for art. Then head across to Cadmans Cottage and take psychadelic photos under the rainbow. It's sure to complete your night.
If you have been around UTS lately, you would have noticed that the foyer area is once again filled with yet another display. All the bright flashing lights inside Tower Building this time are part of the Vivid Sydney festival. There are interesting installations and peculiar designs of lights that are sure to inspire or make you epileptic walking into Tower.It really is a very different and rather cool display. Worth seeing if you're still at uni.
Where: Sydney Harbour foreshore and The Rocks
When: 26 May - 14 June
How: Do the walk from one side of the Quay to the other. Remember to bring a scarf.
More info: Vivid Sydney
benny | Monday, June 01, 2009
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It is a photographer's delightShhh, keep it quiet. I've been planning to get out there one of these nights and shoot some of the stuff there
pang |
Tuesday, June 02, 2009 1:38:00 am
Have you seen that store opposite World Square, near the corner of George and Goulburn St? All it does is sell Jay Chou tickets, and probably associated merchandise...