Madd0's soup

You can come out now… [Via Le Dernier Bon Samaritain]

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 17:20:20 +0200

You can come out now…

Animator vs. Animation Un court-métrage très sympa...

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:23:47 +0200

Animator vs. Animation

Un court-métrage très sympa d’Albino BlackSheep.

Et il y en a un deuxième (Animator vs. Animation 2) qui est encore meilleur, mais je vous laisse aller sur leur site pour le voir, histoire que vous puissiez profiter de la pub et la bande annonce de Brüno et tout ça ;)

I feel like a star Je vais m’abstenir de commentaire pour...

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:04:17 +0200

I feel like a star

Je vais m’abstenir de commentaire pour éviter d’entendre des remarques sur ma tête ou mes chevilles :P mais j’ai tout de même trouvé cette pub de Turkish Airlines très originale et très marrante.

Certes, ce n’est pas la première fois qu’on voit une “star” jouer la star dans une pub (je pense par exemple aux pubs Nespresso), mais ça faisait longtemps qu’on ne voyait plus Kevin Costner aussi.

Enfin, pourquoi je me justifie ? J’espère juste qu’elle vous aidera à bien démarrer la journée, comme elle l’a fait pour moi ;)

[Via, aussi incroyable que cela paraisse, ma mère ! qui ne sait pas se servir de YouTube, mais qui regarde quand même la télé :) ]

De l’humour et une cornemuse OK, faut être bizarre pour...

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:18:40 +0200

De l’humour et une cornemuse

OK, faut être bizarre pour aimer cet instrument, mais je n’ai jamais osé insinuer que je ne l’étais pas ;)

Je vous propose donc quelques minutes de cornemuse avec humour par Johnny “Bagpipes” Johnston, qui s’amuse avec le logo THX logo, Star Wars, AC/DC, …

Evidemment, ce genre de trouvaille ne peut venir que d’une personne : merci, Splash.

"In 1 hour the sun gives the Earth the same amount of energy as that consumed by all humanity in 1..."

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:05:51 +0200

“In 1 hour the sun gives the Earth the same amount of energy as that consumed by all humanity in 1 year.”

- Home — a film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand

Une Bugatti Veyron pour $25 000 ? Ah, par jour… Ça explique...

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:30:56 +0200

Une Bugatti Veyron pour $25 000 ?

Ah, par jour… Ça explique tout…

Et n’oublions pas la caution de $160 000, bien sûr.

Toujours intéressés ? Allez faire un tour du côté de Holders Vehicle Contracts ;)

[Via Luxist]

"1 person in 4 lives as human kind did 6000 years ago, their only energy that which nature provides..."

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:14:07 +0200

“1 person in 4 lives as human kind did 6000 years ago, their only energy that which nature provides season after season”

- Home — a film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand

Hey, wanna know what I put in my car? Via splashmyworld

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:47:10 +0200

Hey, wanna know what I put in my car?

Via splashmyworld

TXT Island Une charmante vidéo en stop motion faite complètement...

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:45:18 +0200

TXT Island

Une charmante vidéo en stop motion faite complètement avec des éléments typographiques.

Une excellente utilisation de la typographie, couleur, musique, … Un bon court-métrage dont on entendra parler à nouveau sur le web, à mon avis, si son réalisateur et ses producteurs, Chris Gavin et Tandem Films, décident de le présenter à des concours ou festivals.

Et parce que le court-métrage était, ben, trop court, voici aussi sa bande-annonce :

“Euh, tu vas où comme ça ?” Dit le léopard au...

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:12:03 +0200

“Euh, tu vas où comme ça ?”

Dit le léopard au petit rat qui essayait de lui piquer les restes de son dîner.

Je ne sais pas ce que ce dernier répondit, mais il a eu de la chance, parce que j’ai entendu dire que rares sont ceux qui s’en tirent avec un bisou pour la route :

Source Mail Online via Neatorama

Zack Morris dans le Tonight Show avec Jimmy Fallon Si vous avez...

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 08:57:01 +0200

Zack Morris dans le Tonight Show avec Jimmy Fallon

Si vous avez passé une partie de votre enfance devant Saved by the Bell (euh, Sauvés par le gong, en français, il me semble) cette séquence du Tonight Show avec Mark-Paul Gosselaar devrait au moins vous faire sourire.

Moi, j’adore :) et j’adore le fait que NBC ne limite pas la vidéo aux Etats-Unis comme le font beaucoup d’autres ; way to go NBC!

Quelqu’un sait ce qu’il a comme téléphone ? Le mien est tombé en panne quand j’étais en Malaysie et j’ai besoin de le remplacer :P

"Hear the voices in my head I swear to god it sounds like they’re snoring But if you’re..."

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 08:03:09 +0200

“

Hear the voices in my head
I swear to god it sounds like they’re snoring
But if you’re bored then you’re boring
The agony and the irony, they’re killing me

I’m not sick but I’m not well
And I’m so hot cause I’m in hell
I’m not sick but I’m not well
and it’s a sin to live so well

”

À Vendre : 10 place de la Concorde, Paris 8ème Prix :...

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 23:31:59 +0200

À Vendre : 10 place de la Concorde, Paris 8ème

Prix : environ 300 millions d’euros

Ouaip, c’est tout ce qu’il vous faut si vous voulez racheter le célèbre Hôtel de Crillon à Paris.

La boîte à qui ça appartient ne semble pas en train de couler, donc je ne comprends pas pourquoi ils vendraient alors que les prix dans l’immobilier chutent encore, mais bon, ils doivent s’y connaître un peu mieux que moi.

Alors, si vous êtes intéressé par un bel immeuble construit pour Louis XV et qui a accueilli de Marie Antoinette à Schwarzenegger, en passant par Churchill, Elizabeth Taylor ou encore Madonna, vous savez désormais combien il faut sortir de sous le matelas ;)

Un Paul Smith ? Heureusement ma chemise...

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:13:35 +0200

Un Paul Smith ?

Heureusement ma chemise d’aujourd’hui ne ressemblait quand même pas à ça :P

[Via rocketboom]

"20 kg"

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 18:35:20 +0200

“20 kg”

- Le poids autorisé sur Air France et le poids exact de mon sac.

Je ne dis pas que je sois parfait, mais… ;P

"Thanks for your teaching ,sir.You are a patient teacher.And I think you are the best. Poor..."

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 08:00:48 +0200

“Thanks for your teaching ,sir.You are a patient teacher.And I think you are the best.
Poor Englishi,I sent only a short letter to you.
谢谢!!”

- A student that shall remain anonymous.

Teaching can be tough sometimes, especially when there is a culture and language gap to fill, but this is definitively why I do what I do :)

Sea, sand, sun and a lot of fish!

Thu, 28 May 2009 08:30:45 +0200

The first evening at Mama’s concluded with a beautiful dish of fish and prawns prepared by Jimi, but my plate was not the only place I would be seeing fish over here.

After breakfast, I noticed a sign announcing a snorkelling trip at 10 a.m., it was already 9:55. I found Aziz, who told me there was no problem. I rented mask and flippers, put some sun-block on, grabbed a bottle of water and left for the boat.

I love the sea and I love wildlife, which probably makes me a perfect candidate to love diving, but I don’t have a license. However, I was lucky enough to grow up relatively near an ocean or two and very near a few pools. Still, I’m not much of a swimmer, but I’ve had mask and snorkel since I was a kid, even though I had never really used them anywhere but the first few meters of surf or in swimming pools, I have spent quite a while underwater. I didn’t know if I knew what I was doing, but at least I was with a group of people and a guide, which sounded better than wondering randomly around the island alone.

I don’t have pictures of this because I wasn’t about to buy a 30-frame underwater camera. I kind of regret it now, but I will probably never forget the moments I spend underwater today.

I was always the first off the boat and the last one to come back. We dived about 5 or 6 times, and every time it was just beautiful!

First dive: sharks! Two incredibly elegant sharks, small (about a meter or so) with a black-tipped fin, were swimming near the bottom. I had to get closer! I did, but as much as I love wildlife, I have a lot of respect for any animal that I don’t know well; besides, I was all alone, since I was the only one not wearing a life-jacket and thus the only one to actually dive, which didn’t really help with my confidence.
Second dive: hundreds of fish! Even though there were fish other than sharks at the first site, the second place where we stopped was impressive in the quantity of fish by the cubic meter. I didn’t really notice them from above, but as soon as I got off the boat, I was completely surrounded by a huge school of fish. I’ll admit I found it scary at first—or intimidating actually, but the more I dived, the better it felt (secondary effect of the lack of oxygen to the brain?) and the more I saw different species of fish of all sizes and colors. I got to see Nemo and Doris, amongst others.
Third dive: rays! What I think were blue-spotted rays. I’m not very good at naming fish, but hours and hours in front of the Discovery Channel allow me to make some educated guesses. Anyway, I was alone down there, so there’s nobody to prove me wrong. What’s important is that rays are very elegant but very shy fish, so I was lucky to see a couple of these.
Fourth dive: the turtle! There are a few turtles in the area, but when we looked for one, we didn’t find it. Nevermind, said the guide, we’ll look elsewhere; but when we were going someplace else, we passed one of his friends who had just spotted one, so we stopped and dove. Again, one of the most elegant animals I’ve seen; then again, I guess that anything moving in water will probably fit that category. I couldn’t name the species, although I’m almost sure it was the same kind as in Nemo, is it a green turtle? Is that even a kind of sea turtle? Once again, I was one of the only few who were diving, and especially diving deep enough to actually get near the animal, so it was even better. I was actually close enough to touch it a few times, but I felt the poor creature was being harassed enough by the crowd that was slowly forming, so I just swam back to the boat.
Fifth dive: huge fish! Beautiful colored fish at least the size of my arm; I guess that’s about a meter right? By now my group was tired, so I had this one all for myself. I followed it around for as long as I could hold my breath; three or four times. It was incredible to hear it crunch at the coral and then see all the other little fish come take advantage of the mess.

We stopped for a while on a beach and then dived one or two times more before heading back to the cabins. After that, the weather kept getting worse and worse, so I just stayed around here reading and writing.

Tomorrow I leave around noon back to Kota Bharu and then Kuala Lumpur. I have to spend the night there before moving on to Singapore.

Mama's Chalet

Thu, 28 May 2009 08:00:46 +0200

Coming to the beach was not exactly part of the plan when I decided to come to Malaysia. I mean, I knew I wanted to move around, but I didn’t really know where, and besides, when you’re all alone—or at least when I’m all alone, it’s a little harder to find the motivation.

Luckily, I tweeted about my trip to Malaysia, and that tweet showed up on Facebook and this friend read it and told me about her cousin living in Kuala Lumpur. I contacted her and very quickly the trip started to take shape. I’m told a lot that I “waste” a lot of time on social networks on the Internet, but when I see what they can do, I’m convinced every second is worth it.

One of Sandra’s (the girl who lives in KL) suggestions was the Perhentian Islands; or Palau Perhentian, in the local tongue. It’s a protected group of islands off the east coast of the Malaysian peninsula towards the northen border of the state of Terengganu. On the island, I was referred to Mama’s Chalet.

If you’re looking for extremely reasonably-priced accomodation on beautiful island in Malaysia, come to Mama’s Chalet!

While in KL, I made my reservations with Jimi over the phone. I got all the information I needed and, before I knew it, I had a reservation for two nights in a 60-ringgit cabin (that’s about 12€) with ensuite bathroom and a taxi would be waiting or me at the airport. I shared the taxi with two other guests, which meant I only paid 20 ringgit for the hour-long ride.

I was greeted at the hotel by Jimi and Aziz. They’re brothers and they manage the family business. I haven’t figured out the family ties of everybody here, and I’m too shy to ask, but when they say “family business”, they really mean it. The family is extremely friendly and warm, as have been most people here in Malaysia. They all speak perfect or near-perfect English, so there are absolutely no communication issues. Actually, I tried every language I know and Aziz didn’t have any trouble replying!

The cabin does not face the sea, but it’s only about 50 meters away. Needless to say, there is no beach here, but a beautiful beach of white sand is only a couple of minutes away; and if you walk a few meters on a wooden path through the jungle, it gets even better.

Mama’s restaurant and cabins are clean and comfortable. Eating here is a little more expensive than what I was used to in KL, but hey, we’re on an island. The first night I had some fresh fish and prawn’s, prepared at Jimi’s BBQ with coconut and barbecue sauce, respectively. It cost me 40 ringgit, but it was just perfect! (oh, and it was served with salad, rice and fruit)

Aziz and the rest of the family are extremely friendly and won’t hesitate to shout out “Diaz” and engage in some friendly chat and explain where and how I can move around on the island. They are a relaxed bunch that will help you with anything you need. When I went to see Jimi and Aziz about my departure tomorrow, that had already planned everything to make sure I was at the airport on time, even though I had only mentioned the time of my flight once casually over the phone.

Once again, if you’re coming to the Perhentian, I can only recomend staying at Mama’s!

Note: as they do at Mama’s, none of the prices quoted here include a 5% government tax. I’m glad I brought more money than I had to, otherwise I may have been in trouble :p

Changing States

Wed, 27 May 2009 19:34:46 +0200

Kuala Lumpur is nice, but few cities deserve more than a few days to themselves. I would’ve liked to visit more around KL—and all over Malaysia, for that matter—but I didn’t want to have to run, so settled for a single destination: Pulau Perhentian, the Perhentian Islands.

I woke up early because I had to pack my bag. I had also been criticized my “beard”, the result of not standing shaving and having forgotten the machine I use to keep it short in Paris. I didn’t really mind the beard; after all, it’s not much like me to try to please people with my appearance, but I did realise something: if I went to the beach and tanned, I’d have a horrible mark when I shaved again! The beard had to go!

I didn’t want to buy a razor and shaving cream because I knew I wouldn’t be allowed with them on the plane, but unfortunately the barber from the nearby alley refused to shave me. So I ended up buying what I needed plus, very important, sun lotion, in a nearby store. After having made myself handsome again, sent out a few e-mails to tell people that I’d be completely offline for a few days and finally checked out, it was off to the airport.

There was a very short, 10-minute, delay, but I still belive that Air Asia is one of the best airlines I’ve flown with, considering it’s low-budget and all. As usual, I slept the whole flight and by early afternoon I was in Kota Bharu; in the state of Kelantan. There, the hotel I’m staying in arranged a taxi to take me to Kuala Besut, in the state of Terangganu, where I could catch a boat to Pulau Perhentian Besar (Big Perhentian Island, if I understood well).

Mama’s Chalet deserves a whole post to themselves, so I won’t go into details here. I don’t know the exact time I got to the island—I know it was between 6 and 7 p.m. since the electrictiy was not back on—but it was still light enough outside to take a few pictures. Sea, sand and sun would have to wait until the next day, though.

Yet Another Day in Kuala Lumpur

Wed, 27 May 2009 16:36:29 +0200

It’s a fact: I love this city. I’m not declaring it my favorite city in world just yet, but if you offer me a job here, I would probably move.

Day 2 meant, not only waking up early, but actually getting out really early in order to try to catch a ticket for the Petronas Towers Skybridge again. I don’t know if it’s because I came on a weekend, but in my experience, you have to be at KLCC at or before 8 a.m. or you’ll walk away empty-handed. Anyway, after queuing for about an hour, I got my ticket. It was around 9:30 and I had a ticket for 2:30 p.m. That was unexpected, but I knew I’d figure out something to do in the meanwhile, but first, I needed something to eat. To my greatest regret, I ended up at the KLCC Burger King, but since I hadn’t had breakfast in order to get my ticket for the Skybridge, I really, really, needed to eat and BK was the first place that sold food that I saw.

As you probably know, I do much better with animals than with humans—it might have something with the latter acutally understanding what I say; at least some of the time—so I decided to head to the KL Bird Park to wait for it to be time to go up the Towers. After wasting quite a while under the scorching sun looking for a taxi (I don’t get the KL buses well enough to use them) that didn’t want to rip me off, I finally found a guy who was willing to use the meter.

The Bird Park was wonderful. It probably had something to do with all the animals and not so many tourists. As soon as I got there, while I swapped objectives on my camera to get the 70-300 mm on, a very nice parakeet decided that my shoulder and back were a perfect place to spend a minute or two. That’s what I call a welcome!

I spent a few hours in the aviary, which was extremely hot; so hot I actually started displaying symptoms of dehydration—nothing a bit of water and some shade wouldn’t fix. I saw a lot of beatiful birds, some of which I couldn’t resist taking a picture with and, since the aviary is actually in a bigger park called the Lake Gardens, I also got to see some more wildlife (just kidding, this is the other wildlife I’m talking about). But the most impressive part of the visit was probably this couple of hornbill birds:

I found them by chance when I took a wrong turn. I heard some pecking near the ground and when I got down I saw this couple hard at work filling up a hole in the wall. I have no idea why they would want to do this, but seeing the birds, less than a meter from me, handing each other small stones and mud to fill the hole was just fascinating. Needless to say that I spent way too long squatting with them while they worked.

After eating, it was time to get a taxi to KLCC; I didn’t want to miss my date with the famous Skybridge. When I got there, the lobby was practically empty, except for the volunteer that greeted me with a great smile (have I told you I love the people here in Malaysia? Everybody is just so friendly! OK, except taxis, I don’t like those…) and showed me where to get in line to go up. You have to sit through a short 3D propaganda video about Petronas, but I’m fairly sure I slept through about 5 of the 7 minutes it lasted. Once it’s over, we took the service elevator to the 41st floor.

So, what do I have to say about the Skybridge? It’s just really high, and it’s actually not that high when you think about it—you’re only half-way up the buillding after all.

So, what’s the big deal? You should to do it if you’re visiting KL. It’s extremely well organised and, since they control so well who goes up when, once you’re up there you feel like you have the bridge all to yourself and you can take pictures without fearing groups of tourists in every background. The view of Kuala Lumpur and the KLCC Park is beautiful. Oh, and did I mention it’s free? If you can’t do it, or don’t want to stand in line for hours, you’re not really missing that much either. How many of the Parisians reading this have gone up the Eiffel Tower?

I had been in the Chinese, Indian and colonial neighborhoods, so it was time to look for something a little more Malay. Luckily, I didn’t have to go too far from where I was to get there. You can really feel the different culture, but what impressed me the most were the wooden houses; especially since you could still see the huge highrises only a kilometer or two behind them. Life was much more calm in this neighborhood, compared to the Chinese and Indian ones; I was still in the middle of the city, however there was a much more rural feel. The fruit market may have had something to do with it.

Finally, it was getting relatively late and I was very tired because of all the walking and the heat, so I brought out my trusty Lonely Planet guide and decided to go visit a temple; I hadn’t visited any in Malaysia. The temple is called Tean Hou and, since the guide’s map shows it only 149.5 meters from a monorail station which I could reach easily, I decided to go there by foot. Huge mistake! It turns out the temple is 1.495 kilometers away from the station; uphill! Still, I was determined to go there, so after losing my was in a pretty much deserted part of what I wouldn’t call “town” anymore, I made it. “Sweating” is a euphemism to what was happening with me.

I took a few pictures and walked—hey, why stop know?—back to a “metro” station to head to the PWTC, where I was meeting with Sandra, someone I hope will not mind if I call here a friend now and who helped me decide what I was going to do while in Malaysia. It was thanks to her, by the way, that I was leaving for the Perhentian Islands the next day.