Chloe and I.

Get a job Dad...and what's with that haircut?

Triad Toys ~ Guns For Hire : Lola

From Triad Toys website and description on the box,

"Since 1994, the United States leads the privatization of the military with over $300 billion in defense contracts. One of those private military organizations that prospered during the Gulf Wars were a small defense company called Gunn Industries. Today, Gunn Industries has become the biggest military weapons and equipment manufacturer in the world and houses the best private military contractors the world has come to known. But at Gunn Industries, there are secrets that are better left untold. . ."

Lola: Expeditious Demise Facilitator (EDF)

Joining the Gunn Agency at an early age, Lola has quickly moved through the ranks to become one of the industry’s most esteemed operators. Her ever-changing appearance makes her hard to track and her skills as an EDF guarantees her the biggest pay days. But Lola’s looks can be deceiving since her dress code is a tactical ploy against her targets. . .

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Ordered from BBTS, this buxom figure comes with Otaku 1.0 Caucasian Skintone body in a rather controversial attire ~ high knee shiny PVC platform boots, plaid ultra mini skirt with sewn in black panties, a pair of white high knee socks, short hip tie white shirt and a black brassiere which barely cover her,ahem.. well endowed parts. School girl/street walker disguise targeted at dirty old men? Lola is armed with 2 ATAC Submachine guns with separate ammo clips, loose bullets with one dual SMG leather gun holster. The leather is a real let down, like what I had experienced with Midori Washio's gun strap; it seems to be going apart. Also with a backpack with real functional zipper, pouches, a cuddly Teddy Bear and my personal favourite, a customised bomb with a matchstick to blow some m!*#^%$$#%% skyhigh.

The figure is real heavy, heavier than some 12" I have thus far. It has the solid feel throughout. To change and to slot in the extra pair of hands are very tedious. I also have some problem trying to create the nice knot they done for its promotional pictures on their website. The Lola headsculpt with rooted pig tails tend to get bits of strands popping up here and there, making her looking kinda messy. Maybe I should give it some gel to straighten it out...

Neca ~ 24" Balrog.

"Then something came into the chamber...and the orcs themselves were afraid and fell silent." ~ Gandalf to Gimli.

"...but I have never felt such a challenge. The counter-spell was terrible. It nearly broke me." ~ Gandalf to Gimli.

"Durin's Bane!" ~ Gimli.

"Ai! ai!. A Balrog! A Balrog is come!" ~ Legolas.
"You cannot pass. I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass." ~ Gandalf to Durin's Bane

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Name : Durin's Bane; Flame of Udûn; Nameless Terror Of Moria.

Race : Balrog; Valarauko (Sindarin ~ Demon Of Might).

Origin :

The Balrogs were formerly Fire Spirits of the Maiar Order. They were corrupted by Melkor long before the creation of Arda and have sworn absolute allegiance to him. They entered Varda with Melkor during the Years Of The Lamps. On Varda, they took on a huge and physically hulking form, covered in lava-like crust and perpetually burning from within in fiery flames. As such they are covered with shroud-like foul fumes, and move like shadows with eery illuminations of their fiery forms within these pillars of smokes. They possess great strengths and ferocity. Its destructive nature are rivalled only by the Dragons. The Balrogs also possess knowledge of sorcery. Because they are perpetually covered in smokes emitted from their own bodies, the actual size and shape description of them varies from one account to another. The earliest description of the Balrogs, from during the Wars Of Beleriand, mentioned that they are at least twice the size of men, which is about 12 feet but in later accounts, Balrogs are at least 30 feet in height. They are said to possess wings but no demonstration of the ability of flight was mentioned. They can conjure out various weapons like axes, swords, maces and even claws. These weapons have the same fiery appearance like the Balrogs themselves. And of all these weapons, the most fearful are their whips of flame. So terrible is this weapon that even Ungoliant The Great Spider which nearly devour Melkor could not stand it and was driven away from the West forever. The Balrogs were Melkor's foremost champions during each battles and they were described to move in thousands for they were a race during those times, some straddling the Dragons, whilst others were surrounded by walls of Battle Troll bodyguards. They arrived like some great volcanic fumes covering great areas of land and combine with the fire breathing Dragons, only the Dwarves would be able to withstand the heats from these creatures. Earths, fields and trees were scorched to cinders along the path they took. One particularly profilic Balrog was Gothmog, the Lord Of The Balrogs, High Captain Of Angband and Marshall Of The Hosts. Gothmog the Dread Oppressor slew two High Elven Kings Of Noldor, Fëanor and Fingon during Dagor-nuin-Giliath (Battle under the Stars) and Dagor Nírnaeth Arnoediad (Battle of Unnumbered Tears) respectively . Gothmog finally met its match in Ecthelion Of The Fountain, a Elven High Captain during the Fall Of Gondolin and both died in the duel. During the catalysmic War Of Wrath, the Balrogs, together with other vile creatures of Melkor creation, were destroyed, although not entirely. Seven were said to have survived and dug deep into the roots of the mountains to hide themselves.

For nearly five millennia, their existence remain unknown, until The Third Age Of The Sun, year 1980, the deep delving Dwarves Of Khazad-dûm (the Dwarrowdelf) whilst mining for mithril, awaken one from its catatonic state. The Balrog immediately rampaged through the mines, massacred the dwarves population, include killing High King Durin VI and his son, Náin I the following year. The remaining dwarves were forced to desert Khazad-dûm for Erebor, and the Elves rename the place Moria (The Black Chasm). The Balrog was thereafter referred to as Durin's Bane. From then, Durin's Bane seemed to attract the forces of evil. Hordes of orcs and trolls began to populate the deserted mine. In Third Age year 2799, at the aftermath of the final conflict of The War Of The Dwarves And Orcs, on the valley outside the eastern gates of Moria (the Battle of Nanduhirion or Azanulbizar as the Dwarves called it, where the Dwarves won a pyrrhic victory), the eventual Dwarven King Of Erebor, Dáin II Ironfoot refused to enter Moria to reclaim it, for based on foresight, he knew the Dwarves army would not be able to defeat Durin's Bane themselves. In Third Age year 2989 Balin, one of the dwarves who accompanied Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf The Grey wizard in the Quest of Erebor, left with a band of dwarves and entered Moria. He managed to set up a colony there until they were overwhelmed and killed by the orcs five years later.

The Fellowship Of The Ring was forced to take the route through Moria via the West Gate (Doors of Durin) on their journey to Mount Doom during Third Age year 3019 by Saruman The White wizard, where they encountered the orcs and trolls of Moria within the Chamber Of Marzabul and finally, Durin's Bane itself. At first Gandalf, a Maiar himself, tried to seal one of the chamber doors using shutting door spell to prevent the orcs from pursuing them but Durin's Bane casted a counter-spell which broke the seal into pieces. Failing that, Gandalf tried to hold it from crossing Durin's Bridge (The Bridge of Khazad-dûm) whilst buying time for the rest of the Fellowship to escape through the East Gate (Dimrill Gate). At first Durin's Bane tried to smite Gandalf with its flaming sword but was broken into pieces by Gandalf's staff. It then drew out its feared fiery whip and attempted to tear the Grey wizard apart but Gandalf lifted his staff and made the bridge and ground beneath the Balrog to break. In the process his own staff was broken. As the Balrog fell, it wrapped its whip around Gandalf and took him with it. Together they fell through the chasm for quite sometime where they exchanged countless blows with each other until they reached an ancient subterranean lake of water beneath the Misty Mountain. The Balrog broke through the water surface with the sound of a thunderclap and immediately its fiery form turned into slime like creature. The water surrounding the balrog began to boil and turned into vapours at the same time. There it attempted to drown Gandalf by churning in the water but Gandalf managed to free himself in the ensuing whirlpool of undercurrents. The Balrog then swam to the nearest shoreline, leaving a trail of muck and slime which looked like a serpent. Once out of the lake, Durin's Bane regained its fiery form and exited into one of the numerous ancient tunnels. Gandalf followed and from there they fought each other throughout, including the long climb up the once thought to be a myth Endless Stairs and eventually reached Durin's Tower which was carved into the uppermost snowy peak of Zirakzigil (Celebdil) after eight days. There they fought for two days and two nights in icy conditions until a storm approached overhead. Gandalf, using his last ounce of strength on this opportunity, infused his elven sword Glamdring with the power of lightning and drove it deep into the heart of Durin's Bane. The Balrog gave out one last roar before falling down, hitting the mountain side several times whereby its body shattered like ashes upon landing and blown away by the winds. Gandalf himself expired from extreme exhaustion and injuries but was brought back to life by Eru Ilúvatar as Gandalf The White to complete his task.

For the remaining Balrogs, if there were any, they are said to have continued in their endless catatonic sleeps, remain unknown to the worlds forever and some say that they would awake once Melkor, now known as Morgoth, returns from the Void through the Door Of The Night to commence Dagor Dagorath (The Last Battle).

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Got it from eBay, this is THE biggest ball and joint action figure I own...it scared mom out of her wits when she first saw it in the morning. The maid, Siti thought it was a bat that flew into the house during the night. I have no place to display it and have to hide it from Chloe as she is afraid of the sight of this monster action figure...

Monkey Cups New Pitchers.

a) N. Ampullaria ~ Green Speckle variety. True to what Fauzi has mentioned when I bought this version, the more sunlight, the redder the pitcher become. The truth is, I am quite sure that I have forgotten what the exact name for this variety.

b) N. Ampullaria ~ Hot Lips.

c) N. Hookeriana. Thus far the one most fulfilling in terms of expectation. The pitchers are getting bigger.

d) N. Bicalcarata. Curiously has some light red on its pitcher.

Dinner at Nong & Jimmy.

Brought everyone (except for sister and husband who had to be away with Suet Nee) to Nong & Jimmy off Jalan Cempaka, Taman Cahaya, Ampang for a nice Thai style seafood dinner. Based on last trip, we decided to be early to avoid the crowds and get a table. Although we arrived at about 5.30pm, the place is beginning to be filled with dinner crowds. By the time we are halfway through our meal, some have to stand and wait for tables. They serve nice sumptuous mud crabs, sizes which rival the more exotic Sri Lankan variety. We also ordered some cockles, clams, a fish as well as tom yam soup. Will definitely drop by again.

Zoo Negara.

Went to Zoo Negara with Chloe and Esther on Saturday morning. The place is already quite packed with crowds by the time we reached there at about 10am. It is also quite hot with me beginning to sweat profusely 10 minutes into the zoo. The place remains fairly unchange from the time when I first went there with Mom and that's nearly 25 years ago. It is the first for Chloe and she enjoyed viewing the speciments they have at the place, particularly giraffes and elephants. It is unfortunate that some species, like the lions, certain buffaloes and hippos are "hidden" from her view. The tigers are quite active though, swimming about in full view of the crowds. She is also fascinated with the giant tortoises, which is the same ones I saw when I was there with mom. Another area which we nearly missed going to (the place is quite large) is the Children's World. Luckily Esther pressed on and we managed to locate it. Chloe is impressed with the ponies but she absolutely refused to touch it. Overall, I personally felt that the government could do more with the Zoo, this being the national zoo and from what I had seen on the Nat Geo channel, other national zoos are waaaayyy more attractive. It is also time to upgrade the facilities and speciment selections.

Dinner at Italiannies, One Utama.

Had a nice Italian treat with Esther, Chloe and Dylan on Saturday at Italiannies, One Utama. Ordered the classic pizza, a shrimp salad, a Salmon Picatta and stuffed mushrooms. Chloe and Dylan enjoyed the meal, and so am I and Esther, although we could not finish the pizza.

Labour Day 2009.

Every 1st of May is designated Labour Day. What is the significance of this day? All I know is that it is an annual public holiday which means no need to go to school, no need to go to work. Can slack off. According to Wiki, "Labour Day or Labor Day is an annual holiday celebrated all over the world that resulted from the labour union movement, to celebrate the economic and social achievements of workers. The majority of countries celebrate Labour Day on May 1st, and it is popularly known as May Day and International Workers' Day. The celebration of Labour Day has its origins in the Eight-hour day movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest."

So what is Eight-hour day movement? Again, to directly quote from Wiki, "The eight-hour day movement or 40-hour week movement, also known as the short-time movement, had its origins in the Industrial Revolution in Britain, where industrial production in large factories transformed working life and imposed long hours and poor working conditions. With working conditions unregulated, the health, welfare and morale of working people suffered. The exploitation of child labour was common. The working day could range from 10 to 16 hours for six days a week. Robert Owen had raised the demand for a ten-hour day in 1810, and instituted it in his socialist enterprise at New Lanark. By 1817 he had formulated the goal of the eight-hour day and coined the slogan Eight hours labour, Eight hours recreation, Eight hours rest." Robert Owen, a Welsh (14 May 1771–17 Nov 1858) was a social reformer and one of the founders of socialism and the cooperative movement.

As a celebration of world labor movement, International Worker Days "commonly sees organized street demonstrations and street marches by millions of working people and their labour unions throughout most of the countries of the world" to quote from Wiki.

Although synonymous with International Worker Days or Labour Day, an interesting fact is that there is a different origin for May Day as well why May 1st. According to Wiki, "As a day of celebration the holiday has ancient origins, and it can relate to many customs that have survived into modern times. Many of these customs are due to May Day being a cross-quarter day, meaning that in the Northern Hemisphere it falls approximately halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. May Day marks the end of the half of the year in the Northern hemisphere, and it has traditionally been an occasion for popular and often raucous celebrations, regardless of the locally prevalent political or religious establishment. As Europe became Christianized the pagan holidays lost their religious character and either changed into popular secular celebrations, as with May Day, or were replaced by new Christian holidays as with Christmas, Easter, and All Saint's Day. In the twentieth century, many neopagans began reconstructing the old traditions and celebrating May Day as a pagan religious festival again." Interesting...