Will Ooi » Other Reviews

Memories of VHS

Will Ooi — Tue, 11 May 2010 03:06:30 +0000

~ With modern eyes we now see them as ugly, primitive-looking things affiliated with old plastic cassette tapes and perhaps somewhat related to those equally-redundant computer floppy discs. How quickly technology has progressed from the days when having variable fast-forward and rewind speeds (fast, double fast, Triple Fast!) on VCRs warranted praise and worship, and how stubborn I was when DVDs first came out, adamantly insisting that I would never (ever) convert, clinging desperately onto my collection of VHS movies with their inconsistently-sized and ripped cardboard covers and maintaining passionately that being able to record from TV was a basic human right. And indeed, by not making recording a standard feature on DVD players haven't we all turned into JB Hi-Fi bargain pile-raiding uber-consumers, needing to own entire series of shows and collector's editions of movies when we could have easily taped them for free? Well anyway, before I allow the nostalgia to forever be replaced by the progress of DVD and Blu-Ray user-friendliness, here are several of my fondest childhood and adolescent memories of VHS.

How to Alienate Your Fans and Come Across as an Arrogant Bastard: Empire of the Sun @ Foreshore ’09 Review

Will Ooi — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:08:31 +0000

Garry, like many of us, was ultra-keen to see Empire of the Sun, vocally expressive in his enthusiasm the moment we all met up with him in the morning on the day of Foreshore, Canberra’s annual music festival situated next to Parliament, holding onto this positive anticipation all the way through the day and excitedly [...]

House Review: Steve’s Place

Will Ooi — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 13:00:00 +0000

I wake up early on a Sunday morning, lying on an all-enveloping yellow couch of grand comfort and am greeted by a family silhouette of bottles of Coopers Pale Ale positioned directly in front of a bright white window, wondering where I am. A surge of initial trepidation runs through me as I furiously try [...]

Review: Greedy Power Adaptors

Will Ooi — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:00:00 +0000

I wish to charge up my Nintendo DS. It isn’t asking much. And I have only one space left on the port. I wish to fit the power adaptor into that remaining space: the one untouched. But because of the shape of it, I cannot. There is conflict. Could you not be [...]

DVD Cover Review: Punches They Didn’t See Coming

Will Ooi — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 13:00:00 +0000

They say you should never judge a book by its cover; but what about those particularly obscure macho sporting DVDs usually found in the ‘Specialist’ section of a DVD store right next to the awkward softcore pornography section (rather ingenius target demographic product placement if I do say so myself) or deep down within the [...]

A Night Out At The Pyramid Scheme Seminar

Will Ooi — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:00:00 +0000

They know her. “Hi, Nichole,” the blonde woman in a black suit says from behind her desk as my chaperone for the evening signs herself and me, as her guest, in. We move towards Ballroom 2 at this particular RSL Club with more nods of acknowledgement coming her way from these people in formal clothes [...]

Ryokans, Love Hotels, and Geishas: A Noob’s Guide to Kyoto

Will Ooi — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 14:00:00 +0000

The following is a guide for beginners going to Kyoto based on the recent experiences of two young guys from Australia visiting for the first time. It is, by some distance, not to be taken as a ‘definitive guide’ of any description, but merely serves as a kindred sharing of our adventures and therefore cannot [...]

The Girl From Yokohama

Will Ooi — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 14:00:00 +0000

She was the one in white We were on the bus to the stadium to see Yokohama FC vs Vegalta Sendai in J-League Division 2 on a Saturday afternoon. I was sitting down towards the back, on the right side. Unlike the buses in Kyoto, the Yokohama buses give passengers entry from the front much [...]

Emails From Japan: Nihon ATTACK Part 2

Will Ooi — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 04:25:18 +0000

Dear All Right this moment I am sitting in the foyer of the World Friendship Centre in Hiroshima, a lovely, homely place run by two American volunteers, Sarah and Kent Sweitzer, and open to travellers from all over. There is an Englishman, a Scottish girl,and I can even hear the male half of a Spanish [...]

Emails From Japan: Nihon ATTACK! A very long update of Japan, for the patient readers

Will Ooi — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 04:20:41 +0000

Dear Friends I am writing to you now in the comfort of a kimono in `Kikokuso Ryokan`, Kyoto, having just exited a `family bath` with my travel mate, Eugene, and sitting in the lounge/smoking/internet area trying to comprehend and recall all that has happened so far. I would like to attach photos to this email, [...]