Music ♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♪♫ a bit about K-pop...and why you should be proud of your eardrums !

When it comes to music, I'm not a fan of anyone.

Any band.
Any genre.
Any individual's face, dress code, background, or watever.

A band who looks pretty and sings awful does not climb up my leadership scores very well. Music is music. If you think you can't change the way your vocal chords are designed, so you flip your wardrobe in hopes to compensate for that, you will be in for a liiiiittle shock. Cookie won't likey. End of story.

What defines a fan ? In my personal dictionary, a fan of some artist's music, is a person who listens and loves pretty much every single music track that was composed by such artist, and thus, has become to like that artist. Solely for music. Music only. You may, of course, like a particular artist or group of artists because of their general public behaviour, stuff that you see first hand while queuing up for a concert ticket, or in the comfort of your sitting room, watching the telly. That's ok too, but it won't make you a music fan. I bear in mind that what I see, is usually what is displayed to me, or what the media decides to show me. In my opinion, unless you personally know the artist, or even shared a dorm room with them, it's really quite hard to say you like their personality, because what you see may only be a segment of what they want you to see, and isn't potentially accurate.

For me so far, I have not yet been a fan of any artist. There is not yet one band or artist who I aspire to be fan of. If I liked their first few songs...fantastic. But I dislike the ones after. I do not like their music unconditionally, and therefore I am not a fan. If I like a song, I like the song, and that is all.

Like other human beings, my mood changes, and so does my ear for music. I would dislike every single love song on the planet if I were out to party like a boss in Dandelion, because I would be in the "party-animal" mood, and sorry, Dido, I like you, but not all the time. Generally speaking, I enjoy all types of music. That said, I'm not a huuuge fan of opera music, or rap. But there are random songs I would like from both genres.

I'm also not "fan" enough to catch up on an artist(s)' background or preferences, although being an ex-muggler wouldn't exactly encourage me to like them. However, I wouldn't dislike their music solely because they mugged someone in the past. I mean, since when had they become that important to me ? Since when has their personal life got anything to do with the music I pop into iPod ? If I had friends who liked to gossip about celebs, I'd gossip a little, just to keep up to what they are into and what's not so hot, but other than that ? I couldn't care less, really.

Another topic I would like to discuss is K-pop (Korean pop). I like some K-pop music. I find some K-pop music very easy going, has a good flow, has a good tune, singers have fairly good vocals, very catchy. A bit cheesey sometimes, especially when I come to understand what they are singing, but that cheesiness is tolerable on my cheesy tolerance scale of 0-10.

The K-pop industry is very successful, in my opinion. Correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as memory stretches, K-pop is the only genre of music in asia that has stretched it's popularity so significantly well into other countries. Now it didn't stretch out so well here where I live because I live in a little shell under a rock beneath a pile of pinecones in an island surrounded by trecherous sharks, but anyway I learned about K-pop from my less secluded friends a few years ago, and I still like some of it's music now.

And teamed with a unique style of drama (doesn't matter if you don't like that style, you gotta say it IS pretty unique), with gorgeous looking people (doesn't matter if it's not 100% natural, nobody gives a flying flip), and fantastic new ideas for fashion (I'm sick of brackets now. You get the drift ¬__¬) K-media is indeed soaring above that very air you breathe right now. And I gotta admit, I like some of it.

"Like" and "some". Very important.

I was inspired to write this blog by a video I've seen on YouTube.

I only watched the first half of the video, and totally blank-facedly ignored the second half regarding the magazine that he had ._. I felt that he made some very valid points and spoke my heart's mauscript in the bottom drawer.

• Some - now read this carefully, how some people failed to hear him say some is beyond my ability to defuzzlise, so I have underlined, highlighted and made this bold (: - some k-pop fans are a bit of a haemorrhoid in the asshole ._.
• They can be rude to non-k-pop fans, bashing them for disliking k-pop. Ok, well I bash you in the armpit with some club device in Flintstones for disliking Nirvana. How's that for a bruise or two ?
• Never mind not being a k-pop fan, screw your testicals if you dislike the k-pop band they like. Or nail your nails to the wall if you think your band is better. In fact, flush your human rights down the toilet the next time you go for a number, and commence your pilgrimmage to the temple of the non-spoken K-pop gods and goddesses. Talk about being obsessed with obsession.
• To the malicious K-pop fans, I understand if you disagree with what I had said about that k-pop band. But a response regarding you following me to some dark and dangerous places, my severed body parts, and deceased family members reallllllly had not quite been what was crossing my befuddled mind when I posted that comment. Care to clarify, sir/madam ?
• And then there is this point he made in the video that I find is becoming very true. Very sad and very true...If you say a name of the K-pop member wrong, or you get some really random fact wrong about the person, they say you are not "fan" enough, and these so-called fans become very grrr about it.

Well I be damned, because apart from the odd few I recognise from a band, I find it very difficult to tell the Korean celebs apart. True story, I mean, sometimes I will watch their music videos on YouTube, and I really cannot tell the difference. It's not a case of racism, because I'm oriental myself, and I have some Korean friends. It's not usually due to the high numbers in the groups, although that is of zero assistance to me -.- But I find myself trying to tell the difference by their hairstyle or hair colour....and when I succeed ? Voila, different music video, different hairstyle altogether. Time to give up, Cookie ._.

But that is all besides the point. How has that so-called K-pop fan have the power to deem you a fan or not ? Yes, let's say you're applying to do a degree in Music in college. You will have to meet some requirements, and that's fair enough. But to be a fan ? You don't need a cert, or do an exam or flippin' tattoo your arm to dedicate yourself to being a fan. Music was made for your enjoyment. Why should you slave for it ?

If I were ever to get these accusations, I would've taken them all with a dab of sugar because they are just too pathetically lame to waste my breath, braincells and salivary molecules to explain the facts of life to these wierd ass phD K-pop fans. But then I noticed some kids, or people younger than me, feeling guilty and apologising, simply because they're not matching up to the accuser's criteria of being a fan, watever stone that definition was engraved on.

And that made me flip my flowery teacup *__* !

Lads and Ladies, You make your own definition. You like what you wanna like. You call yourself a fan - how could anyone else dare to say no ? If they don't like you because you're not a clone of them, well then they should start stepping under a multiplying machine before they start running out of people to like. You should be proud of your eardrums...you can't force them to like what they don't like. You could pretend, not a bother, but yep, it'll be universal when they start to bleed o.O And if you think you could hide your liking for a piece of uber cheesy music ? We can tell by the way you're gyrating your hips to it :ppp

Your eardrums are special and unique. That's what makes them so awesome.

I need more tea ._.


Laters & godspeed.

ℭọंκ¡Îℬ೮ķ

How to make Macarons :ppp

Went out to town today and a good friend of mine treated me to some macarons. Now I had obviously been living under a pile of soggy seaweed all these years and have never tasted them before, but now am in love with them.

I've browsed the internet and found that this lady seems to be making the best (often successful) macaroons. So I decided to shamelessly steal the recipe from her. Watching her video also helped big time. Now all I need is a food processor...

I sourced this from http://foodnouveau.com/2010/03/29/paris-france/how-to-make-macarons-a-detailed-illustrated-step-by-step-recipe/

Check out her site for more delicious recipes !

Macarons: Basic Recipe
These ingredients will make the cookies. This is the base and what’s hardest to master. You should try to successfully bake a couple recipes of basic macarons before trying to mix in other flavors.

• 3 egg whites (from large eggs), separated at least 24 hours in advance and kept in the refrigerator
• 210 g powdered sugar
• 125 g almond meal
• 30 g regular granulated sugar

What you need – equipment:
It’s best to gather all the equipment you really need before starting. Yes, I did have to buy some of these tools before making my first macarons. The good thing is that none of the following tools are specific to making macarons so your new gadgets will help you make many other great desserts. Please, do take this excuse and go shopping.

• Kitchen scale (yes, you do have to measure in grams, it’s more precise)
• Food processor (really nice to have but not mandatory)
• Hand or stand mixer with whisk accessory (mandatory unless you’re very courageous and/or strong)
• Sifter or fine sieve
• Big stainless steel bowl (cul-de-poule)
• Another big mixing bowl
• Spatula
• Pastry bag and round tip (1/2 to 3/4 inch opening)
• Large baking sheets, preferably 2 to 4 of them
• Parchment paper
• Various food color (liquid, gel or powder are all good)

A couple of days before you plan to make your macarons: Prepare your eggs. Separate them, putting the whites in a clean airtight container and reserving the yolks for another use. Now, your egg whites must “age”: they need to spend at least 24h (up to 5 days) in the refrigerator before you use them.

The morning of the day you plan to make your macarons: Take your egg whites out of the refrigerator and leave them to temper at room temperature for several hours.

Making the cookies:
Measure the powdered sugar and almond meal and put them in the bowl of your food processor. Finely grind the two together for a minute or two. Stop the processor, scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, and process again for a minute.

Yes, you need to do this even though both ingredients are already powdered. This step blends the sugar and nuts perfectly together and gets rid of bigger bits that often remain in packaged almond meal.

You can grind your own almonds, just make sure they are peeled. And that you very finely grind them (add the powdered sugar to the almonds when they are coarsely ground to make sure you don’t end up with a paste).

If you don’t have a food processor, you can still make macarons, but make sure to really thoroughly blend the almonds and sugar together. The consequence is that the texture of your macarons won’t be as soft and smooth.

After processing the powdered sugar and almond meal, you have to sieve the mixture. This is really important (especially if you don’t have a food processor) as it will get rid of the remaining bigger bits and ensure a smooth batter. You will see some of the almond refuses to pass though your sieve (see picture below). Don’t try to force it through; it’s ok to throw it away. The quantity shouldn’t be significant enough to unbalance your recipe.

Here’s what I generally have left after I sieve half of my almonds-sugar mixture:



Set this bowl aside and take your bigger stainless steel bowl out. This kind of bowl is called a cul-de-poule in French and they are so useful in a kitchen that, if you don't have one already, you simply really should invest in a couple of them (different sizes). Stainless steel bowls helps egg whites get fluffy and firm.

Make sure your bowl is cold. Stainless steel usually remains cold by itself, but if it’s not, rinse it under cold water (or stick it in the freezer for a couple of minutes) and dry it before continuing. A cold bowl also makes egg whites happy.

Make sure your granulated sugar is measured and close to your working area.

Put your egg whites in the bowl. Start beating them at medium/high speed with your mixer. Once they start to get bubbly and white and you see your whisk is lightly leaving marks, add a tablespoon of the granulated sugar.



Continue beating and add the remaining sugar slowly over the next minute or two. Your eggs will now be white and fluff but not stiff enough. Continue beating at high speed until peaks form and remain up when you take out your whisk (stop your mixer before trying this!). When the egg whites are ready, you’ll notice that they seem dense and creamy and not as bubbly anymore. Here’s what they look like:





Now is the time to put your electric appliances aside. Your egg whites are delicate and you must treat them gently. If you wish to add color, now is the time to do so. I made lemon macarons. I added 15 drops of yellow liquid food coloring and the very finely grated zest of one lemon. Gently fold in the color using a spatula: slide your spatula on the side of the bowl under the egg whites and bring the bottom up to the top. Repeat this until the color is evenly blended. Now is not the time to be in a hurry: DO NOT whisk at any cost as it will deflate your egg whites and your batter will be ruined. At this point, the color of your batter (if you added food coloring) should be at least as intense as you want the final macaron to be. It will intensify and brighten a bit when you add the almonds/sugar mixture.
The batter is now matte, light and fluffy:



Continuing your folding motion, start mixing in your dry ingredients a little at a time (you should add the whole thing in 4 or 5 additions). Carefully blend everything together, always sliding your spatula to the bottom of the bowl and back up to make sure no pockets of dry ingredients remain.
When your batter is evenly blended, it will look shiny and creamy:



Prepare your baking sheets. Double the baking sheets (helps macarons rise and cook more evenly) then cover each with a well-measured sheet of parchment paper. I have tried silicon mats before and I don’t think they work well with macarons. Their rubbery texture seems to cling to the delicate and somewhat sticky cookies so that you more often than not end up with empty shells (the tender insides remaining stuck to the silicon).



Now is the time to fit your pastry bag with its tip. I like to use disposable pastry bags that I wash 3-4 times before getting rid of them. I find that plastic pastry bags are more flexible and easier to work with than textile bags. They are also really easy to clean just by letting hot water run through them and they don’t stain.
To make the transfer from bowl to pastry bag easy, I stand my pastry bag in a measuring cup, folding or twisting the tip to make sure the batter doesn’t come out too quickly. If your pastry bags are long, fold it in half to make sure the batter gets to the bottom of the bag.



Take your bag out of the cup, keeping the tip folded or twisted so that the batter doesn’t come out. Unfold the larger end of the bag and twist it shut close to the batter to push it down. As you lay your macarons on the cooking sheets, you will continue this motion (twisting the larger end of the bag with one hand) to put constant pressure on the batter and ease its way out on the sheets.

Now is the time to work your magic: you have to hold the tip of your bag with one hand to guide it, and hold the larger end with your other hand to push the batter down. Place your tip close to the parchment paper and twist the end of the bag so as to push the batter down and out to form 1 to 1.5” disks. You can set your macarons pretty close together as they won’t expand while cooking. When enough batter is out, stop twisting the end of the bag and swiftly lift your tip up to stop the batter from coming out. This is tricky: you will need practice. Mastering this technique will ensure your macarons are uniform in size and round.



Now, don’t panic. Your macarons have a pointy tip that makes them look like lazy Hershey’s Kisses. Not to worry: as they rest before cooking, they will smooth out. You can help them though: lift your baking sheet up a bit and firmly bang it on the table a couple of times. This will even the caps and take the air bubbles out of them.

If you’re a perfectionist like I am, now is a good time to edit your macarons to make sure they will be perfectly round. I use a small silicon spatula to make oval caps round or smooth down tips that won’t come down. This step is absolutely not mandatory; imperfection can be very charming.

The next step will once again test your patience: you have to let your macarons rest on the baking sheets at room temperature for at least 20 minutes (some say a couple hours is best but I’m not that patient). You just have to. This step will “dry” the caps and help them rise later when they cook.



Halfway through the wait, preheat your oven between 275 and 300°F (135-150°C). Every oven behaves differently. I have a gas oven and 300°F (150°C) is generally good for me. In some ovens, this temperature can be too hot, especially for light-colored macarons (you don't want them to brown). I prefer to play it safe, cook them at a lower temperature and leave them longer in the oven. You will have to test your own oven and stay close to it to watch over your macarons as they cook.

I baked these lemon macarons at 300°F (150°C) for 14 minutes. Your cooking time could be anywhere between 13 and 18 minutes. From 12 minutes on, watch closely, and avoid opening your oven door before that. Your macarons are ready when they look dry and matte and seem firm on their crown when you lightly tap on them. Overcooking the macarons will make them too crunchy and feel like meringue. Undercooking them will make them separate when you try to lift them off the sheets. I know, it’s tricky! After a while, you will know your oven and get better at figuring when your macarons are done. In any case, please play it safe when setting your oven temperature. Excessive heat is the macaron’s worst enemy: they will cook too quickly, cracking like meringue and browning, hiding their beautiful color.
When they are done, take the sheets out of the oven and let them cool on a rack. If you need to reuse your baking sheets for the next batch, let them cool 5-10 minutes in the baking sheet and then lift the parchment paper out of the sheet to set it directly on the cooling rack (this is why it’s good to have more than 2 sheets).
Once cooled to room temperature, your macarons are ready to be assembled.



When they are perfectly cooked, they should lift easily from the parchment paper, have a flat bottom and a beautiful puffy crown. If they stick a bit, help them up with a thin stainless steel spatula so that they don’t separate or break. If they’re a bit overcooked, they will be hollow under the cap. You can still use them, you’ll just have to put more cream to assemble them (yum!).

Match the cap sizes that fit best together. For the filling, the possibilities are as great as your imagination is. For lemon macarons, you can fill them up with lemon curd as I did, or with a lemon-flavored buttercream. If you made pink cookies, fill them up with good-quality raspberry preserves or, if you feel decadent, with a mixture of mascarpone cheese and preserves. The only thing that’s important is to make sure the filling is firm enough to not drip out from the macarons. A great macaron should be able to stand on its side and not lose its filling.

Using an icing spatula (or just a regular butter knife) spread your icing on one cookie. Place the other cookie on the icing and press gently to stick them together.

Once all of your macarons are assembled, in an ideal world, you would put them in an airtight container, in the refrigerator and let them rest for another 24 hours. Yes, you need patience once again. They won’t be bad if you eat them right away. Letting them rest with their icing in really reveals the fine texture of the macaron. The humidity of the icing will get into the crispy caps and that’s what will make them crisp on the outside and so tender on the inside. Try to be patient, trust me, it’s really worth the wait. The good thing is that it’s a great dessert to make in advance and it will for sure impress your guests. They will be at their best if you eat them in the next 4-5 days.

Yes, these French cookies are a really fancy delicacy. No, they’re not easy to make. Yes, they require time, patience and practice to master. But it’s worth it really, and less expensive than a plane ticket to Paris.




Laters & godspeed.

ℭọंκ¡Îℬ೮ķ

How to enable cookies on your browser

Was trying to sign up for Adsense on Internet Explorer 6 and woe behold this cookie business -- Fret not !

1. Click Start > Control Panel > Security Centre > Internet Options
2. Under the Privacy tab, click Advanced
3. Select Override automatic cookie handling
4. Select Accept / Prompt for both First-party Cookies and Third Party Cookies
5. Save all settings

Laters & godspeed.

ℭọंκ¡Îℬ೮ķ

同阿媽講聲對唔住 (╯︵╰) ...An apology to mother dear

She was the first to notice that my one and only flowery dress was starting to look like a cross between a crumpled piece of seaweed and a 4-year old sheet of overused origami paper ._.

She offered to iron the dress, and eventually did so too, but i was being too much of a mup to be grateful. I also snapped at her like an alligator with a mousetrap on her tail (o.O) ouch.

所以, 對唔住啊媽, 我無心嘎, the八婆inside me 走左出來 D:

笑翻先 ？ ^_^＂


Huggles and kisses on your shiny little forehead (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ c(∩.∩"c)
From your fat nosed daughter )o:

ℭọंκ¡Îℬ೮ķ

Skyrim's Sunlight Souffle from Uncommon Tastes!

Totally copied and pasted and plagiarised like a boss....directly from this video.

Sunlight Souffle

 Ingredients:

- 2 1/2 Ounces Cow's Cheese (we used Gruyere cheese for the sunshine sauce, Parmesan cheese to cover the souffle dishes)

- 1 Ounce Butter

- 1 Ounce Flour (non rising)

- 4 Eggs (added in by us, original recipe didn't have eggs but calls for it)

- 9 Ounces Milk

- A Dash of Salt

- A Dash of Pepper

- A Dash of Ground Nutmeg

 

Recipe:

• Stoke the flames of your oven, and achieve a moderate heat. (Preheat to 400)
• Grate the cheese into thin shavings by running a finely honed elven dagger over the block
• Separate the egg whites from the yolks, and beat the whites vigorously until they thicken.
• Begin preparation of the signature Sunshine Sauce: - Melt the butter, and add in the flour while stirring continuously until well blended. - Move the mixture to a smaller flame and begin gently stirring in the milk. It is crucial that you do not stop stirring! - Continue to do so for ten minutes, until the mixture thickens. Then, and only then, will the Sunshine Sauce be considered ready.
• Add the salt, pepper and nutmeg, and remove from the flame.
• Add in the grated cheese, and then the egg yolks. Stir well until fully blended. Then, gently add in the egg whites with a spoon made of carved hickory wood. (fold the egg whites in gently, making sure to not destroy air bubbles)
• Gently pour the mix into four stonework souffle' dishes, filling each nearly (but not quite!) to the top. (if you'd like, prepare the souffle dishes beforehand by coating them in butter and grated parmersan cheese)
• Put the dishes in your moderately hot oven and shut that door! Keep sealed for 25 minutes, or your scrumptious suns will rise, only to fall down flat into the oven's abyss. (put in oven and immediately reduce heat to 375 degrees. Bake until the souffles rise and tops are browned. DO NOT OPEN TOO EARLY or the souffles will fall)
• Remove after 25 minutes, and serve immediately.

And if you screw up on any of the above steps ?

Don't worry, mama will fix it ~ D: !

 

Laters & godspeed. And good luck.

ℭọंκ¡Îℬ೮ķ

I hate being sick. A hate so strong that it can turn trees into purple goats o.O"

By threads of sheer luck, Himself and I are unfortunately magical enough to get the exact same ailments at the exact same time right across the bulumnious continents and seas.

==" bollocks.

He buys chinese medicine for a price of next to nothing and gets better within 24 hours, whereas I am stuck with sucking on flippin herbal sweets and sips of water and rolling around in bed, in a pathetic attempt to "drive the sickness out of my system"...and three days later...surprise surprise ! I'm still the same messy sniffly phlegmy sicky jazz that I was three days earlier...and by now, I'm sick of concealing it .

So i went to the GP and found myself queuing behind her extensively long list of coughing spluttering infants (daww ._.) and pissed off mammies (aiiiya ._."). After getting checked and confirming that i do not have TB or any other contagious life-threatening diseases of some sort, I happily crawled my sloppy way home to bed like a slug with insomnia, only to realise before I toss myself upon my bed that I have been wearing two completely different runners in the presence of other befuddled folk.

How i failed to realise is beyond my current ability to comprehend. How mother dear failed to cease laughing is beyond my ability to care. Flip that shiz.

Someone teleport me to mars please ¬__¬



Laters & godspeed.

ℭọंκ¡Îℬ೮ķ

Theme for Graduation ?

...Black and blue and ready for school ==

Oh well, at least with my "proper" shoes, I won't literally end up black and blue at the bottom of the stairs la...


Laters & godspeed.

ℭọंκ¡Îℬ೮ķ

hp printer does not print out bottom of the page: solution

Took me about 4 hours trying to figure this out.... ._. meh.

After much investigation and thorough browsing, I was on the verge of giving up. Mr. Printer (hp deskjet 3325) just point-blank refused to print the bottom part of every single sheet of my VFID (very flippin' important document). Peeps who worked for the printer company only posted answers that were inapplicable in my situation, and unfortunately, forums weren't of much help, just filled with questions and questions and more inapplicable answers ._. daww.

So to my absolute delight, this, posted by one forum dude, did the trick:

• Go to the Start menu
• >> Control Panel
• >> Printers
• Right-click your printer
• From the drop-down menu, click Properties
• Select the Ports tab
• Uncheck "Enable bidirectional support"
• Click Apply, and Ok.

Worked like a gem. Not only did Mr. Printer do what he was supposed to do, he also did it more quickly. I'm sure there's a downside somewhere, but I havent noticed it yet, so yeahh.

I'll keep you posted (;


Laters & godspeed.

ℭọंκ¡Îℬ೮ķ

~~Links~~...

Contact me at Gmail: cookiebuk@gmail.com

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Check out my videos at YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/cookiebuk

Enjoy your stay !


Laters & godspeed.

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About this little cookie...

i am...

[C]learly a dork
[O]dd-looking
[O]verly using this litto face ._.
[K]icks ass at awkwardness
[I]ncredibly lazy
[E]xtremely short-sighted
[B]loody random
[U]niversally a noob
[K]ind at heart. Aww.

Laters & godspeed.

ℭọंκ¡Îℬ೮ķ