Sunday, November 26, 2006

Curse of the Black Nokia

The loathsome techie curse is over! Seems like I'm not the most jinxed guy on the planet after all when it comes to electronic gadgets. There was a time years back when I had a supernatural succession of demonically possessed cellphones that inevitably committed harakiri after three months of usage. Nothing as drastic as an exploding laptop though - mostly death by drowning.

Fortunately it seems like that particular curse has mysteriously transferred itself to Big Bicep Barry via magical osmosis. Two years back, Barry almost bankrupted himself in a desperate bid to get the camera of his dreams ( and the matching underwater casing ) just to snap pictures of little fishies.

Unfortunately during one of his intrepid expeditions into the deep, the ill-fated ensorcelled camera sans underwater casing decided to drown itself in the colourful reefs of the South China Sea. By the time he managed to retrieve the drowning camera and attempt immediate resuscitation, it was already on its last legs.

Pecs
Fuckin hell... what's gonna happen to the next camera? Go into the washing machine?

Undaunted, Barry sold his remaining kidney - and probably his firstborn - to barter for a new camera at those good folks at Olympus. That last time he had to spin some heartwrenching tales worthy of Oprah while shedding some manly tears to coerce them into driving down the price of the camera.

Unfortunately despite taking lengthy notes on dispelling curses from the local witchdoctors, the centuries-old curse still held strong. Which led to this...

Barry : Think I need a new camera.
Paul : Good God. Not again! What happened now? Drowning again?
Barry : Hey the old Olympus ver 1.0 committed suicide in April, this one is the new one which was shanghaied.
Paul : Abducted by revolutionary Nepalese? Did they send a ransom note in Parbatiya?
Barry : Not sure, maybe by indigent Vietnamese refugees.
Paul : It's a curse, I tell ya! Step away from the cameras!

The alfalfa-sprout-munching, super-zen dude was seriously bummed. Since the fatal abduction though, Barry has been scouring the ends of the earth for a similar camera - since the underwater casing already cost a bomb! - before finding it from two excellent sources, the mysterious corporation of Ebay and those familiar folks at Olympus. Peculiarly, the seller on Ebay shied away from Barry's multiple quotations which led us to think that he might have been the mysterious kidnapper of the Olympus ver 2.0.

Not sure if he'd be able to repeat the ordeal but obviously I underestimated Barry's charming manly charms since he managed to swindle the camera service centre into offering their last camera for ( what he assures me is ) a steal! Right now he's thinking of setting up a Help Barry Fund to drum up enough cash for the camera purchase price :)

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cameras are outrageously priced.

Right now, I'm still wondering if I should sell my soul for a Canon EOS 400D.

Anonymous said...

Poor Barry...

Anonymous said...

i own a Black Nokia 1600 and Canon Ixus 55. During the whole 2 months in Egypt [purchased them before I departed] those 2 gadgets were precious and gold to me and never even dropped them but once i'm back, they fall off easily out of my hand. I now must reconsider of buying iPod Red and Sony Ericsson z600i before destroying them into pieces.

Iskh, kesian Barry

Anonymous said...

It seems to me the fault lies with the manufacturer of the underwater case.

Not to worry, all is not lost. He might be able to get a free replacement. How?

Check this out:
http://lifehacker.com/software/shopping/dont-trash-broken-stuff--send-it-back-200600.php

To Barry: All the best!

;)

Anonymous said...

The link's not showing in the previous comment. CLICK HERE

Anonymous said...

i have a trusty nikon D70. serves me well. the trick is NOT to put it underwater, methinks.

nyonyapenang said...

perhaps he can try offering his services doing potrait pics of those nepalese/vietnamese/burmese every weekend at klcc. ;)

Anonymous said...

"Help Barry Fund"

Tweak Nipples for Charity. RM10 per pair!

Anonymous said...

Help Barry Fund eh? Great idea! to those who's been lusting for him for ages, kindly do your part. hehehe...

Anonymous said...

Poor Barry.

You should do some sort of ritual or something.

All of the DVD players I buy die after a few months. Can we start a Cesar Fund?

Jason said...

you sure like to put half revealing pictures.. hehe.. off topic.. They are always half revealing, not the occasional reveal all or the reveal nothing.

Anonymous said...

Oy...My heart goes out to Barry...

THIS is my baby...

swoon!!!

Start the fund...I'll pitch in!
suggestion: paypal makes it easy...

Comically Sad said...

Ask him to get the sony t50...drools...such a beauty. Only dont get him any kind of waterproof casing. If he wants to take underwater pics, me think it best to stick to those disposable ones. I'd hate to think how many cameras r now sleeping with the fishes..those traitors!

Annie said...

*ping*

There Paul, that's my donation to the "Barry's Therapy Fund".. LOL

Anytime you need a quarter, I'll donate one all for the sake of mental health.

savante said...

GASP! What a freakishly expensive cam, shane.

Yeah, I know, coolgardy.

Ooh. Images of Egypt, ikanbilis!

Whoa. Sent the address to him, connerkent. At least he might smile about it.

Doubt he planned on that happening, quicksilver.

Better yet, take pics of the one in the shower over at his factory. Yum, nyonya.

Offered a suggestion like that. He said no, william. Something about hustling being illegal.

See above, shah :)

Ritual? How? Pray over the camera casing, cr?

Well, I like half reveals, jase :)

GASP! Your baby looks expensive, jake.

Disposable cams, k? He's sneer at it.

That works too, anniiiee.... now donate to my shopping fund too.

Paul