Still Being Random

You know you're famous and frighteningly so when someone starts a blog just so they can write malicious untruths about you.

I'm not even going to write the link here because I don't want to risk the guy being IT literate and able to track where it came from. I just want to see what can be done to his blog at this moment. If you happen to be curious, email me and I'll send you the link.

As for me, I find it laughable. But if I do meet the guy, I will not grief to see him suffer. Come to think of it, I do want to meet him...just so I know which guy to point out to the police and the lawyers.

In case you're wondering, it's about my dad. And I take this very, very personally. So...we'll see. And yes, I can be cold and vicious. I just need to tell the right people...

Didn't someone in Malaysia get sued recently for writing some things about the government?

The title may sound philosophical but, trust me, this is anything but!

I had the best luck today. I do thank God for it and I did even as I looked at the cloudy skies and hoped it didn't rain. I had to run into Carpenter Street really quickly today to pick up something. All Kuchingites know how horrible it is to find a parking spot in Carpenter Street. I was so not looking forward to it. However, just as I got into Carpenter Street, a Kancil drove out of a spot which happened to be just a few steps away from the shop I wanted to go to!

And when I got back to school, I had just enough time left to finish marking my exam papers before the dismissal bell rang. To add a good feeling to today, my boss cut the meeting short and shooed us all home!

In other news, I had a meeting-less night tonight so I was able to sit and watch CSI with Shook. I'm still determined to make a CSI phone theme - if I ever get round to it! I have everything - the songs, the images, even some sound files - but I just don't have the energy to be creative or the patience to sit still or the focus to go through it. Ah well...

Also, I made contact with two dear friends who I have not heard from in ages. The last time I heard from my girl friend was maybe 6 years ago and the last time I even emailed or called the guy friend was 2 (?) years ago. So I've been glad to email them the past few days and catch up.

At the end of this month, my Norwegian cousins will be in Kuching. Some of them are coming in this weekend, others next week. They are here for our family Mowe Convention. When I tell people I have Norwegian relatives, they immediately assume it's through marriage. Well, it is if you are considering the fact that my ancestor married a Norwegian, sailed to Norway and lived the rest of his life there and that my relatives there now are his descendants. Some people I know have even been snide about it. I don't understand some people. Just because you're not happy, don't be caustic to those of us who are.

Which reminds of a whole set of friends I used to have...but that's a story for another day!

I'm planning to invite my cousins to school to speak to my students about their lives in Norway. One's in the military and the other is a nurse. They're both girls. And if the male cousin who will be coming is the one I'm thinking he is, he has the most bluest blue eyes I've ever seen in my entire life - and I've seen a few! Scandinavians, what did you expect? :)

I'm excited to meet them. Jerome will be asked to go as his dad's proxy and I told my mom that if she needs any IT help, she could ask him. I think he'd be willing to assist her. I wonder if I could ask Georgette to do an article about this. Hmmm...I'll ask my mom.

For now, this is all from me. My life is hectic but not much of a rollercoaster this time round. It feels more like tobogganing in winter than plummeting down a mountain as it used to. Maybe of some things that are going on that is distracting me from my grievances. And my students have been lovely this week so I'm content.

Help!!

Well, I need help from the literary inclined peole who might just drop into my blog either voluntarily or by mistake.

I need to present a monodrama next week. The problem is I don't know what is a good monodrama to present for 5 to 7 minutes and where to find a good one. I've tried the internet but I get loads of Shakespeare or musical monodrama or just something unrelated.

So if any of you know a good one - other than good ole Bill - please let me know.

Please!!!!

I've been following the James Bond marathon that has been showing on Star Movies and realised a vast difference betweens the Bonds.

Sean Connery's Bond was very brutal and very politically incorrect. He did say his fair share of cliches but he didn't make them tedious to listen to. He was very into hand-to-hand combat and he did this with a lot of gusto too. Whenever he beat up someone, you could see that he put his whole heart and soul into it. He was very violent and he made no qualms about killing endangered animals like sharks (Thunderball). He also seemed to believe in not taking 'No' for an answer and the way he dealt with the ladies bordered on sexual molestation. Connery's Bond was also very full of himself. I suppose some people would call this confidence but, unless you can pull it off in a suave yet appealing way as Connery did, I would still call it full of himself. Although in You Only Live Twice, I suddenly was reminded that Bond has a qualification in Eastern languages. Pretty cool! And also, with Connery, Bond is less inclined to be overly impressed with Q's gadgets and Q leaves his lab to travel to Bond. In addition, as Shook pointed out to me, the screenplay for You Only Live Twice was written by Roald Dahl. I found this as funny as the fact that Ian Fleming wrote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Come to think of it, Ian Fleming did love the 'Bang Bang' a lot.

Then there is Octopussy. How more wrong can a movie get when it has a title like that?! I used to like Sir Roger Moore a lot but not as Bond. I preferred him as Simon Templar - the original Saint. As much as I like Val Kilmer, even he cannot surpass Roger Moore's Saint. Because of Moore's Templar, I bought as many Saint books by Leslie Charteris as I could get my hands on.

Anyway, after these few days of watching Connery's Bond, watching Timothy Dalton's Bond was rather...anticlimatic, to say the least. Dalton, despite being a good Shakeapearen actor, was rather soft and unexciting in comparison. He also seemed to lack the passion for his work. For someone with a license to kill, he prefered to ask first then act later, like he did a lot in The Living Daylights. Connery acted first then asked questions. If he was wrong, he'd probably have just shrugged it off and announce that the person he wronged was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Did I ever say I prefer Sean Connery even now? I think he is the exact idea of a character created during unsettling times. If any of you know your History well, you'd realise that Connery was very much a Cold War Bond. Dalton and Brosnan might have the looks but they definitely do not have the drive and convictions. Connery's Bond is such the anti-hero. And some people like anti-heroes because heroes get boring after a while.

I was almost done with my dance lesson on Tursday night when we head a scream come from the stairs leading up to the center where the classes are held.

I'm never one to hurry towards anything when there are so many people doing the same so I just stood back and listened. One of the girls who was either coming in or going out had her phone snatched from right out of her hands. She was busy smsing at the time so she was not very aware of what was going on around her.

When she and some friends wanted to report this at the nearby police kiosk, they found the place shut tight and empty. Apparently, crime waits for nobody but the police only operate certain hours. Ironic!

When I told Shook, he gave me a bit of a lecture. He has always been warning me to be more aware of what was going on around me to avoid just such an incident from happening to me. This episode just served to support his arguments. And being the dear that he is, he spent most of this evening showing me manuals and video clips he found on being aware enough of one's surroundings to avoid being a victim.

Anyway, just to list a few of the tips in one of his manuals:
1) Don't sit in your vehicles doing things - the logic here is probably that someone could force you to let them in or force you to get out of your vehicle.

2) Take your keys out in well-lit or safe areas and don't wait until you get to your car - I suppose anyone could hold you at gunpoint or knifepoint and hijack your car and/or kidnap you.

3) Even if you are on the phone, keep being aware of your surroundings.

Those are 3 that I could remember. I need to ask him for the rest. There is a section that actually showed what to do if you think you're being followed while walking back to your car. That was interesting.

Anyway, I suppose this is why our parents get antsy when we go out late at night. It's worst if your parents have vivid imaginations or fatalistic views like mine. It doesn't help that my dad used to be a policeman and he knows how dangerous it is out there.

Girls get victimised because they make it so easy. And guys do fall victim, too.

Just be very careful out there...especially if you tend to go out to areas that are open until very late and the areas are not very secure.

Although I titled this post 'Samson', I'm actually talking about Bujang.

I met him and his girlfriend while buying dinner for Shook and Yodie last night. I was surprised to see him with short hair. Ever since I first met Bujang six - seven? - years ago, he's had long hair. When I saw him last night, I wanted to omment about how he looked. But I knew full well that a wrong comment can lead to domestic unpleasantries, so I asked the girlfriend if it was good or bad. Sweet girl that she is, she said it was kinda good in a way. So I laughed and told him if she's happy with it then we're all happy with it.

Honestly, he looked so cute!! Haha!

I had a dream last night. I know I've had dreams before but never of this nature. It was long dream but bits of it have disappeared from my memory throughout the day. I'm only going to write what I do remember.

I remember walking into the scene of a horrible murder. The forensics were already there processing the scene. As I walked around, I overhead some comments they made. One of which was that they could not as yet establish how the killer seemed to be at two places at the same time. And they could find no evidence of there being more than one killer.

The scene then changed to a petrol station where another murder was committed at the front store. The next scene was at a school and another scene was in the woods.

The murders were rather grisly. It was too clean to be Texas Chainsaw Massacre but too messed up to be a regular murder. And there was no common factor. The victims of the first murder were the entire family, the petrol store were the attendant and cashier, the school was the principal and the woods was a teenage hitchhiker.

I remember how some were slashed open at their throats and some were shot. It was weird. At one point, I remember looking into the chest of the teenager and wondering where his lungs went. He was like an empty casket.

Well, at this point, I suddenly woke up, feeling cold so I adjusted my air-con, and checked the time. I think it was only 4 a.m. so I went back to sleep. Then I dreamt what seemed to be the other side of the story.

I followed 3 men into the house of the first murder. They were all dressed in black, 2 armed with knives and 1 with a handgun. They broke in and surprised the woman in the kitchen. I thought they wanted to rape her but they merely slit her throat. There was a sound from upstairs and one of the guys hid behind the door going to the study. The other two hid in the kitchen. A man walked down the stairs. At this point, I knew he was the next victim and I wanted to scream at him to run but, at the same time, I knew he was meant to die anyway and I didn't bother making a sound. So I just watched as he walked into the study and got his throat slit. And since he was busy reading the papers he was holding, he didn't even have time to resist before he died.

For the rest of the dream, I think I followed the 3 men as they went on a murder spree. I remember wondering why they were doing this. They didn't take any money or valuables. They just killed. They were enjoying themselves, laughing and shouting, like teenage boys high on life itself. Nobody stopped them since they didn't show any outward aggression. It was only that they were murderers.

I do remember at one point they were in a van and that's how they picked up the hitchhiker. I knew what was going to happen. I did think to try and tell someone but thought twice about it. I knew nobody would listen to me. So I stood back and resigned to being a watcher.

As they taunted the hitchhiker in the woods, I woke up to the beeping of my alarm.

I think that dream was the result of CSI New York last night and Brimstone. Maybe next time, if I want to read a book by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child before going to bed, I should stick to Relic or Reliquary.

Gubra was phenomenal. That's my opinion. I'm entitled to it!

I loved the movie, the underlying messages and the...there's a word I'm looking for...cinematography? See what happens when one does not watch the Academy Awards obsessively?

But I did wonder if Yasmin was trying to show what life is really like or what she hopes it could be. Especially where the town holy man (imam) is so loving, loves all animals (even dogs), treats everyone (even prostitutes) with respect and kindness and is not ashamed to show that he loves his wife. I especially loved the scene where Alan (the Chinese guy) is praying in church while the imam's wife is saying her prayers and Alan's parents are saying their Buddhist prayers. Why? Because they were all saying the same thing. It's such a nice blatant yet soft way to say that we are all the same, our religions aim for the same good things. So why do we bicker about religion so much?

I may be wrong but that's my interpretation of the movie. Above all, I love the feeing of love throughout the movie. Love between friends, between siblings, between blood relations and non-blood relations. I especially love the stark reality that I usually linked to the fact that nobody who has ever loved will think about getting dressed or wearing make-up when someone you love dearly is dying. Nobody cares if they're wearing pajamas or if their fears are logical when they think the person they love is suffering or dying. At the end of the day, it should never be how you look. It should always be about what you are and how you love and how you care.

On the other end of the spectrum, I've been following a Malay drama series on TV3 called Natasha. The storyline is pretty basic, the villains are shallow and the victim is a little gullible but sadly, it does show what the general Malay society considers a good drama. I started watching it because there was nothing else to watch. I've been dissed for watching but I watched anyway. I always believe in giving others the benefit of the doubt until they make it impossible to sympathise or empathise with them.

But tonight was Natasha's last episode. After months of being convinced she is a jinx, the heroine, Natasha (don't tell me you never guessed) finally wins the day. But the writer's idea of retribution was that the evil aunt went insane and the evil cousin actually felt hardship. A classic how-the-mighty-have-fallen scenario. A little too perfect, I think. If it were me (and I am not perfect in any way), if I have been verbally and physically and psychologically abused for years and told I'm a jinx and I come into a lot of money later, I would so throw it into my evil aunt and cousin's faces. And watch them grovel. Maybe once they've suffered, I just might forgive them and help them. But that's just me.

Heck, I haven't even forgiven my 'best friend' for being stupid and ungrateful and calling me a 'past' friend. I never realised friendship had a timeline until she said it. And she calls herself a lawyer. Which reminds me of how Mac Taylor in CSI:NY is incredulous at the stupidity of educated men. I'd change his line to educated women. Bah!

Anyway, I've digressed. But I realised tonight that society likes to watch bad things happen. Then we like to watch bad things happen to bad people. Movies like Gubra gets criticised and censored. Why? For no reason other than they show love and affection. And people wonder why the rate of abuse and pshychological and social problems and divorce is on the rise.

For me, Yasmin's movies have shown what life is really like, what it can be and how it should be shown. I love her work and I'll continue to love her work. I've always cried at her commercials and I laughed when I recognised one of them in a scene in Gubra. She is better than those mainstream directors and I think they know it which is why they're feeling threatened. I would like to meet her one day because it takes guts to stand for your principles. If I can be half as strong as she is or half the visionary she is, I'd consider myself very lucky!

I watched MirrorMask on Sunday. It was a good movie. Better than I expected really.

I would normally not be interested in the movie itself. But my sister has been going on and on about Neil Gaiman and I know that Nick is to be blamed for this.

So I watched MirrorMask out of curiosity and found it to be a delightfully artsy movie.

I also finished reading Creepers within one day. (A bad record even for me but it only took one day because I ket getting interrupted all day!) Anyway, I've always loved David Morrell's books and I know they get better when they're turned into movies with the correct cast and director. But do go read Creepers. David Morrell is so good with imagery that you feel as if you're in the old hotel with the creepers.

And I found this website linked to the book. It looks incredible but I have no time to explore it now. I have made arrangements to go watch Gubra with Mac so I'm on the way out now to go get Shook.

I just had a thought about something.

As much as our mothers tend to irk us....do you realise that we girls tend to be more like our moms than we thought? Or even more than we want to admit?

Think about it...

My Norwegian cousins will be in Kuching at the end of this month! Yay!

One of them, Mari, was here a few years back and Mac met her. This time round, I think I'll take her out to dinner with Shook and Jerome. After all, Jerome is closer in relation to them than I am and it's time he got to meet all his cousins as well.

I'm excited!!

Also, I have been in a superbly good mood despite it being 2 months to the end of the semester and I have exams coming down on me starting next week. Not to mention my report writing and my Toastmasters and alumni and dancing. But nothing will get me down (so far!) unless you make me deal with rude, self-centred, dumbass morons, who choose to see only one side of the story and still think they know all! Then I'll get pissed.....but not for long. Haha!

See? I've had my PMS and now going through the M bit of it and I still don't chew people's head off. I guess it's a matter of how you want to control your life.

Anyway, good days are coming and I am looking forward to them!

Yay!!

While taking a leisurely stroll around the Internet after work, I came across a few interesting links.

One of them was about a teenage slug club. When you're dealing with teenagers as regularly as I do, you might tend to find this idea amusing, fitting or scary or all at the same time. My father has often mentioned of how road bullies or just juvenile delinquents, in general, should be allowed to slug it out until they collapse to die just to keep the 'bad' populace down.

The other interesting thing I found was this site that tells of Vampire Wine. Having been a huge fan of vampires since primary school, I found the idea rather awesome. Not only do we like them, now we can pretend to be like them! Speaking of vampires, if you're a fan, here's a book list of vampire books you can start looking into. I'm not sure I'm willing to go through the entire collection just yet at this point in my life.

Did you know that Paris and Nicky Hilton want to make a cartoon version of themselves? I'm not sure how I feel about this but don't you think our TV shows are 'polluted' enough? Okay, so maybe I don't have much respect for them but they do make me feel very glad I'm not a spoilt rich brat. Won't want to end up as stupid and aimless as they are.

I don't know about you but my desk is a real mess. I call it an organised mess but Shook would never agree. Well, I make myself feel good about it by saying that a cluttered desk shows a creative mind. Some writers agree and some don't. Want to see what bestselling writers' desks look like? Personally I like this and this.

Finally, have you ever wanted to write a lipogram? I found one titled Gadsby. Without the letter 'e'. Sheesh! I can't imagine doing this because I really don't think I have the time and I can't say I'm inspired enough to even begin.