Still Being Random

That was one of the best songs in that movie! The movie was so dark literally and figuratively but that song made it so much fun.

I know Gette kept warning about the cuts but she was just preparing people for the worst, in my opinion. The cuts, literally and figuratively again, occured the most in only one song. And even then, I found them very tolerable despite the fact that I'm always first to criticise them. Hey! I was in the US which has very, very little censorship compared to a lot of countries, even Western and Westernised ones.

Oh yeah, the cuts. Because Sweeney Todd was a very swift cutter (for want of a better word!), the censorship hardly lasted more than one word. Some of it was half a word. Johnny Depp would start singing the word 'star' and only the first half of the sung word would disappear for a very split second. So he ended up sounding like 'St...ar!' Only an idiot would not figure out what he just sang.

But, as far as I am concerned, Sweeney Todd was a good movie. Now that one I will call good. This was a slasher flick plus musical. Only thing is I don't enjoy slasher flicks because it's mindless killing. It's like a child with a temper tantrum. If you like slasher flicks, you might find the singing disturbing. If you like musicals, the slashing might be disturbing. But put them together and Sweeney Todd is morbid fascinating entertainment.

I'll wait for the original DVD to watch it again not because of the censorship (it was a blink-and-you'll-miss'the-censorship thing too!) but because I know there are other songs in the original stage musical and I'd love it if they have deleted singing scenes.

I hope Misato, who went with us, will agree to do some of the songs with us. Even if she might never eat pies again.

I have the sudden urge to buy and watch Top Gun. Hence the song.

I really should get it considering the fact that I actually allowed the love theme to be played at the wedding reception. I so embrace my love for cheesy 80s movies.

But I have a good excuse. This one is about pilots.

Have you ever noticed that no matter how luxurious the car, how high-class or high-standard the car is, no matter how hard the driver tries to dress hawt with branded sunglasses and flattering outfit, it all gets shot to hell if the driver is 1) a guy and is driving with a slack jaw or his mouth is open or 2) a female and drives like blonde and just as inconsiderate?

I just thought of it today when I saw a really beautiful, expensive vehicle coming towards me and the driver was all in black with really cool shades. As they got closer, I noticed his mouth was agape. It so totally spoilt it for me. The car, the shades, the cool look just paled and disappeared altogether in comparison to the mouth opened big enough to let a few flies in. And he wasn't even yawning. He drove right past me with his mouth still open.

Boggles the mind.

I should be doing work. In fact, despite all the things I've read about not bringing work home, I have no choice but to bring work home.

You know the phrase 'not enough hours in the day'? I'm experiencing it big time. Most teachers get a maximum of 31 teaching periods. In fact, I know some who get 25 and they start complaining and bitching. I've got 40. Which only gives me 10 hours to do my teaching plan. Which is so not enough.

Recently, I've managed to bring my teaching load to 36 hours. But I also took on teaching extra lessons. I have three lower secondary classes. I teach these three Social Studies. Recently, the Sejarah teacher for the National students in the International stream left. And nobody seems interested or capable of teaching Sejarah. So guess who had to open her big mouth because she was thinking of the good of the students? Yours truly.

So until a new teacher comes in at the end of the month, my teaching load still stands at 36 a week but for 12 of those loads, I'm planning two lessons in one - Social Studies and Sejarah. Which means, by right, I should get at least 24 lessons free to do my planning. I only have 14 lessons free now to do any planning for any class.

So if I seem like I'm flying by the seat of my pants, it's probably because I am. And when I have to deal with smartass students who not only think they know better but also won't accept suggestions and advice, I'm waist deep in a hell of my own choosing.

And I'm praying I don't have to house-sit or anything. So far, since we've been married, we've done nothing during Syuk's breaks other than house-sit. Once for my house and twice for his. I need this Chinese New Year break like my life depended on it and I don't sleep very well at his house.

*Sigh* the sacrifices and choices I have to make. A lesser person would be selfish about it. But my mother brought me up to be a better person not a lesser one. So what do I always end up doing? Sacrificing for the good of others. Teaching really is becoming my vocation in life.

I find it very difficult to believe that Heath Ledger is dead.

If it was April 1st, I would have found it easier to believe this is one hell of a prank. But it's not. And I actually double-checked today's date! So I can only be forced to believe that it's true.

But he was so cute....

It is true. We despair over the good-looking ones who die young (or who die, period) and couldn't be bothered with the annoying, ugly ones.

How morbid of me.

I am officially on the warpath with Telekom and Streamyx. I just went to the webpage and filed a complaint message to them. I made it very clear that I find their finger-pointing at each other very, very incompetent.

If I don't get any response or if I get one I am not satisfied with, then I'm going to go through the hierarchy in that bleeding corporation. And this time, when the CEO gets to hear my woes, it will not be informally through my father's phone but officially in a letter. And if he doesn't do anything, I'm going to Parliament with this myself, damnit!

I am also very sure I can easily get a lot of people to sign a letter with me.

Like I always warn people, don't get me riled up. I don't just rant uselessly and helplessly. I try to get things done even if I have to do it officially and formally.

And this isn't resolved competently, I'm not voting in the next election and I'll tell everyone why!!

ETA: I took the second step after the complaint on the website. I spoke to my aunt who is an officer or manager or whatever they call them in Telekom. She'll follow up the issue for me. Oh, and the complaint link on the Telekom website is no longer in service. So they don't even update their website but they'll work at trying to get more clients. What a crock of crap!!

I met a fascinating man today. I have heard many stories about men or women who have done what he did. So many until they began to sound like a propaganda. What makes it worst is that this is of a religious matter and many have judged a religion by the people who are of that religion.

This man I met could never be mistaken for anything other than a Muslim. He had the headgear, he had the dark mark on his forehead of a truly pious man and he even had the beard. What aroused my curiosity about him began with his comment that he was showing some Germans around. And none of the Germans spoke English. So my father asked him how he communicated with them and he replied that he spoke German fluently.

So, being curious beings that we are, my sisters and I asked our father how this man could know German so fluently. After all, it is not a language that would affect anyone in our state, our country, or even our region. So he told us this man's story.

Apparently, this man was a Christian priest very high on the echelons of the religion and he was doing some studies about the Bible. He was researching every bit of thing that is in the good book. This explains his fluency in German because he was doing most of his studies in Germany. It was while doing these studies that he found a section which stated that to find the truth, one must find a place of religion that never closes.

Almost like in the movies, this little bit became a quest for this man. The scholar in him compelled him to find this truth. After all, the true measure of intelligence is in our search for the truth. So this man searched and searched. Then at one point, he spoke to our former Chief Minister who managed to attract him to Islam. So this man became a Muslim.

Then, while performing the Hajj, he came upon the Masjid al-Haram in Mekah. And suddenly, for him, everything in his life fit into place. The Masjid is never closed. It is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. So, in Islam, this man found his religious place that is never closed. So he felt his search for the truth can finally be found.

The whole story he had once told my father a long time ago. While hearing it, I thought of how it can make a very good Raya movie, provided nobody turns it into a propaganda for the religion.

It is stories like this that make me happy to be in the religion I am in. Then I meet or see or read about some other people who give my religion a very bad name or reputation. It all brings me back to one thing. It is not the religion that is to be blamed. It is the people who are of that religion that are not thinking beyond themselves. Unfortunately also, religion in any world is mixed heavily with the traditions and culture of the country it is in. And once we mix traditions and religion, we almost certainly will get sidetracked.

The best way I see it is to be open-minded and intellectual. We need brain over emotions for matters like this. In some ways also, we need to accommodate and be flexible rather than stressed out and standing too rigidly. I usually listen to when someone tries to tell me things about my religion. I never claim to know everything so everything is a new learning experience for me. BUt as I listen and agree, I also plan to research and find out more. Find the truth. Luckily, I have a lot of people around me who I can ask. Whatever is religion, I will try to follow. Whatever is tradition mistaken for religion, I will listen quietly to as a sign of respect to the person telling me. They have done their bit by trying to teach me. My choice to not follow is my own.

Religion or not, I am part Chinese, part Malay, part Eurasian, part Arab. Each part teaches me and compels me to show respect which I do. I am not sucking up to anyone neither am I a goody-two-shoe as some have accused me of being. I am just doing what generations have taught me; to show respect. When you respect people, people will respect you back. A person cannot force others to completely respect them if they show no respect for others. People may say they don't mind the show of bad manners. But it is one thing to be comfortable with other people and quite another to be rude.

And society being what it is, if we show rudeness, we are not blamed. Our parents are blamed. And do I love my parents? Yes. I don't just say it. I show it. And I show it by showing others that yes, they taught me manners. Yes, they brought me up to be intelligent and yes, they brought me up to learn from my mistakes. They also taught me that while many of what I do is what I learnt from them, many of what I do is also my own mistake and can only be blamed on me.

But society being what it is cannot know this. They can only know what they see. So I try to make sure they see good things about me as it is the only thing that saves my parents' reputation. For, in my religion, my parents' afterlife depends on what I do in this life.

I didn't think I'd be doing anything this New Year's eve. For one, I couldn't be bothered to plan and execute any activities. For another, I had Shook so I didn't need anything much more beyond that.

However, Wilfred (bless his soul! He never forgets me and Shook) asked us to join him and Simon and their wives. So, after dinner with my family and Aunty Mimi and Aunty Letty, we went to meet up wth Wil and Simon. They were at a friend's place so we got directions there and headed out.

When we got to Bernard's place, the party was in full swing. The karaoke was going strong and they had consumed more than half of the Absolut Pear. We ran out of Sprite so we started mixing it with Coke. And it was good. And when we finished the Pear, we started on the Peach.

By then, Wil and Simon were already getting very attracted to the floor. So we all started to leave. Tremas passed me the Pear bottle and Wil promised me the Raspberry one at his house.

This was around 3 a.m. already. So Shook and I went back to his house where we've been staying the past three days to keep his mom company.

Overall, my New Year is not off to a bad start. I know who my friends are and I like who I am. I start work again tomorrow and I'm almost looking forward to it.

To everyone, Happy New Year and I hope you have a great one!