Still Being Random

I didn't get any bonus or anything yet but I figured it was time to pamper my car. Especially after all the hardship and grief she has gone through.

So this morning, I went out and got a new car audio player installed and a new car alarm system. What's the point in having a very nice audio player but the security system is crappy?

The player I bought plays DVD, CD, MP3 and MP4. It plays VCDs too but I don't have a screen for it yet so I don't see the point in that function. It also comes with a remote control and a nice, blinky (but not too ah bengish) LCD display. It hasn't got one of those well-known, overrated, expensive brands but it comes with a one-year warranty. I like it so far.

Since the player was so pretty and neat, I figured I better work on the car's security system as well. So I bought a new alarm system that comes with a shock and motion sensor. It also reminds me when I have not locked my car, locks the door when I press the brakes and locks down the car when I forget to lock it. I think it also kills the engine when the remote is not used to unlock the car. What I do know is that when the alarm goes berserk and the remote is not used to switch it off, it locks the doors and the engine will refuse to start. It's cool so far but I'm going back next month to get what the shop owner calls an immobiliser. So that's my Raya gift to myself. Haha!

Overall, I'm happy with what I got done today. At least I can go out tonight without overly worrying about my car. Yay! I can't imagine how people can go out and not care what happens to their vehicles.

I detest hypocrisy.

I detest it no end because I have been on the receiving end of it before.

But I detest it now not because it is being done to me but because it is there in my face.

While we are promoting unity and Malaysianess and all that, the stupid television networks dish out 'malaynised' english words because they're too bloody lazy to think beyond their next paycheck.

Tonight I heard the words 'Dengan kejadian itu, Abrahah telah mendapat mesejnya.' on TV3!

Mesej?! Where the hell did that come from?! What the fuck happened to 'pesanan' or 'pengajaran' or whatever word it is that could be used in this context?

Where the hell then is our "Melayu"ness if we keep taking english words for our own?

Stupid idiots who talk through their bloody corrupted noses!

Someone who considers herself my closest friend showed only too well how little she knows me by asking me something someone who knows me really well would know better than to ask.

She saw my Friendster picture and asked, 'Since when did you become a vampire?'

And I know her well enough to know that she was asking this in a sarcastic, thoughtless way.

So my reply was "I don't like putting photos of myself online because I may never know who might use it to come after me."

She said nothing else in rpely to that but the next time I logged into Friendster, I noticed she had changed her picture too.

Didn't it even occur to her before I said it?!

I was catching up on a few movies that I've been curious about.

One was Aquamarine. It's a nice summer flick about teenage best friends and a mermaid. I found it to be a very relaxing film. I didn't have to think about the plot and try to figure out the ending. I know how it would end. I just had to sit and enjoy the no-brainer show. But the mermaid bit was very enjoyable. And the popular guy that every girl in the show is after reminded me a lot of Zack throughout the whole movie. It's probably the way he talked.

I also watched An American Haunting. It's based on a true story. I've read the story before and it never ceases to scare me. The movie, though, doesn't quite catch the horror of the real thing, but it comes pretty close. One thing about western movie makers is that they try too hard to make the special effects special that it takes away the scare factor.

I finally managed to watch High School Musical. After constantly missing it on Astro, I decided to get the DVD just to see what all the noise was about. I can see now why the students at school are nuts about it. It's the modern, Disney version of Grease. And we all know what a sensation Grease is.

I also finally got round to watching Stormbreaker. It's a movie based on the book by Anthony Horowitz. This story is just one written around the time when it was cool to be a spy and even cooler to be a teenage spy. My students like the guy who plays Alex.

And how did I find so much time to watch movies? It's only possible because I ignored all my work that is piling up on my floor and decided only to answer certain phone calls. I was also home most of the time and, since it's fasting month, I don't have to go through the tedious regime of eating at certain hours. This exercise actually gives me more time to do what I want to do.

But my procrastination is over. I now have to get back to my work. Today may be my day off but I still have to work at home - yearbook and reports and grading, ahoy!!

Have you ever listened to a particularly 'emo' song and allowed it to affect your emotional state of mind?

I'll be first to admit that this happens to me on a fairly usual basis. I let myself be affected by the songs I listen to when I'm particularly stressed out by my work. Like now. It has become so bad that I feel like I'm on a really severe mood swing. My iPod is programmed to shuffle the music. So when I go from Jewel to the Top Gun soundtrack to Jem and the Holograms to Bon Jovi to Melly Goeslaw to Jason Lo and then to Marc Anthony, believe me, it's a roller coaster ride. I literally go from wanting to declare undying, eternal love and devotion to Shook to wanting to jump around and up and down to recanting my undying love and then cuddling up to Shook.

If it so happens that I'm at school and plugged into my iPod while doing some work and having breakfast at the same time, let's just say any of my students who happen to walk into the classroom usually sees a variety of facial expressions on my face. But lovely as my students are, they put it down to my being stressed and just leave me be.

My students are a beautiful group of people. They've seen me go from stressed out irritability to laughing high back down to moody. And they know when to stay away. If only some adults would show the same intelligence.

About 6 more weeks to the end of term and I have papers to grade, a yearbook to complete and reports to finalise. Above that, my Toastmasters Club (in which some key members can't seem to grasp the fact that I'm about to shoot myself from stress!!) keep trying to heap more work on me. While they do what?! Putz around town doing nothing! Good thing is, I actually said 'NO!' the other night and derailed one particular key member. Hey! I've been doing a better job at promoting the club than he has! Putz!

Anyway, in about 4 weeks, it'll be Raya and about 2 weeks after that, my school is moving venue, in which we all have to up and move stuff over to the new building. Then, a week after that, I will be free! Free to pursue my own activities. Like play some PS2 games, learn how to work some new software (maybe some desktop publishing or web designing), bake some cakes I've been dying to try out or maybe cook something and maybe I'll allow Shook to get me started on some exercises. Or maybe I'll just let Yodie loose and chase her around the yard. We'll see.

Right now, all I'll be doing is work through my work hours, wait for the bell to go at 4.00 p.m., get home, freshen up, sit and watch some TV for awhile, then it's back to work again. If I'm not at Shook's, I'll be at my computer or my laptop trying to finish more work. If I am at Shook's, sometimes I bring my laptop with me and work anyway. So the next time I hear anyone complaining how tired they are from work that actually HAS a clock-out time, I'm going to not talk to them at all for the rest of the year! Putz!

Some time ago, I was intrigued by a new shampoo from Rejoice. It's called Fruity with the tagline of Smooth. If you watch the advertisement on TV, you're never quite sure what the shampoo is all about. At least for me. For all I know, it could be just some shampoo with a fruity scent.

The ad was also quite generic. It starts out with this girl whose mother is helping her with her silky smooth hair. Then the girl goes out and the parents look disappointed because she's forgotten their anniversary. When she gets them to the restaurant, she reveals to them that her surprise is for them on their anniversary. All the while, the focus is on her silky straight smooth hair.

This commercial is generic because every shampoo seems to be advertising silky, smooth, straight hair.

It was only after I bought the shampoo that I found out that it's for unruly/ flyaway hair. When I tried looking for it online, I found out that in China, the shampoo is called Rejoice Fruity Anti-Frizz Shampoo. Now why couldn't we have just used that name and not tried to be too creative about it? At the end of the day, we've achieved nothing more than a passing glance from consumers. What's wrong with advertising anti-frizz shampoo when everyone is advertising straightening shampoo? It makes it different so therefore worthy of attention.

I don't get it!

And, by the way, with my wavy, unruly hair that makes me look like everyday is a bad hair day, this Rejoice shampoo works quite well. My hair is actually manageable. It actually works better than Sunsilk, which I do admit is good but I get weirded out by the girls smiling at me in the bathroom. I actually turn the bottles around. Can a shampoo be any more feminist? And I don't use Dove because it makes my hair too oily which makes it heavy and flat.

So, I alternate now between the girly shampoo and the fruity one - one for its mildness and the other for the anti-frizz

Other than the fact that I've signed up with Vox (thanks to Gette!), I was randomly searching YouTube and found these two videos.

Actually, I knew of Torn from my students and I found out about the New Numa video while searching for Torn. But Torn is hilarious and it's awesome. The New Numa song is still catchy but more than just a videocam clip.

And while I'm at it, does anyone have a copy of Torn on mp3?

Sometimes, it's good to sleep with the devil. And if you can't do that, at least you should get engaged to the devil's advocate.

Shook has always been able to voice out what I am usually reluctant to say. This happens most of all when I'm frustrated with something but don't want to say it out because saying it would be admitting that it frustrates me. Considering that I find inconsiderate people especially frustrating, I usually find him saying a lot for me.

One of the things I have to admit though is that my need (yes, it's a need! I take part in activities like Toastmasters and in my alumni association to stop me from feeling depressed. It also puts me in touch with other human beings which I love doing)...my needs are starting to overwhelm me. Between my work (which has no clock-out hours), Shook, my own family and the people I have in my other activities, I'm starting to feel as if I'm doing everything on my own. Even when I am crying out for help, it's either everyone is deaf or they're pretending they don't care. Or maybe they're not pretending. Maybe they just don't care.

So I joined these associations to keep myself sane since I 'feed' off helping other people. But when I am being consumed by it all, I believe it's time to bail out.

At this moment, I've decided to leave these associations. I'm going to sit on my resignation letters until the school holidays. If I still feel frustrated by the lack of support from my committee members, I will send in the letters to both associations.

My priorities have changed. Other than my family, I now have to put Shook first. Guys like that. I don't blame them. I'd like it if someone put me first too.

To be put first above all, I have to put him first above all first. Maybe then he'll do the same for me.

So if you can't sleep with the devil, go find the devil's advocate. I'm going to marry one of them.

I don't normally use words like 'bastard' or 'son of a bitch' because it's hardly ever really the parents' fault if their offspring turns out to be a jackass or a slut. Besides, most people I hate have really nice, misunderstood (by them!) parents. There is one person (only one!) I know though who is a bigger fucker than his father but that's another story.

Anyway, one indication that I am in bitch mode is that I don't hold my punches and I just let whatever I feel and think slide off my tongue and hit the open air.

On Sunday, I walked into Shook's room and said one long, frustrated sentence. "I just got pointed at and scolded by a girl whose brother I hooted at to avoid splashing his brains on my windshield because he was playing in the middle of the road and she'll probably grow up to be the slut she came from anyway!"

And I think Shook's mom might have heard me. I didn't realise she was in the wet kitchen.

But, overall, that was one excellent rant! The sentence was a piece of work, if I may say so myself!

Ever since buying Azreen's birthday presents, I've been on this reckless spending spree. I know it's supposed to be therapeutic yet I don't feel any more rejuvenated than when I first started out.

My reasoning for this would be 1) I'm suffering from PMS, 2) it's that time of the year for work, 3) I've been on an emotional rollercoaster for a month now and 4) I'm feeling a major case of cabin fever and I need to leave the state.

The irony of one of those reasonings is that I hardly get to see anyone to feel the need to get away from them. I guess it's partly a depression from being cut off. The only friend I see on a regular basis now is Gette. Yet there is this fear that, as soon as I admit that, other people will suddenly want to see her as well.

Whacked reasoning, I know. But who ever said a down-in-the-dumps person is logical anyway?

The other thing I'll be now is bitchy. I'll be less tolerant, and more critical. I'll be like House, who is only fun to watch when you're not on the receiving end of a similar treatment.

On that note, have you ever noticed how so many people know so well how to dish it out but get all self-righteous when they are at the receiving end? Almost fascinating. Definitely laughable.

Anyway, I bought the original Serenity DVD as well as Night Watch. And I finished my entire Season 2 of House. Maybe I'll go get Numb3rs next.

I was about to sit down and watch TV this morning when a truly loud, pulled-out noise shattered the quiet of my neighbourhood. Immediately recognising the sound, I shouted - just for the sake of it! - and ran out to my balcony.

The sight that greeted me was one that I have always, always loved.



Fighter planes! Jets! Whatever you call them.

Four of them flying in formation. So close to the ground I felt that I could have reached out and touched them.

And they were awesome. I think they flew over the house at least 6 times.

By the time they did the third pass, I was outside armed with my camera. After I caught photos twice and a very, very short video once, I was already doing the insane dance. My sisters were laughing despite long knowing my love for these planes. Even my father came out to ask if I took a photo. Still doing the hoppity-hop, I grinned and told him yes. My sisters declared that the pilots could be reporting back to the tower that there is a crazy girl doing the raindance in her front yard while waving her hands in the air as they went pass. I didn't bother disputing that because 1) they're probably too busy getting their routine correct to notice and 2) they were near enough to see me.



Which is when my sisters asked if I want to join them to attend the Merdeka parade. My parents are invited so we get to go. After seeing those jets, heck yeah, I'm there!

So I had a wonderful morning except that out of everyone I messaged to tell this, nobody replied! So much for sharing the joy! Next time, I won't be bothered. Apparently I'm not cool enough to reply to.

Oh well, I had a great morning. I'm actually looking forward to Merdeka parade now.

You'd really think I'd know better by now!

I should have known!!

I made the mistake before and I went and did it again! Voluntarily!

When I was younger, there were 2 shows I never missed. I was willing to defy my parents - a great feat then! - just so that I could watch these 2 shows. So the memories of those shows stayed with me until today. They were the best, the greatest and nothing else could replace them in my mind.

So when I was told I could watch them again, I jumped at the chance. So a few months ago, Jerome passed me a few episodes of Saber Rider. Oh, the horror! The disappointment! I was horrified at how cheesey the whole show is! The music still rocks but the show, the voices, the characters! I should have stuck to my chidhood memories!

Then, 2 days ago, I bought Remington Steele on DVD. All I know is, the next time I want to recapture my chidhood, I'll think twice. Remington Steele is still enjoyable, luckily, but he seems a heck of a lot more stiff now. And Laura Holt....seems more frustrated by her lack of a sociel life than flirtatious. And the lack of emotions!!

Never mind....

Oh, and do watch The Triangle on Hallmark. It's actually rather good. Lou Diamiond Phillips is good...as usual. I loved ths scene when Flight 19 reappered over the horizon right in front of a commercial flight.

I never quite understood the Gundam craze although I do admit they have a certain appeal to them. However, I've never even been tempted to get them or to start on them because I've never been interested.

However, while shopping for Azreen's birthday gift last week, i came across one which really caught my eye. It had bits of yellow, blue and red and a white body. And it had the loveliest wings I had ever seen on a mecha/robot/ whatever the technical term for them is.

So, I was tempted. I held off on it only because I've never put one together before and I was not about to start on a hobby that I might lack the patience or attention span to complete.

Until last night. When I walked into the toy store and saw this:


and it was sitting on the shelf right below this:


So, I figured I'd buy the mini/micro gundam and it would be enough. As Shook and I were walking out of the toy store, he suddenly commented about me being too lazy to put together a Gundam which is why I bought the assembled micro version. Now, there's lazy and there's not wanting to be accused of being a bandwagon rider.

But when Shook challenges me, I know it's something worth looking into. So, me being me, I went back and bought the Wing Zero as well. I just don't know when I'm going to start working on it because, looming over my horizon, is my yearbook and reports and exams. So, the nearest possible time I could start on it, is in the middle of November.

In the meantime, I have the micro version to place next to my Raptor. Haha!

This looks like something that might interest photographers out there.

I just found it today as I'm not one to spend endless hours on the Net. Not that I have the time anyway. So if you've known this for ages and ages and ages and I'm only talking about it now, why didn't you share? Haha! :D

But the site looks really cool. And if I have time to make better sense of it, I really don't mind giving it a try.

For now, I'm just working on changing or adjusting my template.

Once, there was a man. He came to this country for reasons nobody but he would know. He wished to share his ideas and his knowledge so he joined at institution of education.

He met many people from all walks of life. Whether he realised that he had stepped into the melting pot of the east, nobody knows. Sometimes, others have wondered if even he knows.

He stayed and felt he was liked. Yet, there were some that detested him. Some were even afraid of him. And some were nice to him because he was exotic and they shared his ideas.

Like many before him, he brought his attitude, his ideals, his principles and his prejudice. He was convinced he was always right. He was sure others were wrong. He, and only he, saw the truth that others had long abandoned.

His principles clouded his mind. His prejudice clouded his logic. His attitude made others feel threatened. They thought him insane.

Then one day, an opinion was spoken of an event that was happening in a country near his homeland. He reacted without thought, without logic. He lashed out as only he has been able to. He felt he was defending the weak and the meek. He felt he was righteous. In doing so, he made a comment incredibly offensive and ridiculous that it only made others question not only his rationale but also his state of mind.

He said the land he lived in now was full of ignorance and full of people blind in their hatred for others.

For one who does not leave his residence except to share his knowledge, he seems so convinced that the little he sees is all there is to see. For one who has only been in the land he lives in now for less than a year, he seems so sure that he knows all there is to know about it.

We have met others who assumes like he does, who believes like he does and who passes judgement like he does.

Ad we wonder why our world is slowly destroying itself?

Shook calls this Yodie's Firefox pose. I just thought it was cute. Besides, I needed to photo to start off my account with Zoomr. And, they're giving away free pro accounts to bloggers. So...why not?

Thanks, Gette for the heads-up on this :)

I've had a certain bone to pick with a certain group of people. Unfortunately, I don't know them personally and neither have I had the time to blog about it.

So I will do what all bloggers do - rant online and vent to any unfortunate soul who happens to pass my way.

I shall begin by saying that I drive up to Shook's house everyday nowadays. To get there, I drive over the Satok bridge, along the stretch of road to the first roundabout, into the new Matang road and then into the small road to his area. And it is along this route that I always run into the most frustrating drivers ever in the history of the whole history!!

To cut all my stories short, let me tell of one particular incident.

Last week, I was driving home around midnight. Now, I'm a girl, driving alone at night, on a road which is usually full of insane drivers and motorcyclists. Not to mention, anyone could try and stop me along the way for many dubious, omnimous reasons. So my average driving speed at this hour? About 100 to 120 km. per hour.

Now, on that particular night, this one car decides to swerve from his lane into my lane. And he decides to tailgate me. I hate people tailgating me. I have this vision of me hitting my emergency brakes and the car behind ramming into my car. So, to get this guy off my behind, I began playing with my brakes. I didn't hit my brakes but I just tapped on them. He gets the message and slows down but shows his annoyance at me by abruptly swerving into the middle lane to overtake me. I was in a bit of a bitchy mood so I accelerated. I think I left him trailing behind me throughout the way because I could see him trying to catch up but he remained mostly in my rearview mirror. I wasn't even going very fast but I could hear his car vroom-vrooming to catch up. And he only caught up when I braked to turn into Green Road.

A few days after that, I met him and his car again. This time I was driving towards the stadium at 7 a.m. I recognise the car, the exaggerated noise and the attitude. He must have recognised me too because as soon as he came up behind me, he swerved to overtake me again. Now, it's 7 in the morning and I was timing my journey from my house to the stadium at that hour. And unlike some people, I have no self-esteem problem or penis envy. So I did what I always do. I braked! In the middle of the road. To a full stop.

And let him zoom by. Once he was at least two car lengths ahead, I began moving again. At my own pace. I had no problems with him. I don't have a penis, I don't want to have a penis, I don't suffer from penis envy and I don't have such a self-esteem problem that I need to compensate for it in any way!

I'll drive my car my way at my pace according to my mood. If that makes me a bitch or proud or snobbish, well, hell!

Anyway, I told Shook about all this at one point. And my rant to him was that a lot of people seem to think that a good engine is needed to drive a fast car. Or should I say it as a powerful engine is needed to get a car to go fast. I suppose this idea was propogated by movies like the Fast and Furious trilogies. So I can't blame impressionable kids who think that a fast car is all it takes to make you cool. Regardless of the fact that if you can't stay in control of your fast car or you don't even know your car well, you could end up in a very serious accident. Nothing matters as long as your car is fast and you can drive it fast.

Well, if you think about it properly, and we're not going too far here, just look at the trend for racing movies. From those ten-second races, movies have moved to drifting. A drag race requires a car with a powerful engine and a straight road. All the car needs is to be able to got from a stand still to 150 km per hour in maybe 8 or 10 seconds. The current trend is drifting which does not need a very powerful engine. Instead, a powerful engine would make it difficult to handle the car. Drifting has been around for years. Any and every known race track in the world has curves and loops, therefore requiring a good knowledge of drifting. Where is there a race track which is just a straight road? Unless it's a drag race course, of course.

Now, how many of us own very powerful cars anyway? So which driving fantasy is most likely to be useful - drag or drifting? Besides, anyone with a powerful car can drag. It takes a skilled driver to drift. Have we not learnt anything from the movies? Anyone can go fast but how many of us can drift?

And to add to it all, there are those people who own cars that can go fast but choose to drive it like an old grandmother. What is wrong with this world we live in?

I had a rant all started already when Siti:Tiada Rahsia (Live) came on the television. I have no links for it because in typical Malaysian style, there is no official weblink for the show!

Anyway, despite my own personal feelings for her, I'm actually watching the show.

And this is only because I just realised that Ally Iskandar is the host. And I only found out his name tonight. And I think he is so cute! Especially when he's wearing glasses.

For those of you who have no idea who he is, this is the only good link I found to a good site with him in it.

It's good to know that I do like Malaysian guys and I'm not so determined to not like them. I do know how to appreciate our own guys. And like everyone else in the world, we too have our share of good guys and assholes!

From what I heard, at 4 a.m. today, Sarawak Club caught fire. Apparently, between a gas leak and the fact that most of the Club is made of wood, the fire spread almost instantaneously and razed the building to the ground.

As of now, there is nothing left of this 130 year-old establishment except for the basketball court and the new parking structure. Oh, and the front porch. Looks almost funny if it wasn't so sad.

Another funny thing is, the first thing everyone said after they find out that the Club is gone is "Oh no! No more buttered prawns!"

My first thought was "Shoot! I should have borrowed those World War books!"

What everyone is wondering now, I'm sure, is 'What happens next?'

I was just told tonight that more cars got broken into along Jalan Song. This time, it was at the Friendship Park. Some ladies went to the area for line dancing classes and when they came out, some cars had the windows smashed. I don't know if anything was stolen.

So...yeah...no Jalan Song until the police decide to do something about this.

Let's get back to my original rant before I got sidetracked and decided to wish death and mayhem upon certain retarded individuals.

Shook and I bought Metal Gear Solid the other day. It was number 3, I think. Not too sure since I was never that impressed by Metal Gear Solid to begin with.

So yesterday, when I went to Shook's house, the first thing he asked was if I want to watch the longest cutscenes ever. Being of a curious nature, I naturally said yes. So he played the game for me.

Now, at the same time, I brought KFC for him and Yodie. So he lets the cutscenes play while I sat down, arranged myself, arranged the chicken for Yodie, organised her and the chicken so that the right stuff goes into the right end of her, feeds her a whole breast of chicken, watch her walk away then tried to get her back again to continue eating. Through all this...throughout the entire Yodie drama, the cutscene is playing. One cutscene.

The furthest Snake went was to hunt a snake in the bush. This means he is already in the midst of his mission. His top secret, stealth, we-shall-deny-all-knowledge-of-your-existence-should-you-get-caught mission. And what happens in the middle of his mission? His current boss decieds to brief him. About his equipment, his defenses, his mission. And then who else gets on the link but this female called Para Medic! And they go through what I can only call a long-distance sexual tension (not!) with lots of hints and double entendre. And to add to it all, his previous boss (a female) comes on the comlink and they go through this entire drama of why she left him, why he did what what he did, his idea of a soldier's duty, her idea of a soldier's duty. And they finish it off by saying it was good to hear each other's voices!

I was "What the...?!"

One thing I do know is that no matter what mission you get, the briefing is BEFORE you go out into the field. Any briefing done in the field is if the incident happens then and you need an update. Next, who has ever heard of having a heart-to-heart moment while in a mission?! Shouldn't that be for the debriefing? Or even the psychiatric counselling after a particularly hazardous mission? Or even later at the bar? Definitely not while you're in enemy territory!

Now, for as long as I can remember, everyone has always likened Splinter Cell to Metal Gear Solid. I am a fan of Splinter Cell. I like slow, stealthy games where I can take time to look around and hide in the shadows. Sam Fisher is my idol. So, naturally, I compared Sam Fisher to Snake. Now who did I find wanting? Well, duh! Sam leaves Snake so far in the dirt that Snake won't know what hit him!

If you play Splinter Cell, you get the training courses at the very beginning under the tutorial! The moves are precise, the briefing is straight to the point and business is business. Communication is short and no touchy-feely. In Metal Gear Solid, the mission is the tutorial and, in all honesty, it's like watching Desperate Housewives in camouflage.

Someone once said Metal Gear Solid should be made into a movie. I think they made it already and far better. I call it Commando. I know there are talks of making Splinter Cell into a movie. I say 'Go for it!'. They just need to make sure the guy they pick to play Sam Fisher is as impressive as Micheal Ironside.

However, to be fair, I have the feeling that people who like Metal Gear Solid probably don't like Splinter Cell and vise versa. It's sort of like how people who like playing Counterstrike will not enjoy Medal of Honour and how people who love Medal of Honour would find Counterstrike a little dumb in comparison. I think that sums up what I feel about Metal Gear Solid.

But hey! If you're Counterstrike kind of guy and think Metal Gear Solid is the greatest game ever made, go knock yourself out on it. I just think Sam Fisher makes sense and he knows what he's doing.

I wanted to rant about something but when I got home and checked my email, I read from a fellow Toastmaster that a few more cars got smashed into and had their stereos stolen.

This happened last night at the S.I.B. church near Iris Garden. When the people it happened to was reporting it to the police, they met another man who had his Pajero broken into the same way. He was at the Pizza Hut at Jalan Song. Do you think the police would do anything about it? Not if they have nothing to work on. My father and my fiancee always promote awareness. If there are suspicious characters around, make a point of looking at them. Let them know you see them. Take a photo of their car. So if anything happens, they can be the first suspect. Don't just park somewhere else and keep quiet!

Maybe we should just regard that as a high crime area and avoid it and just keep wishing these thieves would get themselves killed one day? Or just paralysed from the neck down? Or limbless? Or just plain suffering from an endless agony that would last them the rest of their 30 years of life. And killing them would be considered a crime so euthanasia is out of the question.

Do you think I thought about this? Oh yeah! I did. I detest feeling insecure about where I am or where I park or where I want to hang out. I hate having to worry about my own property wherever I am at.

In my current state of mind, I want these people to suffer. I want them alive. Not in jail, not in custody or anything. I want them alive, free but not mobile. I want them to watch while they are destroyed. Slowly. Due to their own work. And if their children hate them and their wives leave them and nobody would ever look at them with kindness ever again for the rest of their lives, I would sleep happy knowing that justice is served.

Forget Superman and all his crap! I'm a city dwelling human. I'm jaded, just like Batman. Which is why I'm not self-righteous. Which is why I Iove Superman, because I wish I could be like him. Unlike all those heroes, I want the criminals to suffer. I would watch them get caned 50 times for petty theft. I heard that 5 times is heart-wrenching enough. Well, 50 might make me smile. I could begin cheering by the time they get to 100. So what?! My car, my emotions, my security. The criminals better bloody pay me back in blood. I ask for no less.

And maybe their first born child to sell off to the slave market somewhere in Asia. Where they cut their limbs and make them beg for money which will not be used to feed them. Where they'll curse their fathers with their dying breath as they lay on some cold,wet floor, gangraped by 20 men.

Have I thought about this? Oh yeah! Will I do anything about it myself? Nope. I believe good things come to those who wait. Hell waits for those who steal and lie. Hell is more painful than I can ever imagine.

You know how people say things like 'When it rains, it pours' or 'Things happen in threes'?

Well, don't I know it?!

After my car got smashed into, I've been waiting and waiting for something else to happen.

Well, today something did. Suffice to say, I'm not sure whether to tell my parents and I'm not sure who to tell or what to tell. All I know is that I broke down and cried in school, my co-ordinator calls the whole thing just mean-spirited and if there is anyone I want rotting in hell, it's people who have nothing better to do than conspire to be childish in their envy.

Think your life sucks? Want mine instead?

If this is number 2, wonder what number 3 would be? *Touch wood!*

One good thing came up fromthe incident that night - I found another cousin. Who blogs. Who rants like I tend to. Yay!

He can be found here. He writes really well and he's a good Toastmaster,too.

I was at Jalan Song last night for a meeting at Borneo Chess Academy. It's just a few doors down from Chilax and Pizza Junction.

Anyway, we were just about to leave for the night when one of the Toastmasters came back up to tell us some cars were broken into. One of them was my car.

Well, we went down and I saw that my passenger window was gone. It wasn't shattered. It wasn't in a million pieces that I have to clean from my car. It was just gone! No sheet of glass, no debris, nothing.

Then I looked to see if anything was stolen. Well, it's not as if I keep a lot of stuff in my car anyway. The only things I have in my back seat were 2 jackets and my plush toy tiger (which thankfully was still there. Thieves really do have no sense of value!). What the thieves did try to steal was my car stereo. Between you and me, that piece of crap was lousy and if they had stolen it, I would be rolling on the floor laughing my eyes out at the justice of this universe we live in.

The stereo was still there although there is evidence of them trying to pry it out. They didn't succeed probably because the damn thing is heavy as hell, it's weirdly fixed to the car and they'd have to pull apart the entire gear shift to even budge it, much less remove it! So I was left with a disjointed stereo and the covering parts on my passenger seat.

I still have no idea where the glass went to.

Everyone, bless their souls, were so worried about me. I got an escort home, everyone walked me to my car and I'm allowed to take time off from Toastmasters work for the week, I think. Haha! I wish!

The other car was an SUV of some sort, I think and the CD player is either gone or partially pried out as well. I don't know. So while everyone was wondering why only these two cars, the conclusion was they were the two expensive looking cars around.

So my advice is don't bother with an expensive stereo system even if you do have a non-descript car. Just get a run-of-the-mill system and you're done.

Oh, the thieves did yank out my ashtray though. Which only had barely RM1's worth of change in it!. Yeah...nice expensive car driven by a cheap skate who has a fiancee who keeps telling her never to keep anything in her car! Unless it's a weapon. Or a poncho and some duct tape. And my mom always says neevr to keep bags in the car. See? I do listen when my mom grumbles. Never know what I might learn!

Oh, and I told Shook that I actually halalkan the stealing of my small change and the attempt on my stereo because I figured stupid thieves need all the 'help' they can get.

Donnie Yen has a new movie!!!!!!!!!

Double, triple, quadruple, ear-shattering wheeeee!

And he looks so good for a guy who is younger than my beloved cousin by only 4 months!! Then again, my cousin does not have ah beng hair which incidentally only suits gorgeous buffed men who look lustily good in tight fitting sleevless shirts!

And the hair...I always love the hair...hair is such an asset. When it's good hair which has that beautiful flyaway look and does not lie flat on my skull!

Anyway, before I turn into a slobbering moron, I'll just state what movie he is in. It's so beautifully named. It's Dragon Tiger Gate. It's a martial arts movie. Kung fun and a bit of fantasy. My favourite combination.

Somehow I think Donnie Yen will overshadow Nicholas Tse. Next to Donnie Yen, Nicholas Tse looks so paltry and sissy-ish.

And that is my girlishness for the day. Thank goodness I didn't do this with Shook around.

I'm blogging while watching Numbers. I enjoy that show. It should be used by Maths teachers more. I know that in the US teachers can request education packs to be used in the classrooms. I'd do it if I were a Maths teachers. But I teach History so I make my students watch war movies instead.

Before I go into the reason for my post title, I'd like to promote Yodie's very own blog. I think she might have been partly inspired by Dexter but she'll probably deny it. Yodie's too smart for bandwagons. And Dexter went and made himself a bed in a suitcase. Talk about living out of a bag! Haha!

Anyway, to get back to mood swings. I had forgotten how bad mood swings could be until my girls got into a mood swing today. One of them goes from moody to happy in the blink of an eye and another one just absorbs it all and gets all moody as well. Another girl is rather matured about it and told me she's always careful to control her mood swings until she gets home where she can't affect her friends. I wish I had that much maturity when I was younger. But at her age, I was not moody at all. I just didn't care enough to feel moods.

Sometimes, it's good to take care of teenagers. You know how girls tend to 'follow' each other's menstrual cycle when they spend too much time together? well, my girls do too. So I can almost predict when they'll get moody and sulky and whiney one minute and happy and hyper the next.

Today Mohd Azlan Iskandar, a squash player came to school today and gave a talk. And I assigned my 3 girls to interview him. By the time he was done, he had 3 more fans and I had to deal with giggles and hops and squees. If I was less patient, I would have either been angry with them or I would have snapped at them. But I have 2 giggly sisters so 3 more giggly girls are no problem.

And it turns out that I know his family for a long time. My mom says he was cuter then but after doing a search for him on the Net - and discovering he has a Wikipedia page - I think he looks better now. I have some pictures of him in my laptop but I'm too lazy to upload them.

My girls got all excited to get his autograph so I told them I can get my 2 cousins to sign for them since they're kinda famous too. Haha! But I just want Axl Rose's autograph or Sean Connery's or Brandon Routh's or even Donnie Yen's.

Luckily, I've long given up on being starry-eyed. Saves me a lot of trouble and disappointment.

So I'll go see what Dexter has been up to and be more lighthearted now.

I am not a football fan. I am a social football watcher. Since there are social drinkers and social smokers, then I am a social football watcher.

I only watch football if it's in front of me and I am absolutely nothing else to do or watch. And the only part of it I'll follow is to see who won.

So, with that as a warning, I can easily say, I don't understand some people. Recently, I heard one guy in China saved his TV from his burning house and let his wife save their child just so that he could run outside, find an electrical outlet and watch the World Cup! I'm not going to bother to find the links because...I can't be bothered! Then there are people who resigned from their work just so they could watch football in peace.

And last night, there was this asshole who kept whining to his wife about how long Superman Returns was and how it didn't seem it was going to end soon enough for him because he wanted to watch football. His exact words were 'Eeh, cepat agik eh! Aku nak nangga bol!' (To translate loosely : 'Be quick. I want to go and watch football) He said this over and over again throughout the last half an hour of the movie. And he was sitting right behind Shook. I was so tempted to turn to him and yell for him to bloody leave the cineplex if he was going to be THAT pathetic. Why couldn't he take his wife and children to watch the movie another time then?! And his poor wife had to keep him quiet and then, before the movie was actually over, once he saw the line that states who did the subtitles, he got up and drag his poor son out the cineplex while the son was still looking at the screen!

You see, as far as I am concerned, if you want to be a fan, then be a fan. Go watch it, go bet on it, go live it, go die for it. But just go! I don't care how you go, just go! Don't torture the rest of us with your poor, loser existence and attitude. Don't sit there and whine about how you're missing the all-important event of your life like you had nothing else to do. And if you're going to whine then do it somewhere quiet (like in a room with padded walls) and learn to organise your schedule properly.

It's people like these that give all football fans a bad name. Most fans I see and know will sit and enjoy the game. They will arrange their lives properly. Granted they arrange it around the matches but it's still properly done.

And want to know what's even sadder? The pathetic fuck was a Malay! If it is possible to be racial discriminating against my own race, then I might be it! There are some great Malays out there who work hard for their living, who can juggle their lives perfectly, who can not rely on the government for everything. Yet they are the few. The general masses are sad people who have an inferiority complex and a kiasu attitude that would rival all Singaporeans!

And this was my only sore spot during Superman Returns last night. But it didn't stay sore for long because Superman solves all my problems ;)

We went to watch Superman Returns last night.

I had long known that I would go watch it regardless of who came with me or not. What I didn't expect was the major rush of fangirlism that hit me as soon as the theme music played.

I was having serious palpitations. I got into the movie so bad that I couldn't stop grinning at many, many points and I almost cried when the unnerving bits came out.

I'm not going to reveal the plot, people!! BUT...I do recommend this movie to anyone who has ever liked any superhero. You may like Superman, you may hate him but this version you have GOT to watch.

Forget football (although one guy sitting behind me and Shook could not but I'll write about him in a minute), forget your other responsibilities and just come in and watch this movie.

Superman had long ago become a basis for a lot of superpowered heroes. I fell in love with Superman when I was 7 years old. My father, who was studying in the UK at that time, always had Superman comics with him when he came home or when we went to visit him. So. amidst all my family and childhood problems, I got myself lost in this American ideal. For me, Superman became exactly what the creators wanted him to be: the hero who swoops in to save the day. In my case, he was the one who saved my sanity and my emotions. When my father's relatives did what they called a boycott of my mom and I while my father was away, I knew what was going on but as long as I could open up a Superman comic and read it, I was fine. So in a strange way, since my father would bring back new supplies with him or when my mom went to visit, she'd bring them back for him, I felt as if my father was around again. But I was always aware that Superman was not real. Unlike lots of other dumb kids who think they could fly when they wear the cape, I knew I would never look up at the skies and see a blue and red streak go by. All he was, was an escape mechanism from selfish, useless and mean relatives.

So for years after, I hung onto Superman, even when I didn't need him as much. When the first two movies came out, my father took me to watch them and I loved how Christopher Reeves played him. And this made me like Christopher Reeves and I followed hhis movies after that as much as I could.

Then somehow when I got too old to depend on Superman, I naturally turned to Clark Kent. Well, I think Dean Cain had a lot to do with it.

Through all the movies, TV shows and comic books, I followed Superman's evolution as much as I could. When I was old enough, I began to buy the comics myself. When he 'died', I am ready to admit I cried. When they created those other Superman substitutes, I ranted a bit but accepted them. When he came back, I cried. When he got married, I grinned for weeks. I always liked Lois Lane. She was daring (a bit reckless but daring), she was persistent, she was a career woman and she was brunette. How great is that!!

So after years and years of not seeing Superman I was jumping for joy when I knew they were making Superman Returns. When Christopher Reeves got that riding accident, I figured there was never going to be anymore Superman movies. But when I saw Brandon Routh, it was like the sunshine coming through the clouds!! During the movie, I grinned and did a bit of the jig on my seat and basically annoyed anyone within a two seat radius. He is cute...in a geeky way, as my sister would put it.

Brandon Routh not only looks like Christopher Reeves, he sounds like him too. His Clark Kent is not as painful to watch as Christopher Reeves's though, thank goodness. And Kevin Spacey being Kevin Spacey was phenomenal. He was mean. He was generally someone you'd love to hate and would hate to love. He was so nasty that I was on the verge of hating Kevin Spacey for life. But then, we're thinking adults so we should be able to differentiate between the actor and the characters they play. (Speaking of which, I watched First Daughter the other day. Mark Blukas is cute. It was Riley I hated. Those who follow Buffy would know the meaning of this)

So, yeah, I grinned and almost did the American thing by clapping my heart out and jeering in a cinema. When we got out, I practically floated, as Henrick said it. He also said I was flushed. But I was grinning until my face felt like it was splitting and I was gleeful. 'Squee' is too mundane a word for what I was feeling.

I am going to buy the DVD; original if I have to.

Last night, Superman again launched his American propoganda. He was again the ideal American man - selfless, patient, generous and sacrificing. He's like MacGyver in a cape and tights.

What I might do next is to find all the Superman comics I did miss and get them. Hard copy or PDF, I don't care. I've already got some of the X-Men saga so I might as well do the same for what really counts with me. And since I bought a DVD writer yesterday, I can burn them all into DVD later.

And what I might also break down and get is a Superman T-shirt (just the logo) and maybe after that keep an eye out for Superman Returns calendar at the end of the year. Those wall calendars are a tradition with me since I got back from the US. Last year, I got French Kitty. The 3 years before that it was Buffy and Angel. So next year, it looks like it'll be Superman Returns.

I don't make a good movie reviewer because I don't want to spoil the movie for some people (unless I hate the movie, of course. Then I'll just say so and refuse to talk about it ever again). But for Superman Returns, I'll recommend it.

Yes, I am procrastinating again!

I have 2 newsletters to complete, school prom tickets to get printed and 2 messages to write to be put into 2 school magazines. Not to mention, my own school yearbook waiting to be started. All within this weekend. Oh, and I forgot...my Toastmasters Training meeting programme!!

And what am I doing instead? I'm looking for information on Supernatural and the music played in each episode! This is because I managed to download 5 episodes of the whole season so far and watched 3 of them within a few hours. While watching I was surprised to see 2 familiar faces - Julie Benz and Amy Acker. I'm now expecting more Angel cast members to appear. Haha! I wish!

All my hunting for Supernatural I was doing while trying to convince Shook I really was doing my work. Luckily for me, he was too distracted by Sly Cooper on the PS2. I suppose that is cuter than the Need For Speed Most Wanted Black Edition he's been gleeful about. Last I heard, he managed to tie up the police in a 14 (or 40?) minute long car chase and got 74 units all after him? Or something like that. Then there's Grand Theft Auto : Liberty City Stories.

The things he does on them are really interesting but he refuses to write about them! Too distracted by the game, I bet. Oh, another distraction? His new phone. He's got stuff in there that I want!!

Oh, I have to confess to a grave wrong. One that would get me into trouble with my Aunty Mimi! Haha! But only if Shook really tells her, as he threatens to. I went out today and actually forgot my ring at home! So we had to go home to get it. Hee! Hee! Aunty Mimi will so kill me. Why? Because she was the one who said I must never take it off!

PS: Cousin Headliner, you shush, too! ;)

Doesn't it just annoy you...?!

Doesn't it just annoy you when people nag you into organising something and when you do get it done they give the classic "Oh, if I'm not busy, I'll go."

Either that or "If you tell me the dates, then I can tell other people as well." But...BUT...they won't take 5 seconds to hear it from you there and then.

Best one today - "I don't have [our friends'] numbers but if you put it into the papers then I can help tell them too"

What the hell would I bloody, frigging need YOU for if I am going to put it in the whole bloody, frigging papers where every fucker can read it from Tanjung Datu to bleeding Limbang?!

Useless bitch!

I was watching the news tonight after my Toastmasters meeting and was intrigued by a press conference held in KL recently.

It interested me enough to head to this website.

I'm tempted to order the DVD. I'm even willing to donate for it.

Do you think I should? Seriously, I am tempted.

This is the quotation I have pinned to a foam board just above eye level at home. I like it because I do believe in it.Sometimes what we say helps people decide on what we are and how we like to be treated.

I still believe that good things happen to people who do good. And if nothing seems to happen to you, then maybe it's because you're doing nothing either. Haha!

This is going to be my ONLY football entry because I am not a big fan of the sport neither am I following the sport seriously for whatever reason.

But I just had to write about the fact that Shebby's MyTeam lost by only 1 goal!!

Consider the fact that MyTeam has only been practising as a team for 3 months and went up against a national team. They also scored the first goal within 34 minutes of the game. Then the Malaysian team suddenly realised what was going on and decided to score another one before the end of the first half. And it looked like it went in as a fluke.

When the Malaysian team scored the second goal, it was only in the second half of the game. I was watching it and the second goal was the only good one. It went up high enough to be out of reach of the goalie and just inside the goal itself. That was a good goal.

I'm just really (pleasantly) surprised that MyTeam had such a good defense that it gave the Malaysian team a run for the money. I just personally find it funny that a team that took only 3 months of practise could make a national team really, really run around the field so much.

Don't you agree that in this world we live in, being a two-faced in normal?

To survive, you need you hide some of yourself and show some other?

Me? I'm multi-faceted.

I may not spell too well and my vocabulary may be shot to hell but at least I have a life and I know when to move on. Most of all, I've accepted myself and I'm happy. I always have a back-up plan and I've chosen not to whine (unless you're Shook. In which case, I just enjoy whining because it's acceptable. And even then, I don't push my luck). Also, I watch what I say and how I act because someone, somewhere might just be laughing at me if I don't.

Most of all, I keep my complaints to a minimum and I'm allowed to bitch because scientific studies say women have about a 20,000 word quota a day. Also, women de-stress by talking while men should be out with the boys to de-stress.

Women also multi-task better because we're biologically programmed to cook, wash the dishes, do the laundry, take care of the baby and still be able to listen to what our husbands are saying or not saying.

Women are weaker? I'm not a women's lib person because I believe that a woman is in her father's care until she gets married in which time her husband is supposed to care for her. At the same time, you try and go through hours of excruciating pain while trying to expel a human from your womb and see if you can be considerd weaker.

And if you are a guy who is acting like a girl, my advice is...dude! Come out of the closet already! I'm sure we can introduce you to someone who can help...

Have you noticed how the younger a person is the more jiwang they are?

I mean, I deal with teenagers all day. I listen to them a lot. So when I say something about teenagers, trust me, I'm not blowing hot air. I know what I'm saying.

A few of my students have me on their IM list and I see the nicknames they use as well as the display names they've typed in. And the things they say are so hilarious. Things like 'I love him but he doesn't notice', 'My heart is breaking because you don't know how much I love you', 'Fuck off, bitch. He's mine!', 'I like her but she likes someone else' and best yet 'I like this girl but someone else likes me. What do I do?'

And then when you ask them about it, they won't tell. What the hell did you think when you advertise it all over the internet? That nobody would ask? Then you're a big fool. Or maybe...they want you to ask so that they'll know someone is reading or so that they will feel 'cherished'. I wonder if it has ever occured to them that someone might also be laughing at them?

But these are kids. And they behave as kids do.

They will learn as kids do too.

Now, if you show me a 'matured' adult who does this...then I'll start to worry about what our world is coming to.

I finally decided to pluck up the courage to watch Supernatural tonight after my dance class and was pleasantly surprised to see Amy Acker. The last time I saw her was as Illyria on Angel. Illyria was an impressive character but I felt that she didn't get much character development. But then again, the show was in its last season so I couldn't expect too much to happen.

And AXN just censored the remote chance to see Amy's nakedness. Haha! Not that I want to see her naked. She looks emancipated and reminds me of an equally skinny, flat but uglier ex-friend I know. And she's bow-legged. I told Shook and he said "Maybe her underwear is too tight!". Which reminds me of Danny from CSI:NY. Haha!

Wow! I just realise that Amy Acker was in Alias and was the voice of Huntress in Justice League. Fascinating. Too bad I can't stand Alias and barely have time or energy for any TV show other than the CSIs.

Supernatural is pretty good. It's filmed in such a stark look that you can see almost every single pore on Jensen Eckles's face. I'm waiting for Hex as well. I might as well watch it since I'm out here and too hyped up to sleep just yet. Eck! Hex is very English and is said to be an adult version of Buffy. I love the music though. And the fact that there are no distracting hotties. Although there is a lesbian crush going on. Yep, definitely an English Buffy.

One more class and I'm done with dancing. But Serina says I could come in once in awhile to practise.

Quote of the day: Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.- Albert Einstein

I've not been writing very much the past few weeks, I think. I can only blame it on the fact that I managed to reach a point I never knew I could ever reach and yet still walk back in one piece.

Well, it's not as dramatic as it sounds, really. With the election going on, I've decided to stay out of that particular bandwagon and not say anything about it despite being involved in it indirectly. I hear stories from people who are in the field and it sometimes amuses me how deluded outsiders tend to be about something they actually know nothing about. Then again, I suppose it's nicer to be deluded than to face the painful reality. I'd do it, too....if I had the option.

On the entertainment front, I went to watch Mission Impossible 3 with the usual bunch of people. It's nice to watch movies together and then find out how much we hated or loved it. Personally, I'd recommend that only diehard fans of Tom Cruise or Alias go and watch this movie. If you were ever a fan of the original Mission Impossible, this movie will definitely make you shoot yourself in the foot....just to ease the boredom. Let me put it this way....compared to Shook, I tend to be slow figuring out movie plots/mysteries. But with MI3, I figured out there was a mole before they figured it out, I knew who the mole was before the movie revealed there was one and by the time the last half of the movie rolled by, I was not only restless and begging the movie to end but I was also starting to make comments throughout the movie. And this only happens when the movie bores me to death! Even the action sequences weren't able to help....and I usually love action sequences.

I do admit that the only part that make me sit up and grin is when the Malaysian Airlines name appeared. Twice. And tonight, Shook told me and Rin that the only reason J.J. Abrams got to be director as because he was a scientologist! And yet, some citizens of Malaysia make our country sound like the worst there ever is!

On another end, Rin and I have been talking about bandwagons. I've been hearing this word a lot the past few days. It makes me so glad that I have resisted bandwagons since I was young because I've always thought the idea was very....sad. I tried it once...with New Kids on The Block. How did I feel? Stupid and illogical and like I had no control of my own choices. I just felt like the biggest dumbass that ever existed. So I decided never to do it again. So throughout the years when skirts became short then mid-length then short then long, I stuck to my long flair skirts and jeans. Good old jeans!

Over the years, due to this stubbornness, I found that I was watching shows or reading books or anything before anyone else I knew was doing it. I was nuts over Dune and Kyle MacLachlan before anyone else I knew even realised it was such a great series. I was fangirling over Rick Hunter and Robotech while other girls in my school were still stuck on Mickey Mouse. Speaking of which, I never liked him. I always preferred Donald. Then there was Quantum Leap and X-Files before anyone else even knew there was Quantum Leap and X-Files. Then again, I cheated. I had a penpal in the US who was as nuts over those shows as I was. There was always my mob obsession. And then there was the Pretender and Millennium while I was in the US. Then my vampire obsession took me to Buffy and Angel before anyone here knew there was going to be a series, much less watched it! My only lament when I came home from the US was that I was missing Buffy and couldn't see Angel. And when Angel got his own series...oh! I was so there!

Then 5 years ago, CSI walked in and my self-control walked out. Even when my parents went to the US, they knew to get me CSI merchandise. Now, there are Miami and New York. Shook, Rin and I now have New York Tuesdays and Vegas-Miami Wednesdays. By next week, we'll have Numbers Mondays and I have Bones Fridays.

Some people may sit and judge me and say I have no life. If you consider how much TV I don't watch, it's lucky I even know what days what comes on. I only watch shows that I find have fascinating storylines. I don't watch it for the hot guys. Like my cousin 'big brother' and I always say, 'We look for brains and a sense of humour. Looks is the bonus but never the requirement'. I may say a guy is hot but I'll never even consider him if he's dull and predictable. And when I describe people, I rarely begin with their looks. My first words always tend to be 'He's a nice guy' or 'He's fun. I like him'. If you ask me what he looks like, I always need to stop and think because looks are never my yardstick.

As for blogging, if I was a bandwagon kind of person, I'd only be doing it now when everyone else is doing it and getting attention for it. But I started it because Mac talked me into and I was bored one school break and wanted to learn something new.

What has this to do with bandwagons? Read the Wiki entry for it. It explains all this better than I can.

As for everything else in my life...that's a whole different blog entry. Maybe later...

And if you don't like clowns, read Dean Koontz's Life Expectancy. It's almost like Stephen King's It but less paranormal.

Bones!!!

NTV7 will be showing Bones!! On Friday at 8.30 p.m. starting May 5th!!

Bones!!!

Actually, I'm only squeeing about it because of David Boreanaz!

So I like him. Some people use the word fangirl. And make that word sound like a bad word. Sheesh!! Get normal, why don't you?

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.