Dementia Morgue

Book review: The Elder Gods

2005-02-16T18:39:00.000+08:00

Finished reading it on Sunday. Believe it or not, this was the first David Eddings book I've ever read, despite being an avid fan of the high fantasy genre for a number of years. Truth be told though, since I had more or less grown out of that genre my initial impression upon reading the book was around the regions of "disappointed". Oh, hear we go again: Good vs Evil in another ultimate battle blahblahblah. But things got better as I read on; kudos to the authors for managing that.

Summary of the story goes like this:
The gods created the world, not by snapping fingers but through nice long process spanning a good sum of eons. As time went by the gods began to tire and the younger ones decided to aid their elders and took over their duties, allowing the elder gods to rest and sleep. Thus the cycle of waking and sleeping began: four would forge the world, while the other four would sleep. However there was one god that did not abide by this cycle, it was known as the Vlagh (Yes, the good guys get the nice, easily pronounced names while the bad guys usually end up with obscure names that would be so hard to pronounce that people wouldn't bother with it and just call whatever it is That-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named-Cos-We-Dunno-How-To-Name-It)

After countless cycles (don't get me started on this...) the Vlagh (finally) saw a flaw in the cycle and started plotting and prepping its army for the Final Battle that would overthrow the other gods, thus allowing it to take over the world.

[Tell
Application "iTunes"
Play "evilcackle.wav"
End Tell]

As you can see, the storyline itself would be enough for me to simply put the book aside and start registering it to be released. Which is why I give lots of credit to the authors, David and Leigh Eddings for making me actually enjoy the book.

I quote a slogan from the cover of the book, "There is fantasy, and then there is Eddings". This is entirely true, as Eddings does have a incredible reputation in said genre. Then again, the same can be said about Terry Prechett and Robert Jordan. (NB: I neglected mentioning Tolkien because Tolkien IS fantasy) Character developement, imagery and the occasional humour adds up to a book that's enjoyable, despite bearing the burden of an over-used story.

That, however, does not mean I fully recommend this book to everybody. If you're tired of reading about elves, dwarves, orcs, and hobbits but still enjoy fantasy, then this is would be the book for you. If you're looking for something fresh and new to read, then I'd direct you elsewhere.

ADD: I'm considering leaving this blog dormant and moving my blog to my DeviantArt page. So... yeah...

Old place; New message

2005-02-11T13:09:00.000+08:00

Had a great dinner last night: a potluck among my flatmates and two other guests. Due to Jeremy's bad time management, we ended up starting our dinner at 10pm. /swt. But it was great, nonetheless. I cooked "bak kut teh" and some rice, Allen baked a piece of pork, and Jeremy did spaghetti and his hand-made tomato sauce, while his good friend Millie baked pasta.

I'm just lucky I wasn't the one washing the dishes. ^_^

Slept at 12am and woke up at five, after having this dream...

I can't remember most of it, but the ending was the one that woke me up with some deep thoughts. As far as I can recall, I was back "home" driving past a different version of the DU park and took two or so turns and ended up at my old secondary school. I recall having the intention of re-joining the taekwondo lessons that I've missed out for so long.

As I was walking around the school, I saw a guy bully another who was carrying a big stack of books, eventually knocking all the excercise books to the floor. I shoved the aggressor aside and bent down to help pick the books up, assuming that the kid wouldn't pick a fight with someone larger and definately not a secondary school student. I knew I was wrong when he turned me around and grabbed me by my collar.

That's where the message struck me.

In the split second before he flcked my mouth (yes, flick. Don't ask.) I could feel myself wanting to bash the kid's face into a wall. Yet all I did was stand there, ignored his verbal abuse and let him do whatever he wanted to do. I even turned him around after that and apologiesed for my behaviour earlier.

I know what I did there was the smart thing to do. No point going about smacking kids around, especially not when I was going to be practicing taekwondo in the school a little later. But... it's just so frustrating. I daresay that I'm a violent guy: quite a number of my friends and family can tell you that after witnessing one of my outbursts. The only reason I'm not going around beating up the next bloke who looks me the wrong way would probably be...

...

Empathy? Upbringing? Training? My learnt lesson from when I was 9? I don't know. But what I do know is that it's so bloody frustrating to have to hold back for the sake of sanity and the avoidance of the severe consequences.

Sigh.

Being the good guy sucks.

Scary/Cute

2005-02-06T03:12:00.000+08:00

Passed by Forbidden Planet and happened across these dolls. The first thought that went through my mind was: "Apple Dolls? Since when did Jobs get into that sort of business?" This was immediately followed by "ZOMGUBERCUTENESSIWANTONEOMG". Then I took a second look at them at saw their blank face and hollow eyes. The images were just forming when this guy comes up to me and asks if I was Chinese or Japanese, to which I replied I was Malaysian. After some small talk we parted ways, but not before he mentioned that he was going into the store to get one for his kid.

"Haha. I'd get one myself, but these are something that I don't want to see when I wake up in the middle of the night."

That was my reply.

Apparently these babes each have a history. Morbid ones, nonetheless, but still it was interesting to know that Ufoma Urie, their creator, would go so deep in making them.

Now I'm torn as to whether I want one or rather not risk having to lock them in a vault layered with protective charms before I go to sleep.

Finding myself

2005-02-05T03:39:00.000+08:00

Looking at Urban Dweller and then at Quartz's works kinda reminds me why I stopped drawing for all this time. I would always feel so dissapointed with myself whenever I saw such great works of art.

But then, after two years and being abroad, I've lost that feeling of hopelessness (along with many other feelings I had back home). I've come to (finally) realise that I am not them, and as a matter of fact I have been working to NOT be like Them, to be different.

Heh.

And so, like the years before, I die and am reborn with another me. Wonder what this one will be like...

In search of Delirium

2005-01-25T18:17:00.000+08:00

Of all of Gaiman's Endless, I never really fancied Del. I mainly attribute that to the way most artists draw her; then again I never liked how most artists depict the Endless in the first place.

Went googling for some pictures of Jill Thompson's drawings of Del and found something really intersting --> this story

Call of the Machines: Day 1

2005-01-25T05:33:00.000+08:00

Note to self: next time you take the bike to uni when the weather has a high of 4°C, WEARYOURBLOODYGLOVESOMG.

The world of engineering has lots to do with precision. Or at least that's the impression you get when you're told that your margin of error was within a range of 0.1mm, and that you're going to cut a piece of mild steel with an £8 carbite tip thats no bigger than the tip of my pinky finger. It's then that you find out that there are 101 kinds of marginal errors that you just can't help having, depending on the age of the machinery used, and sometimes you even have to have slight errors here and there.

The first half of today's session covered machining a screw bit for the vice we're supposed to make. It always helps to pay attention to the work at hand, not only for reasons of safety, but also for the precision of the end product. Let your mind wander one second and you've got an error that's out of tolerance. And as always: the unsafe, unorthodox method prevails over the rigid rules of the written word! Huzzah.

Second half was the more interesting part that I have been looking forward to: welding. Three ways to weld, each more dangerous than the other. An important lesson learnt: just glancing at a reflection from a spark from an electric welder is enough to cause, what the instructor describes as, "sunburn to the eys". In other words, stare at arc from an electric welding for 10 seconds and you'll be wanting an appointment at the hospital.

Random fact of the day: no two popcorns look the same.

Alphabetical numbers, ringing bells, and a chilling blunder

2005-01-21T22:21:00.000+08:00

Last day of exams. And it had to be Maths on a cold Friday morning. I was semi-confident with the paper, even after having a look at the first page. But then, I was barely through the seventh question when the fire alarm rang and the chief invigilator forced the whole hall of examinees out to stand in the cold while waiting for the firemen to reset the bloody thing. (I did say firemen because they DID come by in a fire engine.) Apparently if the whole scene was to last an extra 5 minutes, the exams being held there would have been cancelled. THAT would have sucked big time.

After the exams, took another stroll to town to get a ticket for White Noise tomorrow and managed to find that chocolate shop my housemate mentioned. Still figuring out how much chocolate to buy from there and a little worried about them melting into a pile of sweet goo before I hand it to the recepients.

Have started reading Bill Bryson's A Short History to Nearly Everything.

In the stillness

2005-01-15T04:31:00.000+08:00

Took a walk into town this afternoon. It's really been two weeks (or nearly so) since I've actually explored the city centre. I chose today because it was Friday and I needed some time outside of the house, and since it was Friday there would be the Farmer's Market.

A list of to-dos wrote themselves as I was walking towards town: look for a nice chocolate shop, get a pair of track pants, get breakfast for next week, and donate blood.

My first stop was the blood donations centre and you can tell how inwardly happy I was. I mean, FINALLY I've gotten myself to the reception after 4 months of finding the place and telling myself that I'd go down there to give blood every time I passed it. Up till now the one thing that has always stopped me from donating blood anywhere was my birthday: I never could attend the blood drives at school because they only took in people who were officially 17, ie. their birthdays has passed. Fine. I'll wait for next year in college. And THEN even, they told me I had to be officially 18 in order to donate blood. Fine. Fine. I'll wait. And today was supposed to be the day I eased a little of conscience off my shoulders. And guess what? Due to my overactive thyroide and my anti-thyroide medication, I am not supposed to give blood until I have stopped medication for 24 months. First thought through head was, "Screw this!" and next, "Now I have an excuse to shove down those people who dares to bug me into donating blood." It's frustrating enough to want to help others because you can't, and it's four times worse if you're not allowed to.

The next thing to be ticked off the list was the track pants, which was dealt with without much hassle. Got the thing for one third regular retail price. Hope I got the right size, though, 'cause I haven't even tried it on yet. :p

One other achievement that I had wanted to complete since arriving here was to find out what's the deal with this so-called Winter Gardens they had in the city centre. None of my seniors that I've talked to had any (useful) clue. My experience goes in order of noticing a Star Bucks opposite the Winter Gardens, the greenery inside, following greenery to their highest, the fans suspended in mid-air by the very wires that were powering them, the shops inside that I didn't expect and finally the automatic doors. A brief description of the Winter Gardens is that it lives up to its name: the transparent glass structure was really a green house where tropical trees were planted and kept evergreen throughout the year, making it the greenest place in the whole of Sheffield during the red leaves of Autumn and the chill of Winter.

Only after entering it did I find out that the Millenium Gallery was part of the building, thus accomplishing another got-to-go-there achievement. The Millenium Gallery is comprised of a few galleries, really. The three I saw were the Ruskin Gallery - named after the man who collected and commisioned artwork to create the gallery, the gallery of metal working, which was a tribute to Sheffield's reputation for silverware and cutlery (thus being known as the Steel City), and last but not least, the Tate's Sculpture of Man. The last one I didn't visit because it required and admission fee of £4. The souvenir shops there had some really cool stuff, the one that I wanted to get most for my friends back home were these quils ball point pens. I didn't buy a single one because the feathers were all in horrid condition.

I couldn't complete the chocolate hunt because I practically missed the shop, having only found out about it from my housemate late in the day.

From the city centre I started heading back, dropping by Tesco for some bread and biscuits. And this was when things started getting... weird. I don't know how to explain it other that having a feeling things weren't right. As if something was wrong with the scenery, except I couldn't pinpoint the fault. The sky was clear, sun shining brightly at a low angle, and... the roads felt oddly quiet. There were cars about, and the right amount for the given time. But... it didn't feel right for some odd reason. There was this feeling that there was something in the air, something was going on that I should have known about. Something... big... or not... At this time my senses were stretching as far as they could reach, each picking up pieces of information that only made the picture more out of place. The air smelled strange, yet familiar; the sun was gleaming off cars parked along the road, but there was something in the way it shone that... bothered me; my Pod was feeding music to my ears and yet I could hear an eery silence behind the music and passing cars; and my skin... well, the only sensations my skin was registering was the numbness along the length of my forearms. (I left the house wearing two layers of short-sleeved T-shirts, in a weather where everybody else wears something with long sleeves)

I found out that there was a graduation ceremony for mature students when I passed the University building; a typical post-ceremony graduation scene with graduates in their robes taking photos with friends and family. The 'feeling', for want of a better term, left me after I picked up some more groceries from another supermarket.

Even now when I'm analising it from a third-person perspective, I still make no sense of what I felt. The only explanation I could come up with was nostalgia. The setting sun and quiet roads probably reminded me of home, though I don't exactly know where and when. Probably a latent memory of a place I visited, the neighbourhood I grew up in, or possibly even a dream. *shrug* The only solid information I have now is that what I felt was supposed to mean something. Or maybe it's my brain telling me to wear something warmer the next time I take a five-hour walk outdoors.

A year gone by: A life lived and redefined

2004-12-31T04:35:00.000+08:00

Decided to skip my “10 days of Christmas” entry in favour of an overall review of the year. Normally I’d sum it all up with a poem, but since the massive failure of last year’s, I decided to… change, as the title suggests.

Sigh.

Looking back has never been an easy thing for me, especially when I have to do a retake on a whole year. What’s worse is that this year should have been filled with memorable moments. I mean, the third and final semester of A-levels ended in June this year and it feels like a lifetime away. I can barely remember faces and names of classmates, lecturers and good times. I wasn’t even sure I wrote a year-end poem last year until I actually dug it up and read it.

It had been and eventful year. It’s just that I’m not too sure the things I can recount happened in this year at all. Listing them as I can see them…

Started 3rd semester of A-levels in January
Final exams and disappointing results
Started this blog in June
Went to Bernama Times Square for the first time (and didn’t really like the place)
Waited expectantly for a games convention in Malaysia, but the event fell apart before it even launched
Mourned for the loss of a close friend
Busied with preparations for University
Took my first flight in an airplane in 12 years
Life abroad
Ran first ever half marathon in life (2 hours 45 minutes)
Walked longest distance in life (57 miles; 18 hours 50 minutes)
Watched first ever group engineering project fail
Spent the best Christmas in life with family
Failed to write a year-end poem after 4 years

On top of those are the news stories that made headlines, which includes the Christmas Tsunami that has just devastated South East Asia.

Looking at the list one could summarise that my life had changed somewhat in this year alone. Yet one thing that has persisted through the past few years is an overwhelming sense of… loneliness. It just confounds me: I have friends near and far, all reachable with relative ease. And yet….

Oh well, at the eve of a new year it is as important to look back as it is to look forward. 2005. Hmm, I wonder what it’ll be like….

At long last; of elations, foolishness and a whole lot of catching up

2004-12-11T04:37:00.000+08:00

Finally got the broadband connection working at the rented house (which will be henceforth be referred to as the House, not for any particular reason but just to make things a wee bit easier when refering to home and the House). Ever since the connection has been officially activated two weeks ago, I had decided to not go forum-hopping and restrict my online activities to checking email. While a good idea at the time, as it was assignment crunch time, I more or less stayed by it, spending only an hour or more depending on what I needed to get from the net for whatever report I needed. The sole reason for the delay was because a jackass of a shop sold me a faulty modem and it took them Brits 2 weeks to figure out it was faulty. BAH!

Now I have one and still need to go find a hub for my housemates. But then it's needless to say I'm going crazy with my newly found freedom. No more half-hour walks to the IT center just to check my mail! Bliss!

However today isn't one of those lucky days where random coinage spill out of unseen alcoves to pile up at your feet. I've been literally paying off my lucky streaks with a whole load of setbacks, none more irksome than finding out that I had left last night's dinner cooking in the oven this afternoon, and the squabble with the computer shop over a receipt. Sigh...

In other news... it's the last day of class! Huzzah!

Memories of Home... not quite

2004-12-05T21:09:00.000+08:00

Got a little homesick today, mainly because it was drizzling and overcast for the most part of the day. Then the moist breeze blew a sensation down my spine. Yeah, I thought, this was how it felt back home... well, not exactly since it reminded me of Cameron Highlands and Fraser's Hill back in the old days instead of my actual home per se. Which is kinda odd, and ironic. Here I am 10,000 miles away from home and my pangs of homesickness brings forth memories of a place that's mimicking the UK. Bah.

But yeah, today's been particularly strange. Met my landlady for the first time, for one, right a day after hearing the amazing story behind the house I'm in. Apparently my landlady was an international student from Denmark who studied in U. of Sheffield a number of years back, and her rented a room in this very house during her stay here. but unlike us, she stayed with the landlady. Then several years after she graduated from the university, her landlady passed on. The shock came when I found out that our landlady actually got this house because the former owner left her the rights to the property in her will. And I thought that only happened in stories...

Right now my heads whirring like crazy after having a mug of Nescafe after a rare afternoon nap. Must be something in that last satchel since I don't normally get this high when I drink coffee. The last time I felt like this was when I somehow forced adrenaline into my system while trying to stay awake at the wheel earlier this year as I had little sleep the night before. Worst thing was the adrenaline was still circulating when my Maths exams started, so concentrating on the paper was tougher than usual... sigh...

Too high too soon

2004-11-28T01:35:00.000+08:00

Woke up today with a spring in my step. Quite apparent when I was on my way to the market and back and the afternoon walk to the cinema. I was happy, energetic, bouncing about to (almost) every song that played on my 'pod. I was in a world none could touch, building castles and dungeons and worlds with every change of tune...

Then strangely after the movie (the Incredibles) I walked back to the Union building with a strange feeling slowly running through me. Vague thoughts sped past my mind's eye, giving me a flitting moment of confusion before disappearing. It was only when I got to the Union building did I feel the full blow of it. One solid thought dropped on me like a massive cow (o_O?).

It's my birthday and I'm alone. Again.

My rational side immediately jumped with a question, "So why am I alone?" That was easy to answer as my brother had already told me the night before: I was over-analysing things. I am the one that responds instead of initiating conversation. I was still the dark gloomy teenager that never grew out of his teen angst.

"Angst's good!" says my poetic side, who draws power from it.

I just don't get it. I never do.

Paintings of white

2004-11-19T21:09:00.000+08:00

It snowed last night. Yeah, it really snowed... white specks drifting down when rain was supposed to fall. I still remember how my heart skipped when somebody, as she was leaving the IT centre exclaimed, "Hey, it's snowing!" Sadly enough I couldn't leave for another hour or so as I had to rush an assignment with the most ambiguous instructions ever.

But once I got out, I was elated to say the least. Snow. For the first time in my life. Then I got on my bike and started cycling back, and that's when I saw the downsides of the snow. It got virtually everwhere: face, clothes, bag, you name it. And one thing to always keep in mind is that as smoke comes with fire, snow comes with the chill of frost. Even in my neoprene gloves my fingers started going numb ten minutes into my return journey. Yet, strangey enough, other than my face and fingers, I didn't really feel cold at all. Not that I'm complaining.

Also, snow is ice, and ice is slippery. So try imagining climbing a 30 degree slope of thin ice while pushing a mountain bike. Not very safe, indeed.

It was after I got out of the snow did I really enjoy the visual aspects of it (after warming up from the cooking fire and food). The snow stopped and I later went out with one of my housemates to get some cereals, which was when I got involved in my first snowball fight. :D

So while the white snow gave a soft glow to the dark night, it practically shone in the moring sun. All of a sudden I felt like a tourist visiting Britian for a brief time, instead of being a student spending truck-loads of cash on education.

2004-11-08T20:01:00.000+08:00

I Am A: Neutral Good Elf Bard Ranger

Alignment:
Neutral Good characters believe in the power of good above all else. They will work to make the world a better place, and will do whatever is necessary to bring that about, whether it goes for or against whatever is considered 'normal'.

Race:
Elves are the eldest of all races, although they are generally a bit smaller than humans. They are generally well-cultured, artistic, easy-going, and because of their long lives, unconcerned with day-to-day activities that other races frequently concern themselves with. Elves are, effectively, immortal, although they can be killed. After a thousand years or so, they simply pass on to the next plane of existance.

Primary Class:
Bards are the entertainers. They sing, dance, and play instruments to make other people happy, and, frequently, make money. They also tend to dabble in magic a bit.

Secondary Class:
Rangers are the defenders of nature and the elements. They are in tune with the Earth, and work to keep it safe and healthy.

Deity:
Oghma is the Neutral Good god of knowledge and invention. He is also known as the Binder of What is Known, and is the Patron of Bards. His followers believe that knowledge reigns supreme, and is the basis for everything else that is done. They wear white shirts and pants, with a black and gold braided vest, and a small, box-like hat. All priests of Oghma are known as Loremasters. Oghma's symbol is a scroll.

Find out What D&D Character Are You?, courtesy ofNeppyMan (e-mail)

I once did a 57 mile hike...

2004-10-31T21:36:00.000+08:00

Friday, 29th October, 2230 hours
Reached the Union building and watched some of the Role-playing society members play their games.

Friday 29th October, 2300 hours
Signed myself in for the Spiderwalk. Got the first map, a T-shirt with the Spiderwalk logo at the back while the front's marred by a Subway logo, and a horrid Subway meat sandwich.

Saturday 30th October, 0000 hours
Spiderwalk officially started. Started walking with Dave, a guy I just met.

Saturday 30th October 0120 hours
Reached the first checkpoint, after walking 6 miles. Met some people on the way, every single one thought us daft. Don't blame them. Had a can of Read Bull at the checkpoint. Dave just can't stop talking.

Saturday 30th October, 0400 hours
Another 7 miles and reached the second checkpoint. Have begun walking with three other guys - Robbie, Andy and John. Left Dave behind a mile into this leg. Passed two cemeteries, the second one had HUGE headstones. Light mist starting to develop. Am thankful that happened AFTER the cemeteries. Lower right leg starting to ache.

Saturday 30th October, 0620 hours
Third checkpoint, 7 miles away from the last. Cars starting to appear on the roads.

Saturday 30th October, 0830 hours
Back at the Union for the 4th checkpoint. 27 miles travelled so far. Both legs hurting like hell. Had some of the toast and coffee that were provided. Decided out of whim to continue with rest of the walk. Noticed that the role-players were still in the building.

Saturday 30th October, 1010 hours
5th Checkpoint at an inn known as the Peacock after spending the last 5 miles going down a crazily steep hill (could have rolled down it) and taking a long up-hill climb. Devoured a free bacon sandwich.

Saturday 30th October, 1240 hours
The worst leg of the entire walk. We walked pass a small town and entered a farm road under heavy fog. The 5-mile walk seemed endless thanks to the fog. The other 4 miles of the leg was on a highway with no footpaths, making things a little dangerous as there was a mile of road that was curvy. Utter relief felt upon reaching the checkpoint, which was pass Cutthroat Bridge. o.O

Saturday 30th October, 1450 hours
Shortest leg (4.5 miles). Still walking pass farmlands until near the end of the leg. Mom called just before I left the checkpoint with some bad news.

Saturday 30th October, 1700 hours
Took a wrong turn the moment we started this leg; walked for 2.5 miles before getting rescued and placed back on the right track. Everybody was virtually walking in silence at this time. I was anxious to get out of the checkpoint, as it was the second last one.

Saturday 30th October, 1850 hours
Touched down at the Union, the 57th mile, the end. Signed out as was eager to head back to some pizza the guys at home promised to have with me. Found out the s.o.bs decided to cook instead, even after making promises and everything. Took a hot bath, which soothed the ache in my legs.

Sunday 31 October, 0800 hours
Legs surprisingly not hurting anymore.

Swirling, diving, dipping, rising

2004-10-21T22:25:00.000+08:00

One thing I always prided myself with was my ability to adapt to new situations on the fly, and in a while, ignore the fact that anything changed at all. But then the exception always involved people; it always took me longer to get used to a person, than say the weather.

I mean, I am a Saggitarian. I translate this to my attachments to my friends. Keeping a good relationship with someone has always been a priority to me, and I guess I often do so by being generous and being the one that takes the short end of the stick. Here's another exception... I value my privacy more than my friends. So getting used to Roman (my Ukrainian flatmate) will be a little tougher than I thought...

Oh well, time eats everything up and spits them out after a period of time.

L13 10K

2004-10-10T21:25:00.000+08:00

My second weekend in Liverpool... Noticed the larger number of barmy Brits as compared to Sheffield. Well, relatively (2 in Liverpool, none in Sheffield; that's excluding that jackass manager at the restaurant).

As to why I'm visiting my brother again, the title says it.

Readers: What?

L13 10K is a charity event hosted by Aasics (or however you type it without its logo), Jaguar, the Liverpool city council, and various other organisations. To wrap the description up in a nutshell, L13 stands for half marathon - 13 miles; 10K is a 10 km run. They're both held on the same day, with two groups of competitors - one for each category. I was in the half marathon.

Like what my brother's flatmate said, running a (half) marathon for the first time can tell you alot about yourself. I found out that my judgement for distance was heavily skewed, causing me much mental resistance during the race as I kept getting disheartened when I found out that the course was much, MUCH longer than I had expected. I'm glad to say that I had at least jogged 10 miles or so, and walked the last 2+ miles, ending with a sprint a hundred meters from the finish. My time was 2 hours 45 minutes.

My brother completed in 1 hour 58 minutes. T_T

But despite that, I'm rather happy that I beat the 3 hour mark that I set myself.

Don't bother asking me about the scenery. I only had the mind to notice them the first hour into the race, and even now, they're all vague.

Prize for finishing: cramped lower calf, and a gold coloured medal. :D

And now I'm stuck in Liverpool for the moment thanks to the train service coming up with the bright idea to go on strike on a rare lively Sunday.

THE X-PRIZE HAS BEEN NABBED!!!11!!!oneone

2004-10-05T01:30:00.000+08:00

Congrats SpaceShipOne's creators and not forgetting the brave Brian Binnie and Michael Melvill for pillotting such a potentially dangerous prototype!

Week 1 of University

2004-09-29T23:54:00.000+08:00

Yes I know it's only Wednesday, but probably won't have time to blog this later this week.

So anyway... I'm in deep shit. Mainly because my bank account won't be activated till Friday and it takes 4 working days for my bank draft to be cleared. ~~(X_X)~~

Otherwise, I spend my days walking at least one hour walkin to and fro from my department building. Wouldn't be so bad if there wasn't this kilometer long stretch of road with a gradient of 30 degrees to climb on my way back. Would love to own a bike... but can't thanks to that stupid bank. *sigh*

Currently living with three other guys (none of them a member of the LGB society at the Uni, so no need to think weird) who consist of a Singaporean Law Student (1st year), a mainland Chinese (International Law, 1st year) and a Ukrainian starting his PHD in Physics. Due to the fact that me and the Singaporean are the only ones in the private flat that don't cook, we find ourselves hanging out and sneaking into catered halls and eating free food. XD *SHHH* XD

As for what I've been up to the past few days...
Went to a Basketball team trial on Monday. Met a school mate from SMDU. Failed to make the team. T_T
Attended a Mooncake celebration at a pastor's house. Drank Chinese tea, ate mooncakes, and walk around a foreign land carrying paper lanterns. Nya....
And in a few hours time I'll be heading off to watch a Jap movie titled Zatoichi at the Union Building.
Then there's a Mechanical Engineering Society social (FREE FOOD!!!) on Thursday, as well as a weekly event called the Open Space at a coffee shop (no, not the kopitiam we have back home) where people volunteer themselves to some stage performances and such. Been to last week's and liked it muchly.
Finally there'll be Jumble Sale organised by the Chinese society on Friday.

in between there are plenty of activities that I'll be missing due to time clashes, such as Anime screenings... T_T

48-hour day

2004-09-27T20:46:00.000+08:00

(Couldn't get any connection, so this is a recap posted at the date it would've been posted if I was able to)

Woke up to my last day in Malaysia for the rest of the year. Feelings? Nothing... Passed the day doing the final bits of shopping, which was when I found the Cowboy Bebop OST1 at Anime Tech, unfortunately. (since Niku Niku Doh sold them for RM10 less - provided that they ever bother to restock) Spent the rest of the afternoon engrossing myself with computer games. WTF? Yeah, well, that's how I am. I actually have 2 (good) reasons for this type of behavior: a) it keeps my mind occupied and not thinking too much of what's to come, and b) a Mac is not a gaming platform.

Dinner time was a little hectic, thanks to a blunder of me not taking the university offer letter with me. (Looking back, I see how important that piece of thing can be...) Then the drive to the airport was filled with last minute briefing from my dad, punctuated with awkward silence every other moment or so.

What went really took me out of my comfort zone was the attention I was getting at the airport. I mean, everybody was doing the usual, what they'd do to whoever was leaving the country for some period of time: take photo after photo after photo...

Then came the experience. Well, it wasn't really that BIG of an experience or anything. It was all "Go here", "Do this", and "Don't piss off the immigrations officer!". A ride on the commuter to the gate, followed by 45 minutes of waiting, and finally came the boarding. Now advice for anybody with loads of stuff on their hands: Do not take the complimentary newspapers. I took a copy of the Star and didn't have any proper place to put it. (It ended up under my seat, btw. I know, not a proper way to treat reading material and wutnot...)

Thanks to the timing of the flight, nearly 70 - 80% of the passengers were students. I was seated at an aisle seat with 2 girls - one senior at Manchester (from Penang, if I 'accidentally' heard her say) and the other a fresher at Warwick. And the air stewardesses had too much make-up...

Take-off was rough, especially since we encountered some turbulence barely 10 minutes into the flight. A late supper was served and I have to say something about MAS food: it isn't as bad as everybody tells me. It maybe because I don't have much of a culinary palette, but it's tough to expect them to serve you a full-blown meal while there's so many people in such a small place, not to mention economy class means less for less.

I probably slept for about half the flight, since I remember able to finish watching Windtalker and The Day After Tomorrow and Prisoner of Azkaban was reaching its horrid ending when the plane was about to land. Hope the girl next to me didn't spot any of the drool I barely remember having when I half-woke throughout my bouts of sleep.

Landing was filled with mixed emotions. The first was elation and delight from the stunning view of the Manchester skyline minutes before 6am. Shadow tendrils of doubt and worry lingered since I didn't have a definite way to the university and neither did I have a term-time accommodations waiting for me.

Took with me one of the plane's thermal blankets as a "souvenir".

It took an hour or so to get out of the plane, line up for immigration and finally step out into the arrival hall of Manchester Airport. U of Warwick and Nottingham already had their reps there, Sheffield's arrived a few minutes after our arrival. Out of a stroke of luck, I managed to hitch a place on the Sheffield University Meet and Greet bus. 20 quids well worth, I say.

The first thing I noticed about UK was the amount of grassy hills with grazing livestock (and a stag) it had, which back home would have been trees or development.

The next was the weather: I LOVED it. It's what we had in Genting and Fraser's Hills decades ago! And the roadside trees included one species with thorny leaves, and plenty of red berry trees. Yes, of course I don't know what they're called.

After dumping my stuff at a hotel, went to look for accommodations, resulting with me renting a room facing the flat's HUGE garden (the garden area's twice than that of the width and breadth of the house itself) and with the humming central heating system right next to my desk. At the same time 2 other freshers were also checking out the place, Jeremy from Singapore (Law) and Antonio from Italy (Urban Plaaning) (though he lives in Vienna). The three of us ended up agreeing to get the remaining three rooms before anybody else did.

With the paper work finished, we headed for Meadowhall to look for some pillows and duvet. Taking a tram cost us £2.40 for a Dayrider ticket (unlimited access for the day) and 20-odd minutes. I would agree as any other that the Supertram would be one of the better ways to get around exploring the city, since you get to go to most of the major areas of the city. However on the way I was told that Sheffield was originally an industrial town; it became strikingly apparent when we passed some abandoned warehouses that looked more like it belong on a Hollywood horror set.

Meadowhall is easiest to be described as their version of Midvally Megamall. I haven't got the chance to walk the entire area, but from the maps it says its got two levels full of shops and eateries. Oh yeah, do bear in mind that the UK is not a Muslim country, therefore do not be surprised if you pass by Body Shop and see a poster of a naked lady with her private parts barely covered with... some kind of fruit. Don't ask. There's also this franchise known as Casto, which specializes in it's Frescasto smoothie and it's Giganto cups of coffee. (I mean, the cups diameter is just about the same as my hand!) Then of course there's the change of prominent brands from Malaysia: There're no Parksons here, instead it's Marks and Spencers or Tesco. There was a slight contradiction though, it being that the escalators look very old while there are touch screen info booths littered throughout the massive place.

The ending of the day was pretty mundane: got a cab back to my hotel, went to a phone booth (which are all covered, btw) to call my bro, had some crackers for dinner and slept.

Two books and a wedding dinner

2004-09-12T23:08:00.000+08:00

As per request I'm writing a review of the book titled The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. First thing that came to mind was, "Hmm, it's rather short..." and then, "Wonder if I can read this at the wedding reception tonight?" whereby certain wisdom set up a whole opposition party just to reject the idea. Had to listen to them since the first few lines of the book immediately posed a major problem. I mean, I certainly wouldn't want to explain at a wedding reception that I was reading a book about some guy dying and what he sees in Heaven. Sure it would be fine if I was attending a Gothic wedding reception, but not one with plenty of old folks from two generations before mine.

Anyway, the book's title is pretty much self explanatory. The story focuses on an amusement park maintenance head named Eddie and about his tour of heaven, which of course consists of meeting five people that have one way or another connected to his life.

The core structure of the story itself was rather though provoking, let alone several of the quotes that was saturated with meaning. In short, it's a book with lots of "deep shyt", and represents the type of books that makes reading thrilling for me.

Much imagery and emotion are played into the book. This I say as I admit being drawn to tears over a number of occasions throughout the book. With its vividness, you would say that this book was made for the silver screen, and the first name that came to mind at the end of it was M. Shyamalan.

If a fault is ever required from me on this book, it would only result to a google whack (ie. search results = 1). And that part was from my annoyance of an over-used cliche scene concerning tears. Go read it to find out.

Did I mention that the book is short? Truth is I've just only got it this morning, started around 11am and was applauding it by 3pm, with a half-hour intermission for lunch. (Yes, I tend to devour books like I devour series)

It's a book I would have gladly put in Book Crossing if it wasn't a present in the first place.

On the topic of books, just done reading Prechett's The Last Continent. First and foremost on impressions, it's a T. Prechett book, so expect lots of wit aimed at things we take for granted. What I particularly loved about this book was the climax and the unravelling of the story, where one of my adored elements was put into play: the "Oh"-factor. Can't really explain it, but it's basically a part near the end of the book that relates to some obscure phrase earlier on, effectively giving clarity to something you'd have thought was unimportant and unrelated.

So yeah, busy night with two book reports and a wedding reception (of which I'm ever so glad they ditched the karaoke in favour to paying RM10k+ to hire a quartet and some Philipino band. Hurrah)

The guard has a gun. Ooh~

2004-09-09T18:57:00.000+08:00

After been in and out of some banks and high-security areas (ie. The British High Commission) I've come to notice the quality of protection that's available. I dunno, maybe they're more than meets the eye, but what my eyes see are either, a)some guy with enough mass to stop him from running more than several yards before falling over from exhaustion, or b) a retiree who'll probably fare better lecturing you than stopping you from giving him an atomic wedgie.

So tell me, where in each of these two groups do you find the intimidation factor that would stop you from doing stuff you're not supposed to do? Oh wait, *gasp* they have a GUN!

How quaint, considering some noob of a security guard dropped his 12 gauge, which misfired and wounded 5 customers lining up for the ATM. Now if I was a robber about to open a can of bad day on that bank, I'd fail by laughing my head off. I mean, COME ON. Can you imagine a guy who can barely stare eye to shoulder, lift a gun, balance out his frontside ballast and threaten you? I'd sooner just ease him from that dangerous item and reverse the barrel on him. And we're wondering why terrorists are running rampant in the East.

Oh speaking of which, I hope that SOB JI bastard who calls himself a Malaysian rots in hell along with his friends.

On other news, I've got abnormal tyroide levels. Funny thing is, I don't even know what that's supposed to mean to me... hahhah... ignorance, i say, is the ultimate bliss.

Rememberance

2004-09-02T09:09:00.000+08:00

It was a bright sunny morning when little Lilian went skipping down the jogging trek in the park behind her house. On the way she saw an old man seated on a bench, hands resting on the crook of his walking stick while he stares down the along the path. Now little Lilian has already been told once and dozen times again by the Grown-ups that talking to strangers was a bad thing, but like most kids her age, she knew better to believe the Grown-up’s stories of boogie men and monsters-in-closets. And so little Lilian skipped up to the old man and asked, “What are you doing here, Old Man?”

“I’m waiting for my dog,” replied the Old Man with a smile. “I normally take him out for a walk this time of the day. I’m waiting for him to come trotting to me after he’s done with his business.”

Not remembering seeing any dog as she came down the path, little Lilian shrugged and skipped along her way.

The next day, little Lilian skipped along the same path in the morning. Along the way she came upon the same old man seated as he was on the same bench with the same dark gray clothes. “Are you still waiting for you dog, Old Man?”

“No, I’m waiting for my son,” replied the Old Man with a warm smile. “He normally follows me on my walks down his path. Maybe something caught his eye, so I’m waiting for him to cure his curiosity.”

Again not remembering seeing any boy along the way, little Lilian shrugged and skipped away from the senile Old Man.

Another morning came and little Lilian skipped along the very same path and was bemused to find the same Old Man, on the same old bench, with his same old faraway gaze down the path. “So, still waiting for your son, Old Man?”

“No,” he replied with a shake of his head. “I’m waiting for my wife; she loved the park for its flowers and would normally come with me here to pick some for a wreath.”

Little Lilian pursed her lips and skipped away silently. She certainly did not remember seeing any wife along the path she came from.

Morning came once more and little Lilian skipped along the path in the park, not surprised to see the Old Man on the bench, staring down the way she came. “And of whom are you waiting for today, Old Man?” she asked, arms crossed over her chest.

“I was waiting for you,” he replied after a moment’s smiling. The Old Man then stood and placed his old brown hat on his head and walked past little Lilian.

This caused much surprise to little Lilian, as she stood her ground for several minutes after the Old Man’s departure before resuming her skipping.

The fifth day in a row woke witnessing little Lilian’s routine skipping down the park. But unlike the pass few days, little Lilian did not see an old man in an old gray suit and old gray pants, hands resting on his walking stick while he sat next to his old brown hat staring down the way she came. All little Lilian saw was the old wooden bench he used to sit on.

Decades later, Lilian found her way back to her old home and decided to take a walk with her daughter down the old path she used to skip along. The two of them were happily laughing and skipping and holding hands when they came upon the old bench. Noticing her mother stopping and staring down the path he came from, Lilian’s daughter asked, “Who are you waiting for, Mother?”

Lilian hugged her daughter and answered, “I’m waiting for an Old Man. He normally sat on this bench, waiting to be remembered.”

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
In loving memory of the furry bag of fat I know as Bob.

Bye Bob

2004-08-29T14:23:00.000+08:00

Today I bid farewell to a family member. I've lived with him all his life, all eight short years. Eight years and he left us from a heat stroke. A heat stroke that found origins in his nice lush brown fur. He left in peace: no spittle, no convulsions, as if he couldn't give up being clean even when he was dying.

Eight years. Eight years. Eight years and an everlasting memory.

You're dearly missed, Bob.

Of finger food and mashed potatoes

2004-08-23T22:56:00.000+08:00

Attended a pre-departure party at a hotel today. The crowd only proves the point that everybody looks like somebody I know. Like two others at my table: one reminded me of an ex-classmate from secondary school, while the other (a parent) looked like my grand uncle! Then there's this other senior who bore stunning similarities to a senior from secondary, and a girl who also looked like my ex-classmate - oh wait, that is her.

There were of course the speeches, though one in particular was rather disappointing. It was by the President of the Alumni Association. He stuttered and "umm"-ed his way through the speech that seemed more or less ad lib. I wouldn't have minded as much if it was at least smooth and fluent, but his presentation was just horrid, especially for a president of an association.

As per the traditional-question-to-ask-a-student, I'm finding much more an embarrasment to reveal my results as compared to my SPM's. *sigh*

Where's my pen and paper?

2004-08-16T08:20:00.000+08:00

Writing notes down on a computer just ain't the same as writing with ink onto any writable surface. There's just no scribbling to discern; everything's all prim and proper, alligned in a font not of your own. Not to mention the apparent difficulty to do so when you've got three fingers taped in gauze, including both index fingers. BAH!

Oh, I'd like to mark this day in history as Puerto Rico THRASHED USA at basketball at the Olympics. *waves flag*

Hey... you're that programming language.

2004-08-10T21:24:00.000+08:00

Got meself Perl for Dummies, 4th Edition and went through the first 3 chapters of the book. First impressions were like: "Hey, this looks like what they used in RO" since I did have a go at the game scripts when I was still hosting an Athena server. Now I wish that RO ran on the Mac...

Speaking of shopping, according to Discovery Channel (they're a reliable source, right?) people who go shopping with a shopping list in hand is more likely to buy more, so called "impulse items". I mean, that just reeks of irony! So in other words it'd be better to not have a list when shopping and aimlessly wander around huge shopping complexes and possibly not buy anything at all? @_@

Furthermore, if the study is true, men often suffer high levels of stress and increased blood pressure when they shop. I'm a guy, but I don't recall having much stress while shopping. Well at least when I'm alone, and there aren't any of the shops' personnel coming up and staring over my shoulder, wondering if I'd be the one to make off with one of their overpriced products and do weird things to them (the products, you perv!!).

And surprise, surprise, my aging 10Gig drive is dying from old age. Big flashy sign sayz,
WARNING! Backup and replace drive immediately! Drive failure maybe imminent!
Dang, gonna miss it. Especially since it houses the Windows OS and having to reinstall XP is as big a pain-in-the-ass as Bush thanks to the Swiss Cheese security wall Microsoft is so keen of. Hopefully the ton of security updates can be brought over.

Can't get enough of this.

This be cute... and weird... and...ecchi? o.O

2004-08-07T14:14:00.000+08:00

Considered putting this link up on the message boards but thought otherwise. Reason 1 being that it'd only draw spam that I don't read, and reason 2 being that I'm a selfish creep who wants more people to read my boring blog. BWHAHAHAHAHA!

Oh do note that the title of this post does have its truth. There are elements of ecchi in some of those comic strips (no pun). As far as I know, the link to the Ghost in the Shell crossover does feature some scenes that might be offensive to the female race/gender/creatures/whatever-you-want-to-be-called. But the rest are cute! Really!

Can't feel shoulder...

2004-08-05T23:11:00.000+08:00

My shoulder's hurting. My palm's hurting. I've got ink on my wrist. And I haven't touched my com for the whole day. All that after stamping "If undelivered, please return to..." onto uh... at least 3000 envelopes. ~X_X~ What's weird is that my brain's feeling tired eventhough I haven't hadd the chance to use it much at all.

Lesson of the day:
Italian lemon soda is a good substitute for coffee. XD

Run like the wind...

2004-08-05T13:32:00.000+08:00

Was watching Rural Olympics on Discovery Channel last night. It focused on a small state in India known as Punjab and its annual sporting event. When they said a little thing goes a long way they weren't joking in this case: the event was originally just a friendly hockey match between a few teams, and later became a full scale local event with ox cart races, atheletics, and a host of other un-orthordox events like this one involving a couple of teams racing to load and unload sacks of rice on and off a truck.

I guess the most inspiring were the veteran races. I mean, after watching and being with vets that are over 60 and are barely able to walk at the pace they used to walk some 30, 40 years ago, and then watch as an 83-year-young farmer sprint 100 meters in 17 seconds... it's unreal. Or rather, surreal. To note, the winner for the veteran long jump for the year of documentation was 2.3 meters. Can you imagin yourself jumping twice your height at the ripe age of 70?

Backing Up

2004-08-02T15:08:00.000+08:00

Haven't been feeling all that peachy the last few days. Must be all the travelling. I mean, I've been to and from PC Fair in three consecutive days, having to sit through a KL jam every single one of those. But there were some ups to offset the downs. For example, me and me bro got ourselves a 160GB drive to back up all (or most...) of our anime. Sounds easy... until the actual transfers begin that is. Have to slot in a disk, click, click, wait for about 5 minutes, eject disk, rinse and repeat. The worst part of it all is that the com is unusable during the whole process and I'm stuck with boredom. So bored I'm even writing this blog while transfering the files. Contradiction? Nope. As to how... heheheh.

Olympics in around 9 days. *waves flags*

Wandering wonderer

2004-07-30T01:24:00.000+08:00

I wonder if it's normal for a guy to be close to tears at a touching scene... wonder if an aching heart because of something as trifle as a few lines of words and images is normal.

As of now, I couldn't give a damn... the last few episodes (yes, episodes) of Banner of the Stars (aka Saikai no Dansho) and suffering from - what I call - post-series trauma. I say series since I only feel this way after going through whole series (okay, I do remember two exceptional occasions: after The Last Unicorn and A Mound of Her Own)

Guess the worst thing is that I was ready to go to bed in tears after the hints laid out throughout the second season, and that I did feel a great deal of dissapoinment when my expectations were contradicted. But one thing's for sure, if I weren't here crapping away at things I normally would keep under wraps, I would be having trouble sleeping... heh.. normalcy isn't one of my strong points... or maybe I'm normal in some other way.... who knows?

The feeling's a weird one, really. There's a sense of lethargy. A want to not do anything but replay the whole series through my head. Not such a hard feat considering the rate I've devoured all three seasons of the anime. Heh. Devoured indeed.

Cheers to the softer side of me... wonder if it has a name... would be hard to curse it without one.

I R Robot

2004-07-25T19:38:00.000+08:00

Came back from a sneak preview of I Robot a few hours ago. Pretty cool. I especially like the CG of the robots, which where done in the similar way as Golum from LotR and AI. The story had a nice twist to it, and kinda---

ACHTUNG! SPOILER ALERT!

reminds me of one of the clips in Animatrix. So IMO it's a parallel universe to the Matrix movie, except this time the humans won (at least for the length of the movie).

There are quite a number of contrasts in the rest of the movie scenery that made it interesting. For one, while it's in the future, the slums are still, well, slummy. But I noticed that most homes there have key pad access and electronic locks. So you'd see Will Smith walk pass some homes with plank-barred windows, walk up to a door that looks like wood with touches of rot, doodle with a keypad on the wall and walk into the house as the locks are disabled.

And of course with every sci fi movie, there has to be futuristic cars and modes of transport. And as usual there's all the slick shiny type. Nuh said. (Though the trailer with spherical wheels was a rather interesting concept)

All in all, it's a good show worth your dough. That is if you dig gunfights, slow motion scenes (no bullettime), nice plot, and a movie with zero sex scenes.

Face lift... not ME! The site, ph00!

2004-07-23T22:23:00.000+08:00

Well, finally got around editting more of the blog's looks. okay, so it's only the background images and an extra topping - but hey, it's a start!

Anyway, the butterflies and leaves and the sado guy at the top were scans of Goth by Kendi Oiwa/Otsuichi from Manga Sketchbook. I admit I never ever got very deep into the whole Gothic fad, nor do I know to what extent that whole idea goes, but let me warn you that this manga ain't for the faint of heart. The reason I like it is, well, mainly because of the main character, Itsuki Kamiyama and his relationship with a girl classmate, Yoru Morino. No, I don't think I can classify it as an outright love story. It's just a kind of relationship that can lead to lots of unhealthy things. Heh.

Wah? Itsh Monday alwedy?

2004-07-19T23:23:00.000+08:00

Earwax smells funny. It smells kinda sweet but has that strange aftersmell that says, "Ew". Kinda like poop. But with a sweeter smell.

Oh yes, if you still haven't figured out by now, my brain's a little... tilted? flipped? deranged? Yeah, something along the lines of deranged. And no, I'm not drunk. Haven't been drunk for like... I dunno, 18 years and counting. How'd I know? Cause I was always sober enough to tell myself I wasn't drunk.

The reason for all this kibosh (it's a real word) lies behind the ingenious game by Nintendo known as Fire Emblem. It has those qualities of a game that drives people to becoming insomniacs and apply strong adhesive to the base of one's seat. And I've been at it for the last 3 days, clocking in around 13 hours of gameplay. And I'm not even finished with it yet. Oh decadence, have ye me.

Out of boredom and a taste of challenge I went and gotten myself one of those spherical jigsaw puzzles. Initially I was planning to get the Sistine Chapel, but ended up shot of money. Compromised with a picture of a tiger battling a dragon in the clouds... not sure what the title means (it's some kind of Chinese proverb I think) Since I got it last Thursday, I've been able to complete the more obvious sections of the puzzle. Now have to deal with all those clouds...

A day at the mall

2004-07-17T22:06:00.000+08:00

Went for the first screening of King Arthur. Liked it for the most part, though I still can't say it was perfect. I think maybe it was because of the linearlity of the story that irked me the most: you'd know what was to come 10 minutes before the event itself most of the time.

The character developement was a nice addition. There's little mention on Gawain, and Lancelot is very close to Arthur. Okay, I'm just fantasising... a little. And I still think Guinevere's the daughter of Gimli and Legolas. Reason being that she's a sure-shot with the bow, and charges in like some rabid wolf on a three-shot espresso hacking and slashing at people. So yeah, the feminine looks and bow skills of Legolas and the ferocity (aka madness) of Gimli. It's all in the genes.

But by the end of the show, the big question would be: How much chest can you cover with TWO (2) straps of leather?

On a sidenote, got an Angel Sanctuary jigsaw from the new Anime Tech in 1U. I got so annoyed with the quality, or severe lack of, that I finished the damn thing with one night. How? Go get one and find out.

Sigh... and there I was thinking I could be occupied for another month with that... I guess the only other puzzle I'd like to attempt now is the Sistine Chapel. But... THE PRICE! Augh!

Another Perfectly Blue Day

2004-07-13T09:50:00.000+08:00

I think the pass few months of relative loneliness has started making me paranoid again. All those bitter conversations that I'd play out in my mind have started to swell up, just like every time the sky is this eternal blue.

A waste it is,
I would say some other day,
To bask in sun glory-ful,
and wander in sad thoughts,
To have tears shed in heart's knot,
on yet another perfectly blue day.

Yay, I knew all that angst would soon hack up poetry like some form of hairball.

On a lighter note: was watching Spy School on TechTV and they mentioned that the MI-5 secret service had considered using human semen as an invisible ink. ... No, that's what they said, however a horrid idea it would be. I mean, sure the agents would just love the idea of producing their own ink, but wouldn't the media they're writing on like, you know, stink? So much for intelligence.

Deja vu... again? Augh!

2004-07-12T09:46:00.000+08:00

People wonder why I have so much faith in dreams. Heck, I've been wondering about the same thing myself! Then again, my current answer would be because in dreams, things are so surreal that I have lots of trouble discerning between the memories of the past and the memories of the future (got this idea from Terry Prechett. :P). Of course I have no proof to these claims until somebody finds a way to record dreams onto some form of media; I'd be overly happy to be their guinea pig.

I dunno... the world can be one strange place to live in. One second I'm sitting down in the classroom listening to a lesson, the next I'm confused at the stark familiarity of what the teacher had just said. Did I see this in a dream? Or is this some kind of coincidence whereby she (the teacher) would be standing in that exact same spot, with the same dress, saying the same words while I watched her at the exact same way. I mean, the sensation of the deja vu was ALSO familiar! A deja vu of a deja vu? Huh?

I don't know which is scarier, a dream I remember, or one I have no recollection of. If I remember the dream I'd be spending a good few hours trying to decipher the images and words and fearing the worst; if I don't recall the dream I'd be wondering if I'd missed something useful and wondering when the next deja vu would occur. Yeah, I know - I'm a worry wart. >P

Dye, insolent fool!

2004-07-11T00:53:00.000+08:00

Y'know, it just occured to me that I had totally forgotten about the time when I dyed my hair Copper Red late last year. The dyed hair were outgrown and eventually cut off, but the few months in between were... interesting. Definately a new experience to me. ^^ I mean, people were actually surprised that I of all people would dye my hair. heh. Thinking back... dang, I don't even remember what it looked like. All I remember is having my hair at my current length and then... that's it.

On reflection, I've noticed myself paying people with they usual light brown highlights a wee bit more attention when I notice them. Now what kind of attention did I draw while I had my red hair. Friends and strangers... I dunno. I think after the initial surprise, they've begun to either ignore it, or say how ugly it was (or how they could have gotten a cheaper deal and yaddayaddayadda). For me, I kinda remember waking up each day, stare at the unnatural hair colour for a minute, and tell myself it's just another day; just ignore the hair and stares.

Why did I do it? If you ask me now, I'd say it was for the experience, a few months to draw in that extra attention, to be in the spotlight. But then, if you asked me before I walked into the hairdresser's, I'll say (if you actually got to pry it out of me) it was for some cosplay get-up. Yes, your insane laughter is excused. I mean I had gone through hours and hours and days of consideration of whether this was some kind of big mistake. But when the planned day came, I went "What the hell!"... boom.

Now, it's like it was like a shriek bursting out in a crowd. People would first be caught off guard, then they'll take a closer look and inspect, and after a while carry on with their lives with only faint traces of the event. (A shriek? When? Where? I was? Hmm... oh, yeah. I think I remember about it. Barely.)

bleh...

2004-07-08T23:09:00.000+08:00

Gotta stay up just to pick my bro up after his trip to Redang (a beach, for you foreigners - local or otherwise). And then he tells me his flight was an hour delayed. Figures.

Anyway, got hold of quite some loot today, surprisingly. Decided around noon to just suck it up and head on with the plan. 3 out of 5 items on my list where unexpected:
1) The jigsaw pieces will be taking 2 months to get here, not 2 weeks.
2) The glass for the frame only took 2 hours to be ready, not 2 weeks
3) There's more than one way to varnish wood... @_@ Hope the varnish I got fits the job. T'was rather pricey...

Onwards to Phase 2

2004-07-08T10:31:00.000+08:00

Man, I don't check my mail for one day and suddenly there's a ton (50+) messages in my inbox. Okay, fine. Maybe I have received over 200 mails before, but that's when I was still in a bunch of D&D Mailing Groups. Now I'm only in one Yahoo! Group and still... CURSE YOU, SPAMMERS! And curse those who sold my addys to them spammers, too!

The telecast of the Amazing Race 5 has begun. Initial favourites are Jim and Marshall (Army dad and daughter). Why? Probably a sympathy move due to the fact the old man busted his knee at the very start of the race. Talk about luck. New rule involved: the Yield. Apparently you can hold up one team for a certain period of time once in the race. Interesting developement...

The jigsaw puzzle's nearly completed. Nearly as in I'm missing 3 pieces and that stupid storekeep's too stubborn to deviate from her routine by an inch. Plans for the frame have already been drawn up. Now's the matter of the materials... *too lazy to go wrestling for parking in that hell hole of an Uptown* bleh...

Also in the news... Apparently Square-Enix's going to release a prequel-FF7 game around September. Final Fantasy: Before Crisis is supposed to take place before the actual story itself, and I heard Cloud's like 15 then. And, uh, don't go polishing your consoles, at all; the game's being released for only the PSP and *oh shoku* cell phone. Talk about the Year of Portable Game Consoles...

How I wish...

2004-07-05T00:42:00.000+08:00

That I had a host club at my beck and call... well, more specifically something along the lines of Ouran Koukou Host Club by Hatori Bisuko. XD I mean, I mean, the character profile portion at the ennd of the first volume is just so... MOUTH WATERING.... XD OMG OMG OMG... I'm gonna faint...

SHARAPOVA DA CHAMP!!!!

2004-07-03T23:50:00.000+08:00

YES! Sharapova is the Wimbledon Women's Champ! And she's 17!

... What? I mean she's SEVENTEEN! And this be her first Grand Slam!!!!!!

CONGRATS SHARAPOVA!!!!

Day 3 of the Blog

2004-07-02T22:58:00.000+08:00

First off the hook, late as it may be....
YAY! Sharapova's in the FINALS!!!!!
Now have to wait for the Men's Semi-finals to be played... !@#&!@#*^! rain.

And what a way to start a day: I dreamt I flunked my finals and not making the grades needed to get into Uni... bah... can't say I'm not worried, nor am I sweating in my pants (hey, it's a freaking warm night, so that doesn't count!). It's just that I'm a rather firm believer of the "Dreams come true" stuff due to past experiences.

What's worse, today was a rather bad prelude to the next dozen weeks or so. Ah bee bored, dang it!

The Jigsaw puzzle I'm working on, The Zodiac by Kagaya, is in it's final phase. This is gonna be more trial and error than I had hoped for... ganbarimasho!

Hey, I'm still here!

2004-07-01T10:47:00.000+08:00

Been setting up stuff around my blog, toying with settings and finally getting my hands warmed with the codes, though I was never good at these kind of stuff anyway. Adding links and stuff to and from the blog and hopefully I'll be able to actually give this whole thing an overhaul, graphic-wise, unlkely as it may seem.

Forgot to mention yesterday about my purchase of Moon Hee Jun's first solo album, Alone. Can't say I really liked all the tracks, but maybe cause I wasn't paying attention to them anyway. No luck in finding any phoenetics to the lyrics so far, nor their translations (although Unexpected Farewell was basically Auld Lang Syne in Korean)

I need a decent RPG for the PC dangit!

Oh yeah, Fallout fans out there should be lighting a candle for Interplay, since rumour has it that they won't be lasting past this quarter... T_T

Boredom Sssetsss in....

2004-06-30T22:43:00.000+08:00

I don't even know why I'm bothering with this... with my track record of abandoned diaries and journals, I really don't see what can be so different with this one. i guess it's all thanks to that greedy "I want one, too" impulse that runs so strongly in me, prodding my brain with thoughts such as "It'll keep you occupied" and blah blah.

Sigh, I guess when you're already knee deep in crud, you might as well dive in and hope for a nice warm bath later.

Lessee... let's start blogging eh?

Watched Spidey 2 this morning. Can't say that I enjoyed the conversations all that much but the action scenes were cool to watch. At least that was until I read Seraphim's comment when I realised how true her words are. But being the geek that I am, it sure doesn't hurt to see how far one can go with CG, eventhough some parts of the movies had to be blurred in order to lend to the illusion. I'm not sure how much CG was used, but I guess with so much in play, Toby, Kirsten and gang would only need to lend their voices to a whole movie sooner than we think.

PS: YAY! First post! Now to go revise on my html codes...