Illusion of Words

Book: Silence

Finally got a hold of a copy of Silence, by Shusaku Endo. I have been wanting to read this book for a long time, and it did not disappoint. Finished the entire thing in one afternoon. These days I don’t really read much (the last new book I read was Gary Neville’s autobiography couple of weeks ago….), but this book was good. I heard about it from English lit class last year, my prof recommended the book. Also heard that they are making a movie version, coming out in 2013. Hm, probably in 2 years the interest in this book will skyrocket. But you heard it here first (maybe).

Anyway, enough with the rambling. This book is about the persecution of Catholic Christians in the 17th century. In Japan. Wait, you say, Japan had a history of Catholic Christians? Apparently so. But Christianity was eventually banned somewhere down the line, and terrible persecution came upon all missionaries, priests, and converts. The book ‘Silence’ follows the journey of a Portuguese priest, Rodrigues, who, along with his friend, goes to Japan wanting to minister to the underground Catholic Japanese.

In the beginning all seems quite well, the two priests able to do their duty (confessions, mass, all that), but as the story moves along and things happen, Rodrigues finds himself struggling with the question: Why is God silent in the midst of all the suffering? The peasants were being martyred - if they weren’t, just trying to survive under heavy taxes was already terrible enough. By the end of the book, I felt like I’d just watched a TV series, where it is always so strange to go back to the first episode and see the ‘innocence’ of the protagonists that have undergone so much throughout the series. The book isn’t that long though, finished in a couple of hours - for reference I finished ‘Gone with the Wind’ in 3 days (and that was spending every spare, waking hour reading it). Still it was engrossing enough to give me that feeling. Absolutely recommended read, thought-provoking and interesting.

Posted in Books | 1 Comment »

Back to Life + randomness

Wow. This blog is so completely 00’s. And it’s been over a year since I last posted anything. Is it time to revive this blog? I’ll post some random stuff anyway:

1. Firefox 7 came out a couple of days ago. I’ve been using Chrome for a few months now, after getting tired of Firefox getting all sluggish every few minutes. I’m switching back to Firefox now. It still gets sluggish (I think I’ll need to create a new profile), but I really missed all the extensions I have. Okay, so they might be part of the reason why Firefox is slower compared to Chrome, but really, how did I ever live without Adblock Plus and Scrapbook and Greasemonkey for so long? No decent alternatives in Chrome that I could find.

2. Working on a paper for the biology seminar class - have to go through 15 papers, 10 of which are actual scientific research papers. Not easy. I go through one, taking meticulous notes, then I take a break which lasts until the next day. That said, it’s not too bad, the genetics class last semester really is paying off.

3. Talking about the genetics class, I am glad that I took that last semester instead of web applications. Ha.

4. Been listening to Glen Campbell’s latest (and last, probably) album, ‘Ghost on the Canvas‘. Great stuff. Catchy songs, love the 1-min orchestral interludes. It all makes you sad at the same time though, as he knows that he is slipping slowly due to Alzheimer’s.

Posted in General, Music, School, Computers | 3 Comments »

Click this

As you may have noticed, I have stopped regularly updating this blog. Just kinda bored with it, considering that I had it for many years now (how time flies!). Still, I’ll keep it here, and maybe update occasionally when I feel like it.

Posted in Uncategorized | 17 Comments »

Tornado Season (or How Life is two weekends in a row in tornado alley)

Last Saturday spent some hours in the bathroom in the afternoon - came out and the sun was shining ever so brightly, you wouldn’t believe it was dark as night an hour ago.

This Saturday forecast predicts storms through the night. I feel slightly light-headed, having been woken up at 4 am to hide out in the bathroom, before returning to bed at 5 am. Round 2 came later, at 8.30 am, where we stayed until 10. I suspect this isn’t the last of it. Memphis, somewhere southwest, seems to have been hit by tornadoes. So far, we haven’t had any touchdown within our city yet.

Of course, there are a few types of people. One, the excited folks who’d stand outside and try to look for the tornadoes. Two, those who huddle up in the bathroom/ shelter at the first sign of a tornado warning. Three, those who are sleeping so soundly they don’t hear a thing. And four, those who don’t really care, but hideout anyway because everybody else in the house is doing so.

Tornadoes are quite a nuisance, but common for people who have been living here all their lives. There are things people say that will happen when a tornado is imminent - ominous green clouds, ears popping from drastic change in pressure. My school has bathrooms specially built to withstand tornadoes after the terror of 2008. Hm, perhaps it’s like a sort of premium insurance to pay if we stay in those newer, very expensive dorms.

Let’s see what happens tonight then - I hope we won’t have to spend the night in the bathroom.

Posted in Weather | 3 Comments »

Movie Break

Ostensibly, spring break. But because I had nowhere to go and nothing to do, I spent pretty much all my time watching movies. For what it’s worth, I didn’t even study a bit.

Anyhow, for those who are interested, I will list some of the movies I watched over the break with a short discussion. And a rating, which is slapped on without much thought. Of course, they are first viewings, subsequent ones may either increase or decrease the rating. Or there may be never a second viewing - some movies aren’t really worth watching that many times.

1. American Beauty: Um.. kind of a pervy movie, if I may say so. A lot about the ugly side of humans. It was a good movie, that said, I can’t see myself watching it anytime soon. It isn’t pretty. 7/10

2. The Blind Side: Uplifting story about a black kid taken in by a rich family, movie for which Sandra Bullock won her Oscar. I think it was quite deserved. I enjoyed the movie, after all, it was set in Memphis, TN, which is just over an hour from where I live. Quite inspirational and all. 8/10

3. The Matrix Trilogy: Doesn’t really need any explanation. I’d never watched it before, wanted to see what it was about. Pretty fun, the concept of the fake world and all. A whole load of action and that’s about it. 7/10

4. Godspell (1973): Not blasphemous or anything in a sense of the word, but um… it is just not right seeing Jesus and the disciples being a bunch of hippies in New York City! Still, I must admit there are a few catchy songs.6/10

5. Doubt (2008): Meryl Streep, Catholic stuff. Good movie, discussed some issues - the suspicion of a nun against the priest in a school. No action though, mostly a ton of conversations, which are interesting enough. 7.5/10

7. Amadeus (1984): Movie about Mozart. The guy playing Salieri was absolutely brilliant. I felt that the Mozart was unconvincing though. A pretty good movie, especially for fans of Mozart. The story shouldn’t really be taken seriously, mostly fictional. Great costumes - love the 18th century costumes with all their wigs and pantaloons. 7.5/10

8. Touch of Evil (1958): Everybody knows Orson Welles for his movie ‘Citizen Kane’, which I must admit kind of bores me. This movie is another of his, about corruption. There’s Charlton Heston and Janet Leigh (2 years before Psycho, and there is almost a foreshadowing of it in the movie!) and of course Orson Welles himself. 7.5/10

9. To Catch A Thief (1955): Hitchcock stuff. Starring Cary Grant, Grace Kelly. It is lighter stuff, fun all around. 7.5/10

10. The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956 version): Hitchcock again, this time it’s Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day who are in trouble. The movie with that song “Que Sera Sera”. More intense than no. 9, okay plot. Exciting though. 8/10

Not too bad, eh? I actually watched some current movies. Hardly the end of my movie list though. It doesn’t include movies I re-watched. And other new old ones - but I’ll keep them for a separate post. That is, if I’d ever get around to it.

Posted in TV/Movies | 3 Comments »

Keyboard layout update

So spring is officially here, now that spring break finally begins. It has been spring for a while - the bare trees covered with either white or red flowers, the grass green again.

And how have I been doing with the Colemak layout? Surprisingly, the progress is much faster than expected. I did run into some trouble especially with the ’s’ and ‘e’, it was always slightly confusing. But I’ve cut back on mistakes from those two keys.

Now, I’ve practically forgotten how to type in QWERTY. In a way, I find it hard to touchtype now, at least for the first few minutes.

keybr.com actually is quite a good typing website, as it allows you to create a profile to track your average speed in a nice layout. As you can see, my top speed currently is 98 wpm, although I dare say that was a one-off fluke more than anything.

Posted in Computers | 3 Comments »

Changing keyboard layoutss

I recently decided to embark on a new project of typing with a different keyboard layout. For your information, the current keyboard layout everybody uses is QWERTY. It has quite a bit of history, going back into the days of the typewriters. And certainly it is not the most ergonomic layout, nor the fastest if you’re going to completely master a layout.

So no, it isn’t a school project or anything, I just thought I’d do it for fun. A quick search on google revealed that there were three more popular layouts: QWERTY, Dvorak, and Colemak. I picked Colemak, because it was more similar to QWERTY, as in most of the common shortcut keys on the bottom left are the same. Compared that to Dvorak, which switches out almost everything, having vowels on one side and consonants on the other side so that the hands type alternately.

So I got a typing tutor, and started off. It actually is going slightly better than I anticipated. The first time that I tested my speed two days ago, I was at a painful 15 wpm. Now, my highest speed is 36 wpm, although for the actual typing it is slower because I have to concentrate on what to type, besides remembering where to put my fingers.

That said, I think it’s pretty good, I definitely feel that my fingers don’t move around as much. On the downside, I can’t type as fast as I used to on QWERTY. It takes a few minutes of slow typing before muscle memory takes over and I type faster. Ah well, I hope it gets better - that is, my typing on colemak will eventually be pretty fast. I hope to hit at least 80 wpm by the end of the semester.

(Now, for the question of the day: what layout did I use to type the above? The first two were QWERTY, the rest were in colemak. Not that you could see any difference anyway, except that it took a long time to type the last few paragraphs.)

Posted in Computers | 1 Comment »

On guitar heroes

I just finished watching two concert dvds featuring Eric Clapton - ‘Live in Hyde Park’ and ‘One More Car, One More Rider’. If I were forced to pick a favorite guitarist (and I mean a real classic guitar hero, not … uh… some guy called mei-year), I’d probably pick Clapton. Jimi Hendrix is certainly superb, but I’m not used to listening to psychedelic stuff, and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s stuff is mostly instrumental. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I generally like songs with words. And no, I don’t listen to shred stuff. Partly because a lot of it is just ‘how many notes can be played in one minute’, and partly because I don’t suppose I could ever play that fast.

Anyway, that isn’t really the point here. I was thinking about Phil Keaggy, actually. Saw him in Chicago, I think I have a post on it somewhere here. Awesome guitarist, but never famous except in the small CCM circles. Back in those days - well, the Jimi era with all those guitarists - a lot of them used drugs. Certainly Jimi, Stevie, and Clapton were all avid drug users at one point or another. Keaggy was too, until he became a Christian and eventually moved into the Christian music circle. There’s a myth that once a reporter asked Jimi, “How does it feel to be the world’s greatest guitarist?”, to which Jimi replied, “I don’t know, ask Phil Keaggy.” Keaggy himself denied that, saying that Jimi had died by the time he was recording in the studio. Still, it shows how good a guitarist Keaggy actually is that such a myth actually endured.

My point being, if you are still reading this, I think Keaggy might have had a shot at being one of the guitar greats, named in the same breath as Jimi, Stevie, Clapton, Jimmy Page, Van Halen, Jeff Beck…, if he had stayed on this rock track. True, he is more famous in acoustic guitar circles, but well, I think he would have been great on an electric guitar as well. But he chose to serve God instead with his talent, to shun the fame and riches of this world, touring churches instead of great stadiums, and my guess is that God is pleased.

Posted in Music | 2 Comments »

Update

Apologies, dear readers, who probably have all left the scene after waiting patiently for weeks. Now here would be the place where the blogger would write about life’s busyness and troubles, but here I can’t. Because life isn’t all that busy for me.

So what have I been doing? Just ignoring this blog, that’s all. Winter is going, spring is coming in. The grass is becoming greener each day, trees are beginning to bud with reddish flowers. The weather is much warmer than the freezing cold of the early months. And can you believe it, the semester is nearly half gone.

This is cruel, I know, to just give monthly updates. But I’ll post something relatively more substantial.

Posted in General, Weather | No Comments »

Update

Alright, as you can tell, I’m not updating this blog often. Mostly because I do not find anything worth posting. But for the sake of some folks, I’ll occasionally update. Until maybe one day I find some good reason to update regularly.

Anyway, I’m back in winter land, where snow covers the ground. Fortunate that I got back just after the few days of freezing and ice, or else I may end up stuck in Memphis airport. Which is not a nice place to be. That said, some other airports are nice - I approve the sensibility of airports that don’t require a whole lot of bother to go through security. Although of course, there are reasons, but I wish people would stop making it so difficult for others. Standing in the KLIA security line, for a moment, I felt confused and wondered if it required the general US security of laptops, shoes, coats, and liquids. But no. Just dump your bag on the belt and make sure you don’t beep going through the scanner (uh, why do folks have to beep going through that anyway?), and you’re done.

Of course, once I was ready to go on the flight proper to the States, there comes Special Treatment. Extra bag-checking and all those stuff. Immigration, customs, walking through LAX, which is obviously an inferior airport to many Asian airports.

But 2 days later, that is, one day lived twice over, and I was back. School started two days later. The good thing, however, is that I finally decided to buy the TC Electronic Nova Repeater, which arrived the same day school started. Cheers for a new delay pedal! Or my first proper single effects pedal, anyhow. Picked it because I liked the selectable divisions.

And it’s cold, freezing in the room.

Posted in Music, School, Weather | 2 Comments »

Kuching Trip

Well, the trip was good, mostly just food and memories. I always liked Kuching, it’s like the grass greener on the other side of the fence. Or maybe just the what-ifs, had we stayed on a decade ago.

Just eating, between trips to the mall - 3 times to the same one despite the numerous malls around Kuching. Got sick of eating noodles at last, after every day of sitting in one of those roadside stalls. That said, kolo mee is so much better than kampua. We ate the typical noodle fare, had some Thai food as well, and some proper Chinese food - butter prawns and soft-shell crabs that are to die for. And who can forget durians? The good stuff aren’t easy to find, but when you get a good one, it’s amazing.

One reason that we went to the mall so many times was, uh, that the third time was just to watch Avatar in the new cineplex there. Spent an hour in the seat third from the front, and I was getting a headache and feeling all dizzy, luckily we moved further back. Alright, so a bit on Avatar. A lot of people seem to hype it quite a bit, personally, besides the CGI and special effects, I can’t quite see the hype. My one-line summary of the movie: a generic fantasy-war-scifi plot line wrapped up in top-of-the-line CGI effects and contemporary popular issues (i.e. environmentalism, anti-war…. ). Between all the New Age-ness and spiritualism, and the fact that the plot is pretty much very guessable (I mean, seriously, the moment they were talking about the Toruk Makto, you knew what was coming), it’s just an entertaining movie, and not much beyond that.

Tom yam soup.

Laksa. Slightly different from the Sibu one, but delicious all the same.

Lei cha. Disgusting, still, really. The bitter soup is hard to swallow, but well, the rice and veggies are nice.

Ten years and these trees that used to be just about twice our height as kids have grown so huge.

A pile of durians. It isn’t technically durian season yet, but already there are some streets lined with piles and piles of durians. Generally you have to get them to open it on the spot for guaranteed durians, or else more likely than not you’d end up with a bunch of uneatable or worm-infested durians.

View from the apartment we were staying at.

Posted in TV/Movies, Travel | 2 Comments »

First Impressions

Took me 3 days, 5 different flights, 4 timezones, and I’m finally home, sore all over from countless hours of sitting and standing in lines. And it all just feels so strange. Familiar, yet so foreign. The heat was stifling, even suffocating, with the thick humidity. The surroundings are so green.

Everything is topsy-turvy. I have to get used to things the opposite way - including online blogs (posts in the wrong time). That said, I guess even ‘home’ takes getting used to. But it’s great being home.

Posted in General | 1 Comment »

Thanksgiving

Ah.. it’s that time of the year again, when crowds line up early at the crack of dawn to lay their hands on that cheap cheap gadget they have been waiting all year for, when people overstuff themselves with turkey and all the good food, when Christmas and the holidays suddenly seem very near and Christmas shopping ensues. Oh yes, and it’s the time to be Thankful (capitalization of First Letters of Random words makes you Feel like you’re Writing a Winnie-the-Pooh story or Something).

It varies, really, what Thanksgiving means. To some, it’s Black Friday. To others, it’s food. To yet others, it’s family reunion time. To me, it’s finally a couple days off from school and way-better-than-cafeteria food at somebody’s house. All things we can be thankful for. I had some good food - turkey, pies - and a couple days just lazing around doing nothing.

[Talking about lazing around, I apologize for the lack of updates (and I apologize nearly every post). A lot has been happening in this fine world - there was Halloween oh-so-long-ago, school, and other random news, controversial of which is the new Twilight movie that has half the world frowning and shaking their heads (the half including me), and the other half a screaming fanatic bunch. But I digress. And apologize again for the sad lack of relevant photos.]

Certainly the day after Thanksgiving is the best time to be buying stuff. I’ve never gone out to brave the cold and crowds and watch people elbow their way to their coveted items, but this year, I sat in front of the computer, waiting for the clock to strike 8 am, which was when the netbook-I’ve-been eyeing’s price dropped from $320 to $190+tax. It was gone under 20 minutes, some claimed the deal was dead in 10 - but I had it ordered and checked out in 3 minutes. A read through the thread on Slickdeals proved that some people haven’t been as fortunate, with a load of various problems. Still, it was an exciting experience, even if it was online and happened to charge this state sales tax.

Yes, these year end holidays are glaring examples of consumerism and materialism that is conquering (or has conquered) this part of the world, and I’m sure my very capable readers can write long dissertations on it, so I won’t expound further. But anyhow, as in the Thanksgiving spirit, I’ll just say that I’m thankful that I managed to snag that netbook in time (I’d dropped all other options and was putting all my cards on that one deal). And I’m thankful that I had a place to go eat on Thursday. Thankful for a bed and a house (even if it’s freezing all the time). I’m thankful for friends, for family that I’m finally going to see again. Thankful for my guitar and amp and computer. But above all, thankful for God’s provisions even in seemingly-dire situations like class registrations, and of course, thankful for Jesus Christ, our greatest provision in our most dire situation of sin and death.

Posted in General, Computers | 4 Comments »

Faith In Practice Chapel

I enjoy chapel a lot, it’s a source of spiritual food that I feel I’m not quite getting from church, for some reason. Recently there was a series of 3 chapels on 3 consecutive days, a annual event called Faith In Practice. In which somebody comes and gives a series of sermons, in this year’s case, David Platt.

I have to say that I was touched by the messages, in fact, I could tell that a lot of people loved it too. Normally hardly anybody brings their Bible to chapel, much less take notes. But chapel was packed the 3 days, people bringing Bibles and taking notes, and responding well to the funny parts in the message.

Platt spoke from Mark 10, the story of the rich man who came to Jesus. And you know where this is headed. A much needed wake-up call. Before I proceed with listing the 10 main points of the 3 messages, I would like to direct you to the podcasts of the messages right here, under recent events, or chapels. If you have time to spare, definitely should give it a listen. I’m just going to give a quick run through the total of 113:28 minutes over 3 days.

1. Radical surrender. Modern evangelism, according to Platt, is built on sinking sand. Jesus did not tell the rich man to say a prayer of confession. He told him to give up everything.

2. Radical command. The 5 commands - go, sell, give, come, follow. It isn’t just ‘be willing’, or everyone go sell everything. Still, it’s something to be obeyed.

3. Radical grace. Radical surrender is impossible without God’s grace - with God, all things are possible.

4. The gospel, not guilt, should be the motivation in giving.

5. Understand the use of money and possessions in the context of redemptive history. Mostly about how in the OT, obedience was often rewarded with material possessions. However in NT, Jesus never mentioned that.

6. The dangerous and deadly nature of our possessions. Stuff isn’t bad in itself, but has the potential to be a stumbling block.

7. Jesus does not want to take away our pleasures. In fact, he promised us a hundred times more. Could it really be a sacrifice then?

8. Jesus desires to free us from bondage to ourselves and our stuff. One example is of John Wesleey putting a 28-pound cap on his spending for the rest of his life, no matter his earnings.

9. The cost of discipleship is great, but the cost of non-discipleship is far, far greater. Not only for the billions around the world who may lose the chance to hear the gospel, but also at great cost to ourselves.

10. Our lives will count on earth when our eyes are fixed on heaven. Earth is just a temporary place, a blink of an eye compared to eternity.

Yes, I know it’s a lot of stuff to digest, and this short summary hardly does it justice. In this world dominated by material possessions and love of money, I think this message is badly needed, if just as a reminder.

Posted in Church | 1 Comment »

Taco Salad

I know it sounds totally unlike my blog. But well, a friend suggested for me to do a post on food, so here I am. I snapped a bunch of pictures of the process of making taco salad, and decided to just throw it all in a collage so that my blog wouldn’t seem like a food blog. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

So here you go. Pictures are not going to win any photography awards ever. That said, taco salads are pretty good, besides, you just cook some ground beef and gather other random items, along with taco chips, and you’re done. We didn’t have any cheese sauce, however. This brings back memories of the cafeteria’s version: a huge stack of chips, with a huge scoop of meat (who knows what is in there!), and the cheese sauce thing. Which isn’t too bad, considering that most of the time, the cafeteria food is… unappetizing to say the least.

Oh, and a red candle is optional. But it does enhance the eating process.

Posted in General | 3 Comments »

Fall Break

Fall Break is here. And nearly over, actually. At any rate, fall break is supposed to be a break, a chance to catch your breath in the middle of the hectic semester and try to catch up with things and get some rest. At least, ideally. Not that my semester is too hectic, or that I am in need of a lot of rest.

But suddenly I’m eating much better food than the usual fare. Which is always good. A free burger at TGI Friday was nice, so was IHOP. Free burger worth nearly $9. Well, sometimes, if you know where to keep your eye on, good deals pop out. Of course, good deals doesn’t necessarily mean buying - if you know what I mean, that sometimes, we buy too much stuff that are ‘on sale’ and ‘good deals’, thinking we are saving money, when in fact, we actually waste more money with a bunch of needless junk.

A trip to Memphis involved eating pho, going to an art museum. Actually, wandering around outside, being unwilling to pay the price of entrance. After all, we had barely an hour for the museum, because of course I had to go to Guitar Center. The benefits of being in a city bigger than this little town I’m in - and well, of course Memphis is the famous blues town and all, with the Gibson factory and Graceland and zoo with pandas and stuff. None of which I’ve visited, actually. When you’re in a party of people, not everyone wants to go to the same place. Alright, back to Memphis - the Guitar Center visit only lasted less than half hour, since the original extra one hour that we could have had was taken up languishing in the traffic. The traffic!

At least though I had enough time just to strum a few acoustic guitars, including those way-over-1000 Martins and Taylors. By the way, it is somewhat obnoxious that outside the acoustic room, some people are shredding on the electric guitars and some are banging on the drums and others are playing some real fancy stuff on the keyboards. Way to make me feel lame - I don’t think I can actually play a full non-acoustic song yet (as in, all the solo parts of a particular song), because I start on one song and desert it halfway through for a long long break of playing random stuff before starting on a different song. Well, in the very least, I managed to finish the Little Wing intro.

Well, if you’re interested, some activities over the break included:

Marshmallows roasting over candle fire…

The art museum, which actually isn’t too shabby, really. Okay, so I didn’t see the exhibitions, but there was this masterpiece special exhibition, which isn’t too bad. The day was a little cold for fall though, cloudy skies and all.

Yay for a long post.

Posted in General, Music, Travel | 2 Comments »

Near Fall Break

It is almost the middle of the semester, which means fall break is in sight. And this blog has degenerated in some sort of lame commentary on my life, which is quite pathetic, considering that one of the rules to successful blogging is ’specific topics’. Not that I’m trying to be successful.

A lot of people are busy. Schoolwork, friends, everything else. A favorite topic at lunch is ‘how many hours one slept last night.’ And it can be surprising how many people actually sleep less than five hours a night. Perhaps I’m just not quite at that point yet, because I have never felt the need to stay up any later than midnight for homework. In fact, I have never done so. After all, isn’t sleep important for memory?

Someday, I may actually have something substantial to blog about. Until then, suffer through these lame posts.

Posted in School | 3 Comments »

Update

No, I’m not cut off from internet, or dead, or anything. Just have been lazy updating the blog. Anyway, school has been going on for a couple of weeks, and wait - is it only September? I thought I’d been through 3 months of school already.

Alright, granted, I haven’t had any ‘real’ exams yet. Although I did fail miserably on one mini-test, the first time I’ve done so here. Flu season isn’t quite officially here, I think, but already it feels like nearly everyone went down with the flu at one point or another. Thank God I am unscathed so far. But everyone was dropping like flies, swine flu or not. Psychological?

I miss TV, really. And I’m using a free wireless connection, totally unsafe and unreliable. And slow, although the speed is already probably ten times Malaysia’s. TV season starts next month, mostly. While I don’t catch any dramas, except for the occasional CSI:Miami (at least, during the last tv season), I do want to watch documentaries. Discovery Channel, Spike, History Channel, Nat Geo and all that (some) good stuff. You see, with dramas, the internet is rife with them. The network websites usually have the full episodes on after a couple of hours or a day. But you can’t get the documentaries as easily. And I miss watching documentaries. And not to mention some random movies that might come on - Turner Classic Movies channel, anyone?

Let’s see, have I seen any movies lately? Watched ‘Spirited Away’, and ‘Eternal Sunshine of …’. Good stuff. Latter was thought provoking. Why would anyone want to erase memories of somebody? So if the breakup is painful and all, but there are always the pleasant memories, and all that you go through, pain included, makes you who you are - hopefully a better person. I especially can’t quite forget the lady who wanted to erase memories of her dog - her dog! What could be so painful that you had to forget your cute little pet forever? The movie can be slightly confusing if you don’t pay attention, since the timeline appears to jump around at times.

Since this post is quite long, my faithful readers deserve a picture or two.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

A mess, that’s for certain. I cleaned it up, but now, a week later, it is almost as bad as the picture. I thought of buying a new guitar amp, but considering the small apartment, and having no other situation in which I play, it is just not feasible. So I take a deep breath and let go of that thought, for the time being.

Posted in School, TV/Movies | 3 Comments »

Back To School

All things must end at some point, especially if it’s a pleasant thing. Which would explain why the summer flew by, a sentiment that is surely shared by just about every person. It’s not that bad, really, going back to school. Finally, I don’t have to squander time by just eating, sleeping, and surfing the net.

Back to school then. I officially live off-campus, so the apartment is bare and I’m looking at sleeping on the carpeted floor for maybe a week, until the promised donated furniture comes in. The floor is strewn with my belongings, my neck is sore from having to operate the computer on the ground. But I got to see my guitar again - although it stank pretty bad. Must have been the environment over the past three months, changing the strings removed only a little of the smell.

Meanwhile, classes begin and I wonder what the heck I’m doing in an introduction to engineering class, when everyone around me are freshmen and aspiring engineers. If only it wouldn’t count in the grade, then I would be glad to take it. But looks like quite a bit of effort is required, and I don’t think I’m prepared to dish out that amount of hard work for something I’m 95% certain of not majoring in. Well, unless something happens along the way.

The first day is over, and the whole semester stretches out endlessly before me. Certainly an adventure.

Posted in School | 2 Comments »

Youtube and Memories

I came upon an article yesterday, mentioning the Top 30 cartoon theme songs. Of course, whether it is the top 30 depends on the individual, since I did not recognize 2/3rds of the list. But there were the good old stuff - Gummy Bears, Scooby Doo, Ducktales, Animaniacs.

I realize, however, that while I was part of the TV generation growing up, being in Malaysia meant that our cartoons were somewhat different and outdated. That is, we did not watch the same cartoons at the same time they premiered, so the timeline is somewhat off for us. But I do remember every evening, we’d get half an hour of cartoons on TV, and of course, there is the Saturday morning segment.

Which included my favorite show when I was 10 - Masked Rider. Yes, it is the lame copy of the Japanese version, and it is a poor man’s substitute for the then popular Power Rangers (not that Power Rangers is any better, looking back now), but then we weren’t allowed to watch Power Rangers for some reason or the other. Masked Rider was on Saturday mornings, and we wouldn’t miss it for anything.

I suddenly had the idea to look for Masked Rider episodes, and guess what? A whole load of them, full episodes, not just clips, on youtube. I couldn’t stop smiling watching through one, it turned out to be the lamest and cheesiest thing I have ever seen, but then it was serious business back then.

It’s amazing what the internet can do these days. I never thought I’d be watching this long forgotten and scorned show, a decade later. For us, it brings back memories, for the new generation, it is something new (I seriously doubt kids today would watch such things though, now that they are spoiled by amazing special effects). Only a few years’ difference, and things have changed. Today’s kids spend their time playing computer games. If they watch TV, it is rarely the animated cartoons of our age - it’s the Disney Channel live action stuff, or else Spongebob Squarepants. Truth is, there are few good cartoons today. At least, going through Cartoon Network these days is bound to be a disappointment.

But for me, and many others, the joy and anticipation of Saturday morning cartoons will remain always, a fond memory of a bygone age (that is, why don’t you try looking for your old fave cartoons on youtube? There is nothing like good memories of old cartoons/shows).

Silly, but nostalgic.

On a side note, I was looking through the wiki of Masked Rider, and noticed that Saban Entertainment was also responsible of the Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog, which was one of my favorite shows after Masked Rider ended, but we never finished watching it, because we had to move houses and the new place didn’t have ntv7… I actually remember that clearly…

Posted in TV/Movies | 1 Comment »

Fishing and LifeChangers

No, the two things mentioned in the title have nothing to do with each other. At any rate, I’m just lumping two events into one post.

First, fishing. Was the first time ever. Went to a trout farm, with two other adults, stood there with a long bamboo pole with the string/wire at the end of it. One of my companions was also a first timer, but it seemed that it was her lucky day, and the fish came in frequently - even a giant 4.3 lb trout that had people admiring it in our bucket.

As for me. I think I caught only one. But it was fun, sitting there, staring at the red and white thing bobbing on the surface of the water.

The Big Fish

Lifechangers
Went to ‘visit’ them along with two other new acquaintances (literally). Lifechangers is a week-long program, where kids from middle/high school help out in the community. Mostly, their schedule is morning, work (e.g. pick up trash, tear down houses), afternoon backyard Bible study for neighborhood kids, and night worship. They all stayed in a big gym, girls and guys separated into the two ends shielded by tall black curtains. I went with them on their bible study trip, and we walked around a bit trying to ’round up’ kids, but didn’t see anyone. At any rate, kids started coming in after a while. They had a little fun, and I saw some sharing the gospel, which was good.

As it turned out, they had something called the ‘5 questions’, which they are taught to ask people as a way to share the gospel. I didn’t realize that until the short testimony session at night. After which, a pastor came up and preached on removing idols in our lives, and opened the altar to the people. To which many kids responded.

All in all, I truly felt that it was a lifechanging matter, not just for the neighborhood kids who accepted Christ, but for the participants, some of whom may rededicate their lives and become ‘new’.

Story time.

They stayed in a school.

Posted in Sports, Travel | 2 Comments »

New York City

I’ve always wanted to go to NYC. What a bustling city, full of life, full of energy. One of those ‘never sleep’ cities. Anyway, I got the chance to go there for 3 days. Of course, that wasn’t including the 10 hour car ride to get there. And back.

Before I go into the stuff that I saw, let me just say that it was quite ironic considering that the place where I stayed (Brooklyn Chinatown) had no internet. Ugh. This is almost like the very heart of civilization, and no internet? My definition of civilization would be clean place to stay and clean bathroom, modern things, and most importantly, internet. During the couple of days there, without access to the world, I might as well have been living in a jungle (concrete jungle?).

Anyway, the place where we stayed was at the sixth floor and overlooked Brooklyn and even the Statue of Liberty could be seen at the distance.

First day practically rained all day. So we jumped into the subway, emerged at Times Square, tried to stare up but was distracted by all the umbrellas and trying not to step into puddles. Went underground again quickly, and emerged near Central Park. Where we then walked briskly to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Apparently the others wanted to go shopping, so one decided to go with me into the museum.

It was rainy, as you can see everyone trying to hide around.

That was pretty much the day. I spent nearly the entire day walking around the museum, and still haven’t seen all of it. In fact, even the stuff that I saw were mostly just walking by as fast as possible. It’s that big. My feet ached at the end.

Second day the rain let up. Finally! Now we can do more walking! Subways, then more walking. Down to Wall Street, visited the Trinity Church, went to see the World Trade Center site, which is basically just construction - looks like we came at the wrong time. Just in between times when there were some things to be seen.

The inside of the church. Majestic thing, only dated from late 1600s, which is considered new when you think about the truly ancient Gothic/Romanesque cathedrals in Europe.

Because we didn’t want to spend money to go to Ellis Island (where the Statue of Liberty is), we boarded the free ferry bound for Staten Island which will pass the statue.

The Manhattan skyline from the ferry. It’s a cloudy day, sadly. Not so good for nice pictures.

See. It’s so small even though we’re passing it. Sigh.

Went to Times Square again. This time was more like it. A sea of people. I don’t understand the hype of it anyhow. Just a bunch of screens on the buildings.

Chinatown is pretty remarkable. You wouldn’t know you were in USA. Everywhere people speaking Mandarin or dialects, with quite authentic food - first time I ate Foochow food in a year. Although the Foochows were mostly ‘real’ ones, not from Sibu (obviously), so the food was a little different.

That’s about it. Saw Carnegie Hall, visited Central Park a bit - at least just walked maybe a hundred feet into it and back out again. Walked around Chinatown (sigh, horrible place to live). Visited Long Island (the folks I were with were visiting a church), and I got “lost” in the church - at least I was separated from the party for quite a bit. Quite hilarious. Of all places to get ‘dumped’ by the group.

New York City is an awesome place to visit. I like the subways, the sight of all the yellow taxis jamming the roads, the roadside hotdogs - it’s much like the stuff you see on TV. Which I guess, makes it awesome. Not a very pleasant place to live, however, especially if you’re going to live in Chinatown, which is going to be plain horrible. Chicago is a nicer place to live overall, imo, but for excitement and fun and just the rush of city life, it can’t beat NYC.

Posted in Travel | 2 Comments »

Chicago again

So finally I got to go downtown again, this time to the ‘Museum Campus’, which is basically the bunch of museums overlooking the lake. Only the aquarium was giving free admission tickets, so I only went there. The other museums were practically empty outside. The aquarium was a bore, and hot, with so many people crammed inside that I could hardly see anything around the more popular exhibits. There weren’t many interesting fish though, a couple of eels, spider crabs, giant catfish, river otters… no sharks, jellyfish and that sort of cool stuff.

Anyway, I was about to head off to Navy Pier, when the bus passed by a banner with “Chicago Blues Festival” written on it. Nearly everybody got off the bus, and then, I realized that it was once a lifetime chance. Navy Pier will always be there, but not a Chicago Blues Festival! So off I went, along with my companion.

Turns out it was a right decision. There were so many people, again, which explained the traffic jam. A few stages were rigged and people were performing the blues. And there were a bunch of booths, much like a carnival of some sort. And at the end of one line there was a Gibson guitar booth where they displayed a bunch of Gibsons and let people try on Line 6 Pods. I didn’t get a chance, however, since all the spots were taken.

The main attraction was a huge stage so far away that I could barely see, and a huge crowd obviously prepared with their chairs and food and drinks. I stood for a while at the sidewalk, one side of my face directly in the sunlight, while some people danced and others sat leisurely around me.

The huge stage

The huge screen in front of the huge stage

The more expensive custom shop stuff.

The cheaper, for people to play stuff. Still, my first ever time touching and holding a Les Paul.

Two words (actually, 3): People and Heat. In the aquarium, of course, the brighter part with the Amazon exhibits.

Posted in Travel | 1 Comment »

Phil Keaggy Concert

So I actually spent $20 to go watch this guy play. It’s not just him actually, it’s along with his band (Glass Harp, I think) and Randy Stonehill. I went by myself, since no one else would spend 20 bucks to listen to him play. Anyway, it was pretty awesome. In the first part, the band played, some rock-ish songs which allowed Phil space to do some soloing on his Les Paul (through a Vox AC30, I believe). It was ok, I mean, Phil Keaggy is awesome just noodling on the guitar, but I was waiting for a solo acoustic set.

Which he did play, first “In the Light of Common Day”, the first song on his Beyond Nature cd, a really nice song. The second song - yes! - Salvation Army Band, which was the first song of his which I saw on Youtube, and it pretty much blew my mind away then. On stage he didn’t really play it as long and as crazy as I’d have liked, but still it was awesome. His techniques and looping skills are just amazing. Very entertaining, especially when he does his own drum beats (on the guitar, complete with a scratch sound), and effortlessly twists the tuning peg to play the bass line for the loop.

Then Randy Stonehill came out to play a bit. He can’t play the guitar as well as Phil, but he made up for that with his humorous song, “Shut De Door”, which was simply entertaining. Then afterwards, the band came out and played again. At the end, everyone applauded Phil and Randy back on stage to play one more song.

So it was awesome. (yes, you realize that I haven’t spoken much about the band, but I will presently). The band was not all that great. I mean, the songs were cute and standard stuff, but quite forgettable. Ok, so each player on stage was awesome in his own right - the bassist, drummer and rhythm guitarist, but I think most everyone in the audience that night was there for Phil Keaggy, including me. Which was why I was quite disappointed when he only played two solo songs.

Despite paying $20, instead of the regular $15 (because well, I didn’t buy it earlier), I actually caught them rehearsing in the hall. We were wondering if we could go in, and the cameraman waved us in. So in we went, sat down and watched the band rehearse, then left when they finished. The funny thing was, during the concert they were just as relaxed as the rehearsal, joking in between sets and asking, “what key?” as if it were an impromptu session. Randy was the one talking most of the time, actually, being funny (and not-so-funny sometimes, but no matter, the audience laughed all the same).

So pics - from the rehearsal only because during the concert I was only 20 minutes early and had to sit in the middle (distance from stage), at which point would make taking pictures practically useless. A lady was sitting besides me during the concert, and at the intermission she asked me why I was here. Like, what was a young person doing here because she had been a fan of Phil’s music for the past 30 years and well, obviously I wasn’t even around then. I said I was just here because Phil Keaggy is awesome on the guitar. Which was perfectly true. Even just noodling around in between songs, his hands fly up and down the fretboard. I can’t ever play half as well, or even a quarter as well as he can, which makes it kind of sad, but God gives different talents to different people. And while Phil Keaggy probably could’ve become world famous alongside the best guitarists of all time had he not gone into Christian music, I think ministering for the sake of the kingdom of heaven will always, in the end, prove to be worth far more than fame and Grammy’s on earth.

Just a couple of youtube vids: first one Phil Keaggy doing Salvation Army Band (he didn’t do it as long and as awesome as on the video, but close).

Randy Stonehill singing ‘Shut de do’, in which he keeps joking. Of course, during the concert I was at, his jokes were a bit different, but kind of similar. A bit.

Posted in Music | 1 Comment »

Chicago

Finally I went into the city. Was a gloomy cloudy day, raining periodically, which is probably not the best weather to go to the parks.

Skyline from some bridge over railway. Not sure where exactly, but it’s close to Grant Park. I think.

The steel bean thingy at Millennium Park. See if you can spot me.

The famous spitting water thing - Crown Fountain.

The Jay Pritzer Pavilion. They were having a gospel music festival that day, but of course the main events were at night, which we couldn’t go. Unless I insisted, of course, but I didn’t insist, so we just went home. Gospel music is fun - the lively choir, the overboard solo vocalist…

Buckingham Fountain at Grant Park, which we didn’t really go, because it was just the ’same lake as the park near Northwestern Uni.’ Okay…

Welcome to Chinatown! Not a particularly pleasant place, as in dirty. Went mostly to buy egg tarts and go to toilet, because after the second Starbucks of my life (vanilla latte), I was bursting.

Chicago is a pretty nice place. The subways are pretty lousy, however. The trains just not very nice. That is, when compared to Hong Kong, because HK is pretty much the only big city I’ve been to a couple of times. Haven’t seen enough of Chicago though. Haven’t tried the pizza. Haven’t seen Navy Pier and other famous places. So hopefully some time soon, even if the 1-hour train ride into the city is painful. Meanwhile, I’ll play Sims 3. Or maybe the PS2 that was picked up at the dumpster, working perfectly well. You won’t believe the stuff that can be found in the trash - like new things that Americans throw away wastefully.

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Summer

So I’m spending summer in the north. At least, it’s not as hot as it would have normally been, since sometimes these days we’ve had to wear jackets outside. Was at Michigan for a week, where I basically spent all my time indoors in front of the computer. Then went to Chicago, supposedly. I actually haven’t been inside the city proper, besides the initial arrival at Union Station. Too cold, too lazy, and the rest of the same old excuses. But of course, some time I’ll have to go, perhaps during the weekend.

Distant view of Chicago from the bus.

Distant view (maybe not so distant) of Northwestern University’s campus. From the park around it. Not exactly sure where I am.

Rocks at the park, where you can paint your own rock. I think it’s overlooking Lake Michigan if I’m not mistaken.

After almost a year, I finally had a chance to drink a Starbucks coffee. Yes, I never tried it because 1. I’m too frugal. and 2. I don’t drink coffee. But since my hosts have a gift card, why not? I got a caramel frappuccino.

Oh btw, can you tell which pictures were taken with a proper camera and which were with a crappy 1.3 megapixel camera phone? Sadly, I can’t, not when the pictures are so teeny (but of course, I know which is which. I just can’t tell if they weren’t my pictures).

Posted in School, Travel | No Comments »

Heading for Summer

For students here, summer means one thing: holidays. A whole year of studies is over. I’m no longer a freshman! It’s weird. The whole process, however, is extremely exhausting. Who knew packing was so hard? Tons of boxes, and having to depend on kind people to store the stuff. The box sitting in the middle of the living room is formidable. It’s a tv box, the type that a child could use as a house in an imaginary game. Or the perfect box for Spongebob Squarepants, in that episode where he and Patrick play pretend. Yes, I actually remember such an episode. Truth is, it’s not just a time or two when wanting to watch a show that I hardly ever watch, the tv broadcasts the exact same episode that I had watched before. Of the tons of episodes, what are the chances of the same episode showing? Bah. Well, I digress.

So back to packing. Why do I have so much stuff? I should have got rid of my textbooks, but it’s too late for that. The luggage is piling high.. but I’m fairly confident that I could crush the clothes enough to zip it shut. There’s the printer, and the guitar amp. I was going to sell that, but well, this is a remote place, and an advertisement on Craigslist doesn’t get many hits. So now I’m stuck with one more thing for people to store. And I wish I could bring my guitar along, but I’m not about to risk it in a gig bag, on a plane which might be too full. And not to mention quite a bit of traveling in the next couple of months. Not quite worth the extra worry.

Posted in General, School, Travel | No Comments »

Homestretch

It’s the homestretch. One more week of finals, then it’s all over for the year. And suddenly I will never again be a freshman (Hmm.. why aren’t people hyped up over it being ‘freshman‘? Freshperson! haha.)

People are excited. There’s a bunch of exams coming hard, and for some, it is ever hard to concentrate. So close to 3 months of holidays, yet so far.

Me? I am not a person prone to much excitement. In fact, I feel somewhat reluctant. For some, time can’t go by quickly enough. For me, time is too fast. I want it to slow down. I’ve got a lot of things to study, but most importantly, I want to have more time to play my guitar.

It’s probably the primary reason that I’m not as excited about the holidays. I’ll have to leave my guitar for 3 months. And not to mention that I just bought the Digitech RP255 - hoping to sell my amp in its place. And of course, this buying and selling is probably the first of many to come.

Trifling matters. I will always have my guitar and stuff waiting for me when I get back. But hardly again the chance to stay in Michigan and Chicago the whole summer. And visit New York in the process. It’s awesome, and for most people, terribly exciting. But I guess in part character, in part all that I leave behind, in part the fact that I like school and all the subjects I will never get the chance to take again. Arts in Western Civilization, which opened my eyes up to art and music, and pulled together the entire history of music in one coherent string. History, awesome subject. English, where I was gratified by the good comments the teacher gave. Biology, which despite not being my favorite subject, is probably going to be what I’m majoring in. Because let’s face it, things like history and english have hardly any future save for teaching. And teaching is one thing that I will not do.

(Thought I’d share a pic of the pedal)

Posted in Music, School | No Comments »

Auditory Illusion

Really cool. Gave me goosebumps because it was just that realistic. When the mp3 first started, I was like, are you sure somebody isn’t in my room right now? Kinda creepy. Especially when the person “whispers” in your ear.

Auditory Illusion

Of course, you ought to use headphones to listen.

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Charlie Hall / Phil Wickham Concert

I saw the poster for this concert early on, and it said $2 for students, $10 for others. 2 bucks? I’m in! And so I got the ticket, and went to the concert. Obviously.

I got there the moment the doors opened. Not really because I was that eager to sit way in the front, but because I didn’t have anywhere else to go after dinner, and I really didn’t want to walk all the way back to the dorms. Anyway, that being there an hour early is indeed an overkill. But I spent that hour reading Orwell’s 1984 on the iPod touch, which eventually gave me a headache. Ebooks are nice and convenient especially when the environment is dark, but nothing compares to ink and paper. There’s the smell, the turning of the pages.. (By the way, the smell of a book is very important. Before buying a book, I flip through the pages and sniff it. Because honestly, I’ve come across a book or two that stank, which obviously subtracted from the overall enjoyment of reading.)

So Charlie Hall and his band played first. Then after a break, Phil Wickham and his band played. The difference between the two is that Charlie Hall is more ‘conventional’. Well, actually, I don’t know how to say it. Phil Wickham was more like a ’stage person’. More flamboyant. Kind of.

They played their own songs, obviously. Which to non-fans, takes a while to actually singalong. In fact, Charlie Hall’s songs are probably a tad more singalong-able.

Towards the end, Phil Wickham got everybody raising their hands like you see in Hillsong videos. Was pretty awesome seeing hands lifted to God all over the place - well, at least the couple of rows in front of me.

Although I must admit, I was a tad disappointed. Not sure why. Maybe it’s because my view of the electric guitarist was blocked nearly completely (dang!). Maybe because for some reason, this type of praise & worship isn’t my type. Or maybe I’d expected something more.

Anyway, it was a good 2 dollars spent. Good music (I won’t say great), and tired legs from standing at least 2 and a half hours.

(Looking back over the post, I realize that I actually spend a third or so of it talking about ebooks and books. Strange.)

Posted in Books, Music, School | No Comments »

Britain’s Got Talent

The British talent show is getting a lot of hype these days. Of course, everyone has watched Susan Boyle sing. Now there’s a little 12-year-old also wowing the judges. Seems like every season of the show has one misfit and one little kid who sings better than most of the population.

Susan Boyle’s rendition of ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ has already hit millions of views on Youtube. Watch it here. I suppose there is a lot of psychology going on behind all this. If she’d been pretty and normal, I don’t think the support would reach such heights. I won’t attempt to explain this phenomena, since I’m hardly qualified to. Besides, I’m not quite sure why it’s all that way.

Of course, little kids also get to people. Like the 12-year-old Shaheen. (Watch it here)

All these makes American Idol look lousy in comparison. Actually, I only watch the auditions of American Idol, because after that, it gets boring. Just like every single endless season. So as you can guess, I’m one of those people who think American Idol has outlived itself and ought to end. But still, it has so much support… American Idol has a limit of age for contestants, so I guess that pretty much narrows it down quite a lot to the same old type of people, mostly.

I guess Susan Boyle is a reminder that those of us who are misfits and not socially -acceptable can still dream dreams and make it happen someday. Even Jesus, in his life on earth, found company with those shunned by society and spent time with them. I feel that the not-so-kindly nature of human beings will still prevail within the show (Britain’s Got Talent), and I feel that exploitation will occur, especially more so with so much support. (Am I making sense?)

Posted in Music, TV/Movies | 2 Comments »

Life after Spring Break

I haven’t updated in a while, but then there isn’t much to talk about. Back to the routine of school, but it’s already mid-April, and in a month’s time, this semester would be over. It’s hard to believe sometimes. Papers coming up, of which I have barely started, or started and got more confused than ever. Like that biology career paper. It’s just confusing me more and more.

Too many documentaries recorded on my tv tuner finally got to my hard drive with its scanty 160GB. The sad thing is I’d to delete some documentaries before even watching them so as to make room for new ones. Ok, so I admit, I record them but I don’t necessarily watch at once. Or for a while. Anyway, I was keeping an eye out for a good deal on external drives. For that, Slickdeals is one awesome site. Members post deals they find, which are commented on by others, so it’s much more reliable. So I finally found a WD 640GB drive for about $57, which included a bunch of fillers since I’d to use a $25 off $75 coupon.

My poor iPod Touch’s headphone jack crapped out on me. So now, it’s basically just a sort of PDA, and no longer the media player it used to be. It’s still under warranty, however, so I suppose I could get a replacement of sorts. Of course, I say that, but who knows when I’m going to start doing something about it.

On a side note, one of best shows on TV is finally back. Guess what it is? Mythbusters! Would be very interesting to do something like that in the future - not on TV, however. Back in the present, I’m still undecided about a major. I’d like to take a whole bunch of random classes, but money - it’s always the deciding factor.

Posted in School, TV/Movies, Computers | No Comments »

Spring Break

It’s the difference during the one-week holidays. Back home, you just sat home. There wasn’t much you could do, unless you went to the same old places, or went eating more. Or something like that. But this place is huge. No one stays around the school during spring break, it’s time to see new things. Go to new places. There are so many places to go, just within a few hours of driving.

So I went with a couple of friends to Knoxville, Georgia, and Florida. Had a blast - kind of - camping on the beach. It was terribly windy and the tent was close to collapsing, which was quite scary in the night when above you the canvas is flapping fiercely.

The tent.

The beach, which was not exactly pretty. Granted, it’s just part of a national park, so it isn’t a real beach place… kind of…

In some restaurant in downtown Disney marketplace, in Orlando - the great land of Disney and all those expensive theme parks stuff. We just went to the place where you didn’t need to pay entrance fee. Maybe some day I’ll enter into the real Disneyland/ Universal Studios.

An Oreo Glacier, from custard, which is basically the fatty version of ice-cream. It’s delicious personified.

Posted in Travel | 2 Comments »

A Strange Thing Or Two

Spring is here, definitely. The trees are budding. The grass is greener. And of course, the temperature is much higher, although a far cry from the heat of the tropics. This tree, with white flowers, smells very like fried or baked crabs.

The first time I stood near those trees, I wondered who on earth would cook such deliciously smelling food. It was kind of disappointing when it turned out that it was the flowers that emitted the smell, but it was all pretty cool anyway.

On a routine trip to Walmart, I saw this at the vegetables section. Starfruit, proudly named as “Unique Fruit.” It is terribly uncreative and funny. The instructions to select it: Choose firm and plump unique fruit. Oh please. Unique fruit?? The starfruit did look unappetizing, being all somewhat shrunken and battered, and of course, expensive, so no, I was not willing to try this unique fruit. I doubt anyone would, given the name. It just has a sinister ring to it.

Posted in General, Weather | No Comments »

Twitter

I was just checking my mail, in an effort to procrastinate and delay writing that book report (ugh), when I saw an email that someone is now following me on Twitter.

Hm. That was interesting. I don’t remember ever signing up on Twitter.

I clicked the link, and was brought to my page where, apparently, I had a silly username. Waait. I was signed up for Twitter? When did it happen? Must have been years ago when Twitter first came out or something and I just signed up for it and entirely forgot later.

Weird.

Anyhow, I’m not entirely fond of this concept. But still, if you feel like it, you can follow me… @joytyy

Posted in Computers | No Comments »

Snow Again

This time, in a different place, with much more snow. Perhaps 8 inches of it or so. It snowed all the evening, pretty heavily. I watched as the afternoon rain turned into mush, then into snow. Within a few hours, everything was blanketed in snow. It was beautiful - I only wished it wasn’t night, because then it was hard to see.

Still, night doesn’t mean you can’t go out to have fun in the snow, so that was what I did. I crunched through the snow - an awesome feeling. Made a huge snowman. Of course, I nearly froze my fingers off in the process. Fumbling for keys with numbed fingers is definitely not fun - made me think about how people die in cold places (after falling in water or the like) not because they don’t have the necessary fire-making stuff, but because their fingers were too numbed to strike a match/flint/whatever. And how do I know that? Watching too much “Man vs Wild” and “Survivorman”, that’s why.

The snow all over the land. Wait. Who is that talking to some ghostly snowman-ish apparition?

It was snowing hard. Proof? This picture.

Me and Mr Snowman. He’s a nice guy, although too fat and heavy.

Snow is just so pretty. But ice is treacherous. On a sunny day after a snowy day, the snow begins to melt. But the water doesn’t melt fast enough for the night to come. At which point, they all freeze up on the ground due to the low temperatures. And school is delayed an hour, and every class is cut back 10 minutes - the best part of it all. But it’s not exactly easy maneuvering my way through the ice and snow - the trick is to either pick the clear, obviously non-iced/snowed parts to walk, or to pick the pure white snow place to walk. Walking on ice? Not a good idea - unless you have spiked boots or the like.

The snow was thick, as you can see in comparison to the thin brown needle under all the white stuff.

Posted in School, Weather | No Comments »

TV Tuner

I’m not an avid TV fan, but sometimes, TV can be quite entertaining. Especially when you want to watch documentaries (Mythbusters! and other Discovery Channel stuff) and old movies - which are hard to find online. I don’t include those crowd favorites here (like Heroes, 24, etc), because if you’re in USA, you can just about catch them anywhere online, and in quite good quality too.

So after a lot of debating, I went ahead and spent about 70 bucks on this little piece.

I wanted to get the Elgato Eyetv, but truth be told, it was awfully expensive. So I settled for this Hauppauge WinTV-HVR 950Q, which according to extensive research online seemed to be similar to Eyetv hardware-wise. It took me a while to get the software working, but at last, it didn’t let me down. It isn’t all that great quality - I never expected much from the direct cable-in from the wall (yes, my dorm has the coaxial cable thing jutting out of the wall. But they block some channels… I think).

Was 70 bucks (plus another 10 for the coax cable) worth it? Time will tell. Right now, it’s kinda hard to say. When good movies that have always evaded me online come to some channels, it’d be worth it. The only bad thing is that, being just one tuner, I can’t watch tv and record it at the same time.

Oh, and if I go on recording like crazy, I’d have to buy a hard drive, which will definitely cost quite a bit more. But the 1TB ones seemed to have dropped in price, going below $100 regularly, whereas just a couple of months ago you’d be hard pressed to find one under $100.

Posted in TV/Movies, Computers | No Comments »

Library and Spring

I work at the library. Sometimes it’s extremely dull. But sometimes it’s all worth it, when you get to handle the new books coming in. Some with very interesting topics. Spend a little time looking through it and you will find some gems.

Like today. I picked up the book ‘On Film’, which is basically about film philosophy (many books of that type have passed through my hands - books on Hitchcock, war movies, etc). First part, the Aliens franchise. Ugh. Second part, Mission Impossible series. Bah. I flipped through them anyway. MI:1, MI:2, MI:3 - yeah, I know J.J. Abrams directed that one, but I don’t care about Mission Impos- wait, what is this? The word ‘Alias’ in italics? And the name Sydney Bristow? Good gracious. The first time I’ve seen Alias in such a context. I had a field day. It was awesome. And it wasn’t even just a mention - it was a good few pages. The author was connecting the story of Alias with MI:3, and spent half that chapter actually on Alias. The philosophy part was something like SD-6 pretends to be part of CIA, but is actually Alliance, and Alliance actually was being used by bigger stuff like the Covenant or Prophet Five (I’m not sure actually, I was a little too excited to read that part carefully).

Of course, the author just had to spell some names wrongly. Irina Derevko became ‘Elena Direvko’. Ugh. Elena is the other sister, for pete’s sake. And Rambaldi, the beloved crazy inventor of the 16th century who causes so much chaos (and silliness, at times) in the Alias world, was spelt as ‘Rimbaldi’. It’s just so wrong.

Ok. Enough about the book. On to spring. It’s nearing the end of February, and while the weather is still quite cold, I can see spring coming. The trees are beginning to sprout new leaves. Just yesterday they were bare and dry. Today, I see little buds growing. The grass is also beginning to show patches to lush green, in contrast to the dry brownish dead grass of winter. It’s all so amazing.

Posted in Alias, General, Books, TV/Movies | 1 Comment »

Stuff Learned in Classes

I look over the Biology book, and I know that I’ve learnt all of them before and things far more difficult. And it seems almost impossible. I look at the chemistry book I brought along, and wonder at how I actually knew it all at one time. It’s been nearly two years, I might as well be learning everything from scratch. Not to mention it’s all in a different language. It’s all somewhat frustrating, having to learn things that I know I’ve learnt before but can’t remember anyway.

Which is why, perhaps, that I prefer stuff like history or arts, for the time being. Things I’ve never studied that much, although I’ve heard of before. Always a sense of pride when China’s history is talked about. Granted, it’s been nearly 4 years since I last studied history in school, but how many people from Malaysia actually get the chance to study China’s history? A brilliant history - very very lengthy though.

Books are terribly expensive and terribly thick. There are always ways to get around it - used books are a great source. Or rentals. I think used books would be better, because you can sell it and get back some money. Of course, unless a new edition comes out, which will make your book drop a lot in value, which is what is happening to a few of my books. Which is sad.

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More on the Weather

So today was the wind-blowing day. And boy, does the wind blow! Occasional bursts of strong wind made it somewhat difficult to walk in a straight line. The weather forecast said thunderstorms in the morning, but there weren’t actually any, just relatively heavy rain. Thank God my 9 o’clock class had been canceled due to other reasons beforehand, or else I would have probably been caught in the rain halfway there. And of course, because of the wind you couldn’t quite use an umbrella, because 1. either the umbrella will be flipped inside out, or 2. the wind will blow the rain right into you anyway. By the time I was going to class, the rains had stopped and the sun had come out, but still as windy as ever.

They say tornado season is here. And this place - yet another gripe about - it’s right in the infamous tornado alley. A little apprehension when people talk about it. It would probably occur, at least a tornado warning or two. And many hours spent in the bathroom waiting for 1. the all-clear signal, or 2. in worst-case scenario, the building collapsing on top of you.

Malaysia is blessed, in some ways. The worst ‘natural disaster’ (if it could be called that) is probably floods, which are usually mostly caused by human beings, e.g. bad drainage system, who-asked-them-to-build-right-next-to-river.

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The Weather

I never quite understood the obsession with weather forecasts and reports until I came here. Back home, you didn’t need to look at the weather forecasts. It was either sunny, cloudy, or rainy. And the temperature never changed all year long. But here it’s a different story. I find myself somewhat ‘obsessed’ with checking the weather forecast especially before leaving the house. It’s very vital to know how much to put on - something that you never thought of in the tropics, where jackets and anything remotely warmer was hardly needed except in air-con rooms.

Also, it seems that there are quite a bit of ‘weather advisories’ all the time. Ice storm/ winter storms are the common ones in winter. Schools close then, which is the good part. Tornado warnings are supposed to occur sometime too, although I have not seen one, and hope not to, because they are far more deadly than the other storms. Today, there was a windy weather advisory, which I found kind of weird. Although truth be told, it was very windy and occasional gusts made you feel like you were going to get blown away. Of course, in this flat, barren land, the winds wouldn’t have anything to stop them. Have I mentioned the ugliness of this place? No hills or mountains as far as the eye can see, just a flat piece of land and trees. So I suppose the wind could literally blow its way through without any problems.

Just something which has nothing to do with the weather: it is obvious that Americans like to use pencils in school. I remember in primary 6, teachers were gradually weaning us out of using pencils - which was a tool for little kids. We were growing up, going into secondary school; therefore we needed to learn to use pens - the grown-up writing tool. I think there was a certain sense of pride back then: I could use pens and feel more adult-ish. Now, I feel cheated. Almost everyone uses pencils, as can be seen on the roll that is passed around. Me? I still use pens, a habit formed out of a different culture. And never using any correction liquid when mistakes are made, opting instead to strike out the mistake messily - another habit formed out of a school that forbade the use of correction liquid (in anticipation of the vandalism that would have otherwise occured).

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The Super Bowl

I’m not an American football fan. I cannot quite understand why Americans love sports different from the rest of the world. No other country obsesses that much over American football (hence the word, American). But then there was the Super Bowl, and I thought, I’d watch. I was always a fan of most sports, anyhow.

1st quarter was plain boring. 2nd quarter, I went to eat my dinner. Came out and saw that the Steelers had intercepted a ball at the other end of the field and ran 100 yards for a touchdown. Pretty amazing. 3rd and 4th quarter the Cardinals began their comeback. The last few minutes of the 4th quarter were actually nerve-wrecking. The Cardinals led, and with just about 2 minutes left, the Steelers somehow managed to move their way upfield and get a winning touchdown with 35 seconds left on the clock.

If there’s one thing about American football that is better than soccer, it’s refereeing. With all the endless stops and starts (which means tons of commercials, so that half the game you spend watching advertisements), they have time to challenge referee decisions and have time to make an official review. With soccer, you don’t get that. A fast-flowing game means whatever decisions the referee makes usually stands. Which, in a tight game, could make all the difference. Sometimes, the referee in soccer could be the one that makes the winning or the losing. Which will definitely suck, if you’re rooting for the eventual loser.

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Thoughts on ‘Murder, She Wrote’

“Murder, She Wrote” isn’t exactly a great series, but good enough for me to watch every weekday night at 11 pm, right on the dot. I first heard of the show long time ago during a piano lesson, when I came across the sheet music of the theme song. Of course, I had no idea whatsoever of the show.

The idea was kind of taken from Agatha Christie’s books about Miss Marple (personally, I prefer Hercule Poirot. The idea of an old lady solving mysteries does not seem quite so nice.. somehow). Anyhow, in case you have no idea, Angela Lansbury stars as the mystery writer Jessica Fletcher.

Now this J.B. Fletcher is pretty much bad luck itself when it comes to people dying. Everywhere she goes, you can be sure somebody drops dead. I remember there was even a survey done about the percentage of dead people in Cabot Cove, which is the fictional town where Jessica lives.

The show follows a pretty generic plot. Jessica goes somewhere, or something is happening as we follow some people’s story. Halfway through, a body is discovered. Give or take 10 minutes later, somebody is arrested, and that somebody is usually not the guilty one. Jessica puts on her thinking cap and gets random inspirations from people’s small talk, or something that she sees. Then towards the end of the show, Jessica puts herself in some extremely dangerous position to draw the murderer out, and just as the murderer pulls out a gun and is about the silence her for good, the police show up.

If you watch the show enough times, you’d know that the guilty one is usually the one appearing most innocent. However, you can be right most of the time to always rule out Jessica’s friends and the cute young couple. And the one who gets arrested by the usually dumb police. The killer is then just one of the other people.

It operates on the basis that the murderer is one of the group within the show, a very Agatha Christie-ish thing. Usually in Christie’s story, a murder happens within a house, and so the killer is one of the inhabitants - take your pick. “Murder, She Wrote” pretty much follows that. Jessica won’t be able to solve the mystery, most probably, if it were some random person. But as it happens, she is always caught up in a murder mystery.

Good that the killer is always caught, but does she always have to put herself in such a precarious situation in the end? True, it may be to gain undeniable proof of the killer’s identity, but it’s kind of block-headed, in my opinion. She could get killed, but of course she won’t. And the show will always end with a frozen frame of her mid-laugh.

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SNOW

Yes, this great topic deserves all caps. I was not expecting any snow during my stay here, but God brought along a pleasant surprise in the form of a winter storm. It wasn’t a big storm, but we had at least a good 4 inches of snow accumulated on the ground. Which was quite a lot for the southern areas.

And of course the thing is it’s the first time experiencing real snow. The first impression was the dazzling whiteness of the scenery. Cars, houses with a layer of snow on the roof. It was just beautiful. And because words, at this point, is quite useless without pictures, I give you: pictures.

1. Make an obese, ugly mini snowman.

2. Snowball fight. This picture was posed, actually, but yeah, a real, albeit lame fight did occur.

3. Make a snow angel. Not very clear, but you get the idea.

Tree covered with snow. Beautiful sight.

That’s me. And I’m not even in long pants. Really. Because my uncle was like “just take a picture”. Weird. And I look kinda weird.

Me and the Obese Snowman.

Oh. and the pictures with me are significantly smaller just because.

Today, besides snow, was also Obama’s inauguration, obviously. I watched this historic moment along with the rest of the world. But I can’t fathom the obsession with the new president.

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Apple Store

Would you believe it, in all the months I have been here, I have never stepped into a real Apple Store? I got my first chance at the mall. It wasn’t big, just one of the stores of the many inside the mall, but passing by I saw it crowded with people, and most importantly, a huge white apple glowing above the door.

I just had to go in.

Perhaps Apple stores are not very good if you’re trying to feel content. The first vibe I got from the store, despite its crowdedness, was that of spaceyness. Definitely felt spacey and nice. Tables with computers and iPhones on it, ready for you to smear your hands on. The older models are relegated to the side. Made me suddenly dislike my white Macbook and wish for one of those newer, slicker, unibody aluminum Macbooks with black keyboards. Sigh. But beyond its appearances, its guts are not that much different from mine. So it wasn’t that bad. But my Macbook will probably stay with me for a couple of years - depending on my priorities. A new amp, or maybe a new guitar (think Gibson or PRS) would be pretty awesome. Placed on the scale against a Macbook? Difficult decision. At least it’s not one I have to make now.

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The Cold Weather and More Movies

The temperature plummeted over the last few days - well, actually just yesterday and today. Today, the temperatures pretty much remained sub-zero, which is quite abnormally cold. However, real snow continues to elude me (I don’t want no “flurries”).

I used to wonder why weather channels and widgets and applications were important. But ever since fall came about and then winter, I understood. The temperatures were vital to knowing what sort of clothes to wear when going out. They could vary, no matter the season. Back home, you only checked the weather for rain or sun. The temperature was always 33 high, 26 low, give or take 1 or 2 degrees Celsius.

More Movies. Yes.
Cinema Paradiso (no picture, sadly. I’m lazy)
Italian movie. Josh Groban sang the theme song in his first cd. Today I got around to watching it. It was a little different from my expectations. I thought it would be another full-blown love story which will have me switching it off halfway through. But no. It follows the life of Toto, or Salvatore, and his friendship with Alfredo, who works with the projector in the cinema. And of course, there is a love story between Toto and a girl.

All in all, kind of charming, as we watch how the movies influenced the rural Italian society and bring together a little boy and old man. The way the people cry and laugh watching the black-and-whites is quite amazing. As a rule, I usually dislike little kids in movies who enjoy torturing adults, but thankfully the cute little Toto did not turn out to be that way, which made the movie much more bearable. Be cautioned, though, the movie contains perhaps a scene or two which are not family-appropriate. Other than that, great movie to laugh and cry with. And for the older folks, perhaps a time to reminisce about the first black-and-white movies in cinemas that changed the world (in a way).

Oh, and the soundtrack features the same theme over and over again, and after listening to it all throughout the movie, and then Josh Groban’s version, it’s stuck in my head. Melancholy tune, definitely.

Posted in TV/Movies, Weather | 1 Comment »

Seven Pounds and Home Room

Two quite distinct movies. I’ll start with Home Room, which I don’t have a picture for. Independent film with limited theatrical release in 2002. Anyway I watched it, obviously. It’s about the aftermath of a school shooting, and an exploration of the effects on two very different individuals. Interesting study. It doesn’t give a particular reason for the shooting. All in all, a pretty good movie, although I wish it had less bad words - the reason it was rated R. 7/10

Seven Pounds has the distinction of being the first movie I watched in a proper movie theater in USA. It’s hard to explain what it’s all about, because the only way for it to be enjoyable is to have no idea what is going on. Of course, it depends on the viewer. Some would probably figure it all out in the first few minutes and lose interest for the rest of the movie. Some probably have no idea. Me? I was somewhere between the two.

So the movie starring Will Smith, is about this guy who helps people. The backstory slowly unravels throughout the movie until the final moments, which if you haven’t figured out what was going on by then, you’re either very dense or not paying attention at all. Some parts in the movie are lacking - I didn’t like the romance thing at all. But Will Smith did a good job as usual, and if the first scene of the movie were deleted, perhaps it’d be harder to guess the entire plotline and thus bring a more enjoyable viewing. 7.5/10

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Consumerism

It’s no surprise that USA is very different from where I come from. I remember in those days back home, I didn’t care about buying things. I mean, you couldn’t get the latest stuff on that remote-ish island. We didn’t even have original CD/DVDs, much less gadgets and the likes.

But then when it became certain that I was going to go to USA for my study, suddenly it all changed. Suddenly, I was spending so much time surfing the internet, looking for reviews on stuff, thinking about things I want to buy. I wasn’t even there yet, but its consumerism had already caught hold of me.

It’s all too simple. Everything is just one click away. Fill in your credit card details and shipping address, and wait for the item to come. You don’t even have to step outside the door. And you’d know which items are supposed to be good.

I’m hardly a wasteful person. I don’t go on shopping sprees. Even now, I don’t buy things online all the time. But still, I spend quite a bit of time checking online stores for good deals. All this online stuff, the fact that you can buy just about anything and have it sent straight to your home, is pretty amazing - if you have the control.

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Taken

See, I don’t normally watch this sort of action movies. Anyway, Liam Neeson is awesome and besides, the trailer looked good.

So anyway, it’s about an ex-CIA agent Bryan (Neeson) who has a daughter who insists to go to Paris despite his reservations. While there she is kidnapped by sex-traffickers (for once, the dad is absolutely right). So Bryan spends the rest of the movie tracking her down - and killing everyone in the way. The kidnapping scene, as shown in the trailer, was done well. And from there, it’s all non-stop action.

It was kind of unrealistic, in that Bryan seemed to take on superhuman powers, beating up everyone. Nobody or nothing mattered, he just had to find his daughter and save her. Along the way he met quite a few corrupt cops. I did wonder how he managed to escape the consequences of creating such a huge mess - the body count was pretty high. Also, for a PG-13 it was kind of violent - but I may have been watching the unedited version.

I guess I watched this movie because it kind of reminded me of Alias - a father who would do anything to save his daughter (who knows how many countless times Jack had to save Sydney’s butt, “sacrificing” people along the way). Overall, “Taken” is a pretty good action movie, exciting to the end, even if it is kind of cliched and the ending is entirely guess-able. 7.5/10

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Christmas/Birthday

See, the bad thing about having a birthday so close to Christmas is that you usually get one present from your parents (”Do we really have to give you a separate present?”). But of course, it isn’t all about presents.

It’s about family and love and giving, so the world says.

They reinforce that belief and at the same time, encourage people to buy more (”Giving is better than receiving”). They show ‘holiday’ movies all over the tv. About somebody finding the ‘true meaning of Christmas’, yadda yadda. Which in their case is being generous and being with family. But of course, we know it’s about Christ, and the omnipotent God coming in the form of a human baby.

It’s crazy. Absolutely insane. But it’s the greatest love ever.

Still, there’s the family and home part of Christmas. To Westerners, Christmas is the family reunion time. I watched Judy Garland’s 1939 Wizard of Oz on tv. Silly, perhaps, looking at the funny costumes that definitely belong to that ancient, long-gone age. But it remains a classic till now. I think the reason lies in the lines. I would say nearly every line is quotable. The silly-ish songs are fantastic - lyrics-wise.

Dorothy (in the Wizard of Oz) closed her eyes, clicked her heels thrice, and meditated on the fact that “there’s no place like home”. And she appears in Kansas. If only it were that simple. You didn’t have to spend days in planes and airports just to get home. And not to mention the cost of it all.

In the end, though, having a place to stay with family (even if not immediate) and friends, is a gift from God. And not to forget that greatest gift - Jesus himself.

= On a lighter (less confusing, I suppose) note, I’ve been watching too many movies recently. That comes with having a lot of free time and cable tv. I’ve never been a movie person, and even now I don’t watch more than one movie a day, if I can help it. And I’m really picky about the things I watched. I tried watching “Sleepless in Seattle”. Okay, so that was just to see a certain actor (not Tom Hanks). But when that actor didn’t appear for a long time again, and the movie was getting boring, I googled the movie’s script, discovered that there was still one scene with that actor, and waited till that scene was over, and switched off the tv without second thought. Phew. I did not see what was so brilliant about the movie. It was tiring. Definitely not my type of movie.

Although I suppose my watching the entire movie of “Fallen Angel” was crazier. It was a boring movie, but then there was Gary Sinise (from CSI:NY). So I suffered through it. It wasn’t that bad, since I was surprised by a few revelations in the plot. Although the ending was totally predictable. But like I said, it had a few good turns in the plot.

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Car Trip

It’s not very pleasant, having to sit in a plane for over 15 hours. And it is just as unpleasant sitting in a car for over 12 hours, literally unmoving. I didn’t mind so much though, for some reason. I think it’s because I was riding on people’s generosity in taking me along.

But still, having feet stuck to the ground without being able to move more than a quarter of an inch to each side is crazy. Add to that not much space to move my arms, with my bags pressing on me. And yes, that picture above is off my legs, literally in the same position for the entire trip because there was no way i could move my feet. And trying to put my feet up wasn’t much better.

Arrived well past midnight, having lost one hour due to time difference. And slept on the couch in the family’s house. Can’t be more grateful to them. And thankful that I arrived safely. God knows how dangerous highways can be, especially with the rainy weather, slick roads, and an SUV that had the trunk piled to the ceiling - driver could not use the rearview mirror.

Passing view of a certain city. Must go there one day. Someday.

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Finals Week/ Ice storm

It’s the finals week. Which means school will be over by the end of the week. The first day, I didn’t have any exams, just one paper to turn in, so I was pretty glad to be able to sleep in - not that I ever sleep in that much (my record is 10.45 am). Then my cellphone buzzed. A message, from a strange number. It said something like: “Campus will be closed at 1.30pm due to ice storm warning.”

I was baffled, at first. Then I looked out the window. Rain. Could it actually turn into an ice storm? I reached for my laptop and checked the weather forecast. Sure enough, it stated ice storm warning for this area. And it was to remain till noon the next day. Hm. Interesting.

The rains stopped soon enough. But the day remained cloudy and very wet. And I saw no ice. Perhaps the night will bring ice-covered roads, because the temperature is currently below 0.

Of course, the trouble in all that is the some people’s finals in the afternoon have to be rescheduled. Me? I just have to find a way to make up two hours’ work time. Somehow.

The funny thing is that, looking at the week’s forecast, tomorrow will be rainy too, so will Wednesday, reaching highs of 14 degrees Celsius, but on Thursday the temperature jumps to a high of 24 degrees Celsius. Which I don’t think I’ve seen since November or something.

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Closing in

Time does pass pretty quickly, doesn’t it? In a blink of an eye, I’m nearing the end of my first semester in USA. And I can’t be more grateful for all that God has done for me.

So many decisions and problems, especially when you don’t have a proper place to go during breaks. Like an uprooted tree or something, easily blown away.

Today was a dreary day. Raining constantly, the skies dark as if it were evening. I woke up, looked at the clock with disbelief. It couldn’t be 7am, could it? It was dark as it could be. Umbrellas in rainy weather is always a gamble, for I feel that it is much windier here than back home, and the wind threatens to snatch the umbrella out of your hand, or worse, break it. Which so far, has not happened to me. Most people pull their hoods over their heads and brave the rain, but I’m not so fond of that. Well, partly because I don’t have a proper rain jacket, I suppose.

Finals next week - only have 2. And I suppose it marks the end of the first semester, and potentially the easiest semester I will ever have again. I hope I get do get a 4.0 GPA - it irks me how straight A’s have been avoiding me since the beginning of my school life. And it irks me further that this semester, I have always missed one question in my history exams. Dang. Just that close to a perfect score.

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Yet More Movies

I think I’m nearing the end of this movie marathon thing. After all, school begins tomorrow.

After yesterday’s politics and mysteries, today’s theme was apparently romance. Hardly my type, but one’s got to broaden one’s horizon.

It Happened One Night

Cute romantic comedy, another movie directed by Frank Capra, starring Clark Gable. It’s about a rich, spoilt girl who runs away from home and on the way to New York, meets a reporter. So they travel together and of course, fall in love. And along the way, there are many hilarious incidents, from the famous hitchhiking scene to the fighting couple act. Great movie, all in all. Although I wished I was watching with someone, because it’s kind of dull having to watch it on your own.

The Notebook

I can’t believe I actually watched this thing. Anyway (MAJOR spoilers ahead, don’t read if you’re going to watch the movie, because I’m giving away the ending), the movie was slightly redeemed by the whole old people thing. As in the old Allie had Alzheimer’s (that reminded me of ‘Away From Her’, which is just two posts below this), and old Noah still loved her. And read the Notebook, which was the story of their romance, to her to make her remember (There! I’ve spilled everything now! You don’t have to watch the movie anymore). Other than that, it would have been yet another ‘girl-falls-in-love-with-guy-but-break-up-and-meets-another-guy-and-gets-engaged-except-meets-first-guy-so-dumps-poor-fiance’. Well, yeah, so most of the movie was like that, actually, and I don’t know why I always feel sorry for the second person who is bound to get dumped. Maybe that’s why I quite liked Tuck Everlasting (more major spoilers ahead), because the girl didn’t wait for her first love and got married anyway. One thing: Noah actually had a beard when the scene shown in the poster occurred in the movie. Just a little nitpicking.

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More Movies

I must be too bored or something. Never have I watched so many movies in a few days - I’ve never been one to watch movies. But then, when you’re bored, there’s nothing much you can do about it, except watch a movie.

Mr Smith Goes To Washington

Brilliant, brilliant film by Frank Capra, whom you’ll remember as the director of the Christmas tear-jerker “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Jefferson Smith, portrayed by yet again the fantastic James Stewart, is a young man full of wonderful ideas who gets to the Senate when the governor picks him. His state is run by a Taylor, who is just evil. So of course, Mr Smith faces quite a few problems when he realizes that all the Lincoln speech/Constitution stuff are not real in the Senate. But of course, he stands up against it - great great scene. A typical good vs evil thing, but not at all boring. Fantastic movie, especially when you’ve got a supporting actor like Claude Rains, whom you might remember from Casablanca (the police guy), and Hitchcock’s Notorious. I must say, I didn’t recognize him from the two movies, but nevertheless, throughout the whole movie I felt that Claude Rains was simply awesome as the conflicted Senator Paine. Just terrific.

Rebecca (another Hitchcock film!)

I felt it didn’t quite live up to other Hitchcock stuff. However, it still is pretty good. A girl marries a widower, whose dead wife is called Rebecca, who even in death still seems to have a hold on the entire house. Scary for the second wife, who was quite insecure. And a great performance in the character of the maid Mrs Danvers, who is just absolutely spooky.

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Thanksgiving and Two Movies

Pecan Pie!

Pumpkin Pie!

Two indispensable items on Thanksgiving meals. They don’t look as appetizing as they should - blame the camera and/or my photographing skills.

Anyway, I was exceptionally productive (if could be said so), watching 2 movies which I saw from the previews on the dvd of the movie Bella.

Away From Her

A sad story about an old couple, the wife getting Alzheimer’s and all the complications afterwards. So you can tell it’s a pretty heartbreaking movie, although surprisingly not as sad as I’d thought it would be. Of course, the wife forgets the husband, especially after she moves into the nursing home. And of course, it’s just all so sad. Great performances from both leads, especially Julie Christie as the lady with Alzheimer’s. She had an Oscar nomination for that role, not to mention a Golden Globe Award.

Akeelah and the Bee

I don’t usually like to watch this sort of ‘uplifting’ and ‘inspiring’ movie, since they all tend to be quite cliched. There’s always the loser person who has great potential and a person to inspire him/her, and there’s always the person’s mother or somebody who’s totally against their being better and stuff like that. But I thought, since this is a spelling bee and not yet another football movie, it should be pretty good.
As it turns out, it is pretty good. While it did have some of the usual elements of a competition film, and a too-perfect ending, I thought it was done very well. It is about Akeelah, from southern Los Angeles, where people were basically not good in their studies, but Akeelah was exceptional in spelling. So she has a mentor, and makes a friend or two along the way, and heads for the national spelling bee.
I thought it was really funny - Akeelah’s main competitor, who was Chinese. And of course, he had a Chinese dad who was totally, “You have to win this.” Very stereotype-y. After all, aren’t all Asian parents crazy about their kids being the best and studying hard (*sarcasm*)? I laughed out loud at the scenes of the strict father and the poor Chinese kid.
Oh, and icing on the cake - there was Angela Bassett, if you’d remember from Alias (season 5, Director Chase, yay!). And Laurence Fishburne, whom you might remember from the Matrix, and who is going to take over William Petersen’s (Gil Grissom) role in CSI:LV (boohoo. oh, and I just found that out. I always wondered who Fishburne was from reading CSI spoilers, and now I know). He (Fishburne) is a great actor, but honestly, who can ever replace dear ol’ Grissom?

Overall, I’ll recommend ‘Away From Her’ if you feel like watching an old couple’s love story (kind of). However, I must warn you not to see the trailer first, because really, the trailer shows pretty much all the best scenes of the movie and detracts from the overall enjoyment (sadness, whatever) of watching the movie. Or if you’re in a mood for inspiring stuff, watch ‘Akeelah and the Bee’ and perhaps learn how to spell some of those crazy words which I don’t understand how 12-year-olds could ever want to learn or know. I mean, who ever uses those kind of words?

Posted in General, TV/Movies | 1 Comment »

Bella

Thanksgiving today. Spent nearly the entire day with a family who was kind enough to invite me. Felt kind of weird, being the only outsider, but I felt quite at home sometimes.

So we watched the movie “Bella”. Apparently it won the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. I will say that it is done very well, shot very beautifully. The story, while not tear-jerking (for me at least), is quite interesting.

It’s about a girl and a guy, and one day changes their lives. The movie kind of reminded me of “Once”. Anyhow, I can’t say anything without giving away too much. All the same, I felt that the story was not as good as it could have been - not that I could have made it any better, but to me, it was just a tad bit lacking, especially for the girl.

Still, it is a movie above average, far better than the junk that comes out weekly. Just for the sheer technical beauty, it’s worth watching. And not to mention the few life lessons (literally) within the movie - very positive ones.

A side note: The DVD, of course, came with a bunch of previews in the beginning. There were about 5 movie previews, and with each preview that came out, I was like, “I have to watch this.” They all looked very exquisite except for the sports swimming one (which I suppose is yet another losers-become-winners type of movie). There was ‘Away From Her’, a story about Alzheimer’s, ‘Akeelah and the Bee’, a story of a girl in spelling bee competitions, and ‘The Girl with a Pearl Earring’, a story about the story behind Vermeer’s famous painting. They all looked pretty good.

Posted in TV/Movies | 1 Comment »

Life the Train Ride

It sounds like a cartoon show. Perhaps life is almost like a cartoon, anyway. Didn’t Shakespeare say something to that effect (not cartoon)?

Anyway, I just wanted to expound a bit of life as a train. It’s probably been expounded by others countless times, but I need to get this out of my system. Ok. So life is like a train. John Mayer sings about stopping the train. Jack Johnson sings about wanting the train to breakdown. So as you can see, trains as a metaphor for life’s journey is quite common.

Now, on the train, assuming you’re the passenger, you’ve got three options to occupy your time. That’s if you don’t have any crossword puzzles or Nintendo DSes with you. Or any other modern or ancient form of anti-boredom material.
Option #1: Admire the scenery.
Option #2: Reminisce about the past beautiful scenery. Or analyze the ugly scenery of the past.
Option #3: Plan your course, i.e. which track you’re going to take.

It is obvious that too much of each option can be quite fatal. And it’s probably quite obvious to you about where I’m heading on this. Anyway, the best thing to do will be to put more time on the present (Option #1), and divide the rest of the time between the last two options.

Too much of #1 and you may end up on the wrong tracks. Too much of #2 and you’d just end up reminiscing about the scenery you should have seen in the past when you were reminiscing about the further past. Too much of #3, and you’d have missed all the beautiful scenery and be rushing head along towards the end of the track.

So admire the scenery. Compare the past scenery with the present and analyze them (or maybe it’s just me who does that). Plan your course, but be ready for sudden surprises. For who knows? the track may suddenly veer off, or it may come to a abrupt halt when God says, “Time’s up!”

Coming into this new land, it’s admirable scenery. And the past, I can’t dwell on it. The train moves along the tracks and if I spend too much time thinking about home, I’d miss the scenery of the present. Some people think I’m cold and heartless. But truth is, I feel that it’s perfectly rational.

The allegory and explanation was probably kind of lame, but nevermind.

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Thanksgiving - the Day before the Break

Thanksgiving - now that’s a truly all-American holiday. It’s probably the best time of the fall semester, since it’s a nearly week-long holiday and after the break, the semester will pretty much be over.

Everyone is going home. You can tell, though it’s only Tuesday. Cars are disappearing. There is a general excitement in the air. If you would listen in as people bid each other hello and goodbye in the hallways, there’s always, “Have a safe trip!” or “Have a great Thanksgiving!”

I had a few people ask if I were going home. I don’t blame them for that question, really. After all, it must have slipped their minds that going home, for me, is a two-day journey of planes and airports. And jetlag. It isn’t just the journey, but also the fact that Thanksgiving is, like I said, an American thing. No one else celebrates it.

Thanksgiving is a time when everyone seems to be extra generous. I’ve had a few invitations to Thanksgiving meals/trips. Now this is one moment when I wish I could split myself into many persons, because I do want to try out each family’s meal. I hope I don’t sound too greedy.

People are going home to see their families. It’s a reunion time for most. I can’t help but think of Chinese New Year. After all, that’s reunion time for us Chinese people. And when I think of CNY, I think of angpaos and food (when will I ever get to eat the crab crackers, I wonder?). And thinking of food, I suddenly feel like I want to eat fresh fish (cooked, of course), instead of those sickening fried fish fillets which Americans eat because they can’t deal with bones. Not that I deal with bones well either.

It may sound pretty complain-ish, but really, I’m thankful for everything here. Thankful despite the food. And thankful for the food (Why is it all about food??). Thankful for the nice people. Thankful because there’s God, and he’s most awesome.

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One Bad thing and other misc

Great. Just what I need.

Do you notice something different about my glasses?

Yes, so I guess I snapped one side right off. And I thought my glasses were indestructible (my old ones are still perfectly alright - apparently the newer one isn’t as good).

This brings a whole new meaning to the warning: “Treat your glasses gently.”

Recently it’s been really cold. As it is, the weather widget thingy says 3 degrees (Celcius, of course), and there’s a powdery icon above it. Snow? It can’t be, because the only thing that’s happening outside is the freezing wind. I check again. Oh well, it’s back to that usual moon+clouds icon. Tomorrow’s forecast puts the highs at 6, lows at -6. You’ve got to be kidding me. I almost froze my nose off just walking 5 minutes to the main campus building in weather around 5 or 6 degrees.

My glasses tilt slightly to one side. I guess the tape made it unbalanced. NOOOO. Perhaps it’s something to make me wear my contact lens more often.

Oh, and I sat through the school’s symphonic orchestra. While it obviously isn’t top class, they played some interesting, radical stuff. Like one poem-y thing where there were just strange background noises - including that of the “finger making circles on top of the glass” sound, you know, the kind of sound you’d make in restaurants just to annoy people (well, not that I’d ever do such a thing). That was pretty awesome. They also played some John Williams music, namely the Indiana Jones theme and Star Wars theme, which was also pretty cool.

Then I got back home, nearly freezing up halfway through the walk. And I snapped my glasses. And I … well … am sad. And angry that my glasses failed me. Oh, how could you have done this to me, glasses? I admit that I wasn’t very kind to you usually, but look, your older brother never snapped on me (and he’d served me far longer than your itsy-bitsy one year)! You’re just so… cruel and - and …. (I’ll stop here before it gets out of hand…)

Posted in General, Music, School | 1 Comment »

Decisions

Decisions come easy for some people. They don’t doubt, they know exactly what they want, and they don’t regret their decisions (usually). For me, and some other people, each decision is pretty much a pain.

Not that the choices are bad ones. They’re equally righteous and proper choices, none above the other, like the haunting question - with which family should I spend Thanksgiving with?

That’s the kind of choices I have to make, and really, I feel grateful about it. Grateful that it isn’t a choice between money and life, or, on a darker side, “Which parent to kill?” (yes, perhaps a little too fanciful, that, but then it was in Alias. Remember?)

So I sit, and ponder. Actually, I sit and type this post. But the question remains in the back of my head, even as I try to concentrate on my paper about the search for Noah’s ark (honestly, that is not a very normal topic. For the record, I picked it.). I write out pros and cons, pray about it, and postpone my decision.

In the end, it sucks, but it’s a strangely fun process, especially when you look forward into the time when you will look back and think, “I made the right decision.” Or perhaps you’ll never know whether the decision was right or not, because how would you know how things would be different if you chose the other end of the deal?

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Day of Remembrance (and day after election)

Kind of weird, talking to a twelve-year-old while digging at the stubborn grass. 12 seems like a thousand years away - am I really that old? But it was pretty interesting, the kid wasn’t all that of a kid, but quite mature. In a way. How was I like at 12? I can’t really remember. Those years seem to be shrouded in a mist. Anyway, we used small spades and attacked the soil, hacking away at the grass roots that won’t seem to come out. It was supposed to be the start of a foot-wide path in the garden.

Good to be able to help. That’s part of the American culture, isn’t it? Helping people and doing community projects.

And of course, today marks a new beginning. Well, not quite so yet, but then there’s Obama, and I hope that America’s future will be brighter than ever, although I’m inclined to believe that the opposite will happen. I get a bit tired of all this politics talk. The world has been dissecting this election for months, and will be dissecting it for months after. But watch this video. It’s pretty awesome. I wonder what will happen if it came true…

Voting Machines Elect One Of Their Own As President

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Halloween

Twas my first Halloween ever. At least the first real experience of the American-ness of Halloween - particularly the Southern type. There was a church gathering thing out in the country side, where the flatness of West Tennessee was even more obvious than usual. Fields stretched out into trees on the horizon. Wooden barnhouses like those you see in Southern set movies scatter the landscape. We ate chilli - which, for your information, was barely chilli-ish, at least, it wasn’t really spicy. The pot branded ‘Hot’ was just mildly spicy, the one branded ‘mild’ was well, not at all spicy. The rest of the food was pretty typical American food - hot dogs and chips etc.

There was a nice bonfire, which everyone huddled around, because it got really cold. I roasted marshmallows for the first time! Tasted pretty good - crunchy on the outside, melty on the inside. Although the first time I tried to roast it the marshmallows caught fire, and I kind of threw it to the ground, so it was a waste. Of course some people like eating burnt marshmallows - but then I think of my brother and his aversion to burnt food, and I don’t like them too.

Then there was a hayride. Now I never heard of a hayride, and I supposed it was some sort of exciting ride on haystacks - but apparently it was just a tractor pulling a cartload of hay, which you sat on and bumped around the entire field. Not very exciting, and very cold, but the sky was covered with stars. To my shame I couldn’t find the Big Dipper, not even when people tried to point it out. The hayride over, I returned to the comfort of the fire and stared at it while half-burning my knees sitting close to it. Even then I could feel that my feet were numb.

After all this, on the return to campus, I went to the costume party. As expected, it was dark as night in there, except for lots of people walking around and talking loudly, and music. Great costumes. I doubt Halloween will ever succeed much back home - how many folks would dress up? Anyway there were all sorts of people, from a group of folks dressed as the Hundred-Acre Wood, to a table, pirates, ninjas, bananas, fairies, salt & pepper, fork, Pikachu and Ash (singing the theme song) etc. Interesting.

Besides all the new experiences, Halloween pretty much equals Candy. Lots of it. I’ve never eaten so much candy before. And now I have a bag of candy to accompany me for the next few weeks of my life..

Sunset in the countryside. I don’t know about you, but it sure looks pretty to me. Btw, the white streak in the sky was made by a plane. It’s not a wisp of cloud.

Ahhh the fiery redness of fall.

Many pots of chilli… for the competition.

The chilli competition. The little girl walking by wears a bag of small colored balloons - she was dressed as a bubble gum machine. There was another little girl dressed as a whoopee cushion…

Look at the stars.. look how they shine for you… (my neck hurts)

The mesmerizing flames. It just draws you in. I’m not a good photographer though - the color’s turn purple-ish…

The giant cat. Which I assure you is not a Halloween thing - it’s just a big cat that’s all. And oh, the girl has red eyes. Which can be a Halloween thing - of a type.

Posted in General, Church | 6 Comments »

Fall Break

All the hype about fall break is kind of baffling. After all, it’s only two days, plus a weekend. I don’t quite understand. But everyone asks, “What are your plans for fall break?” It was the question of the day for quite some time. But now that I’m in the middle of fall break, I have just realized how utterly unproductive it can be.

For one thing, I find myself stuck in my room for two entire days. I don’t really mind not going out, but it’s just that … well, it’s not really ‘living’, is it. At least I did two productive things - watching two movies that have been on my to do list for quite a while.

1. Silence of the Lambs: That was pretty spooky, but a brilliant movie nonetheless. The climax was bone-chilling. The actors were great. Hannibal Lecter is just a very compelling character. I wonder if he’d eat me for dinner - I’ll have to be not moronic and not some authority figure. Yes, the whole thing about serial killers is not exactly something to watch at night, especially when part of it takes place in Memphis, Tennessee, but still, a classic to be watched.

2. Schindler’s List: I’ve been wanting to watch for ever so long. And one word describes it: Intense. All the violence, the graphic scenes (if you watch it, you know what I mean). There is so much to be said behind it. Oskar Schindler was no saint, but he chose to do what was right. In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, Schindler hired Jews to work in his factory, essentially saving their lives. There are many great scenes throughout the movie, any of which that are infinitely sad, but it was the last scenes that brought tears to my eyes. It was kind of dramatic, but still… I couldn’t help tearing up. Liam Neeson (oh, so that was him! I’d never seen him in action before) as Schindler was just wonderful. And Ben Kingsley - yeah, the first time too seeing him in action.. I’d heard about these two actors before, but for some reason, never watched a movie with them in it. Wonder why.

Now I think I’d better get some homework done. Schindler’s List was just really awesome though, I must say again. Esp. the red-coat girl part. I didn’t get it at first, but then rewatching the burning scene, I realized that it was the turning point in Schindler’s mind. I think. Anyway, no more spoilers. Definitely not a movie for children though. I feel I have dirtied my mind somewhat watching it… but then it’s just too good to be missed..

Posted in School, TV/Movies | 1 Comment »

Thoughts on CSI

With fall season comes all the TV shows. For all the tv addicts, it’s a relief to finally get out of the summer reruns. Now I’m not a tv addict, but I do watch some shows, mainly CSI, though I don’t really have to watch it.

I just finished the season 9 premiere of CSI:LV. 9 seasons is a very long time, which is why most of the characters are going out. We saw Warrick’s death, and even more of Grissom revealed through that death. I mean, you’d never imagine the aloof, taciturn guy of the beginning to be actually so moved and actually crying (kind of) during his speech at Warrick’s funeral. I’m sure CSI die-hards are weeping out there. It’s kind of sad that everyone has to eventually leave/die, including Grissom himself later this season, which will no doubt have some fans jumping the boat. But I guess 9 seasons is a little too much. If I were a CSI actor, I would get out too. You know, all the rest of your life you’re just gonna be that person from CSI. Which isn’t very nice - or it could be nice. Anyway, whatever.

CSI:Miami is just as usual, fast-paced and packed full of action. One would think that Miami was really that exciting (scary) with explosions and shootouts regularly. Of course, the fact that Horatio lives in Miami probably accounts for all the crimes happening. (btw, some of the people that are dangerous to befriend are Jessica Fletcher of ‘Murder, She Wrote’ and Conan, from the lame Japanese cartoon ‘Detective Conan’. Someone is bound to die wherever they go.)

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Joyeux Noel (Merry Christmas)

I think it’s one of the better movies I’ve seen lately. In fact, so good that I’m blogging at 11:15 pm, after watching it. A couple of friends had rented the movie and invited me over to watch on a laptop, which is not a very wonderful thing to watch on - the very poor speakers. Which will leave room for imagining how wonderful it would be on a huge tv screen.

The movie actually isn’t English, as can be seen from the title. It’s a mix of French, German, and Scottish English. The story is about the 1914 Christmas truce, where the enemies ceased fire for Christmas and actually talked with each other. It is a true story (I love true stories!). And the movie is made really well. While some parts are lacking - the story line of the singers, which I felt was not dealt with as well as it could’ve been (and did they really have to put that well-deserved R-rated part in?), in whole it is an awesome movie. To see these soldiers, sick of fighting, and realizing that in fact, the enemy is just as they are… it is amazing. Taking place in a white, snow-covered land, the visuals of the movie are stunning too.

Of course, the movie is dramatized and probably took quite a bit of artistic license, but then well, it’s a wonderful movie. What more can I say about it? Just cut out that R-rated part (btw, this is actually a PG-13 movie that originally got a R rating, but the MPAA changed it when a critic complained..), then it’ll be even more big-group-watching-friendly.

Check out the historical background (yeah, my favorite thing to do after watching a movie based on historical facts). Oh and by the way, they had a truce because it was war time, specifically World War I, in case you haven’t realized. Sorry for underestimating you, if that’s the case…

Wikipedia
Site #1
Site #2

Posted in TV/Movies | 1 Comment »

Random school thoughts

Strangely busy day, today. I barely had time - well I had time, but usually I have more time than this. As I walk around campus, I could see leaves turning brown. I didn’t think much about it, but then now I notice that brown/red leaves are pretty much everywhere. It’s fall (duh!). But it isn’t any cooler, still as summer-ish as it can be.

Had a talk during Christian Learning class, we were given a workbook sort of thing. I opened up the first page, and the huge words caught me. Hey, I know that! SMART goals! We learnt that in History Makers. Unfortunately though, I haven’t been making any goals. I’ve forgotten entirely about goals. I’m staring into the face of average-ness if I don’t start making goals.

I actually like my classes. Maybe the least liked would be the cultural studies, though. I mean, everything is pretty much going round in circles. And we have to think so much about it. Really, a little too much. It’s interesting in a way, but no, I’m not going to be a culturalist.

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Praise and Worship (or rather, Singspiration)

I know that the purpose of praise and worship is to worship God, not to start thinking technically and analyze it. In any case, I can’t help doing the latter. So here I will compare 5 different p&w. I have only been to each of the 3 churches once, so it’s probably not a very accurate reflection of their overall p&w. Stated then, is what I happened to see on one particular Sunday. Note: This is just my opinion, hope nobody gets offended. And also, most of the churches are typical Baptist, quite traditional)

Union Chapels
Voices: Male (lead), female (harmonizing)
Instruments: piano (worship leader), drums, bass, acoustic guitar, keyboard (for organ-ish sounds), violin (occasionally)
The Good: The voices. Sounds really good, especially when there’s the harmonizing part - the female voice doesn’t have to stretch too high for songs like ‘From the Inside Out’. Instruments are also played very well, especially piano and drums. Violin, when used, is just simply beautiful - great short instrumental breaks. I love the hymns too - great that they sing hymns in a new beautiful way.
The Mediocre aka Can-Be-Improved: Not much variation in style - as in it is always the piano starting the song.

Youth Worship back home
Voices: Varies. Usually 2 female, one male
Instruments: Piano, drums, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass
The Good: Instruments probably form the best part here, since it’s a very contemporary assortment of instruments.
The Mediocre aka CBI: Singing. Haven’t yet found one really good singer. Instrument-playing quality can also vary quite a lot - but it’s good that others can be trained.

Church #1
Voices: Two males
Instruments: Piano, organ
The Good: Hm. I guess the singer is pretty good.
The Mediocre aka CBI: Instrument variation. Also, they were singing a too-fast version of ‘I Could Sing Of Your Love’, which was totally weird.

Church #2
Voices: 6 females (one worship leader), one male
Instruments: Piano (worship leader), some sort of sit-on drum, electric guitar, violin, recorders, etc.
The Good: Now that is quite a variety of instruments. Interesting. More lively singing and playing compared to the others (except YW).
The Mediocre aka CBI: So many female voices can be quite a jarring sound. You know, the sharp piercing highness of it all. It’s ok though, just weird.

Church #3
Voices: 2 females (one worship leader), one male
Instruments: Keyboard, drums, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass
The Good: Ah! Now there’s a more contemporary p&w, somewhat resembling the make of YW. Great music, not very outstanding, but everything blends well together. They even look professional with all the headphones!
The Mediocre aka CBI: The voices are not exceptional, especially that the worship leader’s voice doesn’t stand out that much. But still great singing. Overall, this church has the best p&w - and of course, quite an unfair comparison to the others since this church is obviously much more contemporary - it isn’t a real Baptist church.

Well, that’s it. I will say that Church #3’s p&w is the best, Union chapels come in a very close second, and YW’s sits comfortably at 3rd. Although really, they could use some improvement in the singing. But still, we can all worship God, no matter how good the p&w is, no matter the style. God looks at the heart - and I will confess that in doing this analysis, it wasn’t really the heart. All in the brain. I’m sorry.

Posted in Church, Music | 2 Comments »

Cheers for my new guitar!

It was quite a sudden thing, actually. I was aching to go to a local guitar store - online buying would technically be cheaper, but who knows what would happen along the way? And it’s quite a bother to carry huge boxes from the main building to my dorm. So I managed to get someone to get me and a friend to the guitar store… where I saw a couple of Fenders (the store was the only store in Jackson authorized to sell Fenders)…. and there was only one Fender Mex Strat with 3 single coils. The others were varied. And the color was electron blue. Not quite the midnight wine I had wanted, but I saw some other Squiers… and I thought, perhaps the blue is prettier after all. I decided to take it, and of course I needed an amp. There was a good deal online - half price for the ugly pink color Vox DA5 which nobody wanted (I assume). I planned to get that reluctantly, but anyways, I was telling the sales guy that I am thinking of that particular amp, to which he said they actually had an used amp - a Vox DA10! So I got double the size for 30 bucks cheaper than what the DA5 would’ve cost new and non-pink. So yay! no pink amp to clash horribly with my blue guitar.

That said, I pretty much have no idea what sounds good and what sounds bad (unless it’s really bad). Still quite a beginner in this matter, and perhaps may take longer than some to actually know the difference. But I do my research thoroughly. So I don’t know whether it’s that good, but at least I know some hundreds think it’s awesome…

Hmm. My room is apparently really messy - cleaner than some, but still quite a mess…

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Aftermath of the Boating Expedition

I remember writing about the aftermath of sports day couple of years ago. That time, the pain was mainly in the legs. But today, I woke with a vague feeling that my neck was terribly sore and tilting backwards gave me a strange feeling of a detached neck (not without some pain). Couple that with very sore ribs that hurt whenever I tried to cough. And shoulders that were sore, again.

Now it isn’t that bad. Probably everyone faces the same predicament (some worse than others). For non-exercisers, these sudden, once-in-a-while over-exertions can leave quite a disastrous trail in its wake. For me, I’m doing pretty well on that trail. Except my neck still hurts.

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Boating Expedition

That sounds serious. But no. Boating means water-skiing, knee-boarding and whatever other weird top-of-the-water sports. I’m not the most healthy and sportsy person - perhaps that is why after an entire day on the boat, I got fairly close to puking, and now sitting in front of the computer, still have this weird floating sensation. The floor must be rocking.

Anyhow, it was a first. I tried water-skiing. It definitely wasn’t easy trying to put on the skis. I can’t swim, so that didn’t make it any easier. It was a constant struggle against the skis and the water. Wrangling around in the water, trying to make the long skis behave, and when you finally get the rope, and position yourself, and the boat takes off, and suddenly you’re in the water again, skis floating about in close vicinity. So no, I didn’t succeed.

There was the Tarzan-esque rope stunt, which I did not try. It was getting colder, my teeth were chattering when I let them be. Then we went on to the tube. Now that’s a device for a novice (ok, lame), but really, all you had to do was to hang on for dear life. I tried it. Pretty smooth sailing in the beginning, like some sort of mild roller coaster (which was quite fun), then it starts getting crazy as the boat driver tries to throw you around by making sharp turns, and you begin to think you can’t hold on any longer, and you hit a wave, and suddenly, WHAM! you’re hit by water right in the face and the sensation is like you’re drowning or something, and as you try to wheeze out the water from your nose, you open your eyes and see that you’re floating in the water (thank God for life jackets!), with the boat some distance off.

That hit-the-water sensation was definitely no fun. Two times and I didn’t want to do it again. Besides, it was getting colder.

Despite that, it was one great experience. Thanks to all those generous folks. Another glimpse in American life. Boating - memorable as yet another first in my life.

The Tube!

Tarzan Swings!

Water Skiing! (Not me, obviously - I couldn’t stand up on the skis to save my life)

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The First Week Of School

Now that’s over, and it seems like time is really running along. I’ve run into some problems along the way, thankfully they all turned out well (I think). International people are always interesting, and I met a Korean girl who actually lent me a guitar (yay! so while I dream about my new guitar, I can have something to play). I heard Korean being spoken, and I must say, sounds beautiful. Yes, I’m pretty much a sucker for the sound of foreign languages. Korean reminds me of those Korean dramas, where one can literally fall asleep watching. The setting is usually of a guy and a girl, staring at each other in a most depressed manner (with silent tears rolling down cheeks, or something similar). And then you can switch to another channel, and come back later in a couple of minutes, but they’ll still be staring silently. That’s how boring it is. Of course, it’s all just an exaggeration, but you get the idea.

Back to the topic. Which I’m not quite sure what it is, but anyhow, the first week has gone by quite well, just the fact that I do not have my books yet - how expensive books are!! Even the used ones of the latest editions cost quite a bit. Every time I look at this money draining away, I think automatically of my future electric guitar. Now, now, what are necessities here? The things I have in mind cost well above 500. Makes my heart pain when I think of all the money I’m not spending on that 500…. yes, I have got my priorities a little topsy-turvy.

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The Real First Day of School

That was the fake real day. Today was the real day, as in classes. I wasn’t looking forward to it, to tell the truth, Americans scare me a little… Anyhow, turns out the two classes I had were mainly the international students (we were stuck with the same International Cultural Studies and English classes). So it was pretty ok.

I had to buy books online - I wasn’t going to get ripped off at the bookstore. I got one good bargain, one not so good bargain. Still I saved at least 40% from what I would’ve gotten from the bookstore. I hope it doesn’t get lost in the mail or I shall be in trouble. More classes tomorrow - a new set. Including gym - argh. But God has proven to be so amazing recently. Just got to trust in Him.

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First Day at school

It’s finally happening. For a while, through all the various stops and stays along the way, it seemed as if it would never happen. However, as time drags us along, I’m here, typing this in a teeny dorm room. It’s too early to assess the school, but it’s never easy, starting over. Everything is entirely new. No one knows you. I’ve read it over and over again, people talking about how it was like to start afresh. It’s a clean slate, like a second chance. But who changes that easily? It’d probably be the same in the end.

The dorm room is okay, not too bad. Small rooms - but each has one to his/herself. So it’s like an apartment-styled dorm. It is quite clean. Now I just need to find where is that big cockroach I caught sight of.

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TV/Medal Count Thoughts

I’ve never had such fun watching old shows. There was the closing ceremony on one channel, but I actually opted to watch ‘Murder, She Wrote’, an old TV show. You see, with limited options in Malaysia, classics are not readily available. It was the first time I watched the show, and while the acting wasn’t all that great, the plot is good. Although a consecutive 3 episodes made me kind of tired.

Then there’s the Food Channel. When there’s nothing else to watch, food is always a good option. I have watched all sorts of cooking programs, and beginning to tire of it.

Tonight there will be two Alfred Hitchcock movies on air. Two which I haven’t watched. So looks like I’d be sleeping late - again.

Olympics is finally over. It means no more late nights waiting for some exciting event, while languishing on the couch trying to stay awake for the boring events. There’s the disappointment, and joy of the athletes. I won’t ever be standing on a podium, with a gold medal around my neck, in most likelihood, but how many will ever do that?

By the way, I suppose most people have noticed the medal counts in America and in China are done differently. In USA, they do it by total count of medals. In China/Malaysia/etc, it’s done by number of gold medals. In the beginning it would seem to be just a nationality kind of thing - you know, the respective countries would then be top. But then, USA has always done it that way, and I can’t help thinking, maybe it’s better after all. Back in Malaysia, with the medal count put according to golds, silvers and bronzes are nothing. But then when the medal count is according to total number of medals, suddenly, silvers and bronzes mean a lot too. Silver and bronze, while less than gold, still means something for the country. And I begin to feel my perspective changing. Asians always want to be the best, I guess. Second and third place is almost like failure. But the truth is, 2nd and 3rd is better than almost all of the world. And can that be failure?

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Dogs, eyes

I’m no dog lover. I can’t bear to touch their thick shaggy fur - I don’t know why. I think it’s dirty - but then what is soap for? I keep my distance, hoping it doesn’t try to lick me, as it is always prone to do due to its old age and failing sight.

The dog is old. It can’t frolick about, nor do any silly doggie tricks. Its limbs are stiff. I don’t expect it to live much longer.

But there are times I stare into the deep soft brown eyes of the dog, and I think maybe it isn’t so bad after all. Its eyes are, to say the least, beautiful. For a moment, I feel as if I can understand why eyes are one of the most expressive features. I feel as if dog and human - we could connect. Then it slowly rises and ambles toward me, and I pull away. Maybe not.

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In another Land, new things

It seems so surreal. Now, I’m in a foreign land, miles and miles away from home, sitting in front of a white Macbook, with my iPod Touch next to me. Which is so awesome. I’ve always dreamed of a Macbook, and now that it’s here, in front of me, it seems so hard to believe. And it does live up to its hype (generally). Of course, the free iPod Touch is simply great - it’s free after all, and I managed to jailbreak it, so it’s ten times more awesome now.

Anyway, there was church on Sunday, pretty similar to our Youth Worship, what with the people all being stiff and unemotional during praise and worship (which is my style). At least I could understand the pastor preaching, unlike the previous Sunday, where in a fit of boldness, I went by myself to a Cantonese church. I sat there, hoping no one would talk to me and thus notice my inability to communicate or understand Cantonese. But in the end, though I did not know what the pastor was talking about, I was glad I went, because it happened to be Holy Communion Sunday. Away from the comforts of home, God seems ever closer, ever nearer, ever real.

Posted in General, Church, Music, Computers | 2 Comments »

Typhoon

Having lived in a peaceful tropical area, where it is hot and humid all year long, without any form of natural disasters (save, perhaps, for the flash floods), I’ve never experienced abnormal weather. In Hong Kong, however, typhoons - tropical storms - are a common occurence. It so happened that one came close during my stay here. In fact, right now, the wind is at level 8 (on a scale of 1 - 12?) It would be nice to go out, but really, I don’t want to injure myself or put myself in harm’s way, or appear foolish struggling against the wind.

Strong winds are bound to cause embarassment for any pedestrian with a weak umbrella, which will inevitably be blown about. I look out, and I see the rain blown pretty badly, so that it looks like someone is shoving powder at an angle. No going out today, pretty much everything is shut up.

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A Terrapin’s Luck

Back home we have two terrapins, Sir Big and Lady Green. Lady Green should really be renamed Lady Luck. Why? Because many a time, she went missing, and thinking it’d be the last of her, we give up looking. A few hours/days later, she will appear somewhere, and be brought back to the comfort of the plastic tub.

You would think the male terrapin would be more active. Not so. Lady Green is constantly eager to escape from the feeding tub, which has slightly shorter walls than the usual tub. She has escaped countless times. Usually we find her within the next half hour, but sometimes, we don’t find her. And it could go on for three days. Once she was discovered dehydrated and dried after a few days. Sometimes she appeared perfectly alright, crawling about.

She’s one lucky terrapin, destined to live long.

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Hong Kong (the first stage)

After bidding my family farewell, I was off to Hong Kong with my mom. More like a holiday. Except in HK, right now, there is only one word to describe it - HOT. There’s a cool breeze, but still it’s HOT like crazy. Even back home, I don’t sweat like this. Anyhow, all we did was eat and sleep, eat and sleep. The food prices are crazy. One meal costed us about HK$400. That’s not bad already, my grandparents said they ate one meal for 5 that was about HK$1000. Back home, it’d feed 10-12 persons in a really high class way.

Anyway, the food was too much. We ended up bringing packs of it home. One more week and a half here. I checked out a couple of cameras - quite overpriced, to tell the truth. Everything is so expensive. At least here I have a laptop (even if it is like no good) and a TV. But really, Shark and Prison Break dubbed in Cantonese? Crazy.

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Random Ramblings

Hm. I’ve been neglecting this blog again - not that anyone reads it regularly, but still, at least just to post something.

Time is running fast. Actually, as fast as it always has been. Tick, tock. I used to say I was leaving end of July. One day, I had to say, ‘end of this month’. Two weeks later, it was ‘next week’. Today, I say ‘Monday’. It’s kind of sad and exciting all at the same time. The sad (scary) part is the leaving. The exciting part is the new experiences (and Macbook and guitar!)

I’ll be in Hong Kong for quite a while. Hong Kong is kind of like the place I’ve gone most often for holidays. I’ve actually been to Ocean Park at least thrice! The days before Disneyland came out. Anyhow, HK is always an exciting place. Buses all around. People all around. The restaurants serving dim sums in the morning that are always so noisy you cannot hear yourself talk. Then there’s my grandparents’ apartment, sandwiched somewhere between the sky and the earth. Meaning that if electricity was ever to go out, you might as well spend the night on the ground floor…

I’ve gone quite stupid these days - actually it’s because I haven’t studied in 9 months. I can’t remember the harder maths, biology and chemistry has flown out the window, physics has vanished into thin air. Come to think about it, the only thing I’ve learned more is about God. And about guitars. About the latter, that comes with hours of researching online. I’ve never owned an electric guitar, nor an amp, but I could tell you what are the popular stuff and their prices. I could say which effects box is good and which is bad. That’s crazy - and pretty useless.

Anyhow. Here goes the ramblings.

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Visa and the Hectic Day

So suddenly, I was on the flight to KL with my dad, and after spending the night in a lousy hotel, got to the American Embassy. Which was quite a pretty place, with security and stuff. So I spent 2 hours in the building, holding on to my number, and sitting glued to the seats watching the numbers on the board. I was quite nervous in the beginning, but after being called twice to the counters for different stuff, I was kind of getting used to the waiting. Numbers were being called. I look up, and there it was, my number flashing!

I was kind of taken by surprise, but I grabbed my file, and made my way calmly to the counter for the visa interview. The lady asked a few normal questions, like why I wanted to go USA to study, etc. She asked for school transcripts and financial documents, asked about my family. I also showed the tourist visa I got 7 years ago. The lady did ask why my spoken English was pretty good..haha

So that was it. After the interview, she told me I’d qualify for the student visa. I thanked her, and walked out of the embassy calmly. Then I had to spend time with my dad (who was using his laptop) at McDonald’s - I had never sat so long at a fast food restaurant before, watching people eat then leave, eat then leave….

Then it was to the airport, where I watched yet more people leave on various flights (mine was 3 hours away, but my dad had another flight elsewhere, so there I was, on my own, the earliest person from my flight). As time past, I began to see familiar faces - not that I know them, but there’s just this familiar Foochow-ness to the people that began to appear. Well, yeah, Foochow people do look very Foochow. And they speak Foochow, which I can recognize, even if I don’t understand a word of it…

Home, and now, got to have the passport sent back. Praise the Lord for his blessings.

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Youth Camp & History Makers & other misc junk

It’s been a really busy holiday - probably the busiest in my memory, since I’d to go two consecutive camps/conferences. But it’s really worth it.

The first one was the annual youth camp. Perhaps because the location was the same-old-YMCA, a lot of people didn’t go. I wouldn’t have gone, but I was in the committee. At the end, however, I was glad I was there, for I’d have missed the dramatic ‘Case of the 4 Missing People in the Jungle’. Anyway, it’s been a topic dissected through and through, but the end was that they were all found. But pretty dramatic, all the same, seeing all the police cars, and the police dog.

The second was the History Makers Journey, for 8 days. It was held at Methodist Centennial Park (finally! the place that has eluded me since its beginnings), which is a pretty nice place to begin with. Like a 3 star hotel, so the stay is made much more bearable. Well, so I learnt a good lot - and learnt that apparently I didn’t have much of a vision. True, I have dreams, but hardly a vision. Anyway, it was all free - awesome deal - plus all the material. We’re to train other leaders. I’m not sure how to put that into practice. Anyhow, the cd they gave me, I popped it into the computer and - blank. Oh well. Have to remedy that some time.

Upon coming home, I found that my family had gone to the newly opened Popular bookstore. But at least they brought books back, otherwise I’d be jealous through. So I finished Charles Dicken’s ‘Great Expectations’. Great book. It’s been a while since I found a book that truly pulled me on towards the end. I would’ve finished it in one sitting, but that wouldn’t be very nice. So I forced myself to wait till the next day to complete it. So if you like a nice story about an orphan boy who has great expectations, get yourself a copy of it and read.

Oh yes, and the iPhone 3G was announced on Monday. With the back-to-school promo in place, I’m really looking forward to a new Mac and an iPod Touch (well, they only allow rebates on iPod Nano/Touch, so unless you really want a Nano, you might as well get a Touch for $100 more on rebate)

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Teachers

They come in so many varieties. Some are dearly loved and friendly. Those get tables heaped with presents on Teacher’s Day. But there are other teachers, who for one reason or another, are despised and never receive any presents.

Back in primary school - I must confess I do not remember much of it - there was a teacher who had the most crazy moods. Which included throwing tantrums - screaming, throwing books, overturning chairs… It was fortunate that I was good in English. If you weren’t good at it, you better watch out. The teacher would be all over you with the least mistake in class. My brother tells me occasionally the stories of the teacher. Swear words - stuff like the s-word - are common when the teacher is angry. More wrenching is the demeaning of the children. Stuff like, “you’re worthless”, “you’re bs” etc…

I think the teacher has grown more violent over the years…

But then there were other teachers too, that inspired and brought so much color to the dull classes. My former high school English teacher is brimming with sarcastic humor, something to look forward to on a boring day. My former science teacher is everybody’s favourite teacher - despite having favourites in the class. (I remember during exams, the teacher would actually tell me a few answers… which made me feel guilty. Is that called cheating?)

You can’t doubt that they do influence your life. Even from teaching to mentoring. They always say teachers are the most important figures. I say, not every teacher is that important. Some I rather not have.

Just a little extra which has nothing to do with teachers. I saw this article on digg. Totally weird. link

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The Sound of Music

Let me start with, in my opinion, the most popular ‘old’ movie in Malaysia - or at least Sibu. Most of the folks I know have watched it, and most of them own the dvd or cd. I’m not sure why, since say ‘Casablanca’ or ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ evokes blank stares, but the Sound of Music, made in 1965, is so popular.

Everyone likes it. I got to admit, after watching it at least once a year since I was but a small child, I love it too. It’s got the very ingredients to make a good family movie - humor, love story, cute kids, gorgeous songs (and singing), and of course, Julie Andrews and the dashing Christopher Plummer (in those days, of course).

It’s supposed to be based on a true story. At least the von Trapp family was real. However, being a musical and a movie, a lot of details don’t follow the original story. I don’t really mind that though - how many movies have you seen that are truly historically correct?

If you’re from Sibu, you probably have watched it before. If not, I’ll give a quick summary: Maria is a nun-in-training, but she’s far too ‘wild’. So the Reverend Mother sends her off to be the governess of 7 kids belonging to Captain von Trapp. Those kids were ‘impossible’, but Maria soon gains their affections with her singing and whatnot. Anyway, eventually the captain falls for her and Maria vice versa (saw that coming, didn’t you?). But the Nazis are in Austria, and the captain must make a choice whether or not to take up his new position in the German army. Of course, you know the answer. Hint: the captain is a real Austrian patriot.

So, the bottom line is, the more I watch it, the more I like it. And really, Christopher Plummer as the captain is too good-looking! Timeless family classic and unforgettable songs.

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Classic movies

Average teenagers go after every single new movie that hits the theaters these days. Superhero movies take the box-office every time. But I’m not your average teenager (in fact, I wonder if I did have ‘actual teenage years’). I’ve no interest in watching superhero movies, though in extreme boredom I do watch some movies on tv - like Anacondas 2 a couple of days ago. Very stupid and lame movie, I had loads of fun criticizing it.

To clarify, ‘no interest’ means I won’t make any effort for the sake of the movie. For classic movies, however, it’s a little different. I can’t really remember when I got hooked to those all-time classics. Must have begun with that ‘Parental Guide to Movies’ which was from the eighties, and from where I started with Hitchcock movies. Then it must’ve evolved to imdb lists and other all-time lists, which led to the first classics I watched - ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ and ‘Casablanca’.

Not really for the sake of enjoyment, sometimes. More for the sake of education. There’s a certain sense of accomplishment, when somebody asks whether anyone has watched a certain old old movie, and you have. Like last Sunday, when the sermon was on the Old Testament, and 3 old movies were mentioned. ‘Gone With the Wind’, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and ‘Sound of Music’. The question, “Do you like old b&w movies?” was posed and everyone shouted “NO!!” I’ve watched two of the three, since ‘Lawrence’ was a tad long so I made no effort to watch it.

Here I must mention that for some reason, ‘Sound of Music’ is the most popular old movie around here. It’s like everyone has watched it - the only classic most kids ever watched. I can’t understand why.

Anyway, back to the Sunday. My mom and my sis also felt kind of ‘accomplished’. As they stated, thanks to my educating.

In the next few posts, if I feel up to it, I’ll put up some reviews of classics I’ve watched and liked. Granted, I’m not a classics expert, I’ve watched barely a percentage of all the movies in the past. But well, for a Malaysian still at a young age, I suppose it’s a pretty good percentage…

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Coldplay and their new two songs

As anyone who is a regular listener of music would know, Coldplay came out with two new songs from their going-to-be album, “Viva la Vida or Death And All His Friends”. Not to say I’m a regular listener of Coldplay, or of music, but those two songs were really quite intriguing.

Still quite the same old vague lyrics, but when the first few seconds of ‘Violet Hill’ played, it didn’t sound exactly well… Coldplay-ish. At least not like ‘Yellow’ or ‘Clocks’ or to an extent, ‘Fix You’(but all that was light-years ago…)

Regardless, I admit ‘Violet Hill’ and ‘Viva la Vida’ were really nice songs. It’s been awhile since I’d listen to a song repeatedly. At least I’m not sick of it yet. And the choruses keep ringing through my head alternately.

One moment it’s ‘If you love me, won’t you let me know….’, the next it’s ‘I hear Jerusalem’s bells a-ringing…’

Anyway, hooray for the first picture in many many posts!

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Street Sellers

I’m not sure how you term those people who either professionally or pitifully ask you to buy things/food they carry about them. They’re always around in busy places - bus stations, markets, food stalls - and even not-so-busy places, like offices.

Some call them con-men/women and look upon them in disdain. Others melt and just can’t say no - which is where most of their income are from.

No doubt, I believe most of their stories are not entirely truthful, and the goods they sell are just not all that great. After all, if their products are wonderful, why are they romping about trying to force people to buy things?

There are a few ‘famous’ sellers, if you go around enough, you’d be bound to bump into one or two. Sitting in the office, a guy came selling burgers. He tried to sell me three. I took two. And still felt kind of cheated. Oh well, at least it looks quite eatable - I think.

What are you supposed to do when you meet this sort of people? Do you frown and pull a long face and snap at them? Do you smile and nod and encourage them? Do you pull out your wallet and start paying for the goods?

Lies, lies. What makes them go out to the streets, so thick skinned? I picked up the business card the guy handed to me. Hardly a card. More like paper - the kind of paper used on calendars except even thinner. No respectable business person would use such a flimsy piece of paper, would they?

But I bet some earn quite a few bucks through all this cajoling and persuading.

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Little Kids

I volunteered myself to teach some kids at the children’s home. Wasn’t really my idea, to tell the truth, and I wasn’t that excited about it. Anyway, I was given 2 kids, one boy who is 6, another girl who is 7.

Cute children, despite being very shy in the beginning, their true colours began to show soon after. Let’s just say putting them together is like pitting a cat against a dog in the ring. Sparks fly along with fists. I spent a couple of weeks acting as the ‘referee’, holding one of them back.

You can’t go on like this - it’ll ruin their study time and your precious hour. To make the long story short, I had them separated.

I asked the little boy (who did not speak very good Chinese, and was therefore intelligible most of the time), “What are you going to do when you grow up?” I thought, perhaps I shall find some aspiring doctor or engineer or lawyer in the making, and feel better after all.

The boy never hesitated. Looking ahead and rambling on in his matter-of-fact, sincere voice, he said, “I’m going to go home when I grow up.”

He continued rambling about something to do with that topic, of which I must say I couldn’t quite understand. Was that all he wanted - to go home?

I changed my question slightly, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Still oblivious and sincere, he made tooting sounds and told me he wanted to be a bus driver. He told me about brakes (at least something about the feet) and the steering wheel in baby descriptions.

Going home and driving a bus. It’s not contempt - really, forgive me if I’ve given such an impression, but well, I feel sorry for him.

The boy only mentioned his father, so I asked about his mother, knowing the answer, but wanting to see his expression. Very matter-of-fact and normal, as before. He is far too young. To all kids from broken families, to all kids who cannot really go ‘home’, may the good Lord watch over you and keep you, and bless you abundantly…

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Back to the Longhouse

I joined my mom’s cell group for the trip to the longhouse, which is normally once in two weeks. If you remember, I was at the longhouses for the short term missions trip. So anyway, we went to Rumah Tuan. I, because I wanted to see those folks again, and to look at the place where I spent two nights in.

The highlight probably isn’t the visit. It’s the bus and the road. Now, I’m sure I don’t mind the bus that is practically falling apart, and that the windows rattle like there’s an earthquake. No, I don’t mind. But add to that bad roads, and it’s nearly unforgivable. The road between Siba and Tuan used to be good, taking only about 15 minutes. But now, without proper maintenance and loads of heavy trucks passing, the road is kind of torn up. The bus jerks and puffs along for nearly 40 minutes. What time wasted!

So there I sat in the bus, lurching along with it, until we reached RH Tuan. Nice to see the folks and kids - the kids were there for the service’ p&w, which was something missing from the previous trip. They did the action songs most cutely. Anyway, I was of some use, playing the keyboard.

When the service was over, we walked 200-300 metres in the dark, guided only by torchlights, to the side of the road. It had begun to rain. We waited 20 minutes for the bus to pick us up, each time we saw headlights from afar, everyone began dissecting and speculating whether that could be a bus or not. Twice we were disappointed. But in the end, the bus came, and we began the lurching and jerking home. This time, since it was so late, it is hard not to fall asleep. And since the bus’ seats are the ‘half-backs’, you can’t really lean back to sleep.

Some experienced people brought pillows, so they could sleep against the windows. I had to be content with dozing off every now and then and knocking my head against the window (which was wet) or the metal rod behind me.

Eventually, at exactly 1.28 am, the bus jerks to a stop within the Wesley compound. And finally I can rush home to my bed for a few hours of sleep before church early the next morning. The entire trip, while kind of torturing, is actually worth it. But I probably can’t stand going every two weeks.

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DIY Wallets

I have a wallet - thick and bulky. It’s almost like carrying a giant pouch of stuff around, which means it definitely isn’t an optimum situation when going somewhere. So anyway, since I enjoy making stuff sometimes, I looked up instructables.com and discovered a few simple tutorials, needing not much more than paper or shopping bags.

So I did them, and one for my mom’s birthday, since hers is almost as bulky as mine, but since her birthday isn’t up yet, so I can’t post any pics of it. Meanwhile, satisfy yourself by looking up these pages and folding yourself a wallet.

I used some old calendar for this paper wallet, since it isn’t as easy to rot as paper.
Paper Wallet

Sigh, I made a wrong cut in the beginning. But it didn’t really mattered, and though the plastic was kind of noisier than the paper wallet, it makes you feel more accomplished at the end.
Shopping Bag Wallet (Takes a lot more time.. but as you can imagine, more durable)

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Ben Hur and a little something

I read (re-read, actually) Ben Hur just recently, and something came to mind. Of course, if you don’t know what Ben Hur is, I suppose it may be somewhat confusing, but bear with me.

Now, Ben Hur lives around the time of Christ; he was one of the guys ready for Jesus’ political comeback. Hatred for the Romans and all that, what with his pitiful story, which I will not repeat here. Anyway, at the crucifixion, it was the eye-opening moment for Ben Hur and his friends, when they realized that Jesus’ kingdom was, in fact, not political, but spiritual.

It’s good that they can actually realize that at that dark moment. The book, then skips to five years later. Hm. The resurrection is missing. Ben Hur and his folks know that Jesus is the Son of God, in fact, Ben Hur remembered Jesus saying that he was ‘The Resurrection and the Life’, but the book doesn’t mention Jesus’ resurrection at all.

The only thing I can conclude is that Jesus’ resurrection, technically, did not really have anything to do with Ben Hur’s life, since he already realized the truth on crucifixion day. That’s a pretty good contrast to Jesus’ disciples, who were a cowardly bunch till the day Jesus rose from the dead. What I mean is, Ben Hur must have been quite special to not be cowardly and distressed after Jesus’ death.

But of course, there are a hundred thousand reasons why the resurrection was not mentioned in connection to Ben Hur. And perhaps I’m thinking a little too much. Still, it is somewhat baffling.

So putting aside the baffling question I have, I’ll give a little information on Ben Hur and the movie. It was written by Lew Wallace, and went on to be a really successful book - and movie, the one starring Charlton Heston, which went on to win quite a number of Oscars. In fact, the movie still holds the title of most Oscars won. The movie is slightly different from the book, just as Gone With the Wind also differs somewhat. Some details are moved about in the timeline, perhaps for a more dramatic scene than would otherwise be. Ben Hur the movie is quite long, and a little sleep-inducing to me, but for those who can really appreciate it, it’s an epic movie.

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Simple to Difficult

Some things are just too simple to be true. So much so that they become difficult. Difficultly simple. I wonder, did you ever meet with such a thing? Maybe you’ve never. Maybe you’re the simple type that just accepts it. Or maybe you’re the intellectual geek that can’t believe it’s true.

I’m not sure which category I’d end up in, but I do know a situation that is so simple that it becomes, strangely, too difficult for some to understand. Hint: It’s something to do with this past week. Hint#2: The bunnies and chocolate eggs … and the cross.

Yes, it’s the gospel - the message of the cross. A surprisingly simple matter that is often complicated, to the point that few understand what it’s really all about. But it all just comes down to that one famous verse: John 3:16 ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.’

Now, can that get any simpler? One way to everlasting - eternal - life: ‘believe’. Not a particular amount of donations. Not a stack of completed read-through-the-Bible programs. Not years of Sundays spent on the hard church pews. Sure, all those are important, but by themselves, they will never get you to eternal life.

The message is simple. The way is even simpler - even if the price was terribly high (God’s only son was the price). Yet not many will get it. Too simple until it becomes too difficult.

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Passion

There’s something about passion that makes the world fall at its feet. What I mean is, when someone is with passion, you cannot help feeling either repulsed and touched. A speaker with passion can touch many more than a speaker who does not seem to know or love what he is talking about. Passion makes the world a better place, in that without passion, where’d we have all the organizations to help the needy and the poor?

Of course, it isn’t enough to simply have passion. Passion without action is dead, as with faith sans action. I mean, what’s the use of raving passionately about something but doing nothing about it? Action coupled with passion and a good goal can be world-changing.

I suppose each of us have, at one time, been gripped by passion. But it isn’t easy to keep the flame alive, especially if you try to avoid the thing that makes your heart break. Sometimes, action does not really seem quite feasible, but prayer is a sort of action in impossible situations, where you are powerless to help. Now sometimes, of course, one may imagine oneself to be utterly powerless when in fact the opposite is true.

Passion for the God-given vision. If only every Christian had that.

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Look at the stars

Perhaps looking at stars is not the most practical thing, at least definitely not useful in Sherlock Holmes’ world (as established in A Study in Scarlet, where Holmes doesn’t even know about the solar system…). Anyway, if you have the slightest interest of knowing where the Orion is, and how to find the North star, take a look at this website. Who knows, maybe it’ll launch you on your future astronomy career. And at least now you know where north is at night, though that probably won’t mean much when you’re lost in the tropics on a cloudy night. Besides, chances are you have no idea whether you’re supposed to go north, south, east, or west.

The Night Sky

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Once comments

The movie ‘Once’ is an independently made movie of independent street musicians. I saw the soundtrack all the time on Amazon’s bestseller list, so I thought, let me see how good it is.

The story is refreshing, about a guy and a girl who meet one day. And their story, that does not span over a long long time. So we never know their names, because they never bothered to introduce themselves. Anyway, the songs are great - the theme song, ‘Falling Slowly’, was even given an Oscar just recently.

It is rated R for foul language, however, besides that, you cannot find any fault deserving a R. The f-words spoken, I think, are typical of Irish folks, so while I still do not condone them, it at least is better than rage-fueled rants.

So while it may not be very well-made, nevertheless it is an enjoyable movie, simple and nice, and makes you think about how some beautiful people and things may happen only once, and that you better cherish them.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Wood/Plastic Models

Well, I’m not an avid ‘model-builder’, seeing that I’ve only built three of them in my entire life. Models actually don’t take any skill, you just need patience when sticking all the pieces together. Which can really cause frustration at times. But anyhow, here are my wood/plastic models.

My first model, a wooden sailing ship. Made it quite a number of years ago, but only did the sails two years ago, because the how the sails should be tied can be kind of confusing.

Ha. A F-15c Eagle, American fighter plane thingy. All the way from USA, given by my uncle to my brother, who was not interested in doing it, so I made it. It’s very detailed for a plastic model, made by Revell.

This, according to the name on the box, is St Petersburg Church. But I think, more accurately, it’s St Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow. Picture of the real thing here.

Lastly, the models in a group photo, so you know their relative sizes. Can you spot an unwelcome guest standing on the church?

Posted in Works | 4 Comments »

Chinese New Year Malaysia

I’m not sure if what I observe here is applicable to West Malaysia, but at least it’s in Borneo. The original CNY is generally a festival surrounding relatives and those with blood connections, but here it has morphed into a friends-CNY.

What do I mean by that? Well, the custom here is laid out well for the first day of CNY. Everyone visits relatives - especially the older ones. The rest of the days, ranging well into the fourth day, belongs to friends, generally. I believe that in other places, the tradition is that generally only relatives visit. Here, students especially gather in large groups and go from house to house, usually for an entire day.

Why is it so? There’s this concept of ‘open house’, which is actually more a tradition of the Malays. Therefore, with the Malaysian Chinese incorporating it into their CNY festival, CNY in Malaysia has become, in a way, truly Malaysian. Wikipedia even says, ‘An open house (or “rumah terbuka”) is a Malaysian concept whereby people celebrating various holidays will invite friends to drop by for festive snacks and fellowship.’

But this CNY Malaysia doesn’t end there. When you enter a house during CNY, you don’t often see oranges and the likes. Instead, there are boxes and boxes of cakes and cookies, courtesy of the Malay ‘Hari Raya’ traditions.

When you take different traditions of different races, and mix them in one festival, you may get a much more festive and wonderful time. And the Malaysian CNY is one of those times.

Posted in General | 3 Comments »

CDX the game

Just found this game quite recently, though I daresay it’s an ancient game, but anyhow, not bad. Realistic, though a little dragging when changing scenes, but hey - that’s perfect for more multi-tasking. BBC game, I think it’s kind of promoting Rome, the drama series which is supposedly really violent. I’ve never watched it, probably never will, but the game, while not for children, is quite violence-free.

There are four episodes, and generally you either control Adam the wheelbound guy or Liz his ex-girlfriend - I think.

http://cdx-thegame.com/

Posted in TV/Movies, Games | 1 Comment »

Looking Back

Looking back into the past week, CNY, Chinese New Year, is always a festival of mixed feelings, at least for students. I have since retired from that student life (at least for now), but I still remember the good ol’ days. CNY ranges anywhere from mid-Jan to mid-Feb, or perhaps even later. These relatively early dates, so close to a long year-end holiday just a few weeks before, can cause some CNY symptoms. Which is, students have this mindset - school hasn’t really started yet, wait till after CNY then I’ll start studying hard. After all, everyone wants to enjoy during CNY, and hasn’t really gone back into ’study mood’ since last year’s holidays.

So it creates this atmosphere, at least for me and people I know.

CNY is also a time of firecrackers and fireworks. Spectacular, to the newcomer, but the fireworks that are spreaded all over the town makes it hard for spectacular photos. Of course, the sounds and smoke can be quite annoying, especially when one is trying to enjoy the CNY’s eve movie. Fireworks are hardly legal around here, but apparently a lot of people don’t care. They don’t mind shooting off hundreds of ringgits in a few minutes. It’s mind-baffling, why anyone would waste their money on such unproductive and illegal business.

Truly quite ugly pictures of fireworks, hardly the work of even an amateur, but….

Looking still further back, and bringing the past into the present, recently I’ve been rewatching old episodes of Alias’ season 4. I know it has ended for two years already, so when rewatching, it’s kinda funny, to remember how jumpy and excited I was during the first time I watched the episodes. It’s almost comical now, to see Sydney (the main character) in deep distress over her season 4 premiere’s dilemma of ‘my father killed my mother who hired a hitman to kill me and now my half-sister who doesn’t know who killed our mother wants to kill whoever it was that killed our mother’.

Quite a complicated, messed-up thing that we know only existed because the writers thought the actress as Syd’s mother wasn’t coming back, so they wanted to kill her offscreen, but towards the end of the season, she was coming back, so what else? Ended up Syd’s dad killed a clone - the handy dandy Alias excuse.

Ah, the good ol’ days. But funny how I can still go on and on about a drama series that has since become non-existent.

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Time

We all know time goes fast. The world does not need anymore expounding on that topic. But here, I must mention the lyric of a song. I never thought about it that way, but it’s so true. Pink Bullets, by The Shins.

‘…. the days were long, but the years were short…’

True, you live in the day and wonder why the hours pass so slowly, but suddenly, the sun has set and risen again, and years disappear into the horizon.

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STMS English

It’s suddenly 2008, I know I haven’t touched this blog in ages, due in part to laziness. Anyway, the past month I was in school, well, still around my home compound, but in the hostel. Which sucked in the beginning, but became better because you know, you eventually get used to something no matter how terrible. I think.

One month isn’t such a long time, come to think about it, even if I was thinking in the beginning: ‘This is going to be the longest month of my life.’ But it wasn’t. It may well be the shortest. So many things happened - actually, one huge thing happened that isn’t worth reiterating.

I’m rambling on here. First things first. What is STMS? It’s Short Term Missions School, a special course created by MTS. There are four versions, STMS Chinese (v1.0), STMS Iban (v2.0), STMS English (v3.0), and STMS College (v3.5). The one I joined is only one month compared to the others.

So what do we do there? We go to classes, learn about different aspects of Christian life and the likes. We live in a great Christian community, surrounded by wonderful people generally after God’s heart.

And what’s the point of it? To learn. To grow in Christ, to get closer to Him. The entire course climaxes in the missions trip - for us, a 6 day 5 night trip to 3 different longhouses.

Ok, so what did you learn? Well, spiritual warfare never seemed so real and alive. I saw the importance of prayer and personal time with God. Nothing else is worth deleting that daily quiet time with God from our schedules. We failed in that aspect, and allowed the devil a foothold. But God works his own miracles, and in His time, we found freedom.

Well, any incident worth mentioning? There was the night at the longhouse. The electricity generator was shut down, and in the darkness, the rain roared above our heads. Oh, I love thunderstorms, but this one - this had a different vibe. Water leaked from the tin roof and you know how tin roofs can magnify the thundering of rain. So what I was trying to say is, we’d just been wearied by fighting in the day, and it seemed like the forces of evil were having the advantage at that time. The most beautiful thing in the entire situation (yes, beauty can be found mostly anywhere, anytime) was that those around me were praying aloud. Crying out above the storm in a intense fervency.

The next night, instead of thunderstorms, the skies were lit by stars. The funny thing was, only above our area were the skies clear. Far into all other directions, thick clouds blocked the stars. It was simply breathtaking. Like God was saying, ‘Have faith in me, it’ll all be alright.’ It was a great comfort to our battered and sore souls.

Is that all? Hardly. But it’ll do no good to bother you with too long an essay. So I end here.

Okay, last question, I promise. Why aren’t there any pictures? It’s like so boring, who will read it? That’s an extremely good question. I mean it. Well, I didn’t really take any pictures of the entire thing on my part, and even if there are pictures, they’re only of the graduation part. So why I don’t put them here? Because 1. the camera is quite far. 2. the computer’s usb hub sucks. 3. I’m not going to spend precious time trying to make the camera connect, i.e. let the computer ‘discover’ that there’s something in its usb hub. 3. uploading pictures too takes some effort.

But just to appease your appetite for pictures, here is one.

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Bible Camp

The Youth Worship Bible Camp, “Knowing God and Making Him Known” was held successfully from 29-31 May at YMCA. Despite a mere 33 people (a far cry from the intended target of 80-100 people), perhaps God had a different plan.

Arriving at YMCA, we had our ice-breaking and games, the standard procedure for camps. Then in the afternoon, we had our first theme talk by our speaker, Auntie Hazel Jeremiah. It was entitled ‘God Knowing You’ and Auntie Hazel reminded us of our position in Christ, how we are loved dearly by God. After a quick break, we looked into Moses’ calling and learnt various lessons in the session called ‘Getting to Know God’. The second theme talk was at night. We ‘followed’ Paul and Silas to Macedonia after they were called by God in the talk ‘Getting Directions from God’.

The second morning was almost torturous. Most did not sleep well on the rock-hard pillows, but those who did could barely get up at 4.30 am before the prayer time at 5 am. Few had waken at such an early hour to pray except for the previous camps. But soon the morning’s talks and discussions were underway. Theme talk 3 was ‘Returning to God’. In the story of the prodigal son, we focused our attention on the wonderful father who symbolizes our dear Father in heaven. As the Holy Spirit moved, we all knelt on the ground in a fervent time of prayer. Tears were shed in that awesome moment.

After that, we had a fast and pray session. Yes, that meant no lunch. But fasting has a deeper meaning than just the sacrificing of food. Anyways, we then watched the movie ‘Facing the Giants’, an inspirational Christian film which I have reviewed in the column of movie reviews. It was a fresh change in the movie world of bad morals and wickedness. Faith in God was no behind-the-scenes hint.

On that night, we had the final theme talk which was . This straightaway led to the altar call, where we were asked to line up in 3 separate lines to be prayed for under 3 different problems. Again, we saw participants moved to tears. Then we went into talentime. The room was filled with laughter and joy as different groups presented their various funny skits. Some had talents for drama, others had their talents elsewhere, but everyone did their best and had fun.

A late supper ensued afterwards to ensure that everyone still had energy for the next session - sharing and commitment. In the room, all the lights were turned off and everyone sat in a circle, staring into the dim light of the candles surrounding a cross which sat on a table in the middle of the room. It was the first time I saw everyone - yes, every single person - share something. Despite the malfunctioning microphone, voices were loud enough for everyone to nod their heads to. After each sharing, the question “Do you want to shine for Christ?” was posed and the participant went up to the table and lit his/her own candle. Of course, everyone lit their candles (even if the person didn’t want to, which I doubt, there would probably be some discrimination…).

The tired ones went to sleep after that, but some stayed up late talking. The next morning, after group devotion, we had breakfast and departed for home.

There have been some changes in the participants. Some prominent, others subtle. I see new youths full of potential. I see youths changed for the better. I only pray that the fire in their hearts keep burning, even to spread it to those around them. Last of all, as the popular and influential word during the camp which I suppose has not much meaning but is nevertheless spoken, just ’supervise’!

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Josh Groban’s new album

It’s almost Christmas. And months since I last typed an entry. Ok, at any rate, I found the Josh Groban new album - Awake, by some luck. Yeah, you do have to be fortunate enough to travel if you want any original albums where I live.

I’ve read quite a few reviews about this new album. There are people on both extremes - some hate it, some love it. I think it is just as good as Closer, although I’m not sure which one is better. Machine is a cute song, it’s good to try out new stuff once in a while.

Having said that, I think my favorite song is February Song. I also like Weeping. I don’t know, I haven’t listened much to it, but I like it. Just as much as I like Closer. I know this review isn’t very informative, but I think if you’re considering whether to buy it, you should just stop considering and buy it. I think it’s worth it. Wow, I think I’ve said too many ‘I think’ s.

Rating: 8/10. Interesting venture into stranger territories, even if not everyone likes it.

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forums

Some classmates of mine recently set up some forum, specially for people of my school. Teachers and outsiders are banned.

So of course the content is mainly school stuff, and I don’t know. An outsider, without registering, cannot enter anywhere. So I signed up, just to see what’s up.

For the record, we don’t mix. I mean, in Chinese they say, ‘beat into one piece’. But somehow, life has thrown me down a different direction, to which I have no objection. Of course, I did not post anything, leaving my posts at a 0, which is very common. I never post in forums - it’s more of a spying thing.

Then of course, if you don’t post, moderators are suspicious. I don’t think I’ll get banned though, well, there are people elsewhere.

I forgot what’s the term for people who don’t post nothing but always hangs around a forum. Oh yes - lurking. Well, I lurk about. I’m sorry, folks at school, but I just don’t. It’s me. It’s strange.

I bet you don’t understand this post. Don’t worry though, just click the close button and get it off your mind.

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Alias vs. CSI (NY, to be exact)

It’s been months, but I still miss Alias.

However, I thought, ‘If I could get one DVD, why not get one?’ And because Alias season 5 wasn’t out yet before the ‘meeting’, I couldn’t get it. So I opted for CSI. I would’ve chose CSI:LV, but I was too confused by the seasons available and TV was showing it too. So next in line was CSI:NY, because I didn’t like Miami and its people (esp. David Caruso). And I liked Gary Sinise. So that was the most obvious choice.

Season 2 wasn’t available yet, so I got season 1. I can understand why not everyone is fond of this show. I try, but I feel tired just watching one episode and exhausted after the second.

Everything is so dark, there are no subtitles (which calls for more concentration), everybody is so… boring. They’re just forensic scientists walking around doing their job in the most boring manner. None of their characters are too appealing, so the only reason was the prettier cast.

Well, which means I wish I could have Alias back. Not the yucky seasons since season 3, but the marvellous seasons 1 and 2.

A Comparison:
Plots
Alias: Despite lousy hole-filled plots, at least there is one - with lively action.
NY: I guess you call those cases plots, but it’s just boring and all. And not very original.

Characters
Alias: Sydney, Jack, Irina, Weiss, Marshall, Sloane, yes, even Vaughn. I probably won’t forget them in a long while. Bonus: ships.
NY: I don’t think I’m ever gonna board anyone’s ship. They’re all quite boring people, though cute.

Misc
Alias: Fast-paced, exciting. Half the time I sit on the edge of my seat.
NY: Dark and Dark. (the first season, at least). Most of time I lean back the chair, unless I’m so confused I sit up and go ‘huh?’.

Overall Score:
Alias: 8 (I suppose it’s a bonus I’ve gone over five seasons with it, but it was indeed a great show, while it lasted)
NY: 6 (perhaps it’s too early. But early or not, it does not seem to be a brilliant show.)

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Exams during Holidays

Holidays are fantastic, but not when everyone else are having them, while you’re stuck having to study.

Your heart flies a million miles away and you can’t get back down, not even when the books are in front of you.

Out of topic: Yay for Firefox 2.0!! Luv it. Now, I just need my fave theme updated, because the browser is looking very strange and different.

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Slow Connections

What can be more frustrating than absolutely slow, barely crawling along internet speeds?

Makes you want to grit your teeth and beat up something. I waited for ages for the ‘write post’ page to come up, in between lots of page-reloading. This is crazy.

What’s worse is - get this - a torrent with about 1000 seeders, and can only connect a maximum of 50. (Now it’s 3 seeders connected). Whatever happened? Something with the broadband supplier? Something with the computer?

Takes days just to download a 500 mb file, at this rate.

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Contact Lens - Ouch

Almost six years, and it’s the first time I’ve met with contact lens problems.

It all started a week ago, where my eye was periodically red. I didn’t think much about it then, refusing to believe it was my dear contact lens’ fault despite my mother’s anxiety.

Until finally my eyes decided to give me one big warning and that afternoon in school there was some pain and itchiness. And Lots of redness. (my classmates probably thought I cried)

Turns out infection. I was banned from my dear contact lens. Which meant glasses to school. I haven’t worn glasses in school for the entire 5 years there. Sort of traumatic to have everyone give you longer-than-usual glances.

I hope and pray that I can wear my dear contact lens again. (oh, how I miss you…)

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Infutile Meetings

I have long ago lost hope in the prefectorial board meetings. Maybe it’s because I don’t care about it anymore.

As usual, the head prefect rambling on how lousy we are and how we should improve. Then we all have to yell in agreement: “YESS!!” Oh, the lamest of all lamest things.

Let’s start from the beginning. I forgot about my little booklet (though I did grab a piece of paper at home) but I guess that doesn’t count, so I was one of the dozen or so who did not bring what they were supposed to bring - pen and booklet. Just the perfect way to start off a meeting.

Not that I complain. I’m to blame, entirely. After that, the discipline master began his half-hour long speech about various problems. Which was boring. Then he left, and the head prefect took over.

A ‘training group’ had been agreed to be formed, she said. The words struck my heart, and I knew - I knew in the depths of my heart - that I was definitely not going to be exempted. I began cursing and scolding (as gently as I could) in my heart. And sure enough, I was one of the people who had to join the group.

A fantastic waste of time. I swear I won’t join the prefect camp at the end of the year. In case I go crazy and end up getting fired instead of honourably retiring.

And all the problems about our detoriating quality and so on and so forth. I’ve heard it a million times. But I guess they thought it necessary to repeat it another million times. Then in the end, everyone seems to be so fired up, reminiscent of the effects of a youth camp. And the head prefect proclaims, “I want to see a entirely new, changed prefectorial board next week! Can we all do that?”

“YESSS!!!” Everyone screams, and I open my mouth and pretend, because I know I won’t change that fast, and I know it’s just as bad to make empty promises. Go ahead, scream about. Some will work hard to change, and I know it’s my duty to do just that. But will I? Will I ever find it in my heart, to truly change?

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Hazy MoonCake Festivals and Dumb Prefect Meetings

What do the two have in common? Nothing. But today is the Moon Cake Festival, which is great, because it means - delicious mooncakes!

From traditionals to agar-agar to ‘cold skins’, they are simply scrumptilicious. That is, until you get so full you feel like puking. And besides all the extra food, there are the colourful lanterns swinging in the dark of night.

There was a time when I loved to take the lanterns out for walks under the moonlight. It was every child’s joy. But there comes a time, when you grow up, and you don’t want to waste time feeding mosquitoes and smelling the burning candles. It becomes more of an obligation to your little siblings.

Once a year only though, and it isn’t too bad. Except this year, there has been a long spell of haziness. Haze may seem to be the brother of mist, but in fact, it is not. It has the outward appearance of Mist - a romantic white veil draped over the land - but it contains dangerous gases. Anyone who has lived long enough around this area is very well aquainted to Haze. And so, on this day, the Moon tries to peer past Haze, trying to shine brightly, trying not to let people down. It’s doing quite a good job, as of now.

Next - prefect meeting. I hate meetings which deal with groups I have no interest in. Yes, I’m a prefect, but the bad thing is, I don’t care about it. The prefectorial board is detoriating so fast, and I’m going to just graduate and forget about it. It’s a wrong attitude, surely.

They’re gonna make people ask questions. I have no questions. If I have, I can’t remember. And you know why some people don’t have questions? Because they don’t care. Why would you ask anything, if you were not interested in the rise and fall of your company, your club?

I’m so dead if the prefect peeps knew about this rant. But I don’t think they will. No one reads this neglected blog now. Ah, the sadness of life, sometimes.

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Almost sufferings

It’s bad if there’s someone in your house who likes some idol you aren’t fond of (and the chances of you being converted is next to 0%). Everything he/she does with the computer rotates around the idol. Every video downloaded. Every album bought. Every thread in the forum read.

The last part isn’t that bad, but the rest is pretty annoying. Since Clay’s new album, my sister has played it every day. I’m getting sick of it. How many times has it been already? Somebody save me.

Last word: I soooo CAN live without Clay’s voice screaming in the living room.

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A not-so-nice post about Clay Aiken and situations within the household connected with two sisters and some not-s0-nice ‘discussions’

Whew. That was a pretty long title.

I wonder if you know some things which you are indifferent to in the beginning. Then someone starts to fawn over it and go crazy. And the more they like it, the more you resent it. Not so much as that you don’t like ‘it’, but you just feel - well, like you got to tease and criticize to soothe the itchy feeling.

It sounds pretty stupid. But it did occur with Clay Aiken and my sister. And what pains me most is that I was the one who introduced him to her. I was okay with him - a geeky, skinny, not-my-type kind of not-so-handsome kid. But with my sister’s obsession, there was this itching within me. Like some kind of monster bursting from my heart. I have to make her unhappy about it or something…

Makes me feel triumphant, pleased, and guilty all at once. I try to avoid it at all costs now, after a considerably-sized argument -rare between the both of us. Unfortunately, Clay’s CD is coming out soon, and nooooooooo, I hope I can keep my cool then.

Otherwise the house will be as if stacked with piles of C-4s, ready to explode at any time. I will have to prepare myself to listen to Clay’s constant shrieks (he does shriek in nearly every song I’ve heard, nowadays, and I cannot understand why people love him so).

You’ve heard many cases of conversions to Claydom, but in this case, (my case is always slightly different from others, strangely) it’s a turn-off. Anti-conversion. (I don’t know the antonym for this word).

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Student Fellowship and the Degeneration

I belong to the Student Fellowship in my school. Even though the name doesn’t mention, it is a Christian group. Couple of years ago, when I first joined the group, it was doing pretty well. 20 or so kids, on and off.

Couple of years later, today, I find something very wrong. Perhaps the problem was there back then, just that I was too young to notice it. The fellowship has been reduced to a pathetic state, and with the absence of those taking public exams, I’m almost ashamed of being tied to this group.

But I think the root of this degenerating problem lies within the students of the fellowship. It’s not that they can’t lead worship and be good liturgists - oh no, in fact some of them are real good ‘professionals’ within their own church groups. Active-in-church Christians. And I fear, I suspect , at least what their actions in school speak out, is that they’re something close to hypocrites.

I’m not fond of that word. It shouldn’t belong to any religion, much less Christianity, but nothing is exempt from sin. And why do I say that those students are hypocrites? You can’t tell that they’re Christians. If I’d never joined this fellowship group, I won’t believe they are Christians. Few kids around here are outspoken about their faith, and with cheating and lying very widespread, light has almost been doused out.

Here I must say that I’m a little different from the rest, because even though I never really go around telling everybody that I’m a Christian, everybody knows. The benefits/non-benefits of being a pastor’s kid.

Back to the point. As I was saying, those kids are just one of the normal kids who defy school laws. Everyone knows that you can’t bring handphones to school. But they do. And they talk about it like it’s the most normal thing - or something exciting. The rush of adrenaline that comes with breaking school rules.

And is a Christian to be this way? Once a schoolmate told me a long story about Christian hypocrites in his class. I had a feeling - I just knew - that it was about the Student Fellowship chairman.

I won’t say anymore. But I’m thoroughly disappointed. I probably have many more reasons to be disappointed with myself, but I got to say, if there isn’t a turnaround in the lives of the students within the SF, don’t dream about revivals within the school and SF.

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Blogs

I put up a new blog almost different some weeks ago - but I hardly updated it. This was due to fact I found out that Wordpress was finally allowing users to host blogs on wordpress.com, and I just had to try it out, to see the difference between blogsome and wordpress.com

What were my findings?
I liked this blog better. Despite the fact wordpress.com allows pages, and I don’t think - at least I never could - that blogsome can have pages. Which is a disturbing and saddening thing. wordpress.com also allows transferring of posts from other blogs, unfortunately not blogsome.

I’ll stick here for the time being.

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Youth Magazine?

Well, the board did not so much as to approve the magazine/newsletter/whatever, with the reason of a church yearly magazine that did not receive much attention from youths.

Ah well, I guess no more ‘glamorous’ position of being the editor. It’s okay, though. There will always be a reason for this rejection, and whatever the reason may be, I know it’s for the better.

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Things that don’t happen in every day life

Some things don’t happen everyday. Like, for example, your kid brother somehow dropping a jar of condensed milk on the floor. I never quite understood how kids are so prone to disasters, but my brother isn’t such a troublemaker, so it wasn’t something that happened everyday.

Like I was saying, the jar of condensed milk on the floor. Now, it’ll be okay if the jar was plastic and bouncing around a bit before lying properly on the ground. But the problem was, it’s glass. And the whole tin of condensed milk in a puddle on the ground.

I tore my eyes away from the computer screen when I heard the clink of glass, which is usually a bad omen. Sure enough, the sight a few feet away was enough to make my leap to feet and well, cry out in dismay and horror.

There was never such a time when parents would be really helpful. But both of them were gone. And to make matters worse, my mom was in some group thing and didn’t turn on the handphone!! We strove to take matters into our hands, which I should say, was not a good idea.

First, we never had any experience whatsoever in cleaning up broken glass wallowing in a pool of extra-sweet condensed milk. And my sister cut her finger quite badly. Still fuming about the matter, I protected my hands and began picking up the glass. And cut my finger too when I wasn’t careful enough.

We all left the scene of crime in a hurry, each nursing an injury (My brother had a inner injury probably - guilt). Forget about the mess, it’d wait.

But it was almost funny. The blood gushing (not really) from my finger, it made me laugh. I know it sounds morbid and crazy, but well, it’s not something that happens everyday. A good experience, actually.

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Icons

Mainly to prevent the blog from freezing up.

All of these were done during the World Cup, so those who hate football, bear with me. I was bored, as usual. And because boredom is usually the main reason one produces icons.

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Coming and Going

Today, the neighbours have left. Coming back from school, I found the windows all locked up, the shoerack empty, and lots of things belonging to them now belonging to us…

Just a couple of months ago, it was unthinkable that they should migrate. No one had the faintest suspicion, save for those people higher up. We all were shocked when my father announced the news that they were moving soon.

Let’s go back further in time. When they first arrived, they were like lions descending upon partying gazelles. In other words, unexpected and unwanted. So we were as hostile to them as possible. We forbid them to join our ’secret society’ (which we had formed with the other neighbours). I still remember we built a cardboard house where we held our ‘meetings’, and there we discussed ways to torture the poor Lions.

Once, we found a disturbance within the house. This caused an upstir within our compound. The Lions have infiltrated our cardboard house! We put them to trial, in which they vehemently denied having done anything to do with it (but I know they were lying). We let them off, however, since it was coming to nothing, but made them promise never to enter the secret area again.

Another time, we made a whole box of paper planes. We prided in our simple, effective planes - the most basic of folds, yet the best of them - and scorned their ‘British’ folds which were complicated and barely flew. Time and time again we challenged them to plane fights, because we knew they were bound to lose. However, time and time again, they refused even to step out of the house when we were playing outside. Spoiled sports, we taunted them.

But somewhere along the line, we all grew up. Suddenly, we didn’t care about our secret society, or our fighter planes. We didn’t mind anymore their presence, in fact we all came to accept them. And it wasn’t before long that they were accepted into our company, and frequently joined us for games and fun.

6 years later, they have gone. Such a short time, yet it held so many memories. For if it weren’t for them, I would never have tasted the strange, perverted sense of accomplishment that comes with successfully bullying and surpressing those helpless ones. And I wouldn’t know the regret and shame of having bullied them. (although there wasn’t much of those feelings). Lord forgive me.

Well, the end of the era of Lions. A disturbing beginning and a shocking end. God bless them, and maybe someday, somewhere we’ll meet again, within God’s strange guidance and plans that never cease to amaze even the wisest and know-alls.

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All the Time in the World

Five years. And it all comes down into one finale. I have only one word to say to it: Heart-breaking.

Not because it ended. The ending killed me. The writers - what were they thinking? Jack died the hero’s death, that was okay, but did he have to die? And well, he was being quite the superman walking into the chamber a few hundred feet below the ground with two bullets in a lung and dynamite.

Irina. This is the character I’m most disappointed in. Everyone was played into thinking she was good, etc, that she’d always put Sydney first. But I guess the writers proved us wrong. She died reaching for the Rambaldi Sphere instead of taking Syd’s hand which Syd offered despite the fight earlier on.

And there was no SpyFam scene. This is the most depressing part of all. No Jack/Irina interaction at all - just a mess of jumble stopping the final bombing of DC and London. (I wasn’t even sure what was going on, being too traumatized by the fact that J/I were dead). The writers killed the ship - sank it, blew it into a gazillion pieces. They even made sure Jack was dead, really dead, by burying both him and Sloane (the poor immortal stuck under a rock) in the mines.

Let me just complain again - Stupid Ending, Stupid Writers. I probably will never be able to watch the previous seasons properly again. Knowing it would all end up this way. If only they could make an alternate ending! I know it’s too lame and far-fetched to have every couple living happily ever after on some deserted island, but it will satisfy me. If only…

The ending seems to have killed the show for me, almost. Now I can only look back in time, remember the happy years I had with Alias, cursing the ending which was heart-breaking and depressing, dreaming of what could be, screaming at the waste of screen time between J/I in the end. And wishing Jack wasn’t dead and Irina wasn’t dead.

Almost everyone is ranting and raving and screaming threats at JJ Abrams on the boards. A fine show - brilliant, in fact - degraded to such a position. It is unbelievably depressing.

Seems like I have all the time in the world now to mourn.

R.I.P. ALIAS, Jack, Irina.

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Icons - Alias

This is the one I dislike most. With a crappy picture, I got a little too crazy on blurring and literally over-blurred.

Too green. But a cute picture from Season 4, APO pt 1, where Syd disappears along with the Shintaro sword (whatever).

A Dark Turn. I like this. Words from a brush … um … I’m not sure…

Classic ‘forced-to-shoot-loved-one’ moment. One of my favourite scenes from Season 1 (oh, those days! How happy we were!) …..

Irina. Shooting back into Season 5. Perfect.

If I’m not mistaken - the first time Jack smiles. Season 1, when Syd gives him Thanksgiving leftovers at work. (Because as a rule, Jack doesn’t celebrate any season).

I must have been so bored as to even type comments on icons. Really.

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Youth Magazine??

It all came like a sudden hurricane, catching me off-guard. Suddenly during the Youth Worship service it was announced that there was going to be a Youth magazine/newsletter, and I was the chief editor!

There was the after Easter Sunday service 3-minute chat, in which they nodded their heads at me and pretty much decided everything. I thought it was all just something that may transpire in the far future. Not in just one week!

Oh well. But this is quite exciting, to be the chief editor. And furthermore, my mom is an editor too so things won’t be too confusing.

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Alias - Episodes 10,11

After months of endless waiting, Alias is BAAAAAACK!!! Now I won’t trouble myself into typing a whole review (seeing that nobody will read and besides I’ve written it already), but just to give some thoughts.

The first episode was just icing on cake. Yes, Jack being as cool and just … fantastic was great. Who else will have the guts to shoot a CIA director in the leg and start interogating him like he was just some nut? And the dumb security guards couldn’t even get through the glass door quickly enough, letting Jack have enough time to extract an answer. Very characteristic of Jack, the brilliancy and coolness we’ve all come to know and love.

That was pretty much the best part of Episode 10: S.O.S. Of course, the APO people infiltrating Langley (Dixon and Marshall as part of a tour, they must have been like, ‘Neener neener we’re real spies and you’re not).

As for Episode 11: Maternal Instincts, it’s superb (I think I’m running out of adjectives to describe great things). Any episode with Lena Olin in it is superb anyway. From the beginning where Dixon says Syd ‘waggles and teeters’ to the end where Vaughn - NOOOO - appears. That ending, well, I guess for the sake of the other Vaughn-crazy fans, I have to watch this dummy again.

Irina making a cold-blooded entry into Season 5 by shooting that poor director and killing him, was simply just like her. Then Syd goes home and finds Irina sitting at her table. If I were Syd I’d probably have a heart attack on the spot. And Jack comes into the house too and oh, the loverly family scene.

But wait. More SpyFam action comes right up. Remisniscence of Season 2’s ‘Passage’ (one of the best, period), they act as a family in a bank to get the ‘Horizon’ from a deposit box there. The acting is so brilliant. Then Syd stays upstairs while Jack and Irina head down with the bank guy and Irina stabs the poor guy with a large needle. Yes, so they got the Horizon, but Irina doesn’t exactly have pure motives (and Peyton is hot on their trail). She tries to stab Jack too, but fortunately the guy isn’t too dumb and gets her back. And their sharp exchange of words (as he holds a gun to her, Season 4 anyone?) pretty much bombs a hole in the ship I’ve come to love. Why, oh why?

When the chopper to extract them is blown up by Peyton and her bazooka, Syd is about to give birth. Yes, giving birth to your baby in a bank that is locked down with only your mother who just betrayed you again for the zillionth time is not the best thing in the world. Jack goes to finish off the bad guys, while Irina tells Syd that she (Syd) was never wanted and only was so because the KGB ordered.

Then to birthing babies. For Syd, it was very easy - too easy, I may add. But the baby is absolutely cute. And later, Vaughn receives tidings of the baby in some remote place (Bhutan, I think).

In all and all, I was pretty disappointed with the J/I stuff. Is their relationship too far beyond repair? I will hang on to the fraying threads of the ship (or just stand on the tallest point while the ship is half-sunk) as long as I have breath in me and the writers don’t blow up the entire ship in my face. This episode, admittedly, they weren’t mushy and all - even if the family pretense - Jack seemed irritated and annoyed somehow. I guess with Jack killing not-Irina and all that not far behind them, it’s just not possible they’re all happy. But I did think they finished with a good note at the end of Season 4. And in that, the writers do not have much continuality because with everything and all, Jack and Syd are still shocked about Irina’s betrayal, which they should’ve expected. Irina - I mean Lena Olin - will probably come back for at least one episode (there are only 6 episodes till the very end of Alias, NOOOOOOOO) and then maybe they can patch up their relationship and I don’t know, live happily ever after? But I think Syd and Vaughn and the baby will live happily ever after - if one of them doesn’t die. According to spoilers, one of the spyfam will die. Definitely not Syd, and I hope it’s not Jack or Irina. So the best candidate - Sloane or Nadia.

I have really babbled too much.

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Walkathons - the Money Part

There is something about walkathons - the money part. I dread the last day of the first semester exam when the teacher brings a stack of blue and white cards and announcing the beginning of the walkathon. Some kids are really enthusiastic. They start right off, bringing their cards to shopping centres and markets, walking for hours down the corridors, catching any passer-by for a bit of money.

The fact is, my school is poor. It doesn’t get any money from the government. And so, both teachers and students are not exempt from ‘begging for money’. No one likes to ask for money, whether for themselves or others (unless you are a professional beggar or just plain thick-skinned). I always wait till the last few weeks before I prey on the unfortunate colleagues and friends of my parents, who are always kind enough to donate quite some money.

Last year, though I couldn’t remember, the teacher announced that I got over 300. This year, forget it. My target is 150. I still got one more year to be embarrassed for my school.

Some feel proud for helping the school. Good for them. Unfortunately for me, I probably won’t feel that way ever. Only when a miracle happens.

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Prayer Camp

Perhaps it was by no accident that I came to be part of the Prayer Camp committee, and that my father was the speaker. So on that bright beautiful day, I boarded a car along with some others, along with my (regretfully) regrets because it would be the end of the holidays by the time I returned.

The two-and-a-half drive was almost insufferable, but we arrived at Kingwood Hotel, Mukah, unscathed. Everyone proceeded to their respective rooms, including me, who had a whole room to myself because the other occupants (my family) would be arriving later.

An hour later, we were led into ‘prayer walking’, something which most people found interesting and new. As its name suggests, we walked around the hotel grounds while praying, something which I found quite hard to do as my mind was kind of blank.

Then lunch. Much to the delight of everyone, it was banquet-styled. After filling our stomachs, we headed for a rest, then a session of ice-breaking, where people screamed like little kids and also sat around bored to tears.

Following a buffet dinner, we had our first prayer meeting of the camp. Pastor John led us down a road of past wounds, which only God can heal.

The first night, we slept at around nine thirty. For some, such an early bedtime was but a distant memory from childhood, but the rule was obeyed.

The sun had yet to dawn when the noisy morning calls came at 4.30am. With groggy eyes and weary bodies, we dragged ourselves into the hall for an early morning prayer meeting. It was a first-timer for most, as we knelt and prayed in small groups – aloud. That was a breakthrough. I never imagined the youths of the Youth Worship, Wesley could pray aloud.

A filling breakfast later, we had the first talk – ‘Watch and Pray’. I’m sure youths were inspired to keep watch and pray. Then there was the green book ‘Freedom in Christ’. During the first session, some people must’ve been confused, but followed nevertheless the steps needed.

Personal time with God was indeed personal, but everyone was finished within an hour despite the given one-and-a-half hours. The beach (or what is left of it) was scoured thoroughly by crab-finding youths.

We were then called back to the hall. Lunch? Well, no. Fast and prayer session. Again, it was a first for many, who thought it nearly impossible to go without a meal. But we all survived.

In the afternoon it was nap time. Wait. Why are we taking nap during a camp? The answer lies in the midnight prayer meeting until 2 am. So everyone took a nap – some unsuccessfully. Then the moment nap time was over, people dispersed. Some jumped eagerly into the swimming pool. Some took strolls down the beach (or should I say beside the beach?). While still others hung out in their rooms watching TV.

Dinner was welcomed warmly by hungry stomachs. Then we began on the last two sessions of ‘Freedom in Christ’. Bondages were indeed broken. Personal time with God later, we had our midnight prayer meeting.

As one of the ‘items’, the advisors lined up in the front. The youths were asked to come up and be prayed for by their choice advisor. In the dim yellow lights, the whole atmosphere was almost magical. Tears were shed as the voices of fervent prayers rose amid the song ‘Power of Your Love’. Then we ventured to pray for a continuous 20 minutes, which ended up not enough, according to most. Looks like we have too much to say to God, just that we never take the time and energy to.

We were allowed to sleep until 8am that night, and afterwards there was a time of sharing. Over 90% of the youths shared on how they were touched by God during the camp. It was amazing as you would have to force people to share during any other occasion. But this time, they willingly took the microphone. There were new insights and tissues.

Then an extravagant lunch later, we headed for home. The blistering heat was overwhelming, but God sent showers of blessings – literally. I could sense God’s presence the entire prayer camp, changing the youths and challenging them to grow closer to Him. The whole camp, being a success, hopefully will bring about personal revival in each and every one of the participants.

This is the original version. Edited version is available in Connection later.

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Icons

Just a bunch of icons from photos taken from stock xchange.

and Alias: Sloane and Nadia. And my cousin’s baby girl. If the picture refuses to come out, try refreshing.

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New Toys (plus food)

New toys, especially fun ones, are great. For quite a while, that is. So my father, coming back from USA, brought along a new camera, and the Alias season 4 DVD!

The camera is a Sony Cybershot DSC P-200. Cute, small … cute. A refreshing change to the ugly, bulky old camera that used to be on top of its world at one time. How fast time is.
Anyways I got a picture of the camera. Not my camera though, just a random one from a google search.

And best of all, the Alias DVD. It was smaller than I expected, the extras a little not up to what I expected, but the episodes I haven’t watched (yes, I did not watch a few episodes) were just great.

By the way, Alias season 4 is coming to AXN-Asia, Tuesday nights at 9.00 pm. I won’t watch though, because 1. I don’t have Astro. And 2. I already have the DVD, what for rewatching the whole season and taking the trouble to do so? (Even though the feel of watching it on TV is much different - there is suspense (?!) )

And food. Chocolates, bars, tons of them. When you get too many food, you don’t appreciate them. But it’s a fun change to well, eat lots of chocolate that you are getting sick of.

By the way, we got a new clock. Actually, two clocks. But one was bad, so we switched it to an even bigger orange clock. Which brings up the question: Are we really blind?
TO

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Camp

So I went to prefect camp for the past three days, staying in the school.

And as usual, camps - especially this kind - leave you physically exhausted and aching all over. It would have been better had we not gone to Kem Kemuyan on the second day, but I think going there was by far the best thing because time seems to pass faster.

True, I hate going to such camps, but I guess nothing much I can do after signing up for it. Some people in the camp literally did not sleep especially on the second night, because the next day was drilling competition day and we only had three hours on the first day to practise.

I took the first watch of that particular night, sat under the lights in the corridor and got bitten by hungry mosquitoes. While nearly everyone else was drilling. I ‘cheated’ and managed to be exempt from drilling at all that night.

About Kem Kemuyan, in the morning we spent three hours watching and waiting as everyone took to the wall. I think it is called a Canopy Walk, where one climbs to the top of a tower and comes down, spiderman-style, in a harness and all, like walking down the smooth wall. I had some troubles in the beginning, but it was all fine in the end. (By the way, that day was my birthday, and the kids actually remembered and sang the birthday song to me!)

The Obstacle Course in the afternoon was probably really painful for the bigger boys, especially since they had to do a lot of carrying and helping. Doing the commando crawl underneath the barb wire was quite fun actually.

So despite the lack of sleep, and the noisy clanging church bells at precisely 6 am, and dirty toilets, the days passed quickly, and finally I’m home again.

Home has never seemed sweeter.

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Icons

I don’t think I’ve posted these stuff yet. I think they’re based on tutorials.

All from Narnia trailer clips (except for the last one) and resources… my apologies. I don’t remember.

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Episode 9: Horizons

We start with Syd and Vaughn - gasp, but no surprise (spoiled too much already) - carrying groceries. Which is wrong. Then someone tells Syd to stick with Vaughn, then poof - two days earlier.

Syd went for her usual checkup, along with Jack. Jack gives Syd her thingy which she used to love when she was three and under.

Then there’s Kelly Peyton, Dean’s right-hand man (girl), now the leader of the bad guys who used to be under Dean. She kills a guy for his watch, and breaks into someplace where she steals Vaughn files.

Which makes APO go crazy. Syd is assigned to meet with Renee and see whether Vaughn ever told her anything. Nothing. But Syd is kidnapped, at the roadside, even though Renee flung two knifes (okay, that’s really cool), and shot a van like crazy. Renee only got the guy whom she thought to be her father episodes earlier (5x05 Out of the Box).

Jack takes it personally, so he goes to wherever where Renee is, where she holds the wounded guy. The guy is keeping his mouth shut, and won’t say anything, so Jack slices off his ear. But the guy’s tough, and won’t give up. Renee finds an address book on him, where there is an address written at least three times, and one time on the date of Syd’s delivery, which is in three days.

Meanwhile, Syd is fighting hard under hypnosis (or whatever). She goes back into all kinds of memories - season 4, 3, 2, 1, and Vaughn keeps telling her to let him go because the bad guys need intel that he tells her…and stuff.

Anyway there’s this bad guy behind the wall using distorted voice to direct the doctor guy. At last, Syd gives a wrong place name to them. And we see that behind the glass it is — Irina! And she talks to Peyton.

Kelly Peyton comes in, and Syd stabs her with the needle and rushes off. Meanwhile, Jack and Renee are at the specific address found in the book. All three are running around, then Jack enters a room, where there’s a crib, and rocking chair, and he’s surprised (in his Jack way), and says, “Good Lord!”

And Syd races out of the door into the sun just in time to see a helicopter take off, and that she’s so stuck on a cargo ship (called Athena). Looks like she is so going to have to deliver the baby on the ship just as the bad guys want .

Rating: 8/10
Just because of Irina, and Jack back in action (almost action, that is), and well the surprises in the end that really did caught me. Although Irina back wasn’t quite a shocker, I had stupidly half-spoiled myself in the forums before watching and suspected something. The scenes were obviously spliced in, and some say it is old footage, others say it is new stuff, shot in New York. Personally, it doesn’t really matter, so long as she’s there. And the crib room. Spooky. Please don’t tell me the baby is actually the real Rambaldi prophecy or whatever. I’m sick of this junk.

By the way, though this episode takes the highest rating in season 5 so far for me, it obviously doesn’t do the same for the people in USA. This episode has the lowest ratings of the entire series. How devastating can that be?

Hiatus until March. Until then, I’ll hopefully have the season 4 dvd. And meanwhile, so long as Lena Olin comes back, Alias will always rock. (almost always…)

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Motorbiking

Yesterday was the first day I rode a motorbike - on my own. Yeah. Because I’m old enough to do so and because if I don’t do it at this stage, I’ll have to wait until next year. Holidays are a great time to do stuff (and to plan stuff that you end up not doing).

Fortunately I live in a church area that has enough space to ride around, and a locked front gate at night which minimizes the amount of people watching (not like anyone cares anyway).

It was weird. Sort of like riding bicycles, except a motorbike is much bigger and heavier. As if there wasn’t much control over the motorbike, gliding off into the distance…

In the end, it was hot. Because of the helmet and the ‘armour’ I had to wear (courtesies of a mother). But it’s great. Learning to drive. A little scary, but worth it in the end. (Unless you die within the first few days of learning, which I hope doesn’t happen…)

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One more icon

Chronicles of Narnia - Peter. Because I don’t have one with his full face yet. The words are from the first trailer: A destiny will be fulfilled.

Credits: imsomniac, cbg

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Episode 5x08 Bob

Technically I was supposed to do Alias first (since I watched it first), but Chronicles of Narnia, for once, caused Alias to be overshadowed.

So anyways, Bob. There’s some kind of bomb which kills only people when activated, leaves everything else intact. Syd and Jack go someplace to meet the MI-6 contact - Elizabeth, who seems to have some history with Jack. She asks him whether he still plays the piano (since he was pressing some keys on a piano there), which the answer is negative.

After that, back to APO, where Rachel is sent to another place to get stuff. She meets Sark, who apparently is there for the same reason. After successfully getting the intel, she falls into bed with Sark (which sucks big time) as she had nothing else to do.

So they get the intel on the transfer of the weapon. Jack and Elizabeth go to the place and set up cameras and stuff. Unfortunately, the people aren’t MI-6 agents. They were… bad guys. (Frankly I don’t know the real name) The leader is a guy called Benjamin something.

So Jack and Elizabeth are taken to someplace. Where Elizabeth is shot in the hand in an attempt to get intel.

Meanwhile, APO people realize that someone else got intel and it wasn’t just Rachel who got it. They find out it’s Sark and Rachel is upset.

Anyways, Rachel had seen Sark’s plane ticket so she and Syd goes to that place to hire Sark. Sark calls Benjamin M and saves Elizabeth from getting her right hand shot right through.

After Jack and Elizabeth are rescued, Rachel dashes around to find Sark. Apparently he underestimated his friendship with the bad guy and is chained to the bomb.

Rachel is talked through the deactivating process by Marshall and Syd. Of course she’s successful.

Syd calls Jack and actually says ‘I love you’ which is like the 2nd or 3rd time throughout the entire series. And Jack goes to the piano and plays a song.

Rating: 7.5/10
Just for the sake of the fact Jack finally goes out in the field and plays the piano. Jack/Elizabeth got quite some reaction from everyone (including me) but they turned out to seem like old friends. I suspect lots of deleted scenes. The J/E ship technically does not exist and I hope it disappears forever never to return. While I may be a Jack fan, contrary to most Jack fans out there, I will always be a J/I shipper. In other words, always wanting Jack to be with Irina.

There is a great chance of Michael Vartan and Lena Olin coming back, so I’ll keep my hopes high for that.

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The Chronicles of Narnia

I finally got to watch it last night. There were tons of people outside waiting, and I was starting to freak out because I knew I was bound to meet a teacher. (I couldn’t forget the last time I went (which was last year) I met a bunch of teachers).

And…to my absolute horror, there were the teachers. They sat in the row right in front of me. And partly disturbed my watching.

But anyway, leave the disturbance behind. And get to the movie.

It was fantastic. Right from the beginning with the German bombers down to the resurrection of Aslan to the Pevensie children stumbling out of the wardrobe. The animals were amazingly done, comparable to the Lord of the Rings’ stuff.

The movie was well done, faithful to the book for the most part. The spiritual side of it was brought out well, especially about Aslan.

Except I wished I hadn’t read the book first. That took away the tension and excitement because I knew what was going to happen anyway. So I recommend watching before reading.

For Lord of the Rings fans though, don’t expect it to be like it. While Narnia may belong to the same fantasy genre, it is generally much brighter, more for kids. And somehow, the movie is done in a way that just doesn’t make you cry. Aslan, while I will always love him, comes out late, just goes through. Audiences don’t really have time to build a relationship with him.

That’s the down part. No tears. But it is great, for the rest. Go watch it, if you haven’t.

Rating: 9/10

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More Icons - Narnia

Since Edmund was being lonely as the only kid from Narnia being made into an icon, I did the rest of the kids, plus the eagle from the trailer. And yeah, Narnia is out already, going to watch tomorrow.

Credits: imsomniac, colorfilter (I can’t remember because I didn’t save the .psd file, and it’s been days)
Lucy

Peter - I think. Can’t see his face though. And I hope it’s Peter.

Mr. Eagle (lyrics is that song - on eagle’s wings)

Susan the archer

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Sir Big Icon

The terrapins, namely Sir Big and Lady Green, are so cute. Fortunately the neighbours took care of them for us during the 5 days we were away, or else they might’ve died. My little brother figured they could survive well, so he opted not to ask for any help. But they helped out at the end anyway.

Credits: insomniac

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Trip

It’s been two days since returning home, but I haven’t posted anything for two reasons : 1. I forgot. 2. internet connection went down at the most inconvenient time.

Anyways, I really had a great time in Miri, especially visiting the Mulu Caves, which are supposed to be the ninth wonder of the world. Mostly about the cave with the longest cave passage in the world, supposedly able to hold 5 St Paul’s Cathedral (or whatever). This cave, Deer Cave, isn’t the biggest cave in the world like many think. That title belongs to the Sarawak Chamber, open only to nutty adventurers who will put their lives on the line.

We did watch the famous Bat Exodus, where the bats came out in spiraling snake-like formations. And saw a captivating view - almost like heaven-on-earth.

I know pictures are almost compulsory, but the camera still sucks, and the other people who went with us who took the pictures haven’t come up with them yet. I can’t do anything about it. And I’m starting to think we really need a new camera.

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Holidays

So I’m going away for the holidays. Before I leave, one more icon - Edmund from Chronicles of Narnia.

Credits: imsomniac

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Past and Future

Recently my mother decided to clean up the study room, so in one afternoon we cleaned it up. Actually it was mainly my mom doing the job, while my siblings and I pored over the past. Things from ‘another life’.

There was the TSF box. We used to have our ‘detective team’ like those in Enid Blyton stories, along with the neighbour kids. And we called ourselves The Secret Five. It was silly, and funny to read the stuff inside the box. Back in those days, while we had great times together, new neighbours came. And how we tortured them! We kept them out of our secrets, built a whole stack of paper airplanes to shoot them, brought them to ‘court’ when they peeked into our ’secret hideout’ made of boxes out…

I feel really bad.

Anyways, that was one past. There were so many stuff, all the cute little soft toys, and our paper dolls. Ones we made. My mom accidentally threw a whole stack of them away, and we did go back to the huge green smelly garbage can in broad daylight to search, but it was useless. There goes all the beautiful, beautiful, beautiful stuff cut out from magazines.

But they are a past, and I doubt I’ll ever play them again.

Now we look to the future. It’s sad, but pretty much expected. Alias will end - really end - by May 2006. In other words, season 5 will be the last season ever. Well … it’s … sad. But I’m thankful for Alias, which has traveled with me nearly four years of my life, and letting me look forward to something each week. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end.

RIP, Alias, when that dreaded last day comes, when the curtain falls along with the credits of the series finale in May 2006 (which seems like a million light years away, but time passes fast). I will miss you.

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Alias Changing Timeslot + Spoilers

Looks like ABC has decided to put Alias after Lost on Wednesday nights, 10 pm. That means I’ll get to download and watch it a day earlier.

But behind every decision there is a reason. And I don’t think the reason is about gaining more viewers from a Lost lead-in. Looks like the show is getting a little um… not for kids, shall we say? And kids are less likely to watch tv at 10 pm.

I’m not sure about the next episode ‘Bob’ (which in fact, is Sark), but there are rumours that Sark is showing skin. Okay, that is not good. The press release makes me more cautious than ever.

“Bob” - After Rachel has a fling that inadvertently compromises a mission, she and Sydney are forced to team with Julian Sark (David Anders) to prevent a deadly micropulse bomb from getting into the hands of a dangerous mercenary. Meanwhile, Jack and a former lover — an MI-6 agent — fight for their lives after being captured, on “Alias,” WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7 (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET), on the ABC Television Network.

Guest starring are David Anders as Julian Sark, Caroline Goodall as Elizabeth Powell, Michael Phencie as Lukas Basarov and Ntare Mwine as Masari.

Jack and a former lover? Sounds pretty interesting, but I have my reserves, being a J/I shipper. I’ll probably have to ’screen’ the episode before downloading. Won’t be nice to let my little brother nor my mom (both of whom watch Alias with me regularly) see anything bad - skin or not.

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Icons

After fiddling around for awhile and having it turn out to be…..quite unexpected, I decided to post it anyway. It happened mainly because I just had to use some light textures, and they did not match with the bottom picture. So I sort of added another light tex to the bottom pic. My brother again, because he’s the sweetest thing.

Credits: Imsomniac, colorfilter

I made this one some time back, using a screencap from ‘Because of Winn-Dixie’. Initially I took the screencap while trying out different programs. And it did come in handy.

Credits: Okay, this is bad. I don’t know who made the film brush at the left side, nor the gradient I used.

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Episode 7: Fait Accompli

As usual, we have a couple of flashbacks. Then Syd and Renee are in some university in Rome, trying to get an access card. Syd is in disguise again and telling Renee where to look for the card in the basement place. Suddenly, Professor Choy (from season 1) appears and recognizes her! So much for disguises. Syd improvised quickly and incorporated the number of the box Renee is supposed to look for in an answer to her former professor. So they get the card and Renee asks Syd who the professor. Her answer? “No one. Someone from another life.” How true!

Anyways, Sloane confessed about meeting with Dean and stuff and he wants to doublecross Dean. And Dean wants the access card so meets with Sloane in Dubai, some racing horse track. Everybody except Jack and Marshall go there and eventually they capture Dean.

Dean is tortured with some kind of Marshall thingy. Syd has to comfort him and question him. There’s some kind of Glenheim tower satellite thingy where Dean’s organization communicates and does stuff. Obviously Dean works for bigger people, a set of twelve things which is another Alliance all over again.

Meanwhile Sloane is met up with this guy who tells him to kill Dean (to prevent any further spilling of intel). In exchange, Nadia’s cure. Nadia is awakened awhile and fine, but becomes a zombie-nut again soon.

With the satellite thingy, they discover that Dean’s organization and the whole thing is actually in the government itself. They need a password to bypass the security and stuff. The thingy will expire in just 6 minutes, so Syd goes. Unfortunately, Syd is too late. Sloane has killed Dean, and it looks like suicide.

Peyton the girl working under Dean takes over Dean’s organization, and the guy meets with Sloane again and tells him he needs more favors before he will cure Nadia.

In Syd’s house, Jack is building a crib. Syd sits there watching him. They finish it, and push it towards the nursery room, only to find it is too big to fit through the tiny door. Nothing to do but well…..”Get me the screwdriver.”

Rating: 7.5/10

It has been quite a long time since such a nice episode. The way they tortured Dean, using music, the mission at the racehorse tracks that was cool, the fact that Sloane is being bad again, meeting up with history (Professor Choy) and best of all - the Jack/Syd scene at the end. It was hilarious, that crib scene. One of the best J/S scenes ever.

One thing though, I feel cheated that Vaughn did not appear, even though Syd and him were all over the promotion pics.

Next episode, Sark is back. Sark fans are going crazy all over the boards. As for me, well, not excited in any way. Indifferent. And Rachel hooks up with Sark. Ugh. Somebody save me.
Preview clip: Just click the ‘Watch the preview of the next episode (even though the top still says ‘Fait Accompli’, which is plain wrong)

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First ever Tutorial

Go to my lj for my first ever tutorial. It’s sucky and simple though.

Codename Alias’ LiveJournal

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Another icon

I got bored (again), so I made an Aslan icon.

Credits: Screencap taken from throw_elijah, texture from liminalstate, and brush is a poster tape (I forgot where from) and tiny text from colorfilter. Plus Trajan as the font.

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Episode 6: Solo

Rachel’s family is ‘kidnapped’ by the CIA for witness protection sort of thing. So of course Rachel is really sad. And starts crying.

Sloane continues to meet Dean and tell stuff. Dean wants to find Vak, some weapon designer. So Sloane makes that into an APO mission. They have to find Zigza Zidane (I know, weird name) first, though. Syd gets Renee to get Zidane and he blabs about some intel someplace. So Syd, Dixon and Tom go to some India place where there’s this Chinese general about to marry an Indian girl. So Syd goes into the general’s office and speaks some yucky Chinese (but not so bad) and Marshall tries to unlock the safe. Unfortunately, the frequencies are jammed and stuff so Rachel runs out and gets the receiver closer to the building. She sees a guard and bolts in fright, getting rescued by Tom.

Now Vak is on a oil-rigging thingy in the middle of the South China Sea, where he sees no one but a girl per week. And Syd can’t go, cause she’s pregnant. So the only person is Rachel. Everyone doubts her ability (except probably Jack cause he sent her), but fortunately Syd will be on comms.

Rachel gets to Vak and successfully steals the thingy, but at that moment, her former friend from the Shed arrives. Dean did not believe Sloane and had personally sent the girl to get the thing. Rachel does some lousy fighting, but is successful in the end when Dixon and Tom save the day in a helicopter.

In between those action scenes are some Vaughn-mentions. Syd even plays a Vaughn tape to her baby at the end. We also get to see a glimpse of Nadia in coma, Sloane watching her.

Rating: 6.5/10

I am hating Rachel more and more with each episode. Blond character that seems so…just arrgh. Nothing exciting about her, cries every episode just like Syd some seasons ago. And Vaughn and Nadia will be in the next episode. Hopefully the next episode will be much better. I want more of the old people in action.

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Cat Rescue (or rather, Scaring)

There was this black kitty (unlucky??) that was so scared on the fourth floor. It didn’t want to come down, so the rescue team set out. As usual, it was headed by GL.

According to eye-witnesses, the cat jumped out of the balcony and landed on the air-con jutting out at the third floor. Somehow it came back, into the laundry room. Then I went along with my sis and bro. The cat - boy, was it fierce! Stared with murderous glint in eye (or perhaps I imagined it). At any rate, it kept making weird humming sounds, especially when GL prodded it. The black cat was cornered and scared.

Then we stood at various places around while GL scared the cat away from the laundry room. We stood just at the ‘junction’ and the cat dashed out madly. Pass our useless roadblock, into another corner. But at last, Jan used a broom and sort of swept the climbing cat into a box below, which was promptly closed. The box was brought down and the cat released.

the cornered kitty (in the laundry room)

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Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events

This movie is, like, ages ago, but I only watched it yesterday on DVD with GL and the rest of the gang. I would say it is not bad. Quite good, in fact. Watch it, if you have the chance, but I think it’s just another of those watch-a-few-times-and-never-wanna-watch-again kind of movies. That’s my just opinion, no offense to the die-hard fans.

The changed RWIR icon.

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Not a very great start to the school holidays…

Today is the last day of school. According to tradition, this day should be the happiest day. After all, I’ve looked forward and waited for it for almost a year. I should be rejoicing madly.

But no. Definitely not this year’s last-day-of-school. First of all, the neighbour people were one hour late in coming. That sucks badly. Practically no one was left around. I had to just stand like a dummy and wait…and wait…and wait. In the course of that I counted the number of windows on the nearby buildings and memorized a couple of car license numbers. Plus, there was a room for rent, so I memorized the number to call: 019-825-7866. Call if you want.

They finally came in the end (if they didn’t I won’t be here). I let them off the hook this time, because the excuse was quite valid. The kindergarten nearby had just finished school and all the cars were jamming up to pick up their precious stuffs.

So that wasn’t so bad. What’s really bad is that I still have to go back to school for extra class. Ugh. That sucks even more. At least the hours aren’t as long as normal school hours. But who goes to school for study during school holidays?? Only the over-hardworking students (but most especially teachers) of Catholic High, Sibu.

I will stop my ranting now. Today was also the last day of school ever again for the senior three students, who were literally crazy and just in extra-high spirits. Two more years to my turn. And on Monday, I began having guitar lessons. It kills my fingers. They’re red and sore. But according to everybody who has ever learned guitar, that is a must if you’re gonna play guitar properly.

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Church Sketch

Recently a couple of people and I have been commissioned to write a sketch for the youth Christmas party at the end of the year. Deadline? Next Sunday. 7 short short days.

And that’s really quite impossible to produce something great. Some modern Christmas day story was the ‘director’s’ order. So I found this site full of Christmas sketches, which solved the problem.

At least it almost solved the problem. Now I’ve to choose. Or rather, we have to. Filter out the heavy stuff, left with the ‘lighthearted’ category (because I don’t think anyone can act out a sad scene without making everybody laugh). Next, filter the ones above 30 minutes and below 12 minutes. After that, filter the ones that need children to act.

Not many left. I favor this sketch which contains a bunch of rewritten secular songs. It’s hilarious. But I don’t think it’s right. What about the X-iles? Costumes and such. I don’t know.

Argh. Whatever.

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Another icon

I think I must be so very bored lately. Because I slapped together an icon. With one of the pictures my sister has in her files. And who else but that guy. Whom my sister so adores but whom I so don’t care about. Clay Aiken. Oh well.

So here it is.
Credits: just a bunch of gradients, I can’t remember from where (sorry).
Font: Arial Black (yup, as simple as that)

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Alias season 1

Recently I have been rewatching Alias season 1. And I can’t believe how good it used to be. It was so great, the action, the interaction…especially the Jack/Syd scenes which totally rock. Let me list some of the more memorable scenes from the first four episodes, which of course are mainly Jack/Syd scenes (if you haven’t figured that out by now).

1x01 Truth Be Told - Danny proposes to Syd (a must watch!); Jack rescues Syd; Syd gets tortured by Suit&Glasses; in fact, watch the whole pilot episode!

1x02 So It Begins - Syd slaps Jack (ouch!); first double agent mission; Syd apologizes to Jack;

1x03 Cipher - Syd starts some questioning about mom; missions…

1x04 A Broken Heart - Syd invites Jack to dinner; Jack’s psycho-checkup; the dinner which Jack fails to turn up; Syd cries to Vaughn and throws pager into sea;

1x05 Doppelganger - Syd rescues Pattel the Nobel Peace Prize winner; blows up warehouse in Badenwailer;

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Another two icons

Here’s two icons. And tomorrow holiday (Hari Raya). Yay!

Title: Remember when it rained
Credits: stock image from stock.xchng, textures from oxoniensis, brushes from thia
Fonts: Trajan, Will & Grace, ChopinScript (I think)

I couldn’t get the rain effect right. Looks crap. Flashing about instead of raining.

Title: Jobe (my brother)
Credits: textures from wash_when_dirty, brushes same as above plus colorfilter
Fonts: ChopinScript (again…)

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Some Sensibility

Finally my school gained a bit of sense. They allowed us to go home two hours earlier than usual. But tomorrow I’ve to go back to school around 5 pm to direct traffic. They’re having some concert night to impress more kids to go my school.

Last night watched Smallville. Very humorous ending. So much for Chloe’s happy ending. Every thing goes to slow motion while Chloe watches sadly, with a almost-horror look on her face, between laughing Clark and Lois Lane. While Avril Lavigne sings, “So much for my happy ending…” Chloe will never get Clark anyway. The correct way to go is Clark/Lois. And as for Lana, I do quite like Jason (Jensen Ackles). I understand why Lana likes him so. Because he’s funny, cute, and romantic. Unfortunately, in the comics, I don’t think ‘Jason’ exists. Lana is supposed to go with Lex. They’re a cute couple, actually.

Some sensibility while watching Smallville might just destroy the show.

I set up a LiveJournal account. Called ‘Fictional Fantasies’. I should be posting stories in it. Purely works of fiction - including occasional icons (which look more normal). By the way, I made one ‘Remember when it rained’ icon, using a stock picture. It was meant to use animated raining, but somehow I couldn’t get it to work. Visit the journal to see the icon: FICTIONAL FANTASIES

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Episode 5: Out of the Box

Remember Renee the bad girl who stole the coffin-like box? After a week’s break she finally returns. We see someone break into some place and steal a thingy. Of course that person is Renee. She defeats like a dozen people and get away alive, jumping through flames.

So of course APO gets the news, and Dixon suspects whoever did it was the whoever that stole the body-in-the-box. Syd is determined to go see Renee and find out why, but Jack is over-protective and asks Tom to escort her.

Meanwhile, Sloane, enjoying his freedom, meets up with Jack, who says he’s already sent in a request to allow Sloane full access to all CIA files. (I am surprised by Jack’s all-too-simple trust…)

Tom and Syd visit Renee, where they find the corpse walking around. Renee is so happy — he’s her father. Unfortunately, they have no time for chatting, because they are attacked by a group of whoevers.

In San Francisco, Dixon and Rachel hack into some thingy using Marshall’s little remote-control thingy. They are trying to find some Dr Desantes, whose name was in the box as reported by Tom.

Tom and Renee hold off the bad guys, while Syd stays with Renee’s father. Some old stories are told, of which Syd finds a blooper. And everybody (at least she and APO people) realize that the body was Renee’s father, but the brain wasn’t. The body used some kind of thingy which is used for those transplants where the body rejects the organ.

In other words, Renee’s ‘father’ had a transplanted brain. And the bad guys were coming to rescue him. Obviously this brain belonged to Dr Desantes, because in the end, after he got rescued, Dean came to see him. And called him Desantes.

In between all these are Sloane scenes. Sloane has some deal with Dean, which means he has to get back to APO, in order to be able to allow Dean convenience. Unfortunately, there is a senator in the way, so Sloane goes and threatens her daughter.

Which in the very next day, Sloane gets complete access to CIA files. His motive was to search a cure for Nadia. And the show ends with Sloane walking into APO, towards Jack.

Rating: 6.5/10

Not bad. But the ratings have been a new low, in USA, that is. I’m afraid that it may get cancelled. Blame those stupid ABC people!! They put Alias in the ‘dead’ time on Thursday night.
Off-topic: Recently the Titanic Special Edition DVD came out. I wonder whether I should get it, seeing that there are so many special stuff. The bunny thing from angry alien productions is cute, watch it: 30-second Titanic Bunnies!

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General Rants

Everything on the Internet has been reeeaaally slow. I’m starting to go crazy with impatience. And I’m going to have to go EE later. The silliest thing is that I’m nowhere close to watching the Chronicles of Narnia trailer. Everything is so frustrating. And my EE trainer, Auntie Laura, just called and asked me if I had a prospect.

A prospect? Finding one like 45 minutes before the thing? Crazy! How can one be so last-minute? (I admit, I’m one of the last-minute people. Maybe that’s why I’m in the same group with her…)

Argh. Things are crazy. I’m going crazy. School is making me crazy. In any case, here are two icons I dumped together, the green one following a tutorial. I don’t know who the guy is exactly, I just grabbed his pic right off alias-media. But that’s the guy who ‘rescued’ Sloane in the previous episode.

Yay, cute Barney!

just call him Dean’s man.

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First Ever Wall in my life

I got this wallpaper, done like last year. The first ever one. In my dumb stupidity, I saved it in jpeg format, which means it is absolutely genuinely preserved. Whether that is a good or bad thing I leave it for you to decide. The people in there are not all my faves, because the horses and Clay Aiken are my sister’s loves, but of course Alias belongs to my addictions. And Josh Groban, well, sort of. Just that my mom likes him. And I also like him better than Clay.

I know it sucks, but oh well. Not bad for a first-timer, eh? Except Clay’s head got cut at the sight. I can’t remember why that is.

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Nothing Much

I finally got to play a bit of the computer. My little brother only started his exam this week, which was really bad, and I couldn’t play the comp in case of any distractions on his part.

But worst of all, I have to go school next week. Can you believe how crushing and devastating that is? When nearly everybody else, from kindergartners to secondary schoolers don’t have to go school the whole week! And our school only has two days holiday!

Let me explain this further: Everybody else previously had made up for those extra three days holiday by studying three Saturdays. So they get this privilege. And the stupid thing is that our school can’t do that. We already study on Saturdays. It’s normal (and different - the bad way). So we can’t and therefore are forced to be one of the only schools that still have school on Mon, Tues, Wed.

That is really bad. Three days, not to mention one day of afternoon classes. Haven’t we studied hard enough, O Principal and Teachers and Whoever That Decides Holidays? Come on, surely you guys don’t want to go to school too!

But I guess no amount of begging will every convince them to let us go. They’re hard-headed people, unfortunately, which makes our school pretty different.

Anyways, enough of ranting.

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Episode 4: Mockingbird

Syd’s in a casino, cheating with some manipulated dice. Dixon is also acting, and he points out his suspicion, which leads to Syd’s being ‘arrested’ by the casino manager. That was the break they needed, while Tom was fiddling with some codes somewhere in a garage. Syd shoots down the casino people in the room, and rush off to get some package using the codes.

As Syd drives towards home, at the dock she gets stopped by a guard, then the next moment, the whole car is lifted into the sky with a magnet crane thingy. Somebody asks for Mockingbird.

Then it’s 72 hours earlier.

At APO as usual, where everything is so bright and white… they are still trying to get Dean. Rachel is being sniffy and sort-of-weepy, recovering from the ‘truth shock’. Syd learns that Rachel’s codename is Mockingbird. (Alias people are avid bird-lovers, always using bird names as codenames).

Dean transfers some money from his account, which is just what Marshall needed to track them down, so Dixon and Tom go to some beach ‘on behalf’ of Dean for the money transfer. Unfortunately, security questions would be asked, so Syd had to drag Rachel back to Prague, into the remains of the former ‘Shed’.

Of course Rachel is all ‘I-can’t-do-this-cuz-I-keep-seeing-them-people’. And Syd is all ‘act-normal-just-like-me-cuz-I-do-it-everyday’. That made Rachel quite paranoid then, but they managed to get the hard drive.

Somewhere else, Dixon and Tom get asked questions by a lady. Rachel types in the questions and Syd gives them the answers through comms. Until the data gets corrupted, which is not good. Dixon and Tom buy time in an exciting moment, but Rachel remembers the correct answer and gives it just in the nick of time.

So Marshall gets some video thingy, where they find out that Dean’s archives are stored someplace, which is the casino Syd went to in the beginning. The previously watched scenes are hurried through, this time with the missing link - Rachel Gibson, who was the one who cracked the codes and gave Tom the codes and yeah, you get the point.

Rachel is in Syd’s cartrunk when the whole car was hoisted couple hundred feet into the air. Dean does not know Rachel is in the trunk, though. Dixon and Tom try to get the crane down, but Dean is controlling it from somewhere else. He releases them couple feet, like a theme park ride, as a warning.

So Dean thinks that Rachel’s in CIA custody. He wants Rachel to call, so Rachel calls, acting all scared. Unfortunately, some dumb ship chose that moment to make the sound which ships make at docks.

Dean, realizing that he’s been duped and Rachel’s in the car, screams, “RELEASE!” While Syd and Rachel manage to get out through the roof in time and hang there using some metal thingy.

All the while, sandwiched between these scenes, are the not-so-action scenes of Sloane’s ruling thing. The guy is against Sloane getting a pardon, so hopes seem really dim, until somebody under Dean comes and gives him a deal.

So at the ruling, the obviously corrupt guy says that he’s in favor. Which stuns Jack, and everyone else (except Syd and friends, who did not watch). As Sloane walks out alone, he passes the guy who gave him the deal. And the words ‘ALIAS’ come out.

Rating: 7/10

Alias might have sucked somewhat in the previous two eppys, but it’s picking up. Go, go, go!

Posted in Alias, TV/Movies | 2 Comments »

Crazy Stuff

Yes!! So finally exams are over and it is *almost* the end of the year and the end of the school year. Which means I’m saying goodbye forever to senior one.

And I get bored so easily. After spending a couple of hours on the computer not really doing anything, I came up with these silly stuff.

Is it meant to be funny? I’m no joker, really, it’s so anti-funny.

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Drabble - Revenge

This is a titleless piece. Inspiration came during dinner when there were fish eyes and I thought, “An eye for an eye.” Which led to, ‘a heart for a heart’, the main line of the drabble. It is revenge-themed, but hopefully not too negative, and may point out that revenge does no good.

By the way, the definition of drabble, according to Wikipedia is ‘an extremely short work of fiction with exactly one hundred words (or sometimes 100 words maximum depending on the exercise or contest)’.

In the night, those few seconds – like eternity.

But not enough.

She holds a gun and a crying child.

Bound to a chair, he is weeping.

“Spare her life! Take mine instead!”

“You cared not when you killed my child – your own flesh and blood!”

“I –”

She pulls the trigger. A shot and silence.

He stares in horror. Murderously.

“How could you?”

“Same way you could.”

She leaves. And after this night, the world will never see her again, but it is completed.

Still the evil cycle continues in hearts of men.

A heart for a heart.

It’s simple.

Exactly 100 words!

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Mia Maestro Colourizing

I got bored, so I did another first ever - colourizing. Which means colouring a black & white picture. It looks quite ugly and not very realistic, but I couldn’t be bothered to fix it anymore. Besides, I really have to study. So here it is. Click for full size picture.

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Episode 3: The Shed

I’m feeling quite lazy now, and plus the episode is far from brilliant, so I’ll just give a short recap.

We see Nadia swarmed by zombies (from last season’s finale), but unfortunately, we aren’t going to see Nadia in coma this episode, much less walking around.

Anyway, the new agent Tom Grace and Syd go to somewhere with Marshall to get Dean’s hacker. Yup, they’re still chasing after Dean. Syd isn’t happy to go with Tom, because Tom has always been a loner - working alone. But because Dixon is going to ‘monitor’ Sloane who is getting some kind of cure for Nadia in a trade thingy going to take place in Russia, so Syd has no choice.

They get the hacker - Rachel Gibson. She’s just like Syd-in-the-beginning, not knowing that she works for the bad guy, which in this case is Dean’s ‘black-ops division of CIA’ - the Shed.

Rachel is pretty cooperative, and she helps them download the files. Unfortunately, Dean finds out, and promptly sets the bomb and escapes. With everybody still in the office. Of course Rachel gets out alive, while I doubt anyone else did.

Meanwhile Sloane isn’t having a good time. The cure and everything was just a trick because the contact was angry at Sloane for having released the poison water. Anyway, Sloane gets away fine because the guy wasn’t the killing type.

Rating: 6.5/10

Well, well. At least this episode is a little better than the previous one. Some are speculating whether Alias would be cancelled mid-season, which I do hope isn’t the case. I don’t like Rachel Gibson. And Tom Grace isn’t too high on my ‘like’ list. My problem is that I am against new characters. It may take sometime to settle in, but boy, do I miss Weiss and perhaps, even Vaughn!

Now we just need Irina back to make the whole show much more watchable again.

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Sunday Sermon 09/10

Looks like I’m doing weekly reviews of sermons from Wesley Church…

Anyway, today was Rev Lau preaching. For one who almost never speaks, much less preaches, in English, it wasn’t too bad. Although it did feel like listening to a bad French accent. Which is quite yucky. But really, not a bad try.

She had the congregation laughing. The title of the sermon was ‘The Steadfast Love’. And we are to have steadfast love. I can’t remember though how we are to love…whatever. *hides ashamedly*

It was the first time in my life sitting through a morning service in Wesley, that the congregation clapped hands when the pastor finished. It was amazing, almost scary. Mainly because the sermon was finished, and nobody was sure that it was finished, so Rev Lau said, ‘Amen!’, which made everyone laugh and clap loudly.

One word about the powerpoint in the morning service: Obviously whoever did it can’t read Chinese, as he or she sort of got lost during the Chinese slides.

Then youth worship. My mom preached today. On purity. Which is quite a sensitive issue for youths. Everybody was pretty much interested and nervous. But I believe some were touched and perhaps will change. Thank God for those who will strive to live a holy life from now on.

Don’t ask, ‘What about you?’ Really.

Nothing to do with sermons: I am going to change the template and stuff, as I think the current one is horrendously horrible. And by the way, for the first time in my life, I tried my hand in drabble (exactly 100-word piece of writing). Not really good. Perhaps next week I’ll post it, as I don’t have the time to do now. Got to go watch Smallville, coming back to TV3 tonight. Whatever season it is.

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First Icon

Episode 1, ‘Prophet Five’, was somewhat inspiring and prompted me to create the first icon I’ve ever made. Okay, so not really the first one, but at least the first one that looks a lee bit better. I don’t think it’s pretty, because I’ve still got a loooong way to go. But actually, not bad for a first icon. Allow me to post it here.

Credits
Font: Scriptina, Adobe Garamond Pro
Textures: ofthesky
Nothing else, I think that’s it. Whatever.

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Episode 2: …1…

The episode begins with a flashback of what happened, i.e. Vaughn being not-Vaughn and car-crash and him dying and stuff. And then there’s Syd meeting with Renee (whatever).

So Syd meets this Renee person because she wants to find Dean and sort of get revenge. They get some hard disk thingie and extract a video from it. Video is on Ivan Curtis, the guy who killed Vaughn, and some Heinrich guy. Syd goes to ultra-sound scanning for her baby, alone, which is pretty pathetic.

So we arrive at Amsterdam, where Dixon and Weiss go on point, while Syd directs them. And the two guys do some cool acting in front of Heinrich. Then Curtis comes, unexpectedly, to get the package ordered from Heinrich.

Curtis gets the stuff, and kills Heinrich, cold-blooded man he is. Syd and Dixon and Weiss capture him though. And they start to question him and stuff, and find some green whatever stuff in the box, which reminds me very much of Rambaldi and the season 3 green stuff.

It is definitely to be used for powering something, and they don’t know what because Curtis won’t blab. So Syd kicks Curtis crashing out of the window, storeys above water, after he drinks some water with tracker in it.

Meanwhile, Jack recruits a new guy, obviously very naughty and rogue, called Thomas Grace (Balthazar Getty).

Curtis is tracked to somewhere in the air, flying towards North Korea with the thingie wanted. Which is a big no-no, so the three get into a fighter jet and intercept the plane, climbing into the cargo place, all without his knowledge.

Syd starts fiddling around with the cargo, Marshall on comms, trying to find a detonator, except there isn’t. Meanwhile, aboard the plane, Dixon and Weiss jump the people and a fierce battle ensues.

Curtis gets into the cargo area, and catches Syd. Who has just found out that the bomb isn’t a bomb — it hosts a frozen body. Syd doesn’t have time to marvel over her new find, and she and Curtis exchange sharp talk.

The guy keeps telling Syd that she doesn’t know what she is getting herself into. And he won’t tell where Dean is. At that point, the pilot is shot to death accidentally, and the multi-talented (all of them are actually) Dixon takes the controls.

The walls of the plane behind Curtis suddenly opens (or whatever, I’m not really sure what he did), and he gets sucked out into the air, while Syd looks on sadly.

Back at APO, Syd has a heart-to-heart talk with her dad, in which she invites him to come to her next checkup, which Jack readily agrees. She’s really sad because they lost their last lead to Dean. And the body is being sent to DSR.

Thomas Grace the new agent comes in, and Weiss has a sort-of-sad moment with Syd and Dixon, knowing that he won’t be there soon. Dixon tells Syd something, and later Syd calls Renee, telling her that the body was intercepted.

Renee agrees to check up on it, but right next to her, there’s the body and ‘coffin’! And the fingers begin to move — Frankenstein’s monster!!!!!!!!! (nah, the fingers move, and that’s it)

Rating: 6/10

the green stuff…

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This Morning

This morning. Sigh. Everything is normal now, as everything always is anyway. I must admit that I did not enjoy the whole thing.

Watching the little kids screaming on top of their lungs, jumping up and down frantically, sweating furiously isn’t exactly the best thing to see. Though it may be a little cute, it was bothering. Just for the sake of promotion the school has to force kids to go. Those kids are so into the games, it’s like the World Championships or something like that.

They were late 15 minutes. Everything was so chaotic at the end that you practically had to scream into your neighbour’s ear to be heard. Some people were getting upset and angry.

And was I glad when I left. I hope I won’t have to do such a silly thing again.

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Work

Who works on a Sunday?

The answer? Poor students/prefects who have to help out in their school.

And well, there was no proper excuse for escaping that problem. So I have to. I have to go tomorrow, 7:30am to 12:30am. *weeps*

Just for the sake of Primary Six kids who are to come play games. And on a Sunday too! Do they think we’re that free? Do they think that we are just slaves to come and go at request? We have to go church, we have to have our rest day!

Come on, stop torturing prefects. I never see other schools forcing their kids to go back for work. On the other hand, we’re different from them. Private school vs. Public school. One surviving with the donations of kind people, one swimming in the pool of government resources.

I can’t believe that I’ve to go. Once I got away from having to ‘pluck CDs off the boards after the record-setting thing’ (now that is another rant of its own). Looks like I don’t have the luck to get away twice. Being the pianist on Sunday doesn’t seem to be such a good excuse.

Now that I think about it, it could have been a wonderful excuse. But it is too late. Perhaps I can enjoy it, crazy as it may sound.

In any case, leave me alone to my sorrows for tonight…

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Episode 1: Prophet Five

Alias is back, after months of absence, and I just had the honour of watching the premiere episode. Before I proceed further, YYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yup, that’s better. Okay so now. Back in season 4 we were left hanging with a bone-rattling car crash. Syd and Vaughn (I’ll call them S/V to save time) are in the car, and there’s a medical team coming to help them. Syd is conscious, but Vaughn isn’t. And Syd sees the medical guy with guns all over the belt, so she kicks his butt and runs off into the cornfield.

Where they play catch-me-if-you-can, which ends up with two ‘paramedics’ killed and Vaughn brought off in a helicopter. Well, so right now it seems like it was an extraction, especially after Vaughn had just said that he wasn’t Vaughn.

Syd gets back to APO, where there’s a guy called Dean from Langley who asks her questions. Jack steps in and interrupts, and in a way chases Dean away.

Meanwhile Vaughn is in some place, getting tortured because the people want to know about ‘Prophet Five’. Probably something (or everything) to do with Rambaldi. Anyway he somehow escapes and calls Syd for his father’s watch, which has something to do with decoding the mystery.

Then everyone is against Dean, including Marshall, trying to protect not-Vaughn. S/V go and meet some old guy called James Leaman who is a cryptologist trying to figure out about Prophet Five. Previously Vaughn had tried to find that guy with a girl called Reine, who is a terrorist. Whatever. The technical part is not easy to understand.

So the Leaman guy wants them to get a book from some place in Cape Town, where S/V go. They get it successfully. Then meet with Leaman at some train track. But not before Syd receives the news from her doctor that she is pregnant.

Somewhere out there, Dean has this agent who finds out where Vaughn is.

Vaughn goes by himself to meet with Leaman, and suddenly cars pull up, Dean the Langley guy pops out with some people, and they fire round after round into Vaughn and Leaman. And steal the book. Syd watches helplessly as a train rattles past between her and the scene.

Vaughn ends up in the hospital, where Syd waits anxiously. Jack comes in, and scolds her for being stupid. But Syd flashes up her final defence: “Vaughn and I, we’re having a baby.”

Which changes Jack’s mind, and he sides them. Then Syd goes in and has a little talk with Vaughn, and suddenly the machines start to beep red and doctors swarm the room….and Vaughn’s dead.

Cut to funeral. With closed coffin, which arouses suspicions.

Then four months later. Syd finally finds Reine, and says that it has something to do with Michael Vaughn.

THE END.

So Vaughn died. Can my dreams be finally coming true?? I doubt so, but I do hope Vaughn’s dead. Give me reason to enjoy the season all the more, man! But indeed, not too bad a premiere.

Rating: 7.5/10

Vaughn’s coffin flanked by colleagues of APO, front line: Marshall (tech guy), Dixon; second line: Weiss. Syd and Jack are unseeable in this shot.

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Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World

There’s the book, but I’m talking about the TV show.

Season 3 just began tonight on TV3, after an one-and-a-half year break. My siblings and I used to watch it, but now, as I’m watching while typing this, I think it’s very silly. How stupid they are! Especially Veronica-the-savage-girl. And Lord Roxton the dummy who always has to look so dumb.

Now they’re having the ghost ship crisis. Not sure what is going on, but I know that Veronica-the-savage-lady (my mom just called her the beast lady…) is chasing the poor ghost-captain of the airship. And being so beastly and savagely and bad. Poor ghost-captain. I pity him. If they torture him and put him back into place, I’m going to hate them all (including silly Marguerita and weird, beady-eyed Challenger). Hey, I actually remember their names!

Frankly, I don’t think that they are very good actors. Oh yes, I forgot to mention Malone the dummy reporter who looks and acts so dumb. I hope he’s dead for good.

Yeah, and I remember the ‘a-goong’ (old man) from season 2, Summerlee, who is actually the only more normal one.

Now, Veronica-the-beast-girl is being really bad. Argh.

Well, forgive me for this uncivilized rant, but I really can’t help it. It’s annoying. Let me give you a picture.

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Malaysian Idol 2 Results

Last night, we gathered around the television, our hearts beating fast, the finalists on screen looking nervous, the emcees gripping their cards…and the sentence begun………..

“And our new Malaysian Idol is…………..*everyone holds breath except me*…………DANIEL!!!”

“Gasp!” was my sister and GL’s response. “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!”

You see, they are anti-Daniel, because they think Nita sings much much better. I for one don’t really care who wins. The judges were happy that Daniel won, not because they like him better, but because, well, both of them can win.

Nita might have won in terms of singing, but Daniel has a fan base of 1.2 million, mostly consisting of little screaming girls, who think he is cute. Which I think is the most absurd thinking in the world. You call a guy like that cute?? Those little girls must be short-sighted.

But in any case, the fact can’t be changed. Daniel is our new Malaysian Idol, whether we like it or not. While I don’t think he at all deserves to be the new Idol, but the little girls have too much money to keep SMSing for him. Daniel received a whopping 68% of the votes.

And Malaysian Idol season 2 is over. I shall miss dashing home after Youth Worship to catch the show. I shall miss hearing Jien’s annoying words: “Malaysia, you vote, you decide…” and the rest of those similar sentences. I shall miss the three judges, namely Roslan Aziz, Fauziah Latiff, and of course, Paul Moss.

Rating-in-whole: 6/10

Daniel crowned Malaysian Idol (thus MI). Although that’s not the results show picture, I find it VERY difficult to get pictures of MI.

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Malaysian Idol Grand Finale

23/9/2005, after four months, Malaysian Idol Season 2 Grand Finale was aired live. Why it must be called ‘grand’ I can’t understand. It wasn’t too grand in any way.

The final two are Nita and Daniel, representing two different races. They presented three songs each yesterday night at Genting Highlands Arena of Stars, and as it is with finales, they performed much better than usual.

If I am to be honest, I think Nita should be the Malaysian Idol. After all, I cannot imagine a little kid being the Idol. Even though Daniel is extremely talented, I don’t think he has matured enough to be the Idol, representing Malaysians.

Yet I’m rooting for him. Why? Because I don’t fancy Nita and as a result of that, the race factor sinks in. Daniel is a Chinese, and that is why it’s Daniel all the way. Well, most of the way anyway.

Coming to the songs. Paul Moss was indeed quite ‘high’ that night, giving positive comments like never before. I missed Jaclyn Victor’s wowing performance last season. Both contestants failed to reach her standard, in my opinion. Of course, each of them have their own field and talent, and sometimes, it really is difficult to compare. Daniel had to go first, possibly because he lost the coin toss (and those who lose the coin toss are bound to go first in such competitions). His first song, Mimpi, was quite disappointing.

Round one went to Nita, without a doubt.

Then the second song. Daniel sang his ‘theme song’, ‘Heaven Knows’ by Rick Price. Much better. I like that song anyway, and Paul was displeased with Daniel not having much eye contact with the cameras. Nita sang the song she did best. And in a way, round two goes to her, subject to opinions.

The final song, Nita with ‘Mimpi’, the winner’s single, and Daniel with ‘Angin Malam’. Both were equally good. Paul Moss was literally ranting about the cameras while commenting Daniel’s performance.

Perhaps Malaysian Idol is much deeper than it looks. A battle between two dominant races, both who have always been suppressed by each other in different ways? I shouldn’t think too much, but one has to wonder, especially since the Chinese and Malays have not always been good buddies. The winner will be representing all Malaysians. I wonder whether there will be any manipulation, which I do hope not.

Daniel

Nita

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Seminar

There was a Youth Ministry Training in Wesley. Literally it was for adults who are ministering to youths, but because of the embarassing lack of participants, the youths were dragged into it too.

Of course I had to go. Twice in the week people called to remind me about the training. I promised to go once Saturday afternoon, even though there were three sessions. I wasn’t about to torture myself with so many sessions that frankly, has nothing much to do with me.

So sitting there in the little chapel, with less than 50 people sitting around, I felt a little sorry for the speaker. Not very nice when you’re speaking in a seminar to so few people.

(Cut to say that the USB port is so stupid!!!! The computer man came twice and it still can’t work!!!!)

Anyway, the speaker is from West Malaysia, a Dr Herbert Tan, who reminded me somewhat of the tour guide we had during some trip, who was disliked by everyone. Of course, this speaker has nothing to do with tour guides, and everything to do with youth ministry.

He was talking about generation gaps and stuff like that. Doing youth ministry has become a cross-cultural mission, because the adults and the youth belong to two different generations and two different cultures. To reach out to the youths, we have to learn their language, and stuff similar to that, just as what cross-cultural missionaries usually do. Talking about SMS and chat language, I’m not sure where I fit in those. I’m a youth, that’s for sure, if you know my age. But I don’t chat, I don’t SMS, and I’m quite anti ‘bad English’, as used in such areas by most teens. I prefer using the normal English.

(Cut again. The USB port isn’t dumb anymore, it worked perfectly, but my mom deleted my pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Back. Which makes me wonder where do I actually stand in all this adult and teen stuff. Teens love movies. I don’t fancy them, as I don’t really have the time.

In any case, I still have some characteristics of today’s youth. Is that to be a comfort?

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The Missing Terrapin

We keep two terrapins in my home. One male, one female, with two totally different personalities. The male, called Sir Big, is huge, hungry, and timid. The female is called Lady Green. She’s small, doesn’t care much for food, and is brave and adventurous. When you think about it, Lady Green’s IQ is probably double of Sir Big’s.

Lady Green always escapes. It isn’t the first time she escaped today. Everytime she happens to be in the container with shorter walls, she always climbs out and runs away. One would think that Sir Big, being bigger, would climb out more easily. Truth is, I haven’t seen him climb out once. He’s too clumsy, in my opinion.

They always have a special container to be fed in, in order to prevent contamination of their tank’s water, and that container has much shorter walls. My mother fed them in the morning, and forgot to put them back.

And so, when she checked on them, there was only one terrapin in the small container. Lady Green was gone! My mother searched around the area, along with my sister and, for a while, my father. My little brother and I were both in school at that time.

In the afternoon, we searched high and low. Even braved ourselves (and our respiratory system) to search in the ‘Place of Darkness and Shoes’. That place belonged to our neighbour who takes one of the six apartments on the floor we live. And that place is definitely where you do not want to be, yet Lady Green was found there a couple of times.

It seems like the only person destined to find Lady Green will always be GL. Everytime Lady Green goes missing, she comes out to help us find, and in the end, it is she who will cry out, “I found her!”

Lady Green was found behind the luggage, a dark and dusty place. She was covered with sand. Our hearts were warmed and we were so relieved; it was like the parable of the lost sheep that Jesus told. We were like the shepherd in that story, searching for the lost sheep (except that in this case it’s a terrapin). Even though it has been many times she was lost and found, each time we wonder if it’s the last time we’d ever see her, and each time we find her, we’re so happy and angry at the same time.

I guess we can taste a bit God’s feelings when we repent and are found again. So after hours and hours of disappearance, and after a full hour of a search and rescue mission that almost left us in despair and without hope, Lady Green is back, swimming in her tank where she belongs.

One thing I wonder: Will she ever learn to stay in her tank? The dangerous world outside is not for tiny terrapins.

(By the way, I would post some pictures, except that the camera has gone a little bonkers, but the main problem is that the USB port is……)

Yay, a picture:

The camera that takes ugly pink pictures…

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Lab Torture

Probably when you see ‘Lab Torture’, your first thought may be dissecting poor little animals, or anything, as humans are indeed capable of thinking about everything.

Anyway, the torture here refers to the torture of students, including me. Our class was ‘kicked away’ from our classroom, because the senior 3 students had to have their trial exam. And of all places, we were sent to the physics lab, which had just undergone a renovation.

The number of students in my class is overwhelming. 54 kids can definitely wipe out a poor teacher. And because we were too big a number, the only place left for us to go was the physics lab. This morning when I arrived at school, the class monitor was struggling with the keys to the lab. A group of classmates stood outside, obviously not very happy.

All the more reason to be upset when we stepped in and found the ground covered with brown sawdust and the room stuffy. One boy broke a glass pane when trying to open the window, which was very unfortunate.

For the rest of the day, we suffered. The ventilation was horrible, everyone was so hot and sweaty, the sun happened to be in a ‘hot mood’, and the fans just weren’t enough to keep us happy. Worse of all, the stools. Those tall wooden stools that literally tortures your butt. Sitting on it for a long period of time is unbearable. Standing up was such a relief.

The teachers too understood our pain. But what can be done? If it had been just one day, great! But the problem is, we’d be here till next Wednesday! How long can we survive? May the Lord have mercy on us.

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SH/Moon

I admit, I regretted badly that I did not buy both volumes of the complete set of Sherlock Holmes when I was in Hong Kong earlier this year.

And I admit, I love the Sherlock Holmes stories.

Thank God for free online e-books! Although the enjoyment of reading it on the computer screen is half of reading it in black and white, at least I can read. The ‘death and resurrection’ of Sherlock Holmes, the two stories that I wanted to read but was not included in the volume I have.

I really admire Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories that never fail to make me wonder at the flawless endings. And Sherlock Holmes’ almost supernatural powers of deduction makes me wish I had them too. I’ll never again have to wonder who borrowed my stuff! Mathematics will probably become a piece of delicious chocolate cake that I’d never have to rack my brains over too much. Then maybe I’d go for a career in crime-solving, in which I’d make a great, famous name for myself. And hopefully I would overcome my adversary like Sherlock Holmes did to Professor Moriarty. Except I think I’ll pass the weirdness of Holmes’ character.

Keep on dreaming…

By the way, today being the 18th of September is the Mooncake Festival, where I get to eat delicious mooncakes. The funny thing about our family is that we never buy mooncakes. They come to our door eventually, given by well-meaning people eager to serve their pastor. Mooncakes are really expensive anyway, especially the good ones. And looks like we’re out of lanterns to play with, and out of people to join in ‘lanterning’. Why on earth did the festival had to be on a Sunday, when everybody is so busy?

The moon is round. Really really round. Why is it that round? Because it happens to be closest to the Earth during this particular day called the Mooncake Festival. There are many stories surrounding the festival, from the lady-in-the-moon to the guy-who-can-never-stop-chopping-the-tree (if the story really belongs to the festival). I’ve heard of silly stuff like ‘don’t point at the moon because your ear will be cut off’, which is downright senseless.

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Sunday Sermon

Today’s Sunday worship service we had this guest speaker called Pastor Pax Tan. He was weird, and mostly funny.

I had to listen to him preaching in two services. The first time I heard him begin the sermon, I sighed and thought it was going to be an ‘err’ sermon because he erred, like every two sentences. But just five minutes later all the ‘errs’ vanished and were replaced by ‘hellos’. As in, ‘Hello?’ which was really weird and somewhat annoying after one too many times.

During the Youth Worship Service he preached on the passage of sheep and goats. In the beginning of the sermon he had all the acknowledgements: Thanks to all the auntie and uncles from the bottom of my liver…

Which he explained that his heart had been taken by his wife so only can the liver. Everybody was laughing so hard but I don’t think most caught the joke. ‘Hati’ in Malay is usually used for heart, but technically and biologically, it means liver. So literally when you’re thanking someone in Malay from the bottom of your ‘hati’, you’re thanking them from the bottom of your liver.

So much for that.

There were funny stuff sprinkled throughout, but came one part when he actually burst out singing the first line of ‘I Feel Good’. Yeah, that silly song, which so happens to be the theme song of NTV7. In fact, he sang quite well. If only he sang the whole song.

Really, sermons aren’t all about laughter. There are also serious stuff, and I gathered that the main point was doing good works, because it is our duty after being saved by grace. At the end, one of the advisors asked whether we would like him back to preach. As expected, everyone shouted ‘Yes!’, except for some, including me. Have you ever heard people shouting ‘No!’ when asked such a question? It’ll break the pastor’s heart, or rather, liver. The problem was that he sidetracked a little too much. Sidetracked in a way he was still talking about the correct stuff, but it’s still called sidetracking.

Anyways, I did learn quite some. You’re saved by grace to do good works. Well, you say you don’t wanna do good works? Then you probably didn’t have a genuine heart in accepting Christ. After all, a genuine heart means you’ll definitely do good works as it’s your duty.

Sometimes it’s a little confusing. If I type anymore about that, I’m really going to get more and more confused.

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Happenings

I changed the header pic, as I was sick of looking at the default one. But I’m not satisfied with the pic, I’d change it when I have the time. That is, tomorrow.

My sister, Jan bought her dream cage today. Yup, her cage. For her hamsters. Personally, I never really cared for animals and I don’t think I can stand taking care and feeding pets everyday.

The hamsters were only recently given by a friend, and my sister, being experienced with mice, wasn’t pleased with the tiny tiny cage given alongside it. So she looked around for dream cages, and finally found one, which she bought today. With her own money, spending about RM50. She almost went for the RM90 one, complete with tunnels and such. That would be a real horror.

But anyways, she smiled so brightly when the cage was brought home. The hamsters were put in, and she watched them run the little wheel, playing with them for nearly an hour, along with my little brother. Good for her (and her hammies).

The teen Chinese magazine ‘Beyond’ should be out in a couple more weeks. When it comes out, make sure to get a copy and read the English story (the only English column). You can get one at most Methodist churches in Sarawak, hopefully. Or just order one by calling the Methodist Message office, whatever the number is. And yay, I’ll add another small prize thingy to my collection.

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The ‘Emergency’ Prefect Meeting

If anyone knew I am disclosing the meeting facts to the public, I’d be fried. Literally.

Anyway, this morning there was this prefect meeting. From the contents of the meeting, I judged it to be sort of an emergency because of the deterioration of the whole prefectorial board.

So they (the head prefects) started the meeting 5 minutes later because of late-comers and was chewing us out. About how irresponsible and careless we are. And how the blah, blah, blah. All you need to know is that we’re getting worse and bad and everything else negative.

One of the head group, despite the look which is everything but strict, is always the one to do the scolding. He doesn’t scream, but just babbles on quietly. I was starting to get impatient and my neck was stiff from staring at him. I don’t know if anyone was ‘touched’ by his message.

They were talking about student issues, about our lousy attitude. On and on about how everything goes back to our attitude towards prefect duty. I thought one thing (at least something) was quite good. The deputy head prefect (or whatever the post is called, I only know the Chinese term) said that if we can’t even do two years’ work properly, wholeheartedly, how are we ever going to work for years in the future with our company?

At the end of the hour, they got the prefects asking questions eagerly (excluding me), creating a less pressurizing atmosphere. Questions like, how can we chase the students who run about during recess? and also, why do have to care about the students who run about playing? To which the answer was because if an accident happens, fingers will point unhestitatingly at the prefectorial board. Which, if you think about it, isn’t good. So I suppose they can’t be allowed to run.

They mentioned that we were lucky. Not having to beat students up like prefects in other schools. Just a simple sentence usually puts the more obedient students back to place, while the older, impossible ones, we just hand in their names.

Everybody was on a high when the meeting neared the closing, probably because they were either happy to get out of the room, or they really wanted to change. The speeches kept on being interrupted by the drilling sounds, which was really annoying, but it finally ended after an hour.

So, I went home. And typed this. It really isn’t too revealing, in the end.

Posted in School | 2 Comments »

Stories

I found out that recently, I really did not have much to do on the computer. Despite the fact that staring at the screen boredly is better than not touching the dear computer, I think it’s time I did something that doesn’t waste time.

I’m considering posting a couple of my mainly silly stories, plus a couple which were printed in ‘Beyond’, a teenage magazine with a pathetic number of readers. That magazine has only one column for English stories, and best of all, my mom is in charge of that column! Which means I can get my stories there regularly - as long as I write them out before the printing of the next issue. Not many competitors, in fact, there was only one in the one year history, which means the pay for the published submission is almost as good as mine.

Cheating? Nah, just an easy way. That doesn’t mean I simply do anything for the stories, it still takes a couple of hours and some afternoon classes where the teacher doesn’t care what we do. Those times are really good for inspiration.

Expect to see something better next week, for now, this is Codename Alias signing off.

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ipod nano

Apple just released a new member of the Ipod family - Ipod Nano. And by first glance, it obviously beats ipod mini, its poor deserted brother.

I actually considered buying the mini in KL during the trip last last last week, but fortunately I kept my cool enough and did not spend precious ringgits on it.

And look what happened. Something better came out.

I’d consider buying an mp3 player two years later. After all, here in Sibu, going places take only 5 minutes, 15 at the most. You just don’t have the time to listen to your ipod. Traffic jams seldom happen (only during accidents), and we can’t go anywhere too far in a car. Anyone would choose a plane over a car ride, with all those silly winding roads filled with holes. Actually, they’re considerably better already, although a million lightyears away from a modern highway.

I think I digress too much. Anyway, I’d wait. Unless I can get one for free, forget it. Two more years and iPod should be either much better or out-of-date. Let me just wait till then.

Isn’t it so horrifically cute?

iPod nano link

Posted in Music | 3 Comments »

Prefect Duty

I know it’s quite illegal to say anything about the inner working of the prefectorial board of my school, but who knows who I am anyway?

If you’re in my school, you’ve got to be amazed at the prefectorial board. It’s the thing which keeps the school’s discipline together. They do everything from patrolling classes to traffic control. And while it’s quite bothering, I feel proud to be part of it.

In the morning, unless you’re lucky, you’ll have to patrol the class. Actually, babysit the class. Walk around making sure the kids have books on their desks and keep quiet. The worst thing is that you have to babysit the senior 3 classes. Senior 3 students are 18 years old, opposed to prefects aged 16 and 17, of which I am the former age. It’s really intimidating, because after all they’re older than you and more prone to being rebellious.

Of course, the junior 1 kids, 13 years old, are the best to babysit. They’re cute as babies (some of them, really), they’re scared of prefects and better to control.

So that’s the morning session. 15 minutes of pure torture in the class, which could have been used for doing last-minute homework. If you get to the correct ’station’, instead of babysitting classes, you patrol parking lots, stand at gates, etc. I prefer those.

The break time, 20 minutes, is a definite no-rest. Some patrol, those who babysitted classes in the morning stand near the classes they babysitted. Usually, that’s the best time. And you get to leave the class 10 minutes earlier!

Then comes to the traffic control. I have never seen any other school whose prefectorial board directs traffic. It’s simply crazy; why is it so nessecary? Just let the cars jam their way around. Oh yeah, I forgot, some picky teachers will complain.

The first time I learned about the whole traffic controlling system, I was in awe. From the parking lot to the main street, everything is integrated seamlessly, communication close to perfection. The system is a little too long and complicated to go into details here, but you just need to know that it is amazing. I salute the ‘founder’ of the thingy, even though I hate the fact that I have to do it.

It’s a bother at times, true, but in the end, I have learnt a lot, and am still learning. How many people learn how to direct traffic, waving gloved hands about? How many deal with rebellious students (whom I’m really scared of, ashamedly)? How many learn how to check students’ appearance (I forgot the word for it) and ‘raid’ classrooms for forbidden articles?

Still, if only the two-and-a-half years of service would pass quicker.

Posted in School | 2 Comments »

Pride & Prejudice

I found the book by Jane Austen on the trip to KL, a cheap RM 8.90, so after some struggle, I chose it over Les Miserables (which was much too long!).

And I struggled through it for nearly a week, with days-long breaks in between. Perhaps I’m not yet up to that standard yet, or I’m too lazy. In any case, I finished it, rooting most for the 2nd couple, Jane and Bingley.

For one thing, I didn’t like Darcy. Prejudice, I guess. Always happens to the ‘first’ couple, why that is I don’t know. And Elizabeth was much too spirited for my liking. The ‘old’ English took more brain-power than usual to understand what they were babbling about.

But the characters were done nicely, and I can see why it is called a classic. While there aren’t many exciting parts in my opinion, the best part for me was the Lydia-ran-off-with-Wickham part. Although I couldn’t quite understand why they had to have Lydia marry Wickham and be so worked up in first place.

One day, I’ll take up the book to read it more carefully through, but for the meantime, I should wait until I understand more fully and desire to read it again.

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Past, Present, Future

I can’t really remember how my obsession with Alias started, but it sure had everything to do with season 1 which aired some years back on TV3. That’s one of the four basic channels of Malaysia’s pathetic television network.

I still remember that the first ever episode I watched of Alias was by an accident. Almost. Alias aired on Thursday nights, 9:00pm, and before that there was the Invisible Man, which my sister and I watched periodically for entertainment. Back then we had to be in bed by 9:00pm, except on school holidays, which it was when we watched the Invisible Man. No offense, but now
I think that show is quite silly.

So when IM ended, I had to find out what show was airing next. I did not watch the pilot episode (I can’t remember why), but I managed to talk my mom into letting me watch 10 minutes of the new show. The only thing I remembered from the first 10 minutes I ever watched of my future obsession was the scene where Sydney slapped her poor father (strange, but I like this kind of weirdness).

I didn’t really care at that time, but every chance I got, I watched 10 minutes. Gradually my mom loosened up, and we got half an hour. That was great, but it still wasn’t enough. I remember just at the half-hour mark there was an exciting escapade cut off by an advertisement, and as we were ushered off to sleep, I wasn’t too happy.

Well, the big break came soon enough. There was a holiday on Friday, and it was the first time I ever watched the whole episode of Alias. And I was hooked. My mom obviously liked it too, because she let us watch the whole show finish ever since then, until the end of the season.
Everytime before watching it, I would be close to hypervilenting, my hands cold. It was silly, but I couldn’t help it. As the season closed, I prayed with all my heart that Alias would return for a second season.

It didn’t.

But I found another place to feed my obsession. Thanks to the Internet, I continued chasing after Alias. When my dad went to USA, I got him to buy the season 2 dvd, which started a whole new phase of Alias in my life.

I was finally up to date in the real Alias world.

Season 3 was a total disappointment to me, personally. The only thing that kept me going was those brilliant Alias fanfics. When season 4 came, I had high hopes, which I tried to lower. I downloaded two-thirds of all the episodes, marvelling over those last 2 episodes, where Irina Derevko came back, despite the stupid clone matter.

Now season 5 will premiere September 29. I probably will never watch Alias again live on television. Although I can still watch it after downloading and buying the dvd, watching something on tv is forever a different feeling, a different excitement. Just as long as Jack and Irina remains in Alias, it is fine with me. In the beginning, I was hooked by the roller-coaster plot. It’s different now. The plot isn’t great, I watch it purely for the sake of characters.
Alias never returned to the glory of seasons 1 and 2. But if the plot should captivate me again, that, I think, will be the best thing besides Irina’s return after one-and-a-half season’s absence.

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Cleaning Day

It has always been a tradition at Wesley Church that every National Day is also Church Cleaning Day. And as one of the lazier ones who don’t enjoy getting dirty, I never did join it (guilty…). This year, I had to. Well, I didn’t really have to, it was just that, you know, I became part of the Youth Worship Committee. It was supposed to be compulsory for the committee members to show up, but not many did anyway.

So the only thing I did was wipe chairs. They weren’t that dirty, which was a good thing. Then I got lazy and itched to walk around the compound. Watching people work is much more fun than working yourself, at times. The first chance I got, I deserted the other chair-wipers. Down the corridor, past every room, there were people working really hard. Wasn’t fun enough.

The fun is always in the biggest room. For a church, where else would it be but the sanctuary? I found my family there, plus a couple of really cute, chubby kids who were sweating hard as they scrubbed the floor. One guy was perched atop the ladder with a broom lengthened with a couple of poles and sweeping the ceiling.

I spent the rest of the time watching and walking around the compound. I won’t say it was fun, but the whole thing wasn’t too bad an experience.

The National Day of Malaysia falls on today, that is 31 August. I remember we used to watch the Merdeka Day procession in the morning on the tv, watching the floats go by the screen. But the excitement of the whole thing faded away after a couple of years, because truthfully it is very boring. So for most people, National Day has just become another public holiday and another happy day for kids who don’t have to go school. It’s just that not many people, especially teenagers today, are patriotic. And I won’t say I’m patriotic either; I don’t deserve that adjective.

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Back Home

So I’m finally home after nearly a whole week away. The trip was great, despite the endless bus rides, which weren’t too bad after all. Our tour guide was a funny guy who told so many silly jokes (clean ones).
And it’s back to the hectic, non-stop schedule of my everyday life. Actually I’m really not that busy, but homework is hair-tearing-frustrating.
Come to think about it, school isn’t too bad. Why? Because without school, we will never know the joy of a school holiday. We will never look forward to the day we can sleep as late as we want. If everyday is a holiday, will it not all be too meaningless. Well, I still don’t like school.
I would post pictures of the trip, except that the camera sucks and takes horrible pictures. Outdoors in the sun, the pictures taken turns pink. Pink and white pictures aren’t beautiful at all, and are nearly impossible to fix, because everything is white and pink and blending into the white background.
I would also post a detailed description of the trip, except that the internet connection has gone wrong and I’m doing this in my father’s office. That’s not the problem, the real thing is that there is a one-person line waiting for internet usage, and I’m ready to sleep.

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