Illusion of Words

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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Vaughn dies?

Prior to any show with an upcoming new season, there are always rumors. They always cause huge uproars, whether or not they be true.
As Alias nears the fifth season (yay!), there are rumors saying that Vaughn would be leaving. Or rather, the actor, Michael Vartan. Either way. Anyways, all the Vaughn fans were going crazy (even though it’s only a rumor), trying to get him back to stay. I for one don’t care. Vaughn is by far the character I hate the most.
With the rumors about him leaving, I can only hope it’s true. While it’s a major setback for some fans (some because not everyone likes Vaughn), I think it can be a breath of fresh air for Alias, along with some new cast, especially since Alias has not really recovered since the brilliant season 2.
So I don’t really like change. But so long as Jack is still a character in Alias, and Lena Olin comes back for more episodes, the rest of the Alias world can crash for all I care. What else can you ask for as a die-hard J/I shipper? The Alias plot, which I fell for in the beginning, isn’t really intriguing now, as it has just faded away into one of the average shows of today. If it wasn’t for Jack and Irina, I won’t be here as I am, an Alias fan.
Back to the rumors. Whether they turn out to be true or not, whether Alias falls or not, looks like season 5 will be the last season. And with a last season, shouldn’t there at least be a happy ending? Sydney with her ‘true love’ Vaughn? If Vaughn is going to die, please DO NOT tell me Syd will have a new love interest. She had had like, 5 love interests already. And that sucks. I always enjoy one true love kind of thing, and that many love interests isn’t what I like.

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Welcome and Goodbye

After hours and hours of struggling with the stuff with no apparent success (a good waste of time), I finally decided I should at least post once. Then figure what to do with the layout.
Anyway. Welcome to Illusion of Words. I don’t know why I chose to go with this title, but I can think of no other name at the moment. So forgive the title.
I will be going to KL for the whole week, so there will be no updates, because I doubt I can access the Internet in view of the fact I don’t own a laptop. Now I can’t touch the dear computer for six days, and those six days include all of the holidays.
And homework. Tons of it, I can hardly breathe under its weight. Why so much homework during a one week holiday? The teachers must have gone crazy.
One more thing: as a really good kid, I only touch the computer twice a week, on weekends. Which means weekly updates. Hopefully I can petition successfully for some time during the week, as ideas pop into my mind frequently and fast (going away just as quick) and I don’t think they can wait for the weekend.

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