Tuesday, May 23, 2006
Grease
As much as I'd like to talk about the grease we use to lubricate vehicle parts or the grease that cleans my oily hands when I do ground work, no, I won't and I can't, because one: who'd want to read about that grease, and two: I'm no longer a technician. Well, that's not true, I am one, just that someone had a brilliant idea to bring me up as a clerk recently due to the fumbling of a certain idiotic fellow. Hatred, to my current position and to that thoughtful idiot.But that aside, Grease, the movie starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton John, is definitely a movie worth every ounce of your attention. It is a classic, a masterpiece, a favourite of mine. I can remember the time I first watched it. It made me think about music, about love and, most importantly, about getting that wicked car called Grease Lightning. (Hey, it's slick alright!) And although I've only watched that movie once, and at a young age, I can still recall a lot of scenes. I recently got a hold of their songs, and it's amazing to hear them all over again. It's like time has never even moved all this while. What can I say? Good things always last forever.
And now, I'm rather hyped about this friday, as I'm going to watch 'Grease - It's Still The Word' at the National Indoor Stadium. I'm pretty sure it's going to be a blast. Unfortunately, my wallet has been hit pretty badly as well. Haha. Oh well, if it's for a good cause, I can't really complain can I?
Oh, I recently bought a ticket to the Coldplay concert as well. Thanks to an excited Wally, we got our hands on it before it expectedly sold out fast. Again, my wallet is crying. Oh well, another good cause. =)
I would like to call for a moment of silence for my friend's friend who passed away today. I heard it was a motorbike accident, and that is a cruel death. My respects to you, although I do not know you at all. A word to all motorists: Please be mindful about safety at all times. Think about what you'll be losing and be losing out on. It sounds naggy, but it's irritating for a reason, because you know deep inside, it's true.
Alright, that ends it. I'm going to catch up on some lost sleep. I am in need of it.
10:33 PM
The Mind Of A Suicidal
I can almost feel the minds of people who commit suicide. I can understand why some people choose to do that which is almost impossible to perform. An act of death unto one's self. Everytime I try to imagine myself thrusting a knife through my chest, or jumping from the 19th storey, there's this humane sensation saying "Dude, what are you thinking?!". Indeed, what was I thinking? It is this voice that saves many people. The voice of conscience. And not just any conscience. The conscience of being alive. It is probably that thin thread that keeps us away from giving our lives away needlessly. Yet, through it all, I'm beginning to understand. Scary, but true.For it seems, I'm hitting the lowest point in my life right now. Coupled by problems I can't accept, flashes of horrific scenarios run through my mind. Of me, jumping in front of a speeding car. Of me, cutting myself with a rusty blade. Of me, jumping off the top a towering building. Of me, doing unthinkable things. I kid you not, I do see it. This is the mind of someone who has lost hope and wants to be set "free". It's these thoughts that can really cause suicide. It's very temptuous, but it's just not me to do such a thing. Well, that's for me. We can only wonder how others are affected with images like that.
But to kill yourself, that's the saddest excuse to run away from something. I confess, I do want to run away from a lot of things, and just be free. To be my own boss, to do what I want and feel like doing, to be me. But I always tell myself, nothing will ever go my way. You have to pick up that hiking gear, gear up, and conquer that highest mountain, and other mountains that you come across as well. It's the challenge, the game of life, at difficulty mode I might add, that makes me play my hardest.
Well, it was interesting studying the mind of a suicidal person. Don't worry, I'm always going to try to live my life to the fullest. I'm just grumbling over where I am now. How much longer till I reach the peak? Hmm.
10:02 PM
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Undetectable Fear
Monday, the day in which my batallion was given a day off due to polling day, was a freaky day for me. More so because what I'm about to say didn't happen once or twice before. (First of all, I want to say thank you to my Commanding Officer (CO) for being such a good-hearted man, and I'm not saying this because he gave us off. He is truly a leader with a good heart. 6DSMB, we can! =P) Anyway, back to the story.Being one of those rare days whereby you can spend your weekday out of camp, it was a timely break. I was depressed, of being the new clerk, and of not being able to do as well as I'd like, and this was my day to just break free. I decided I should take a trip to the National Library, a place I'm growing accustomed to as calling it my third home, with second being in camp unfortunately. With overdue books in the bag, I was compelled to return it by that day, or face an ever-growing fine. It was a peaceful journey, going there all alone, with just a book, a bag and a Sony Mini-Disc Player for company.
After getting new books to read, and settling the fines from overdue books, I went on to Bugis Junction to window shop. You know how shopping malls nowadays have laser sensors on those automatic doors. (We live in an era of laziness and convenience eh?) Entering was no problem. But when I wanted to leave, the door did not open. You'd figure with laser sensors, as sensitive as they are, it'd be impossible not to detect a human. Wrong! For some reason, it didn't detect me. I was all alone there. Puzzled. It only opened when another couple came near it.
Now, what's freaking me out was the thought of me not being a real entity in this world. Was that a moment of carelessness from a system to make me believe I'm real? I am pretty sure that when I entered, I had people around me, so detection was not on my part. It made me think, "Was that for real? Am I real?" It's a stupid thought, I know, but I've always had this feeling that there are some things in this world that doesn't feel real, including me. But hey, who am I to say what's real or not? I'm just saying it's a feeling. The only reason why this concerns me was that this has happened to me on several other occasions before, and not all at the same venue. A glitch? An error? I do not know. Sometimes, I doubt my existence at all. Just what is real nowadays? I wonder if the old technique of pinching yourself to feel pain in justifying reality is truly reliable. Nobody knows. Nobody cares?
Now, away from all that philosophical mambo jumbo, here's a video that feels a little too unreal. Haha. It's good though. Enjoy. (Credits to wally.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg
Back to reality. Tomorrow's my IPPT, and I'd better rest. Cya.
5:32 PM
Boo
I recently read a book titled 'Boo' by Rene Gutteridge. It's a story of how an infamous horror novelist, Wolf Boone, lost the feeling of writing another horror novel, thus turning to religion to start anew. The small town in which he lives in, Skary, Indiana, is against the idea of him abandoning his profession, as doing so will mean that it will revert back to a no-name place before he came around. Finding new peace in himself, he seeks out to fill in the void, and a budding love interest. However, he faces a wall of people who secretly wants to revert him back to the same horror novelist that made the town so successful.First of all, I didn't expect it to be holding Christian values in the story. Disregarding that fact, I believe that this book gives a warm feeling when you read it. I acknowledge it more for the comedic situations, the depth of characters involved, and how the storyline binds together like perfect knitting from front to back. It's a nice book, and it reminds me of my childhood favourite series of 'Fear Street' and 'Goosebumps' by R. L. Stine, the latter being my top favourite.
I read quite a lot of those books in my primary school days, always buying/renting new ones constantly. I always felt that horror novelists have a good sense of making an environment come alive with words. And more so when I read 'Boo', giving the same viewpoint as I did. I could always imagine the monster or ghost, coming around the bend, behind that shelf, while the unsuspecting kids await a horrific moment. I loved that about horror books. That's why I liked to write narrative pieces. You can just concentrate on letting your imagination run wild.
I don't read those anymore, but I am thankful to these books that made me interested in the English language. It was so influential, that when my English teacher (then Mr Seethor) commented it was not worth reading those books anymore when I was in Secondary One, I stopped reading books for very very long, lasting many years. I did it out of anger I guess. But looking back, it was rather foolish. Haha. I am back on reading, more so because I'm in army, where brain decomposition is a norm. I hate those grammatical errors, those spelling mistakes, the poor sentence construction, the poor English. Sure, I know how to correct it, but it irritates me just to see a line like, "Get a flat screwdriver to screwed it back." Doesn't this just piss you off??
I liked a line Wally said yesterday. "Intelligence can be ignored, stupidity is hardly the case." He was commenting on how there are so many stupid people around. Asking pointless questions and bringing up senseless topics. He witnessed all these in forums, in which he is a regular by the way. Forums are great sources of information, and with the right kind of people, it is definitely a hub of golden information. Yet, there are always those who spoil it, and they spoil it bad. I've heard quite a few funny excerpts from him about forums. I guess the '300KB of horror' is the best yet. =P So hmmm, I do agree with his statement. Do you?
Today's Mother's Day, and I gave my mum the presents. I'm not used to fluffy moments, so yeah, today was weird. Got to cut this post short. My mum wants to bring us out for lunch. Bye bye.
12:08 PM
Monday, May 08, 2006
Ghost Writer
It is something which has eluded me for so long. Ghost Writer has definitely been one of the more interesting TV shows for me out there when I was young. Despite the simple theatrics used for the Ghost Writer himself (he looks like a ball with eyebrows), the mysteries more than make up for it.
Mr Ghostwriter. =)
Why am I suddenly talking about this? It is out of pure coincidence actually. Went to the National Library today to borrow some books, that of which I've been deprived of for a few weeks now. I had not set my mind for any book, so I casually browsed through the shelves, hoping to eye some interesting books, and covers. (Covers and text quality play a big part for me in choosing a book.) Then it came around. 'Boo' by Rene Gutteridge. The cover is just a simple abstract of a cat on a creamy background. Simple and nice. So I started reading it and it turned out to be quite a page turner too. Reading the synopsis, the last line wrote:
Rene Gutteridge is the author of Ghost Writer and Troubled Waters.
It definitely rang a bell, and suddenly, I was surged by memories of the TV series Ghostwriter. Although I was intrigued by the title, the series and the book are written by different writers, and are different in terms of sotryline as well. Here's the link for the series.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108787/
Here's an excerpt from the 'Ghostwriter Unofficial Website':
"Ghostwriter is the story of a ghost that has been inside a book for many years and is unleashed when the book is dropped from a shelf in Jamal Jenkins' basement. The ghost is very confused and it finds that it can read words. It can also take letters from written words and use them to spell out messages. It uses Jamal's computer to write to Jamal and at first Jamal is really scared. Then Jamal begins to write to the ghost and Jamal doesn't see the ghost as something scary to him anymore, but a friend. The ghost is given the name Ghostwriter because it's a ghost and it writes: ghost+write=Ghostwriter. Ghostwriter looks like a glowing ball with a furrowed brow (that's how I'd describe him). Not everyone can see Ghostwriter and the next person to encounter the friendly ghost is Lenni Frazier followed by Alex Fernandez and his little sister Gaby. Each of the kids are already connected to one another (Lenni lives in the apartment above Alex and Gaby's parent's store and Jamal knows Lenni and Alex because they all go to the same school), but Ghostwriter brings them closer together. Every show is has a mystery to solve and the kids soon find out that Ghostwriter can help them find clues that they wouldn't normally be able to get. They join together to form the Ghostwriter Team."
The Ghostwriter Team.
Simple structure, but beautifully elaborated in every story arc. It does not only dedicate one episode for a mystery, but around five. It is this lengthening of a story arc that kept me glued to the series. I remembered that when a mystery was solved, it was always worth the wait. Haha. This is another classic that was underrated and underappreciated. The series was cancelled due to lack of funding. Man, if only I was richer then to give them my support!
So here's to Ghostwriter, another influential chapter of my life. You rock man! I really loved the series.
Here's a link to the unofficial website.
http://www.geocities.com/unofficialgw/index.htm
3:47 PM
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Having Fun With Blades
Went rollerblading yesterday with kexin and vegustian. Ah, it felt really, really good. It's been quite some time since I rollerbladed, last being about 3 to 4 months ago. Went to East Coast Park (ECP) for this.We all met at Serangoon Macdonalds. A place full of memories too, in both my Zhonghua and Nanyang times. We were supposed to meet at 8 in the morning for a hearty breakfast. Alas, like any good Singaporean, there will always be someone late. It was not my turn that day. Haha. Came at 8, and they arrived at 845. *Snores*
Hotcakes are my fave!It was raining rather heavily that morning. The kind where floods can be of no surprise. But I guess it is kind of a blessing. It stopped when kexin and vegus came, so the rest of the day was with clear, blue skies. Vegus showed off his blades. I asked him for the brand. He replied rollerblade. I asked him again. He said rollerblade again. I was pretty confused until he explained that Rollerblade is really the brand. He explained that Rollerblade was the one which started it off. Cool. I didn't know. So hmm, should we be sued for infringing their copyright and trademark agreements? =P Here's the site.
http://www.rollerblade.com/index.php
Took 135 to ECP. Got a bit lost because the surrounding area has undergone renovation. An old man was kind enough to redirect us back on the right path to ECP, so hooray to friendly Singaporeans. With vegustian around, it made us seem like foreign tourists. Haha. After kexin rented her blades, we went on with rollerblading. I kind of like my new blades, because it gives me speed and comfort. But it has terrible ankle support after one and a half hours. Gah. Must find a way to solve this problem. We almost went from end to end on both sides of ECP, but kexin's time limit was the limiting factor. It wasn't that sad. We got to see the fruit of ECP renovations. There was this new wakeboarding thing. People are pulled around by an overhead line and go for rounds. It still looked pretty new, and more improvements can be made to make it a better success. I didn't take a good picture, but here it is anyway. I think it is called Ski 360 degrees.
You can try looking for an overhead line.It was time to head back, so we rushed back in a Mission:Impossible kind of way. But not before we took a picture of sandcastles, and I do emphasise the word 'castle'. Bigger than your average sandcastle, it was really great to see one in person. We pretended to be giants, protectors of these ruins. Heh. Take a look.
Took one final picture, and we're off. That marks a day of rollerblading.
Went to Heerens soon after to get a mother's day gift for my mum. Somehow, I already knew what to buy for her. 'ABBA' and 'Rod Stewart' dvds. She likes the classics, and who wouldn't anyway. They're good. So yeah, mother's day is on 14th May. It's pretty early, but I can rest knowing I've already got it prepared. Spoiled myself by buying another Stevie Ray Vaughan dvd. Heh. Watched it just now. Awesome and wicked is all I can say.Slacked today. Was tired from all that blading. I wish to go for another one soon. =)
7:00 PM
Monday, May 01, 2006
Hurt
Ouch. I loved the song 'The Hurt' by John Mayer so much, I practically hurt my finger as I studied his video and strained my ear to learn this song. Finally knew how to play it, and I'm ninety-five percent sure it's correct. Then played over and over and over till I could sing while playing too. Now my right index finger has got a cut, and one of my strings is smeared with a little bit of blood. Haha. 'The Hurt' hurts.Whilst walking through town today, I realised the value of someone's face. You may have a hot bod, or a hunky-dory body, but all that can drown away when you see someone's face. I guess I did see someone with a hot bod today, but that thought just faded away when I saw the face. Haha. No offence, just a reaction. Singaporeans generally have nice faces. Just that sometimes, it tends to be quite ah lian or ah beng. Nonetheless, one thing I can say about the ladies. They dress to kill! I don't usually notice it, but going around alone in town today was quite an eye-opener. Sorry if I sound pervertic. I'm a guy. What do you expect? =P
Bought a Revoltage shirt today. Went to Swee Lee to get the string cleaning solution. Went to Skool to check out their merchandise, but was quite disappointed that one of their shirts didn't have a medium size. Said they'll be renovating this week, and it'll be restocked by the next weekend I think. Shall go there again soon. Oh, the Epson corner in Wheelock Place has excellent photographs. I'm awed by the quality of today's entries. Please have a look people.
Hmm. There's really quite a lot of things I need to do in town. Shall put up a small section of this entry to remind myself what they are.
1.Check out Takamine guitars.
2.Check out Levi's merchandise and spend.
3.Have a visit to Zara.
4.Visit National Library to borrow more books.
5.Revisit Skool for their new merchandise and spend if necessary.
On a side-note, please remember to confirm the rollerblading outing.
Let's call it a day. I'm tired.
8:02 PM
Making Emails Fun
Was flipping over an old issue of 8 Days just now after I got back home from guart duty. #804. Read the last page for a usual dosage of laughs, and I just couldn't believe I missed this one. Had a good giggle in the toilet. (Hysterical laughter would have seen my mum call the mental hospital for advice.) Credits to Colin Goh for such brilliant lines."8 Alternative 'Out-of-the-office' Auto E-mail Replies" by Colin Goh
1.I am currently on leave, so your e-mail has automatically been deleted.
2.I am currently out of the office, undergoing surgery to have my brain removed so that I may be promoted to management.
3.You are receiving this automatic reply because I am currently out of the office. If I were in the office, you probably wouldn't have received any reply at all.
4.As I am away on reservist till April 30, I will be unable to delete any useless e-mails until I return to the office. Please be patient and your mail will be deleted in the order it was received.
5.Hi. I'm thinking about what you've just e-mailed me. Please wait by your computer for my response.
6.The e-mail server was unable to verify your server connection and could not deliver this message. Please reboot your computer and try sending again. (When you come back, check your inbox to see how many blur toads followed these instructions.)
7.I will be out of the office until the end of the month for medical reasons. When I return, please refer to me as 'Roberta' instead of 'Robert'.
8.I'm not really out of the office. I'm just ignoring you.
I thought four and seven were the most hilarious. So here you have it, useful sentences for your working life in the office. Well, it need not be the office. Anywhere else is ok too. =)
Heading out into town later to return my overdue book from the National Library. I've been seeing this name recently. Lee Kong Chian. He's on National Library and SMU. I wonder who he is. Not that Singapore history interests me by much, but I have a taste for curiousity. I heard it's in honour or memory of him. Hmmm.
The NYJC Choir did a spledid performance at Synergy, so here's in honour of them.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=PVgtvgIfHVU&search=honda
http://youtube.com/watch?v=aWDNy43ATjc&search=carlton%20draught
And there was breakdancing too. Not as splendid, but then again, here's another link to a super breakdancing video. This is the best I've seen so far.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=H52AhJjoqlg
And to all john mayer fans, here are two videos worth the watch. His new songs.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=uQUG20cefEg
http://youtube.com/watch?v=KcYNNYkvACY
That's about it. Time to head down to town. Bye bye.