drivel of an ignorant blackhole

Double You Tee Eff

2007-07-13T14:36:00.000+08:00

On my last day, I want to fly.

I need to start visiting more high places; need to get used to the height. But I'd probably forget to do so.

I'm just living on borrowed (Stolen? Blatantly and selfishly stolen?) time. How long can I go on like this? I don't asked myself that too often since I stopped thinking.

I've been escaping for a while now, a good while. Too damned bloody long, in fact.

I don't see a future.

Away, Away, Away...

2005-12-11T07:29:00.000+08:00

for now.

2005-12-03T23:16:00.000+08:00

Check out this lovely, lovely photo Jeremy Hedley of Antipixel took of a wee little wisp of cloud, along with the colours of the sky, being reflected in the office windows of a building.

Stupid Pop-up

2005-12-02T12:50:00.000+08:00

That http://e.rn11.com/ right at the top? — dead giveaway.

Let's check out the properties.

Ha!

Look what Google turned up:

And there's more!

You get to check out their ads with that list above.

One of their ads try to imitate that infamous blue screen of death:

By the way, I do see the irony; I am voluntarily checking out ads and pop-ups. -_-;;

Anyway, avoid these products:

Oemtec's SpamExtract and SpySpotter
System Soap

Any product/company that advertises this way can't be any good.

Technorati Tags: spyware, adware, security, internet

Make of This What You Will

2005-12-01T22:48:00.000+08:00

ap·a·thy
n.

Lack of interest or concern, especially regarding matters of general importance or appeal; indifference.
Lack of emotion or feeling; impassiveness.

I happen to have a lot of that.

I turn on the apathy to deal with some things when I don't want to be bothered by them. In fact, I'd say the apathy keeps me functioning as per normal. But nowadays, it's there even when it shouldn't be; it's there even when it comes to the most important things in my life. I'm not even very disturbed by that, although I know I should be worried by it.

Sometimes, I go through the motions because I know it is expected of me. I show the normal reactions anyone else would in that situation, but at the same time, I'm not really there emotionally. I am outside of the situation; you know what I mean?

But you shouldn't. 'Cause if you do, you should be worried too.

From My Inbox #2: Chestnuts 2005

2005-11-29T22:57:00.000+08:00

No, it didn't come like this. But all I did was to make it into one column. Otherwise, the choice of format, colours, and fonts — all theirs.

Shoddy e-mail advertising job aside, Hossan Leong and Jonathan Lim are an absolute riot.

I had caught their House of the Flying Chestnuts last year, and before that, Chestnuts Unloaded: Curse of the Black Pearl Bubble Tea in 2003. Hossan Leong is a fairly recent ~~replacement~~* addition, considering that this is the ninth installment of Chestnuts. The original duo was made up of Jonathan Lim and Sean Yeo. In fact, Sean Yeo was still performing in 2003's Chestnuts.

Unfortunately, I don't know where my diary is, or I'd quote from it (where I wrote about House of the Flying Chestnuts). Let's see, IIRC, on the night that I went, the special guest was asked to demonstrate something with a banana. I forgot his name, though.

And oh, they had this scene where Chiang Ziyi and Lucy Liu traded bitchy remarks that were sometimes touché, or even politically incorrect, to say the least. An example:

Lucy Liu: In my movies, no subtitles are necessary when I speak English.

Chiang Ziyi: Hmpf. At least I'm not a second-class citizen in my own country.

Anyway, I've already got my ticket for this year's Chestnuts. Heh. Am looking forward to it.

*Just kidding. Hossan Leong is mad funny! His mere presence is enough to make people crack up, as was the case at The Necessary Stage's Mardi Gras (2003). I thought that play didn't quite live up to the hype; it also had this incest subplot that was totally out of the blue. It made the audience go "Huh?" — literally.

Technorati Tags: theatre, drama, plays, singapore

Reggae?

2005-11-28T15:36:00.000+08:00

Not.

As seen on eMusic.

On a slightly related note, someone wanted to hire a monk:

Can I hire a tibetan monk (or any buddhist monk) to live in a spare bedroom in my house? to walk around the house chanting, burning incense and basically keeping me relaxed? Perhaps he could even help out with the chores and watch the kids while my wife and I step out for a movie?

How would I go about contacting a monk in order to make the offer to them?

Firefox Mania

2005-11-27T02:57:00.000+08:00

While searching for a particular Firefox graphic, I came across a series of funny Firefox ads. I liked this one best.

If, for some (inexplicable) reason, you are still using Internet Explorer, take a look at "Top 10 Reasons to Switch". And if you remain unconvinced, here's another 13 reasons by:

Go on...

By Shari Chankhamma of Six Killer Bunnies

Not that Firefox really needs any adopting (but that is one cute fox that I just had to put up); it has got its fair share of supporters, as is evidenced by Spread Firefox, for one.

Of course, some Firefox users were bound to make their own gorgeous versions of the Firefox logo, complete with anime foxgirls.

By MAC de Monar

By Satoshi "Toy" Igarashi of TOYBOXARTS

Click here for more Firefox anime foxgirls. And here's some other Firefox-related graphics that I liked:

By Paul Smith

By the folks at Spread Firefox

Found off Spread Firefox

Found off Gearcritech

Found off Okazoo

And oh, I didn't find the picture I was originally looking for after all. Boo.

Technorati Tag: firefox

Ha.

2005-11-25T06:18:00.000+08:00

From "You Don't Know a Damn Thing, Lady" at Talk Talk China.

Madness

2005-11-24T20:12:00.000+08:00

"A Romanian monk and four nuns have been charged with murder after a nun died during an exorcism in which she was crucified and left without food for three days..." (Link to original article)

I know fanatics sometimes feel compelled to do the craziest things in religion's name, but it still surprised and appalled me to see that there are still real life cases of exorcism being practised. And worse still — despite the death of the so-called possessed, there are still supporters of the practice. What the hell?

Why is that these murderers (oh, that's what they are) still think they are right when they have wasted a God-given life who shared their faith?

Technorati Tag: religion, news

Just For the Record

2005-11-23T05:36:00.000+08:00

The Straits Times, Home section
22 November 2005

Service With A Smile...

Helpful gesture from neighbourhood store

I would like to say a big thank you to Mr Tan of Thong Seng Home Appliances, a neighbourhood store at Block 121, Bukit Merah Lane.

I had ordered and paid for a refrigerator from Mr Tan on Oct 25, and had scheduled delivery to my mother's place on Nov 11, the same day she was due to move into a new house.

The shop did not have stocks of that model, so he arranged for the manufacturer, which has a base here, to deliver the refrigerator directly to us.

The day it was to arrive, though, the manufacturer called to say that it could not deliver that day as it had "system problems".

The earliest it could deliver was almost a week later.

I explained that my mother had medication that needed to be refrigerated and that she had not taken the old refrigerator to the new house.

The medicines would not last a week outside the fridge.

But the person on the line offered no viable solution, and told us to either contact the store or cancel the order.

I called Mr Tan and explained my situation, and he offered to see if he could secure a faster delivery. He called back 10 minutes later, saying he got the same answer.

But he then offered to loan us a second-hand refrigerator, at no cost, to refrigerate my mother's medication and food.

Just before midnight that day, Mr Tan and his colleague delivered it and said he would collect it after the new one was delivered.

My family was most impressed and touched by the exemplary service offered by this neighbourhood store.

Mr Tan, who is in his 50s and speaks only¹ dialect and a little Mandarin, might not have had detailed technical knowledge of the products he sells, but he certainly understands — much better than the manufacturer — what customer service is about.

Choo Kok Fah

After this letter was published, Mr Choo called up the Mr Tan in question to tell him about it, causing him to happily purchase a copy of The Straits Times² (even though no one in the family reads it).

Mr Tan then proudly showed me the letter, and even read out a few lines from it. Hehe.

Yes, Mr Tan is min far.

In a country that's, unfortunately, not exactly known for good customer service (just ask any Singaporean), it's nice to know someone appreciated Mr Tan's service so much as to write to The Straits Times.

Now, if only The Straits Times will publish letters such as this. Prolly in another lifetime (or two, or three lifetimes), I reckon.

¹Actually, Mr Tan speaks (not-so-good) English, (colloquial) Mandarin, (colloquial) Cantonese, (colloquial) Hokkien, and a smattering of Malay.

²We'd be keeping this.

Technorati Tags: customer service, singapore

Am All Right with Blood Art

2005-11-19T08:57:00.000+08:00

Just came across some lovely paintings (via Ivan at Recent Runes) by Vanessa Tiegs. She uses menstrual blood as a medium. Yep, that's right.

An excerpt from her FAQ on her Visual Menstrual Journal clarifies some:

My paintings are a statement about cycles. They are affirmative images that address menstruation visually. It's easy to joke about menstruation because it's hidden.

On a side note, I am displeased (well, dismayed at first) to see that "alright" is listed on Merriam-Webster Online and on Dictionary.com. This word might be commonly used, but that doesn't make it right in my eyes, especially as it seems that people only spell it so because "all right" sounds like one word. And if that alone makes it right, it would make all those people who spell "you're" as "your", and "they're" as "their" right as well now, wouldn't it?

(And now, in an attempt to sound less bitchy...) I guess it's fine for informal usage, but sometimes I wonder if the people who use it know when not to use it?

In conclusion, "alright" is like... a rumoured bastard child of "all right". I regard it with about as much respect as I have for "irregardless".

Got Balls? Rainbow Skittles

2005-11-17T22:14:00.000+08:00

This picture is from a shooting of an advertisement for Bravia's (Sony) range of LCD and 3LCD televisions. The amazing thing is that it was done without any CGI. Totally cool. Watch the video here. (via w)

From My Inbox

2005-11-17T12:58:00.000+08:00

A Southern Recipe

2005-11-13T15:56:00.000+08:00

The movie made me google for recipes.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Vegetable oil, for frying

¼ cup (at least) bacon grease, optional

4 large green tomatoes, in ¼-inch slices

2/3 cup milk

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cornmeal

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. black pepper

½ tsp. cayenne (optional)

Dash garlic powder (optional)

Heat oil (and bacon grease) in skillet over medium high heat.

Slice four large green tomatoes into quarter-inch thick slices and place in bowl of milk.

In a shallow dish, combine flour, cornmeal, salt and rest of seasonings.

Remove tomato slices from milk and dredge in cornmeal mixture to lightly coat. Dip slices back into milk, then dredge again in cornmeal mixture.

Shake slices gently and add to hot oil in frying pan. Fry until each side is crisp and golden brown, about two to three minutes per side. Drain on paper towels. Serve hot with ketchup, hot sauce or gravy or eat alone.

This is from Joe's Place. And here's two other recipes that use slightly different ingredients.'

Of course, it's not very likely that I'd get off my lazy ass to make them, but consider this to be for future reference.

This is A Blot

2005-11-10T16:09:00.000+08:00

Read the whole article here.

And in other news: "Heated bra aims to save the world".

Looking Good XD

2005-11-08T11:06:00.000+08:00

Ha ha, I almost died laughing when I recognised my ex-school uniform in this web comic on The Students' Sketchpad. They describe their blog as, "Xpress cartooning by two students, En & Hou reflecting the Singapore education system and its schools."

Speaking of school uniforms...

No, I don't know who they are. I got this off a comment left on an entry of Blinkymummy's where she blogged on this guy who wore a school uniform for Halloween.

EDITED on 18/11/05 2:44 p.m.: I realised I had left out something very vital in this entry after I read Susan's comment, something very vital in the form of two letters and a hyphen. -_-;; Now, if you'd excuse me, I have to go ram my head into the nearest wall.

Accidental Long Rant

2005-11-07T01:31:00.000+08:00

On 8 October 2005, a Beijing gamer Snowly (character's name in game) died from playing World of Warcraft. A week later, an online funeral was held for Snowly in which hundreds of players attended. I first read about this at Joi Ito's blog where he had his own thoughts on the matter along with a quote from another blog. Here's the quote in its entirety (minus the links):

[004] Snowly of The World of Warcraft (Xinhua) A young girl nicknamed "Snowly" died last month after playing the online game "World of Warcraft" for several continuous days during the national day holiday. Several days before Snowly's death, the girl was said to be preparing for a relatively difficult part of the game (namely, to kill the Black Dragon Prince) and had very little rest. She told her friends that she felt very tired. A big online funeral was held for Snowly one week after her death (see photo from The Mirror).

Curious to know more besides what was quoted, I clicked on the links which led me to a Yahoo China news article (in Chinese) and a China View article (in English). The latter cited CRIENGLISH.com as the source of the article. (Yes, the China View article is the same as the CRIENGLISH.com article.)

Well, the Yahoo China news article certainly had more details. But one thing was odd. Nowhere was it mentioned that Snowly was a "young girl". In fact, after some googling and dismissing of articles, I found a DoNews.com article (in Chinese) that says Snowly was a 28-year-old man.

I don't doubt the credibility of that as a CNET (China) news article used the same article, and both sites cite their source to be Shanghai Morning Post (新闻晨报). Numerous other articles also point to Shanghai Morning Post as being the origin.

On the other hand, the few English articles I found on the subject seemed to be parroting one another (especially the case for blogs)—only one had major paraphrasing and some different things to say, and that was an article from The Inquirer. However, I chose to dismiss that article as well mainly because of this: "The event was only made more morose by the more recent death of another player named Nan Ren Gu Shi, another videogame related death". The Yahoo China news article did mention the death of this player, but they also mentioned the circumstances surrounding his death. Suffice it to say, Nan Ren Gu Shi's death was only videogame-related in the sense that he was an avid gamer.

Technorati Tags: world of warcraft, wow, gaming, mmorpg, warcraft

Yes, I was listening to...

2005-11-01T08:29:00.000+08:00

Ashlee Simpson's second album "I Am Me".

Oh, shut up. Yes, her voice ain't that good (In fact, it reminds me of Hole's Courtney Love.) And she got caught lip-syncing on SNL—so what? She's not the first artist to be doing that, and she certainly won't be the last. I think she deserves at least a little bit of credit for being brave enough to actually try to continue with music as a career.

Call it a guilty pleasure or whatever you will, but I enjoyed some of the tracks on her first album "Autobiography" ("Pieces of Me", "Better Off", "Love Me for Me" and especially "La La". XD), and so far, I think I'd like this second album too.

Found the underlined portion funny. XD

On a sidenote, when I first saw her album cover, I wasn't paying much attention to it, and I thought she had her knees drawn to her chest in the picture (i.e. Legs against chest with arms around the legs). Note that the picture I first saw was the one right at the start of this entry. Yeah, the one in the RealPlayer window.

Then I clicked on the Amazon link that gives an enlarged picture of the album cover.

Yes, I may be quite blind, but... but... that picture was small...

2005-10-31T10:53:00.000+08:00

Am almost swooning over Finnish band H.I.M.'s cover of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game". I'm quite sure everyone has heard the original one before; hear a very short sample of it here (Track #5).

Listen to how H.I.M. sounds like (now) at their official site. It plays three songs from their latest album "Dark Light": "Wings of a Butterfly", "Under the Rose", and "Crimson Door".

I now have "Wicked Game" on repeat mode. God, the guitar and that voice is killing me.

And oh...

Happy Halloween?

2005-10-27T12:00:00.000+08:00

Tried to log in to KoL and I got this...

I don't believe it. -_-;;;

Anyway, my hard drive now contains:

Mitch Hedberg in Strategic Grill Locations (1999)
Mitch Hedberg in Mitch All Together (2003)
Over 200 Digital Blasphemy wallpapers
Pulp Fiction OST
Gackt's Diabolos album
Gackt's Mizérable Mini-Album
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy(THTTG) on BBC Radio
THGTTG complete series in PDF format
Monty Python's Flying Circus (TV Series 1969-1974)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
Several Haruki Murakami short stories
Dan Brown's Angels and Demons (unabridged) read by Robert Poe

Yeah, I need space. -_-;;;

2005-10-25T07:33:00.000+08:00

That #5 download looks almost incriminating...

but it's not.

A Lil Pulp Fiction + A Lil Banksy

2005-10-22T20:03:00.000+08:00

Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction (1994) is like reeeaaally good. I loved his three volumes of Kill Bill, and I also enjoyed his True Romance, so I watched this feeling fairly sure that I'd like it. And yep, I did. The wicked sense of humour, the way the movie was shot, the story itself, how the story was told, and of course—the violence. Lovely.

Don't take my word for it; watch it, if you haven't already. For me, it was long, long overdue.

While googling for that classic picture of Uma Thurman above, I came across this:

It's done by Britain artist Banksy. Here's a screenshot of the scene from Pulp Fiction that inspired that:

Hehe, check out how Banksy exhibited his work (by putting it up himself) at several museums in New York. See his interview with Reuters on it here.

Incidentally, I only got to know of him a few days ago while playing KoL. Someone had written his name on this "wall of graffiti" in-game.

If you want to see more of his works (besides what's on his web site), this seems like a good place to check out too.

2005-10-19T17:04:00.000+08:00

Recently, I've been playing Kingdom of Loathing—an online RPG parody.

Wikipedia introduces it as such: The Kingdom of Loathing (KoL) is a humorous and satirical freeware MMORPG created by Asymmetric Publications (Zack "Jick" Johnson and Josh "Mr. Skullhead" Nite). It is notable for the usage of simple stick figure graphics and surreal gameplay.

I can't quite describe KoL humour, so here's a few examples.

Click on for more information on this quirky yet rather engaging game.

2005-10-18T12:05:00.000+08:00

¹

I'm amused by the fact that there are people who will download e-books on these topics to read. No, wait, I shouldn't be. Maybe downloading e-books is preferred as it provides the anonymity similar to ordering sex toys off the internet and having them delivered to your house in discreet packagings.

On a sidenote, sex books seem to be very popular as the condition/treatment of the books in the relevant section at the local Borders bookshop would seem to imply. Now, Borders normally does not shrink-wrap their books (mostly only magazines are), but for this particular genre of books, surprise! They are all nicely wrapped up with the exception of one copy per book that has the sticker on it saying "Customer's Copy: For Browsing". And erm, those are some very well-thumbed copies.

I was alerted to this one by Kupfel a few days ago.

P/S Would really love to get my hands on a copy of this song -- it's a short remix of the Season II theme song of The L Word. It's one of those songs that get played in the background and doesn't make it to the soundtrack (prolly because of its length as well, only about a minute or so).

¹That screenie's of The Pirate Bay, "the world's largest BitTorrent tracker", according to themselves. They're pretty good.

Mom, Please, Shhh...

2005-10-17T00:59:00.000+08:00

Oh god, sometimes it can be so frustrating to talk to my mom. I can have great hour-long talks with her, but more often than not, she makes my temper flare in a way that it doesn't with friends. And when I lose my temper, I say the meanest and most spiteful things that are meant to cut and to hurt. No, I am not nice when I get pissed off. But then again, it's not like I want to have a rep for being a nice person.

Sometimes I wonder... if I'd eventually end up regretting that my very last conversation with her ended on a bad note. Would that count as karma?

Other Weird Shit Stuff To Smoke?

2005-10-15T20:14:00.000+08:00

Talk about substituting one addiction for another. The Herbal Smoke Shop also sells Cannibus Candy Chronic Pops. ._.

The product description reads as follows: "100% Legal REAL Cannibus POPS! These are AMAZING! The THC is removed so they are 100% legal, but you will Swear you are eating the forbidden fruit! These are GOURMET QUALITY and are one of our returning customer's favorite products. We offer 3 package sizes below for those of you who LOVE THESE CHRONIC POPS! Not for sale to minors. Contains no marijuana."

And uh, no, I wasn't trying to quit smoking or something. I was looking at Djarum Black clove cigarettes when I came across those weird products.

At 3:57 a.m. on ICQ

2005-10-10T16:16:00.000+08:00

Me: Oh, I dreamed of smoking and I woke up craving it XD

Kupfel: Aww... I had dirty dreams and I woke up craving it XD

Linky Links

2005-10-08T11:19:00.000+08:00

Via Kupfel:

"Snake bursts after gobbling gator"

Make sure to click on "Enlarge Image". It's... weird.

"Da Bible out on SMS"

Now, that is one service I will not be subscribing to (even if I could), for more reasons than one.

~~Hot Playboy Pictures of Racquel Gibson~~ oops
A group of people get hyponotized

And you know what happens next? Yes, they do stupid, hilarious things that will thankfully live on through the Internet to entertain people for ages to come.

Speaking of stupid, hilarious things, here's one stupid thing that was made hilarious by C. Monks with his blog entry on it. In one of the comments, someone mentioned this web site called Sex in Christ: Sexuality According to the Word of God. It's worth a look. They have a very uh... different take on what the Good Book has to say on sex. (Chun, that is a totally text-based site, so yes, it's safe to view! XD)

Moving on from words, words, words to images, here's a few funny commercials that are winners of the D&AD 2005 awards:

And oh, check out these animations of Sex and the City.

Got Myself an 8" The Other Day...

2005-10-05T19:08:00.000+08:00

And boy, was it goooood or what? *wistful sigh*

._.

Cake, I mean. Tiramisu, to be precise. From Tiramisutra, that is.

I had ordered this one, and I loved it from the very first whiff of it (when it was still in the box) to the very first lick (off the plastic knife) and to the very last moist mouthful.

God, I almost spaced out there recalling the taste and smell of it. I like it so much that I've been considering making it a monthly must-order. (Monthly and not more regularly only out of consideration for the wallet. T_T)

I got to know of Tiramisutra via Popagandhi, and I ordered because of those evil, evil people who gave favourable comments on that same page. But those evil, evil people sure know their tiramisu well.

I don't know which one I should order next. I want to try the other flavours but I also badly miss the original one. Yes, already! I want more!

*deleted a sentence containing the words 8", ~~mouth~~ fridge, in, want, I, another*

I hate it when...

2005-10-04T16:43:00.000+08:00

People use "loose" instead of "lose", or "lose" when they really mean "loose". (I have even seen "You looser!")
Some Singaporeans assume that everyone else will understand their unique brand of netspeak (mostly combined with Singlish too), even on international forums.
People confuse "principal" with "principle". (I just googled "school" and "principle", and oh wow... This seems to be a far more common mistake than I thought.)
People confuse "than" with "then".

But what I hate most of all is when people use "wad" in place of "what" (and*gasp* even "wadeva/wadever"). >_>

From dictionary.com,
wad
n.

A small mass of soft material, often folded or rolled, used for padding, stuffing, or packing.
A compressed ball, roll, or lump, as of tobacco or chewing gum.
1. A plug, as of cloth or paper, used to retain a powder charge in a muzzleloading gun or cannon.
2. A disk, as of felt or paper, used to keep the powder and shot in place in a shotgun cartridge.
Informal. A large amount: a wad of troubles.
Informal.
1. A sizable roll of paper money.
2. A considerable amount of money.

Daddy, Buy Me Ciggies?

2005-09-30T05:31:00.000+08:00

Apparently, my dad doesn't mind that I smoke.

The other day, I came out of my room right after having one, and he said, “你抽煙啊﹖煙味很重。” And that was it -- just a one-liner. The second time he remarked on it, he said something like, “抽煙啊﹖有煙味。”

He didn't go on to nag about the consequences of smoking or the price of cigarettes. When he commented, it was in a conversational tone, except that we didn't continue talking about it.

I find that very weird, considering that months ago, he refused to help me buy cigarattes. He had called home and then:

“爸﹐可以幫我買東西嗎﹖”

“你要買什麼﹖”

“幫我買Marlboro Menthol。”

“什麼﹖”

“Marlboro Menthol。”

“不可以。”

“為什麼﹖買啦﹗”

“不可以。。。不可以。。。”

He kept on repeating that and then he hanged up on me. I haven't tried asking him again despite how neutral he appears to be on my smoking, and I really shouldn't, if only not to remind him of the price.

I Heart The Dawn and Drew Show

2005-09-27T13:15:00.000+08:00

I was an absolute idiot and didn't realise Podcasts can be heard without an iPod till someone enlightened me. -_-;;; OK, so what? *points above at title* I think that indemnifies me some.

Anyway, listen to The Dawn and Drew Show! They've been mentioned on just about everywhere, including CNET News.com and New York Times, just to name two. Their self-desciption for their Podcasts says, "Two ex-gutter punks fall in love, buy a retired farm in Wisconsin and tell the world their dirty secrets... Always profane, rarely profound."

Dawn and Drew recently celebrated their one-year anniversary of Podcasting, and they played some audio comments from listeners. One of them was from a Christian youth minister, who actually said this,

"I have an audio comment to celebrate your one-year anniversary -- Enjoy it while it lasts because when you die, our Lord Jesus is gonna judge you, and send your body hurtling down to the pit of Hell where you and your camel toe¹ can be suffering for eternity while I'd be looking down from Heaven watching you burn. Thanks!"²

My jaws dropped and then I couldn't stop laughing. I've only heard about four episodes or so, but yeah, I enjoy listening to their banter. They're currently doing a daily show which lasts about half an hour or so.

So listen to The Dawn and Drew Show!

³

P/S And oh, Kupfel just sent me this incredibly WTF?! link to a news article of killer dolphins which are armed and dangerous! Wow.

¹ If you don't know what a camel toe is, google it. But uh, it's NSFW (Not Safe For Work) so do it when alone or when with friends.
² Reckless overuse of italics and bold for emphasis is solely my fault. But damn, it's close to the actual recording. Go listen and compare.
³ Yes, I stole their photo off their site, but they looked so sweet and I'm just trying to promote them. So chill.

2005-09-26T16:29:00.000+08:00

Think you have no problems telling apart who's Chinese, Korean or Japanese? Take Dyske's test and see how good (or bad) you really are at it. (Haha, Kupfel, you're gonna fail this one. XD) Remember to click on "About This Site" for a little insight behind Dyske's creation of the test. I found his in-depth philosophy on it an interesting read too.

Also, take a look at selections from "Churches ad hoc: A divine comedy", which has funny captions for photographs of churches.

2005-09-23T12:40:00.000+08:00

I can't believe this guy sued over this. And upon sharing that link, I was informed that it is possible to break it, but it's very hard (pun? what pun?) to do so.

Ghost? Where got? #1

2005-09-21T21:37:00.000+08:00

I've always had the worst luck in seeing anything remotely supernatural. Well, some would call that good luck (at least my mom would) but I beg to differ. I have to see them for myself before I would believe they do exist. As such, I want to see them...

There's been at least 5 incidents in which friends saw/heard something but I didn't. -_-;;; In fact, I didn't have an inkling that anything was out of the ordinary, and they faithfully abided by the rule of "If you see it, don't mention it; pretend it isn't there." So I only got to hear about it like a day or many, many days later that anything transpired at all.

So let me tell you ~~a story~~ stories of what happened. One story per blog entry.

File No. 39882 a.k.a. Incident #1

This happened in high school where every class stayed overnight at the school (some sort of camp thingy but I don't remember the details) in their own classrooms.

Now, my classroom had two doors on the same wall, like this:

Notice that each door also has a pretty big glass panel so we usually can see our discipline mistress peeping in and stuff.

So anyway, it was late and no one was supposed to be out and about. My whole class was inside talking. And apparently, some peeps noticed this shadow in the gaps below the doors that made it seem as if someone was walking past the doors. Walking past quickly. Walking past a few times. And each time -- walking past without a single sound of footsteps.

Unfortunately, I wasn't in a position to bear witness to it.

Yes, X marks the spot. That was where I was, with my back against the wall, rather happily oblivious to what the majority of the class was seeing. So lucky, riiight?

They're That Blogger, and Who Are You?

2005-09-19T05:48:00.000+08:00

This is so cool. It all started with MercerMachine's entry called "I'm That Guy". Other bloggers got inspired and thus a new bandwagon was born. (Each of those "I'm" and "I am" is a link to a different blogger's take on defining themselves in the style of "I'm That Guy".)

My favourites would be...

Popagandhi (yes, of course)
Alee J
Jay Que
M.
Dubdew
Johnny Malkavian
Anantya
Mari
Sultry Nights (that's a user name @ LiveJournal, OK?)
Mainey Hendrik

It seems fun to join in, but I'm afraid mine will be a bleak one so nah.

Three Evenings Ago

2005-09-18T18:58:00.000+08:00

They were showing some Hong Kong drama series on cable TV and they had some scenes filmed in Japan. I wasn't exactly watching it; my mom was. Then I heard "doumo arigatou", and quite suddenly, I found myself missing Japan.

I miss the weather there, so unlike Singapore's hot and humid climate; I miss smoking there, where each breath taken in alternates and contrasts between cool and warm; I miss too, how the sun can shine down on you even as the breeze that blows is cold. *sigh*

I remember coming out of a warm bath, wrapped in a light yukata, with the steam rolling out of the small bathroom around my feet, and then quietly stepping past my mother's sleeping figure on the tatami mats to climb up on the windowsill to sit on the extended ledge. There, I could stare out at the lake right opposite of the ryokan I was staying in. It was night-time and traffic on the the single lane two-way streets was minimal, and all was peaceful. I just had to light up; it was so right. And then two little fireflies appeared as if to complement the scene and the mood. That was such a moment straight out of a manga. XD

And those are just two of the many things that comes to mind when I recall that country in my mind's eye. Maybe it's because I was there longer than my other trips, maybe it's because it is a country and culture that remains most fascinating to me, but whatever it is, out of all the countries I've been to, my memories of Japan is still the most vivid and memorable. I miss Japan.

P/S Ken-chan, where are my Hello Kitty... products? Or TarePanda lighters? OK, guess you really didn't have the time to get them. =p But one question, if you weren't gonna get anything in the first place, why ask me what I want? Pffft.

Linky Links

2005-09-13T14:08:00.000+08:00

Can you imagine navigating web sites without a single click? Well, it prolly won't help your WhatPulse click counts much, but still, it's an intriguing idea as this cool site DONTCLICK.IT shows.

If you have more time to burn, drop by M90.org; they have a pretty good stock of truly crazy pictures and videos. Start off with this one here. I spent like ~~an hour plus~~ 5 hours or more on this site, just clicking on "Random Image" on the left continually. ^^;; And Kupfel's guilty of it as well!

And oh, oh, oh, you must check >> this <<< out. They are the men with some of the most magnetic voices you always hear narrating in movie trailers. Who cares if they're old? (At least I don't.) My god, their voices are such a turn on! XD (Funny how it's almost always male narrators we hear.) Also, have a few laughs watching the trailer for "Comedian" the movie, heh.

Is It Teh Rabbit?

2005-09-10T16:02:00.000+08:00

I was about to delete this e-mail from my Junk Mail folder when I noticed the URL.

I thought it was a weird URL for the kind of product it was selling so I visited the site. (No, seriously, that was the only reason why I took a look!)

Anyway, can anyone confirm for me if it really is the one in "Sex and the City", that it really is as advertised on the site?

Like Chun? You said you watched it and I think you have the entire series, so go watch Season 1 Episode 9 very closely (and slowly maybe) and tell me the answer!

Nah, I don't think it's the same one. Too many ripoffs out there!

Not My Favourite Aunt

2005-09-08T21:20:00.000+08:00

A few days ago, one of my mom's three younger sisters called. It's the one who's staying in San Francisco, and who is coming back to Singapore (eww). And she's also the one who said, "Smoking is not fashionable anymore." No, I don't have a lot of respect for her, haha, *in a concerned tone* is it obvious?

Usually, once I hear her voice, I go, "Oh, hi. Hang on," and I yell in the general direction of my mom, "Phone call!" But sometimes, I stupidly get sucked into a conversation with her.

Snippet #1

Aunt: My friend sends me weird stuff (e-mail) from the Internet sometimes, do you want me to forward them? Sometimes I don't have time to look through all of them.

Me: Ya, sure. Maybe the things you find weird is not weird to me.

A: He's American, so maybe the things he sends is different from Singaporeans.

M: It's still from the Internet, anyone can access the Internet.

I kind of understand what she meant, but still, pretty much everything is out there. It's just a matter of whether you want to find it or not, and whether you can find it or not. Well, so long as you're not in China.

Snippet #2

Aunt: The other time when I came back, you didn't go out with me at all.

Me: Haha, uh, ya.

A: Next time, go out with me, OK?

Me: We'd see.

A: Why we'd see? Just come out with me. We'd have fun.

Me: Haha (fake awkward laugh), we'd see.

I said "We'd see" about 38,924 times more in the conversation. And no, I don't know why she keeps wanting to hang out with me. Maybe because I seem the most free out of all her nieces and nephews? >_>

Snippet #3

A: I will miss my friends over here when I go back.

M: Well, then stay. (Stops short of saying, "Come back for what?")

A: But I cannot. My family is in Singapore. And I am getting old. Family is different from friends.

M: Uh, ok. (Disagrees with some part of it, but am too lazy to talk about it with her.)

A: Do you want to come over? Maybe you can come here to stay, and go and study those free ones, but you don't really study, just go there to make friends, then maybe get married and stay here. Then I don't have to go back.

M: Huh?

A: *repeats a slightly paraphrased version*

M: You sound like my friend. :S And you really don't want my mom to hear what you just said. (Imagined reaction from Mom: "What did you say to my daughter? Did you just ask her to move over to USA when I am in Singapore?")

Her idea is that if I should migrate, technically she has "family" over there. And oh, being my aunt and the fact that she has been an American citizen for the past 20 over years makes it her duty to show me the ropes over there. At least that's how I interpret it. *shrug*

P/S I don't have a favourite aunt.

Further Reading:

OpenNet Initiative's report of Internet filtering in China 2004-2005 gives the lowdown of how scarily efficient and good China is at Internet censorship
A few screenshots of censorship on MSN Space Chinese blogs.
"Firms face moral dilemma in China" on BBC News

2005-09-05T08:12:00.000+08:00

Oh, oh, oh my god.

http://thinkprogress.org/2005/09/04/worst-abandonments/

Read the article and/or watch the video.

2005-09-04T14:47:00.000+08:00

Kupfel says he gets dirty dreams on a regular basis; meh, I want that too.

The other day...

2005-08-31T14:59:00.000+08:00

I was playing some game and my dad was about to go downstairs to get something from that 24-hour convenience store. This lil exchange occurred:

Dad: I'm going to 7-Eleven now. What drink do you want?

Me: Uh... *tries to think of one and gets majorly distracted by game*

Dad: So what drink?

Me: Uh... *gets KS-ed¹ in-game* Grrr... Bitch!

Dad: Peach ar?

¹ KS = Kill Steal. Somebody (who is not in my team) coming along and hitting a monster I am already hitting. That results in me losing experience points and possibly the loot the monster might drop.

Weird Thoughts

2005-08-27T17:17:00.000+08:00

I have no idea how my cat¹ manages to sleep on the computer tower when less than 20 cm away, the speakers are blasting Disturbed's songs.

It tolerates me when I tickle its ears, pull its whiskers or prod its fat tummy.

It trusts me enough to let my fingers roam freely all over its face when it's asleep, and it even lets me pull back its eyelid to reveal its third eyelid.

Sure, this cat has known me for 3, 4+ years as someone who provides food and stroking. But still, I find it amazing that it trusts me so. I can encircle its neck almost completely with my hand; it seems to be so easy to break its neck should I want to. Not that I would, but I'm saying it's possible for me to harm this cat and I can't quite understand why it trusts me. What does it base this trust off? Instinct? Experience with me? Or is this lack of wariness a normal sign of a completely domesticated cat that was brought up in this household as a wee kitten?

¹ One of the two cats I have. This is the more active and playful one that sleeps regularly on my computer tower. It's also the only cat that dares to step out of the house to explore, for hours at times.

Watch Some Cool/Funny Commercials

2005-08-22T17:18:00.000+08:00

I loved some of the ads they have posted up at Double Agent.

Must-see's:

Found the Axe Ads really funny as well:

But my favourite is this one.

2005-08-20T14:54:00.000+08:00

It's actually not easy maintaining a blog, especially after that knowing some friends do read the rubbish that I write so I can't laze (well, not as much), and I almost feel a need to blog every now and then (despite a lack of content, and then I end up simply throwing in a link or two).

And, knowing that some friends do read, I can't blog about certain things, like how much I want a rabbit pearl... uh, I mean, a dictionary.

Being quite a homebody now, I can't blog like Xiaxue. Even if I weren't, I can't too; I can't do her type of humour. Incidentally, it was teh acquaintance who introduced me to her blog (first blog I ever read), and I was crazily reading it for a period of time, namely going through her archives when I didn't have a PC at home yet (with 97% of the reading being done at Internet cafes and the rest on my cell phone with WAP!).

Now, if I could possibly emulate any blogger, I guess it'd be either Kenny Sia or Popagandhi. Kenny's entries almost always elicits a few good, loud laughs, while Popagandhi... *sighs wistfully* writes beautifully.

Some of my favourite entries (from most recent to older ones) from her are as follows:

Our Favourite Pastime

How Not To Shock Me

You Can't Come Home Again

They Can't Take That Away From Me

The Eight Ages of A Woman

And with that, I conclude this entry. I'd be off now for some Conquer Online or sleep or maybe even *gasp* work.

UPDATE: I have such good timing. I had to pick a time when Popagandhi is going through an overhaul to link to her posts. So yeah, the list of links above don't work, for now. But... http://www.popagandhi.com/ still works, so surf on there.

On the right, under "Browse: By Category", click on "travel" or "women" if you wanna find the posts that I listed.

Too Lazy...

2005-08-13T15:01:00.000+08:00

to write, so just click on...

Julian Beever's Pavement Drawings
Simply amazing as the drawings look 3D when looked at or photographed from a certain angle.

Drop by his official site too.

Viewed Yesterday

2005-08-10T15:50:00.000+08:00

For the cat lovers
Junku-san's Photo Gallery

A mind-boggling illusion
Checkershadow Illusion

Gorgeous artwork
Audrey Kawasaki's Site
Her LiveJournal

Margaret Cho, comedian
Video clips of one of her performances
Her Official Site

Dim Sum Dollies -- Singapore's Most Wanted!

2005-08-09T14:58:00.000+08:00

We're the Dim Sum Dollies with our trollies
And we're sure to cheer you up
With our chirpy smiles and perky cups
A cup of tea with a piece of me
喝茶吃點心點心點心
-- Theme Song of the Dim Sum Dollies (chorus)

Went to the watch the fantabulous trio of Selena Tan, Pam Oei and Emma Yong in "Dim Sum Dollies -- Singapore's Most Wanted" yesterday. I caught them last year in "The Revenge of the Dim Sum Dollies" at the Esplanade. This year, they performed at the same location but they were even better I reckon!

They are seriously hilarious with their excellent acting, singing, and dancing, and I've been a fan since I watched their second show at Raffles Jubilee Hall in 2003. It wasn't even a-laugh-a-minute, more like burst-your-guts-every-20-seconds kind of fun. I recommended it to two other friends, and they loved it too.

Ivan Heng, Director, as quoted from the programme book, explains the charm of the Dim Sum Dollies:

"It's not difficult to see why the Dim Sum Dollies - Selena, Pam and Emma - have endeared themselves to audiences and become 'Singapore's Most Wanted'. They are a pedigree of extraordinary theatre artists, who sing, dance and act; who create their own material, and deal with issues of the day in a fabulous and naughty way. You have been warned: nothing is sacred.

In the tradition of the great vaudeville acts, the Dim Sum Dollies are larger than life characters that say and do outrageous things. In entertaining and seducing us with irony and silliness, they take us out of ourselves, making light of life's onerous burdens. In the shared laughter, there is space for us to make fun and sense of the world we live in."

Also, he explains why the name of Dim Sum Dollies: "... Selena, her then husband-to-be John, and I sat around a table at the Empire Café, brainstorming to name the talented trio. Dim Sum arrived and the idea that it came in threes, each morsel painstakingly prepared to please eye and palate, took our fancy. I think what clinched it for me was the literal translation of 'Dian Xin' to 'Pieces of Heart'.

Yes, underneath the wigs, make up, feathers and sequins, you will find three fearless 'pieces of heart'. I have no doubt they will steal yours as they have mine."

This is just some of this year's lineup: Lucy Liu vs Zhang Ziyi in a showdown of Kung Fu and verbal spars; nurses making sly jabs at the recent NKF controversy, as well as urging patients to give a helping hand and donate; local men (played by the Dollies of course) discussing their preference for foreign ladies over the "overeducated" scary Singapore women.

They have 3 additional shows on the 16th, 17th and 18th August, so get your tickets fast!

*喝茶吃點心點心點心 = Drink tea, eat dessert, dessert X2
**All images and quotes not mine.

Avril, Avril, Avril

2005-08-04T15:44:00.000+08:00

I was looking for Avril Lavigne's "Things I'll Never Say" when I came across this site. It has got links to videos of her AOL Broadband concert (just scroll down a little).

Yes, I do like her. In fact, when her debut album "Let Go" was out, I bought me a copy of it, and I loved the entire album, which is a rare thing I tell you.

I was also in the bloody queue at Heeren's HMV, waiting in line for her autograph, and to take pictures of her at close range. Well, in the end, I didn't get her signature but I did get pictures (albeit a lil unclear) of her in the van as she exited the building. There were only at most 4 other fans with me who managed to see her in that van, smiling and making those hand signs to us. =p The van's windows were so close to me I could've kissed it if I wanted to.

A picture of her looking very unlike her usual image.

Pictures of her au naturel (only her face of course, what were you thinking?!), also looking very unlike her usual image, but in a different way. o_O

A picture of her wearing something you'd never expect! XD

Oh, wow.

Hmm, this is kinda nice too.

This one's from her debut album, and I thought she looked so cute here.

I meant to type just those 2 paragraphs at the start of this, but I ended up googling for images and I just had to put the links here too. -_-;;

Oh, of course, there were plenty other pictures, but these stood out, IMHO. And I came across quite a number of pornographic pictures trying to pass off as the real thing ("AVRIL LAVIGNE NUDE!" Yeah, right.). Some of them were so badly Photoshopped, it's sad.

Being the Goddamn Smoker that I Am

2005-08-01T15:44:00.000+08:00

Xiaxue's latest blog entry led me to this news article, which in turn led to me doing some silly typing on it.

A new, attractive anti-smoking campaign launched by the Health Promotion Board is targeting women smokers.

Attractive? So the past few ones have been... unattractive? And erm, being an uh, attractive campaign means more attention received and hence more quitters? Hooray? Tsk, I just can't help myself. OK, let's move on.

Dr Lily Neo, Ambassador, "Fresh Air for Women" programme, said: "Every puff of smoke contains 4,000 chemicals out of which 200 of them are poisonous, and about 50 of them are carcinogenic, that means they cause different types of cancer. But more important to women, it's also associated with late pregnancies, infertility, abnormal pregnancies, miscarriages and high infant mortality."

I don't like babies, and I don't intend to have them. I suppose that excuses me altogether. ._. So erm, OK, cancer is the only fate left to me that should make me quit smoking. Oh-kay. *nods*

Jamie Yeo, Ambassador, "Fresh Air for Women" programme, said: "I think if you don't smoke, you get a certain level of respect, and respect makes you sexy and makes you look cool!"

This is... duh. Why will not smoking garner one any respect? And the rest of the sentence doesn't make sense too. Oh, I forgot. That was Jamie Yeo, the same radio deejay who once dedicated Savage Garden's "Crash and Burn" to all who lost family or friends to the Silk Air plane crash in December 1997. *nods some more*

So uncool is smoking that one half of a prominent couple made kicking the habit a condition for her husband.

Claire Chiang, Ambassador, "Fresh Air for Women" programme, said: "That was our courtship days. That was one of the conditions for him. He knew that for him to date me and to court me and finally to marry me, he probably had to kick it off. I tried very hard to say don't smoke. I also learnt that you could also save $4,000 to $5,000 a year by not smoking!"

Isn't this a campaign targeted at women? This "smoking is not cool" factor sounds more like a tagline aimed at teenagers.

And I'm quite sure Claire Chiang had her husband quit smoking for other reasons as well. I guess she doesn't mind being depicted as such, but if I were to quit, I would prefer to quit for more sensible reasons¹.

One of my aunts once said, "Smoking is not fashionable anymore." I didn't like her much to begin with, but I totally lost any ounce of respect I might have had for her after that statement.

On the other hand, I found this idea they had with Toxique rather funny. Great idea, in fact, aside from the fact that Singapore banned all forms of tobacco advertising, so I don't see how this can hold true for most local women:

This twist is brought about because tobacco is often marketed to women through the themes of glamour, beauty and social desirability , masking the truth about the negative effects of smoking.

But I do find the idea behind the "Fresh Air for Women"'s site and the various forms of support that they provide interesting...

Research has shown that women who are given encouragement by their friends and loved ones are better able to quit smoking.

And the "Fresh Air for Women" programmes aim to provide that network of support to help women take the first step towards a smoke-free lifestyle.

Come to think of it, it sounds like they're following Alcholics Anonymous's format. No, I don't have a problem with that, since smoking is an addiction. ._.

(Choo Lin, Manager, National Smoking Control Programme, Health Promotion Board said,) "There're also Guardian services - the Shop and Step In - where anytime you're out and about shopping and you feel the urge, to get more information or to get some help, you could just step into a Guardian Pharmacy."

So the staff of Guardian Pharmacy would gladly receive me with open arms should I step in and quiver and sniffle and say, "I need to smoke. But I shouldn't. Help me..." Will I get free nicotine patches? Or erm, they'd sit me down and bring me some tea and counsel me to strengthen my resolve to quit?

I'm sorry (I'm not, really =p), it sounded so funny I just had to make fun of it.

All in all, despite my sarcasm, I actually think this campaign might just work. Especially if they harp on on the "Smoking will give you premature wrinkles and make you look old ahead of time, so why smoke, honey? Quit now~" angle.

And argh, I spent too much time on this. Gotta get some zzz's now.

¹ From what was quoted, it seems like she only knew how much money one can save (by not smoking) during the time he was trying to quit and/or after he quit, which means it was not one of the reasons why she wanted him to quit in the first place. And having that paragraph right before her quote makes it sound like the only reason she wanted her husband to quit smoking was because it was uncool. *shrug* That's how it reads to meh.

Technorati Tag: smoking

又是一個無理頭的小段

2005-07-31T15:13:00.000+08:00

嘿嘿嘿﹐想換一下心情(也順便整一整那些對中文一竅不通或則中文不是很好的朋友)﹐所以今天就改用中文。

當然﹐生為新加坡人的我﹐日常生活裡用的是簡體字。畢竟﹐這就是學校裡教的﹔周遭的(本地的)新聞雜誌和電視節目也都是以簡體字呈現。我是因為自高中就有閱讀漫畫*的習慣﹐才會對繁體字比較熟悉。不過﹐也沒熟悉到哪兒去﹐頂多是唸的出一些﹐和會象這樣的打一些罷了。

會在這裡使用繁體字是因為好玩﹐也因為繁體字美多了。

我覺得繁體字筆劃多﹐會比較難記得起來﹐更別說是寫了。>_<

昨天才剛寫說好喜歡好英語﹐今天則用中文來寫blog﹐是否有點怪呢?

*我所閱讀的漫畫都是被送到台灣翻譯和出版的日本漫畫。

P/S Kupfel, think you're 133t, eh? Ha, h4x this!

Have I Ever Mentioned...

2005-07-30T23:57:00.000+08:00

I'm a sucker for good English? Well, actually that should be apparent. >_>

Words have a way of enthralling me at times; I can even lose myself in well-written prose. It's amazing what some people can do with words, the stories that they weave, the pictures that they can paint, and the emotions that they can stir.

Even simple words arranged in the right order, and said at the right times; those can affect me too¹.

¹ Ken, if you see this, yeah, I know you know that all too well.

I Swear...

2005-07-27T17:25:00.000+08:00

I know the weirdest people, or somehow, I get to know the weirdest people.

._.

Yes, you, I mean you! *pokes you hard in the chest several times with a finger*

But don't be too offended. After all, this is coming from someone who has gotten called weird by close friends. -_-;;;

I've come to see it as a compliment. Think weird = unusual = not ordinary = not the same = not boring = good. Uh, something like that.

Anyway, here's a stolen pic I rather liked:

You're kidding, right?

2005-07-26T00:20:00.000+08:00

I've asked that at least 4 times in the past two weeks or so. I've said it in doubt; said it in surprise; said it in confusion, and said it in denial.

The various answers I've gotten in response to that... Some of the answers helped clear things up. Some raised even more questions. And still some, what kind of answers are those?! Or maybe even made me go, "Noooo, that's not an answer I wanna hear!" ^^;;;

Perhaps it'd be better to just go, "Uh huh" to everything that makes me want to ask that, but it won't be very helpful at all. Duh.

What was all that about? Didn't make sense? Never mind, here's a cute picture while you forget what you just read.

Courtesy of Kupfel, who found this somewhere

My Ideal Wake

2005-07-18T18:32:00.000+08:00

Warning: If you are easily offended or religious in some way, I would suggest not reading this post. Still here? Well, you've been warned this is potentially (who am I kidding, it is) offensive.

I had this idea like months ago but I just never did put it down on paper, or on the net, for that matter. It's a crazy idea, but it made me laugh so hard. In fact, I had trouble relating the entire tableau to friends without stopping to laugh uncontrollably.

To begin with, I don't believe in being buried in a coffin or being cremated after death. My death, to be specific. (It certainly isn't up to me to comment on other people's practices.) It's a waste of money to pay for that shiny wooden box which will still be reduced to mere ashes, or eventually decompose underground anyway. What's the point¹?

When I die, I would prefer that no one claim the body. Leave it to the government to take care of it. And yes, I'm perfectly serious. Like I said to my mom before, death means the soul has left the body, and that body is simply a mere shell left behind, so why ~~spend~~ waste money on it?

But if any of my dear friends should still want a proper wake/burial/cremation for me (to sponsor it I mean ^_^, as I predict myself to end this life with a shitload of debts, so there certainly won't be any money/assets left behind, let alone a will), then please...

Have me in a nice black Prada dress (with matching heels too?), preferably with a Gothic edge to it, and if it has lace on it, even better! Makeup should consist of blood red lipstick with black eyeshadow and eyeliner, and please layer on the powder. And keep my eyes open, if it's possible at all.

There shouldn't be that grave Western silence or any Chinese religious chants/songs. Please play something suitable for me like Marilyn Manson's "Rock Is Dead", Nine Inch Nails' "Heresy", or something similar.

Ludicrous? It gets wors... uh, better.

I would like a motion sensor that activates an action whenever anyone comes near my body within 2 metres. The action would be that I would rise up from my coffin quite suddenly and end up in a standing position (propped up by some ingenious, mechanical way). For added effects, throw in some dry ice as well.

And oh, have the embalmer arrange my expression into one of benignancy (or one resembling it since I might have never had that expression much when alive so it might be difficult to form such an expression on my face after death).

Have one of my hands extended out seemingly in welcome, and the other hand in a fist with the third finger extended out. A rosary (or that wooden Gucci cross necklace) wrapped around the hand and left to dangle on the welcoming hand would be a nice touch.

Friends or (*gasp*) relatives who come to my wake, how would they feel about such a spectacle?

Oh my god, what the fuck!?

What blasphemy! She'd burn in hell for this!

Maybe something like that?

A friend was saying that if it were truly done this way, my wake would have people from all over Singapore coming to take a look. Hey, that would mean I could be on the news! My five minutes of fame.

Hell, perhaps admittance tickets could be sold and some of the cost of the wake could be earned back.

So friends, you know what to do when that day comes. ^_^

¹ Still on a serious note, I do acknowledge that wakes and burials are part of the mourning process for the living. So if there's any reason for mine, it would be this, and this only.

Technorati Tag: death

Nostalgia

2005-07-04T02:01:00.000+08:00

I received an e-mail reminding me that I have yet to activate an account that I opened at Vnl Online.

I had forgotten about this lil gem of a find. My last visit was 29 March 2005, prolly the day I "discovered" this site.

Vnl Online defines themselves: Vnl Online is a community based J-Pop music videos website. We have over 100 hours of streaming audio/video and 10000+ photos that is constantly growing as a result of the site's community driven nature. Users can upload photos and videos, create photo albums, publish their own sites/albums so others can see, rate other users' sites, use the forums, and chat with other users through instant messaging or communicate via offline messages.

Looking through someone's gallery of pictures, one caught my eye and it sent me googling for the source (or at least where the picture is from), and well... -_-;;

Let's just say I spent an hour or two getting back in touch with my (yaoi) fangirl roots.

Anyway, back at Vnl Online, I found a video clip of "God Save the Queen" performed by X Japan, Luna Sea and ZI-KILL. Oh my god, how long ago was that! 7, 8 years ago?

There was also an audio clip of Inoran (rhythm guitarist of Luna Sea) singing "Gravity", one of Luna Sea's songs. O.o Amazing.

And well, I'd be off now to continue my walk down Memory Lane.

...

2005-07-02T15:42:00.000+08:00

I hate being fucking emo.

I cried three times in my months of obsession with Rose. That was three times over things that were said/happened in the game.

The first was over Eusoff the asshole.

The second was over Belize.

At some point in the game, he started talking less to me. He was all chummy with his new clan mates. We kind of drifted apart. In detached retrospect, I suppose we weren't ever that close?

But I don't know. It still saddened me.

I have his e-mail address, and there is still a tinge of sadness when I see it and know that there may never be a reason for me to e-mail this person again.

The third was over Kupfel. Well, not really over him.

It was over the fact that I upset him.

I was confused over something, and I made a very bad joke to try to answer my doubts. There was a bit of awkwardness after that, and belatedly, I realised that joke might have devalued his feelings, and I didn't mean that at all.

He continued to play on, but he didn't say anything for the longest time, which wasn't like him.

We have this thing where we say "yaaaaay" whenever one of us lvled up.

Well, I lvled and...

Kup: gratz

Me: gratz? that's weird. u don't ever say that to me

He typed out an emoticon (:S I think) and nothing else was said.

Not long after, he abruptly went off to a safe spot from where we were fighting, and said, "I'm gonna get some coffee".

Everything felt wrong.

It threw me into a mini bout of self-loathe.

Thoughts ran through my head:

Why do I always fuck up?

Why do I always say the wrong things?

Why do I always end up hurting people?

I'm bad for my friends.

I'm bad for Kupfel.

I slow down his lvling in-game, and I hurt him.

I badly wanted to log out of the game and just... stop playing as that character. Perhaps make a new one, and continue playing without ever saying anything to Kupfel again.

But it would be rude and prolly worse if I did that, so I stayed. And when Kupfel came back, we sort of talked it over. And things are fine now.

But I'm never, ever gonna forget my trangression.

There was once when he mentioned that he will seldom be angered by anything his friends say; he'd just be sad. It reminded me of this incident.

I can't believe it myself that I would cry over something that happened in a game. I certainly don't think much of myself too for reacting the way I did.

But, the thing is, I don't ever forget that all these characters in-game, behind them, behind the computers, there are real people who are playing them.

When I talk to anyone in-game, I'm always interacting with someone who's real, who has feelings too. I'm almost always conscious of that.

I guess I really put my heart into the game, and into various people I talk to and know in-game.

*sigh*

Like I said, I hate being fucking emo.

Recent Pictures of My Cat

2005-06-11T12:31:00.000+08:00

Pictures taken with a camera phone, so if you click to see the images at a bigger size, it will be grainy and unclear.

2005-06-10T10:48:00.000+08:00

My walking, talking, living, breathing English dictionary is back in town from down under for the holidays!

She has the best spoken/written English among all my friends, hence I call her that. She corrects my English at times (and I do the same to her), and I welcome that. Some people find that annoying, but I think it's better to know your mistake now than to sound like a fool again.

Well, I guess I'd be spending the whole day with her when we meet up. And literally the whole day.

She knows me much, much better than I like to admit. Wonder what she'd have to say when she realises I have not changed much. But maybe I wouldn't want an answer to that. -_-;;

Some useful links:

dictionary.com
dictionary.com's forum
Merriam-Webster Online

A Small Sample of Life

2005-06-03T18:34:00.000+08:00

I eat, live and breathe R.O.S.E.

Yes, the R.O.S.E blog is even updated a whole lot more frequently than this one. Currently, my life = R.O.S.E, and I occassionally return to real life only for friends and bills.

Yet, even in the virtual world of R.O.S.E, I get painful reminders of real life.

There was once where I talked to a Singaporean whose name was Eusoff in-game. We were chatting about the game at first, and he seemed like a nice person. And of course, after finding out I was from the same country, he had to ask me for my age, sex, and location.

Now, I don't like prying questions, especially from someone I've barely talked to for 15 minutes. Also, I like my privacy, and like everyone else, I have my own secrets to hide.

And so, how did I answer him?

I said I was bisexual. I wanted to see his response; to gauge what kind of person he was. I believe a person's attitude towards less socially accepted sexual orientations would tell me something about that person.

And boy, did I get more than I expected.

He started hurling insults at me. Any way I look at it, that was the only word for the things he said: Insults. Insults that were stereotypical views of the anti-gay or homophobic.

The funny thing was, he didn't seem to grasp the difference between being gay and being bisexual, no matter that I typed it two times, three times, and more. But that was about the only thing that was funny about the conversation once it went downhill.

I am aware of GLBT prejudices. I know too of the social problems faced by GLBTs. But maybe, because I've been living in such a cocoon/circle of pro-gay friends and seemingly neutral surroundings, those prejudices/problems were far from me and less personal.

Until dear Eusoff gave me a blunt, crude, in-your-face wake-up call.

And it hurt. It hurt to be reminded of reality. It hurt to know and to experience a little of what some gay folks out there get. And I'm only talking about an on-line encounter here, not even a real life encounter. I cannot imagine what it must be like to hear that senseless hatred in person, and to have to look at a face filled with loathing to match the voice.

And that is just the tip of the iceberg. The bottom of it? Violence, bloodshed, even lives lost.

Well, what else is there to say? I've rambled a little, and yet, I might as well have said nothing at all.

Technorati Tags: glbt, gay

My Favourite On-line Writer

2005-05-29T08:00:00.000+08:00

Noooooo!

http://popagandhi.com/vault/roadblocks-and-roadkills

I Can't Remember Things Because I Am a Goddamn Smoker

2005-05-20T21:38:00.000+08:00

A friend (lvling beast!) brought this to my attention.

I must say I'm not very surprised. Considering the amount of toxic ingredients that makes up my favourite cancer sticks, hell, what's one more bad effect?

*Brims with indifference and apathy*

Yeah, I'm an unrepentant smoker.

Here's a snippet of the original ICQ conversation (the "AHA!" came after he showed me the link):

The last two lines are quoted from the BBC article. In short, smoking being detrimental to memory is suspected but not stamped, chopped, and approved as a fact. Yet.

And I showed the link to a fellow smoker:

Haha, good one, I say.

Technorati Tag: smoking

2005-05-18T15:09:00.000+08:00

After close to two months of not smoking, I lighted up my first stick yesterday.

Seal lips around a Marlboro Menthol, take a long, hard drag, feel it fill your lungs, and exhale.

Still as good as ever.

On My Favourite Cancer Sticks

2005-05-02T21:01:00.000+08:00

image came from here¹

I thought of writing about smoking, until I came across this excellent post on smoking done by Adrian.

He had pretty much summed up all that makes a smoker a smoker. Ever wonder why we smokers subject our lungs / throat / mouth / health / blah to such abuse? Adrian has the answer.

And Poh Huai Bin of sixthseal.com did a rather comprehensive introduction and review (of sorts) of cigarette brands in Malaysia. Interesting read coupled with photos.

Take a look too at this site with cute manga-style girls drawn for various cigarettes available in Japan. (No, it's not official; it's simply someone's interest.)

Still somewhat on a relevant note, I had a lil talk with an acquaintance yesterday...

What follows is not an exact transcript of course, but it's 90% accurate in terms of order and content.

Acq: Hey, I quit smoking already.

Me: What? For how long so far?

Acq: 7 weeks.

Me: Oh. Why?

Acq: The only reason why I quit is because of money. It's too expensive²!

Me: Doesn't really affect me. I smoke less nowadays.

Acq: How much do you smoke a day?

Me: Not much. A pack lasts me about two or three days.

Acq: Like that where got not much?

Me: Every time people ask me how many packs I smoke a day, I tell them one pack lasts me two or three days, then they tell me it's not much. I'm just going by their standard. Anyway, sometimes I go for a month without smoking. So, you just quit cold turkey?

Acq: No, this time I'm determined. I bought gum to chew.

Me: Huh? Nicotine gum? *Laughs hysterically for a quite a bit* What does it taste like?

Acq: It's quite hard and bitter.

Me: Hard like harder than Wrigley's? Bitter like traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)?

Acq: Ya, harder than that. But not as bitter as TCM, just bitter like Western medicine.

Me: So after you chew for a long time, there's no more taste?

Acq: Ya.

Me: Then where did you buy it from?

Acq: Guardian Pharmacy. It's quite expensive, 85 cents a stick.

Me: Huh? It's available over the counter? So is it sticky enough to use on the MRT train doors³?

Acq: Ya, if you really want, warm it up first. Why were you laughing earlier on?

Me: I think it's lame.

Acq: You think it's lame to quit smoking?

Me: No, if you quit smoking, it's better for your health, and you save money too. I think chewing gum to release nicotine into the body to quit smoking is lame though.

"Eh, why you chewing gum? It's illegal leh."

"I'm chewing gum to quit smoking la."

Why not just use nicotine patches?

Acq: *Laughs but says* Nicotine patches then lame, ok.

Me: No one can see them anyway.

Acq: When you chew gum, at least the mouth is doing something.

All right, I admit he has a point there, but I still think it's lame.

As for me, I enjoy my lil cancer sticks too much to want to quit. I have also never said I wanted to quit.

¹ This format of giving credit for pictures is inspired by the BigFuck.

² A Marlboro hard pack with 20 sticks costs 11 Singapore dollars.

³ I have never stuck gum on train doors before, and I don't intend to do so. That question was purely hypothetical, and simply related to why gum was banned in the first place.

⁴ No, there isn't a ⁴. But I just wanted to say Marlboro Menthol is my favourite.

Technorati Tag: smoking

Damn Me

2005-04-30T14:56:00.000+08:00

It is
so easy
to say/text someone "Next time then," or "Another day," when asked to meet.

It is
so easy
to simply let the days pass by without a thought as to where it has gone.

It is
so easy
for it to be a month, two months, three, since the time we last met.

It is
so easy
to be as usual, to be late an hour or two, or worse.

It is
so easy
to be forgiven, my past non-appearances and missed appointments.

It is
so easy
to lose myself in a virtual world, to be gaming or to be surfing.

It is
so easy
to think that there is always time.

It is
so easy
to think that you guys would always be there, somehow.

It is
so easy
to forget that some friends are not bound to this country forever.

It is
so easy
to tell myself, "I'd see them soon."

It is
too easy
to take certain things for granted.

Follow-up to "Holy" Grilled Cheese Sandwich

2005-04-20T00:04:00.000+08:00

I don't believe it.

Seemingly not content with the US$28,000 she made off an online casino by selling a piece of toasted cheese sandwich "said to bear an image of the Virgin Mary", Diane Duyser of Florida has struck again.

Her original auction spawned off a lot of spoofs (both on and off eBay), as can be expected. Here's one, and here's another one. And there's even an ugly shirt that doesn't seem to be a spoof; it looks like someone's just trying to cash in on the whole damn thing.

Golden Palace's homepage shows why they bidded on the toast; their history of "outrageous buys" on eBay says it all. Well, they've certainly achieved their goal of making themselves known.

They also had the wonderful idea of letting anyone have a taste of what's it like to have your face on a piece of toast, and they make it easy for you*.

Here, Megan Edwards of Las Vegas, Nevada, shares how she feels about the toast, and she got to see it in person too.

Well, good Lord (or should that be holy Mary?), will Diane Duyser stop after this? What else can she come up with?

*I almost took this to be a spoof at first, but no, it's really by Golden Palace.

Technorati Tags: ebay, auctions

Spam Trends?

2005-04-18T23:28:00.000+08:00

Notice the amount of "Fw:blahblah"s?

I used to get a lot of spam that had "Hi? Remember me?" or "Re: [insert any name here]" as their subjects. Nowadays, however, it seems that these spammers have changed their format.

It wouldn't be so bad, actually, except that it's not the only thing they've changed.

They've changed the size of the mails as well. It's now bigger at 59++KB, as opposed to 3KB or 4 in the past.

That means my Hotmail fills up faster. Fills up faster = need to be checked more frequently. In case you misunderstand, the bulk of these spam (98%) ends up in the junk mail folder once recieved by Hotmail, i.e., filter working. But even while sitting there (Hotmail deletes them automatically in a week's time), they take up some space out of the allocated 2MB.

Anyway, I've never understood why spammers use the same format. Do they orginate from the same company or something?

But that cannot be.

Is it a case of copycat? If so, it's pretty lame.

I'm running out of things to say here, and I'm getting distacted by this site by MasaManiA. To be specific, I am now reading the comments on this entry.

Thanks to TheBigFuck for the MasaManiA recommendation. And do read TheBigFuck; he cracks me up.

Technorati Tag: spam

Want a SitePal™ to, uh, Enhance Your Site?

2005-04-15T09:01:00.000+08:00

I came across this rather interesting web tool of sorts.

As stated on their site: Oddcast’s VHost SitePal™ allows YOU to create speaking animated characters (avatars) for your web site, and add your own audio message via Text-to-Speech or voice recording.

Click on "Text To Speech" (top left hand corner), input some text of your own, and hear how their SitePal™ character will pronounce it. You simply must try selecting Japanese and Chinese under the language menu. The Japanese one sounds quite similar to how a native will speak. The Chinese one, however, seems a tad racist. Try it, and you'd see what I mean.

On their main page (the one that has, "IT'S AS EASY AS 1-2-3!!!"), click on their "Try Now" button.

Here's where things get even more interesting, as you get to see how you can modify the avatar to your liking. It's rather like making a new character in The Sims. You can change the hairstyle, the shape of the mouth, the shirt, and so on. You can also change the size and colour of various parts of the avatar so as to create something totally alien (literally), or something totally comic.

Anyway, alien or not, I still find it creepy to have the avatar's eyes constantly tracking my cursor.

Excuse Me While I Gush

2005-04-13T16:56:00.000+08:00

I "discovered" these pictures of my cats buried away deep in one of my inboxes.

These pictures date back to November 2002, the year I got two new additions to my family of three homo sapiens. The cats were about a month old when they arrived. They were kittens* then.

They're not cats of any popular breed that you get from a pet store, but I love them all the same.

Chocolate paws with vanilla spots (with chocolate spots):

They were so cute as kittens, and just as cute as adult cats.

True -- they no longer fit into certain small spaces.

True -- I can no longer hold them for long with just one hand. (5 kilos is just too much strain for my gym-unacquainted arm.)

True -- one of them doesn't even allow me the privilege of having it sleep on my lap. (A cat with feline pride: ~~Meow~~~Roarrr~ I ain't no lapcat!)

Yet, everyday, I still exclaim out loud, "So cute!" at least 5 times. Everyday.

I don't get tired of their silly little antics, or the various expressions they seem to have.

I never get sick of checking on what they're doing, even if they're just sleeping.

In fact, I don't understand sometimes: Why do people get pets, keep them till adulthood, and then dump them like something expendable and without feelings?

All because someone couldn't resist a kid's persistent begging.

All because someone felt it was good luck to keep one as it's the lunar year of that animal.

All because someone was (granted, understandably enough) taken in by those beguiling eyes on that cute, furry body.

All because someone with the cash had a whim.

All because someone didn't think of all the responsibilities that comes with being a pet owner.

An animal is not an inanimate object which does not feel pain, hunger, thirst or discomfort.

It needs adequate, suitable food and water in a clean environment. It needs attention and affection. It needs patience when it does something deemed wrong by the pet owner. It needs proper veterinary care when ill, and oh, so much more.

Think you're up to it? Adopt one today.

Ehem, I've went off on a bit of a tangent, haven't I? Well, more pictures then.

Yes, that heel needed some cleaning. Well, my excuse is that I needed to take the picture fast in case the cat gets impatient, and I wanted the heel there for size comparison.

And now, the final image for you to go oooh so cute! at:

Studies have shown that people who keep pets have lower blood pressure; I believe that. I believe it's true for me, and for my parents. Unfortunately, the effect of the cats' beneficial presences on my parents' blood pressure may have been most likely negated by me.

*I have an old girlfriend who enquires after my cats by asking, "So, how are your kittens?" And the reply she'd always get first is, "They're not kittens anymore! They haven't been kittens for a long time."

Technorati Tags: cats, cat, feline

Who Made This Survey?

2005-04-11T15:54:00.000+08:00

I never quite expected my first blog entry to be about that, or to be written when I wasn't in a good mood.

Oh well, anyway, once again, I was sent something by a friend.

It was a link to a NTUC Online survey. A lifestyle survey that had prizes, which was why my friend had entered my name for it.

I was quite amused by the options that they offered in some of the questions.

Whatever happened to the Caldecott Hill queen (google those last 3 words if you don't know who)? And uh, Fann Wong?

No 5566* when Energy** got listed? And no offense to Victor Hom fans, but why's his name here too?

This is... most strange. So Takashimaya Shopping Centre***, Wisma Atria, Heeren, Far East Plaza (just to list a few), aren't hot hang-out spots? Or is Cinelesiure the most popular of them all?

And this is the one which made me want to blog about this survey: Techno Club.

*Here's a link to an English introduction on 5566.

**I gave up on finding a (relatively) good link for Taiwanese boy band Energy.

***I had accidentally input "Takashimya singapore" (missing an "a") when I googled. Guess what? There were 60 web site owners who think it's spelt "Takashimya".

Cruelty in the Name of Fashion & Profit

2005-03-23T22:37:00.000+08:00

I am so upset.

About four, five hours ago, I watched a video clip a friend had forwarded to me. That video clip pretty much drove me mad.

It was a video clip of how animals are killed for their fur in China.

There was a man who grabbed a raccoon out of a battery cage, and who then proceeded to slam the animal down onto the ground repeatedly. Raccoons which actually survived that, and which were still struggling, got an extra bludgeoning.

A fox, still breathing after the slamming, had a boot mashed casually into its windpipe.

And then there were animals which were skinned alive. They were still breathing and kicking weakly when the knife slided into their flesh. They were still alive as their skin was forcibly pulled off their bodies, exposing tendons, muscles and raw flesh. Some of them remained alive for minutes even after this ordeal.

In one of the scenes, there is conversation and laughter as the cruelty continued. It's all in a day's work for them.

It's their livelihood; they have probably been doing this for some time now. They also grew up in an environment with a history of condoning such acts of animal cruelty; perhaps, the environment even encourages it.

I know all that; I had typed out that paragraph above. But knowing it, understanding why, and how, doesn't make it right. It doesn't make me feel any better. It doesn't justify all that suffering and cruelty. Nothing can.

And as I watched that video clip, I can't recall ever feeling such anguish before. I have also never felt such acute loathing for humans before too.

I had wanted to forward the address of that video clip to other friends. Yet, I didn't, because I wanted to write in the e-mail: For those of you who like fur, and who might buy a fur coat or two in future, please watch this. Please watch this, and I hope you will see this in your mind's eye the next time you see a fur coat. Please watch this, and I hope those pain-filled eyes peering from its furless, bloody and raw body will haunt you forever.

That would be quite... harsh. Hence I didn't. I thought of writing this instead: Do you like fur coats? Check this out.

But that would be mean, to lure them into watching something like that without a warning. But earlier on, I badly wanted to do that; scar my friends emotionally just so they wouldn't buy fur. Ever.

About four, five hours later, I wake up, and I recall a certain scene: A raccoon dog which had just got thrown onto a pile of others before it. A pile of mostly dead raccoon dogs. This particular raccoon dog makes no sound of pain, but raises its bloody, skinless head and looks back at its perpetrators. And then it looks at the camera with those beady eyes still full of life.

I can see it so vividly, even now.

Technorati Tags: Cruelty, Animals, Fur, China, PETA