No Winners This Time

TAKESHI'S CASTLE.



General Lee, the man's man leads the hordes of farmer militia to storm Count Takeshi's Castle. Watched this quite a bit while in Germany. Apparently it get's funnier as you grow older because I don't remember laughing as much when it aired over here a long time ago.

Cakewalk

Oscar Peterson joins the great gig in the sky?

Obertauern

Back in Oberursel after 5 day trip to Austria to ski at a place called Obertauern. Drive there takes about half a day, which meant that only 3 days were spent skiing. Seriously though, skiing is the most awesome thing in the world, other than snowboarding.

Couldn't be bothered to take much pictures since my hp camera doesn't do the scenery much justice.

Intruiging sculpture at a rest station on the way there

Landscape starts turning white

There

Alcoholic Tea, which is a specialty. Didn't taste the tea. Didn't finish it either.

Lousy pic

Less lousy pic, showing 1% of the entire area. Sprained my wrist on red slope near the top left.

Had a major wipeout on the last day of skiing around noon. Shouldn't have gone down one of the intermediate slopes so readily. Tumbled for about 10 seconds before landing off piste, with my head and leg hitting something hard along the way. The result? Stitches on my left knee and under my chin. Was pretty cool to see part of my knee bone for the first time.

My conclusion for this trip? God created snow for skiing. Can't wait to get back one day.

Frankfurters

Been in Germany for a few days, in a town called Oberursel. Been around the area abit, up some nearby mountain(snow there), the town, the mall and and completed Gears of War on my cousin's xbox 360. Yeap. That's about it. Going to Austria on Sunday for skiing and stuff.

Haven't had much frankfurters, but the schnitzels are good.

At Dubai airport for stopover. I bought one because everyone had one.

Menu at a Cafe. Feel linguistically challenged.

Just ducks. Remind me of Derric's rabbit for some reason.

You can get these everywhere.

Snow on the mountain and a geriatric.


Shop which sells coffee and electronics.


Authentic European town


Fan art.

My Foray into Noir Fiction. Part Four.

Previously.

A few morphine shots later and he was Timmy again. Or so it seemed. "Damn, Timmy. You really should carry more of these around. I used up all you had on you" I said, tossing the syringes behind me in a nonchalant manner which I thought would convey the idea that I was used to giving impromptu shots to schizophrenic nutjobs.

"Whatever, thanks anyway" he said. "So, I heard. You're opening again eh? Well, I've got something that should interest you. And I'm prepared to pay too."

He finished by slamming a two-dollar bill onto the table. I don't know how he did that, he just did. Timmy just had a way of doing things few others could pull off.

"Gee Tim, I'm not so sure. My gas to drive here cost more than that."

A little persuasion would be necessary, it seemed, if I was to get anything out of this. It was an art, like how an experienced angler knows when to move his bait. Avoid the small ones, go straight for the big.

"I know you don't drive," came the reply.

"Oh really."

"Yea."

"And so you were saying-"

But the damage was done. I knew that this moment would be an object of torment for the many sleepness nights to come. How the greatest defeats arrive from the smallest of mistakes, a kingdom for a horseshoe.

"Ok Matt, look here. I suspect my girl is at it again, and I need evidence. Pictures, videos, anything."

"Oh come on, let her go. She's been cheating on you since last year. I thought you'd be the first to know. Or maybe Jim or Carl or Andrew or whatever you become on other days of the week."

In my opinion, there are two things in life that make a man poor, fast women and slow horses. Timmy had both. His venture into horse betting had been a disaster and now Sally was running off with his dough.

"Hey I've got to help her! That man she's going our with, he's a con!"

"No, Sally's the con. Dammit Tim, the only reason she's still with you is because she gets to sleep with a different man every night. She's nothing but a thieving slut."

"Don't you call her that! If you can't help me, I'll find someone who can!"

"Fine by me. I do crime, not girlfriend spying."

He walked out. I sat there alone, sipping up the final drops of my Tall Mocha Frappucino®. The two-dollar bill was gone too. As Timmy disappeared around the corner, I leaned back in the chair and sighed. Damn. Should have ordered a Venti.

The entire series is sequence rather than plot driven. Sometimes an idea comes up and I decide to save it for a later part but for this one, I put all the ideas I had into it, though some were still left out due to context. Don't know if there'll be another one, since the purpose of this whole piece of junk was so that I could use that last line, which expresses the frustration of finishing a less than adequately sized drink.

A short one

Back from canoing chalet, which lasted five days. Went back to the motherland yesterday to see my grandparents, graduation night tonight, class chalet tomorrow, church camp after, then off to Frankfurt to eat frankfurters.

Fly on, time, fly you damned bird.

Old Acquaintances

Ripping off from Tan Weilie, whom I have not seen or spoken too for very long, "It is 'A'ccomplished".

Thanks Weilie, you have unknowingly offered me some amusement throughout these trying times with your ever cheesy but sincere 'A' nicknames on msn.

Imagining other Worlds

I Thought I Ought to Know

I have no idea what's going on,
And neither do they
when I do ask.
But I just thought
I outta know. What all
this means.

These cacophonies of light,
stuff me with
a blur of meaningless
wavelengths.
I can tell violet from red-

The bludgeoning of sound,
leaves me with
painless bruises,
but there nevertheless.
I know jingle from jangle-

But I just thought
I outta know. What all
this means.

And the people,
Oh it's the worse.
I merely listen
to the babble,
merely comprehend.
And emotions, all that
joy, sadness,
love and hate,
Jimmy shouted and
Mom baked me a cake.
I know them all, but
I just thought
I outta know, what all
this means.

My mind goes dizzy,
when I think of this world.
Dizzy from blankness.
All I'm knowing is
I don't really wake up
in the mornings no more.

My Imagining other Worlds (a levels +6 days) poem. Thought of it while trying to sleep without moving in a shared bed with Lim Chuan En. And I don't really know how I'm going to pull off monday at this rate.

lit, econs, econs

They call it stormy Monday,
but Tuesday's just as bad.
Wednesday's worse,

Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy on me.

Just some quotes from a T-Bone Walker song

arghh

Not enough studying being done. Need to grit my teeth and pull up my socks.

Tomorrow.

This is for Yew

Grace.

A mere whisper of
her name, evokes,
countless intrinsic values
through the mind.

But more! Armed with
a smile, of a wideness
matched only by her generosity,
such joy to those with her!

And light in every way,
she is the lone midnight lamp
with its comforting glow,
and those magnificent fireworks
to the tune of Auld Lang Syne.

How could I, mere invertebrate,
ever compare? As I crawled
in her shadow. ARGH!
PAIN!- And a familiar smile
(upside-down frown) above,
stranger and fading to red. black.

But how? A heart of gold,
and yet so cold-

A panegyric of sorts. I'm only half serious but if you do decide to kill me too, I can only hope it will be a quick and painless one like Xiao Hei's

Health Issues

Made these with mella in mind. And my own weight is getting dangerously close to 70kg.

A levels

The exams have been rather fun and exciting.

God help us all.

Ok

1849 Steps...

Of Regret-Yes 1849, I counted.
Steps up? Down? Where?
Away, steps away.

In a fleeting instance, a choice made,
like kids choosing soda, or a lemonade.
But far graver the consequence, that day,
that day I chose, to walk away.

First step taken, I could not turn back,
oh that bitter, bitter regret.
Every step a burdened gained,
forward to backwards,
walking in vain.

1849 later, wrenched myself around,
scurrying, stumbling all
the way back.

And then just empty benches, a fat lady whistling
and 1849 steps back.

I'm writing a bunch of poetry, hoping it will boost my lit grades. This one's about walking and stuff.

Cicak-Man

Justice has a new Face.

I realised that as a Malaysian, I should be supporting and promoting my local films.

He's almost as good as Man-man.

Gam Zeh Yaavor

Gam Zeh Yaavor.

And This too, shall pass.

Yes, even this too will pass.

For such is the bleakness and awesomeness of life.

Nothing really lasts. Two years have gone by in a snap, just like that. Good times, bad times, all fade away into the dumpyard called the past, where we can only stand outside the locked gates, catching glimpses of the piles of stuff behind it.

I still vaguely remember time I first contemplated about the impermanence of life when I was a kid. I thought about death and I don't think I got much sleep that night. The thought of non-existence affected me deeply. How small and fragile I was, struggling to stay afloat in the river of time, ready to be swept away without a moment's notice. And the thought of having no thought, the eternal void, where even the our human notions of nothingness can never comprehend, struck me greatly. Then morning came, I woke up, ate my breakfast, brush my teeth and went to school as usual.

Many years later, I no longer have that fear, thank God.

Thought I'd something more to say.

A levels

Feeling like this cat. 4 and something weeks left? Looks like I'll just have to redefine time to get through this one.

argh.

why do you keep tormenting me. argh.

Redefining "no-life"

Due to a lack of activities available yesterday, a night was spent trying to squeeze as much amusement as possible out of whatever we could do. This is a story about that night.

First up was starving on a long bus ride to Ang Mo Kio which was agonising. Strolling around AMK Hub trying to find a place to eat wasn't very fun either. Needless to say, AMK Hub is ridiculously crowded and thus we ended up having to wander around finding foodcourts elsewhere.

And then there was this huge dragon dance thing which I haven't seen for ages so it was kinda cool. After some overrated fish soup noodles, went to the arcade to play a couple rounds of Daytone MAXXX edition, which features the ultra cool TURBO and MAXXXX buttons to remove all elements of skill and fairness from the game.

After emerging from the sleazy joint, we enjoyed glimpses of fireworks (yes real fireworks, don't know why) exploding beautifully behind a HDB block. Looked for about 5 seconds, then decided to try and catch a $5 movie at Eng Wah. After debating on what movie out of the 5 shows available to watch, we decided on one with a more mature theme. Put the money on the counter, asked how much it was. Turns out there's no $5 movies. Took our money and left. Little Kenneth had to leave early because of his curfew.

Went to Yishun, and wowee it was certainly our lucky day. Malaysian Getai King Wei Han Wen was playing a gig there for Lunar Fest 07. His signature "tremolo bar" vocals aka "dou ying" really blew the crowd away. Totally awesomeee.

The King condescends to engage in conversation with the out of job actor emcee

Couldn't shove my way to the moshpit up front. INTENSE.

Belting out heartbreaking renditions of 70s Malaysian classics

After failing to find some decent cheap flicks to rent, we went to Yuki-san's house. Played around with the exciting games on facebook and explored the wonderful world of online browser-based gaming whilst guzzling down bottles of yakult. Left at around 2am.

Yep, that's about it. I haven't felt this unproductive for some time.

Making Amends #1

This one goes out to a certain David from Rosyth 6-06. Although this incident may barely register a bleep in the recesses of his mind, I still remember the incident like it was yesterday and there are nights I still toss and turn in bed thinking about it.

I was at the peak of my (short-lived) career as a magician, proudly displaying my skills to anybody who would be so bold as to surrender a coin to me and to watch it disappear before their very eyes, only to gasp in amazement as I brought it back again. David was one of them. Little did I know the trouble which would ensue.

So I was doing the usual routine and after my performance, placed the coin back on the table to thunderous applause. As I said, nothing out of the ordinary, just the usual routine. Moments later, he came up to me, demanding his coin back. I looked at the table and the coin was no longer there. The phrase that came up next I have never forgotten. "I saw you POCKET the coin!"

I checked my pockets, the breast pocket first as that was where I usually kept my loose change. I even dipped my hand, with difficulty, into my back pocket, which I rarely used. Nope, no coin. A heated argument ensued. I tried everything to prove my innocence, pulled in witnesses, emptied my belongings, calling him a dirty liar, but he still insisted that I had POCKETED the coin.

I was confused and puzzled, since I had no idea what had happened to the coin and how could he have seen me POCKET the coin, when I myself did not. (really, I didn't) What's more, I was now condemned as a thief for the first time in my life. Seeking justice, I decided to bring the matter up to a higher authority: Mr. Siva Kumar Menon, Form Teacher. I pleaded innocence while David consistently claimed that I POCKETED the coin.

Good old Siva told us to stop bickering and go back to our seats. That was it. No jury, no witnesses, no crime scene examinations. Not even a lie test. I was never proved innocent, David never got his coin back, the thief probably still at large this very day.

And so David, although you may never read this, I sincerely apologise for the trouble I caused and understand the distress you must have been going through over your loss. Believe me, If I had one opportunity to go back in time, I would use it to deliver the coin safely into your hands after performing my feat. Till today, I still claim innocence and I hope that perhaps one day, you will accept my word as truth and forgive me.

The object that started it all.

Celebrating the joys of life

Prelims end TOMORROW!!!! HOORAY!!!! I SMELL PARTTTAAYYYYYYY!!!

SUM AWESOME PIX 4 CELEBRATION:

Still wishing I was more serious?

Proving Stuff:

If the black void
was filled with the same
solemn stars.

Or the tree which fell
in the forest
always made a sound.

And age, old age,
the lone companian
to four-eyed maths whizzes on
their rocking chairs.

For silent are heroes' sighs
to the applauding audience,
as they ride
into a sequel-less sunset.

Oh how empty
the life of one who has
nothing

left to prove.

-me

After months of contemplation I have decided to start studying.

Zoso

Smell some Led Zep coming up.

Thanks

You don't really notice it at first, you think it's okay for them to forget to say it once in a while. Then you start appreciating how nice it is of them, because they don't say it much anymore. It comes less and less and you really light up when they express even a hint of it, because it's better than nothing. But not for long though, because soon they stop saying it at all. But the demands never change and you're just left feeling used.

But the Worse part is, you realise you're just like them.

Remember to say your thanks, kids.

Kwik Kwotes

The force feed of macroeconomic contradictions and circular logics has left me drained.

So here's some Keynesian Kwik Kuotes:

"Education: the inculcation of the incomprehensible into the indifferent by the incompetent."

"The long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the long run we are all dead."

Ironic but sadly, they are irrelevant to my short run situation.

Blast from le past

Over here.

I'm glad I quit wow. Things could be alot worse.

Joe Pass Virtuoso 1.

Finally found a copy selling at a realistic price. Gramophone is just much more ethical than HMV, although it wasn't exactly dirt cheap either. Anyway after a listen through, I thus conclude that the album title is a remarkably fitting one. I don't usually use the word remarkably alot but whatever.

On hiatus

Because I ran out of plot.

I saved someone with my umbrella today. At first, I felt some satisfaction from having done my good-deed-of-the-day. But then again, it wasn't as if I could've easily made a choice that would not utterly ravage my morals and beliefs. Not helping the person would have been the more challenging option. Sorry Robert, no less traveled roads for me today.

Moral of the story? Goodwill is overrated.

But do it anyway or you'll just be an asshole.

My Foray into Noir Fiction. Part Three.

I sat down. Glanced around. The outside of the cafe was mostly empty, except for a couple of men in black suits and black hats tinkering with some odd black box a few tables away and an ostrich pecking at a bush. Good, no suspicious characters in the vicinity. Now I just had to wait for him to arrive. He came sooner than I expected.

It was four hours later. I remembered. I had been counting the number of seconds on my watch. 14267. Or was it 14532? The sound of approaching footsteps had torn me away from my little world of amusement. I looked up and there he was.

If I had to use one word to describe Timmy, it would be decent. He always stood up straight and tall, a respectable 1.53m. Never saw a hair out of place. His shirt was ironed as smooth as smooth gets, and so were his pants. His mom's work no doubt. I envied those symmetrical double knotted shoelaces, he'd never have to stoop over for a re-tie. Today, he was looking sad.

"Hey Tim, looking sad today."

"That's because I am" he replied gruffly.

I asked him why.

"Because I'm alive" he said.

I contemplated that nugget of wisdom. It was bitter. Obviously, things had taken a downturn for poor Timmy. Some screwed up stuff. But that was the way things were around here. Heck, this whole world was screwed up. Life is tragic. You win some, you lose some more. But Timmy was a tough guy. Behind the starched fabric was a hard, roughened spirit. He would get through this.

"Pull yourself together, Tim. No reason to spit at life just because it spat on you." Logic had not been a priority when I had said that and I regretted it.

"You don't understand Matt. I should've died out there. I shouldn't even be here."

"Shit man, what happened?"

"I.. I don't know man. I did exactly as they said. Aim for point between the bridge tower and smoke stacks! Eyes no close! There I was, heading straight for the point! Glory for the Emperor! I will not die in vain! HISSATSU! Then boom! Something hit my tail and i couldn't get back on course damn it! I just couldn't! The rudder was gone! I spun to the right and crashed into the sea and everything went black."

He broke down and started bawling, muttering some crap about "bushido honour" and his unbearable shame. Did I mention Timmy had mutiple personality disorder?

I looked down at the twitching, crumpled heap beside my chair. The ostrich was still here, pecking at a coffee cup on the ground. If there was one word that could describe Timmy, it was bat-fuck-insane.

My Foray into Noir Fiction. Part Two.

Crossed the street with promptitude. Heck I didn't even know what I was rushing for, I just thought people always looked cool when in a hurry. Gives them an air of importance, man on a mission, always needed somewhere else. And needed fast. A deafening sound came from the right. Car horn.

Instinctively, I turned my head, just in time to see a car pass behind, missing me by inches. Cursing myself for cliche and lack of self-preservation, I stepped back up onto the curb, back onto land. The mini mall stood at the corner of the street. That's where I was standing. I located the cafe at it's side. Drawing a long, unnecessary sigh, I trudged towards an empty table on the sidewalk. It had been a long walk and things were only going to get worse. Possibly worse than Mr Brain's 4 Pork Faggots.

My foray into Noir Fiction. Part one.

It was mid afternoon. That time of the day again. The hot breeze was blowing across the street, the debris it carried clinging on to my hair. Not like I cared. I had bigger problems to worry about then. Always been like that this time of year anyway. I should know. I've been through eighteen of them. Cloud above hinted a drizzle later on. Maybe a shower past midnight. But it was the least of my worries. I might as well be a weatherman, I thought with a hint of a smile as I continued my walk.

The building ahead grew larger as I neared it. Visual perception or something, they called it. But I had more than the Gestalt Laws of Organisation on my mind today. I quickened my pace. Time was short. To-do list was long. I quickened my pace. Again. Degenerative creativity alarm went off. No time for inventive vocab today, I told it, ripping out the plug for good measure. Time was short.

I'm sorry but I have to say this.

National Day celebrations today. I won't even try to make it sound good by calling it boring. It was straight up pure agony to endure. Performances were okay but I still cringe at the thought of the in-between moments. I will stop here.

Argh

Realised today that my weekend plans are kinda screwed up. I'm going to have to miss stuff I want for stuff I'm obliged to attend. CLASHCLASHCLASH. Coincidences can be so cruel.

I also wrote a short story on some desk today. I will reproduce it here.

Crushing Day-
And so I set out today,
feeling tough as a rock.
Stumbled, chipped, crushed,
I went home as dust,
adhesive dreams to patch me up.

WANT

The Simpsons Movie

I would've rather watched 3 Simpsons episodes but it's a decent movie anyway.

As an old friend would've said: "elp!" needhelptopassmyalevels and another weekend zooms by. I also sort of gave up the chance of getting $4000 in cash this week. Just didn't feel like it. I used to like money quite a lot but now I'm like just mehhh whatever.

More stuffs soon.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

A decent read. Except for the fromage overdose epilogue, which was totally uncalled for. And severus takes his emo heroics to a whole new level!

libertad

Supergroup rock band my ass. GNR come back plzzz.

Tommy Emmanuel Concert

I give the it an 11/10.

Glenn who did not watch the concert popped up

He did ONE song with Paul after the concert, played a few licks and played drums for half a song.

King Lear

Damn that was depressing, their lives really sucked like hell. We're living in a paradise. (relatively)

nope

No improvements today whatsoever. Zilch.

Grandmaster Flash come back plzzzzz

I'm so not in the mood to do anything anymore. Even the desire to play guitar sorta dies when the mum nags every time i make a sound. It seems that as a musician, my playing fails to touch people's hearts. Or maybe she'd just rather I hit the books more often, which I really should be doing right now. Damn pragmatism.

I really need more stuff to write about. Like complaining about chopping down the tree because drivers don't obey the speed limits. I mean, what's up with that? You break a law, you pay the price. Crash! As I remember, it's speed LIMIT, not RECOMMENDED speed. It's a freaking law. kkz I admit I don't agree with speed limits all the time, German highways sound way more fun but at least most of their drivers aren't retards there. Here? Speed limit FYB and noooo they don't want. Screw the rules, they've (gah-men) got money. Make them chop the tree. They really don't like Darwinism here I guess.

Looks like Live Earth wasn't so impactful afterall. Where are you Captain Planet? You were a hero, you were supposed to take pollution down to zero.

everything isn't meant to be ok, but that's ok.

After 3 days, it comes to an end.

3 days, 3 races, that's all you'll ever get.

3 days, 3 races, that's all you'll ever need.

It was quite obvious from the start, I'm not the best rower there is. Heats and semis, I strained myself to pull through. I knew that crossing those finishing lines only meant getting closer to the real deal. The finals. I soon found myself in it. No doubt competition was very strong but I could never really bring myself to admit that I was out of their league until the very end. No point in doubting myself.

In the end, they weren't so far away afterall. All the time I've spent, the sacrifices, rolled into less than five minutes of pure intensity. Still, a 6th position, I was defeated and so were some of my teammates but I'm sure we've really made our presence felt this time. But that already brings the team is already one step closer to the medals for the next batch. Already we've gotten into five finals with one medal in just our second year of A divs. Hope to see the juniors really excelling next year even after we've left.

How many times
Do we tire of all the little battles
Threaten to call it quits
Tempted to cut and run

How many times
Do we weather out the stormy evenings
Long to slam the front door
Drive away into the setting sun

Keep going on till dawn
How many times must another line be drawn
We could be down and gone
But we hold on

How many times
Do we chaff against the repetition
Straining against the faith
Measured out in coffee breaks
How many times
Do we swallow our ambition
Long to give up the same old way
Find another road to take

Keep holding on so long
Cause theres a chance that we might not be so wrong
We could be down and gone
But we hold on

How many times
Do we wonder if it's even worth it
Theres got to be some other way
Way to get me through the day

Keep going on till dawn
How many times must another line be drawn
We could be down and gone
But we hold on

-by rush

SAJC Canoeing

And then God set up this amazing sunset for us to bask in its glory.

About apologising

If sorry's no cure then I don't know what is.

Crushing day

damn it ming tuan you really suck you had one last chance and you totally screwed it up zomg you suck you suck you suck you suck you suck you suck you suck you suck.

i got pwnt today but i couldn't bear slamming myself in first person.

Coincidences

The odds of some stuff happening are like 1 to 6310864078146508917 but they happen anyway. Right down to the second.

Meeting familiar strangers, god likes to amuse me.

I'm doomed!

Refer to title.

Roll Out

Something evil's watching over you
Comin' from the sky above
And there's nothing you can do

Prepare to strike
There'll be no place to run
When your caught within the grip
Of the evil Unicron

Transformers
More than meets the eye
Transformers
Robots in Disguise

Strong enough to break the bravest heart
So we have to pull together
We can't stay worlds apart

To stand divided we will surely fall
Until our darkest hour
When the light will save us all

Transformers
More than meets the eye
Transformers
Robots in Disguise
Transformers

Autobots wage their Battle
To destroy the evil forces
Of the Decepticons

It's judgment day and now we've made our stand
And now the powers of darkness
Have been driven from our land

The Battle's over but the war has just begun
And this way it will remain til the day when all are one

Transformers
Transformers
Transformers
Transformers
More than meets the eye

Superduperawesome.

about the goodness of others

Sometimes, it's almost like I'm afraid of their goodwill.

my fickle friend

Zomg Lazer Eyez.

"Hi."

"kthx4scratch."

Zomg more Lazer Beamz.

Charging up Lazer Eyez.

Zomg Lazer Eyez.

"metry2brkintotishsenowkthxbye."

Not my cat. I think cats are just like people.