Just flashed in a new BIOS (gotten from the manufacturer's website, and not from the Award certified conmen).

My file copying problem seems to be gone both with Optimised and Fail-Safe BIOS settings.

Too bad my SCV modem's still problematic, but I guess I shouldn't have expected too much :)


(�`�.,��,.���

Now, I wonder what this is supposed to be?


Blogskins is so fun!

I just submitted a skin I wrote myself.

Preview it.

*bleep*


Why do people hate Jews? Is it because they're rich? Successful? Smart? Close knit? That they've managed to survive against all odds? Witness the improbable "Zionist Conspiracies" alleged to have been plotted across the ages. And the rubbish that is The Protocols Of The Elders Of Zion.

I bear the immortal words of Yortsin in mind: "Maybe the Jews are seen as different, and no one likes different people. No one likes the X-Men, for example."

:)


In other happenings, Kenneth wanted someone to go to Tango classes with him, so Yechao said he could tango with Mrs Lim Guat Ching. HAHAHA. Must be the best joke he's ever made :)

"Lecture is a time, it should be pleasurable... you agree with me? Therefore, you must tango with me, don't just tango and jam alone." - The Commander


I wonder if Xephyris will ever post here again. Ah, my little fledgling bird has grown wings and left the nest. I'm so proud! ^__^' Haha.


Quotes:

[To me] You know what I like about you?... You're funny... [Me: You get irritated first, then you laugh?] I laugh first, then later I get irritated... It's okay as long as you don't try to out talk me... out argue too often

[On The Economist] How to read? Then I've to bring a dictionary.

Expandable Store (Expendables)

[In the QM office] Pls Speak Only In English

[42SAR drivers on Henry when they were in the same bunk] He used to be our bunkmate... We always treat she-him as our good friend... entertainment... our sex slave

I'm checking CAAS Flight Information now.

Ooo. They've voice recognition now!

This is ridiculous. I'm saying "play all" and "Bangkok" to a computer.

I think they don't like my voice. Suddenly, they've gone back to "Please press 1 for ~" and the like.


LOL

(lifted from somewhere)

SMS Transcript on HCJC guys on MRT
1= What the hell.. hc guys are damn nerdy man...I've these three guys standing beside me who're going for prom apparently... Wtf...They look damn weird.
2=One's wearing a white polo shirt and white pants and sport shoes and a blue haversack...He's wearing his watch close to his elbow...And he has damn thick specs
3=The second is just plain weird...He's wearing a brown shirt and black pants but has his shirt tucked damn far in...
4=first guy... and oh. his belt has a gold buckle... Help man...And guess what? They're discussing word riddles and math riddles...Wtf
5=what starts and ends with und?? Underground! -giggle giggle- and one even drooled while laughing...Omg...um...Even the worst nerds in rj pale in comparison
6=I really should get a phone that can take photos...I'm really freaked out... It's -after- the a levels and they're still discussing math and riddles incesstantly
7=sheet...I really hope my child doens't turn out like that in the future...I will just proceed to the nearest building and jump. Jump damn it! Jump! -freaked-
8=my god...They finally left the train...You know what they said? 'oh, the last time i went out was just after o levels...'i went out once during j1--field
9=trip for bio' 'really? Me too!' omg... I'm getting out of the train.

LOL

Someone gets his

Just Desserts

http://www.freep.com/money/tech/mwend6_20021206.htm

Internet spammer can't take what he dishes out

West Bloomfield bulk e-mailer Alan Ralsky, who just may be the world's biggest sender of Internet spam, is getting a taste of his own medicine.

Ever since I wrote a story on him a couple of weeks ago (www.freep.com/money/tech/mwend22_20021122.htm), he says he's been inundated with ads, catalogs and brochures delivered by the U.S. Postal Service to his brand-new $740,000 home.

It's all the result of a well-organized campaign by the anti-spam community, and Ralsky doesn't find it funny.

"They've signed me up for every advertising campaign and mailing list there is," he told me. "These people are out of their minds. They're harassing me."

That they are. Gleefully. Almost 300 anti-Ralsky posts were made on the Slashdot.org Web site, where the plan was hatched after spam haters posted his address, even an aerial view of his neighborhood.

"Several tons of snail mail spam every day might just annoy him as much as his spam annoys me," wrote one of the anti-spammers.

Ralsky is indeed annoyed. He says he's asked Bloomfield Hills attorney Robert Harrison to sue the anti-spammers.


Excerpts from the original:

http://www.freep.com/money/tech/mwend22_20021122.htm

MIKE WENDLAND: Spam king lives large off others' e-mail troubles

West Bloomfield computer empire helped by foreign Internet servers

'You might call it the house that spam built...

But now, after moving a few weeks ago into his new $740,000 house, he claims he's back in business.

Ralsky used to be easy to locate, with a listed address and phone number. But his attorney, Robert Harrison of Bloomfield Hills, said Ralsky is so hated by anti-spammers that he's had to be less visible.

"There were threats against him, cars driving by and people checking out his house," Harrison said. "Someone even left a package of what appeared to be dog feces."

Ralsky admits to using lots of different domain names and Internet providers, but said he does nothing illegal. He prefers to call his e-mails marketing messages instead of spam.

"I'll never quit," said the 57-year-old master of spam. "I like what I do. This is the greatest business in the world."

It's made him a millionaire, he said, seated in the wood-paneled first floor library of his new house. "In fact," he added, "this wing was probably paid for by an e-mail I sent out for a couple of years promoting a weight-loss plan."

"There is no way this can be stopped," Ralsky said. "It's a perfectly legal business that has allowed anybody to compete with the Fortune 500 companies."

Ralsky has other ways to monitor the success of his campaigns. Buried in every e-mail he sends is a hidden code that sends back a message every time the e-mail is opened. [Ed: Web bugs! Cookies! EVIL.]

Earlier this month, said Ralsky, somebody told the Chinese government that a Web company from which he leases e-mail servers in Beijing was sending messages critical of Chinese policy.

"...there are a lot of anti-spam activists, and apparently some of them on their own started organizing a campaign to get the Chinese government to think that Ralsky was supporting" the Falun Gong, an outlawed spiritual group the Chinese government considers subversive. "We didn't endorse that, but it shows you how deep the anti-Ralsky feelings are."

Ralsky, meanwhile, is looking at new technology. Recently he's been talking to two computer programmers in Romania who have developed what could be called stealth spam.

It is intricate computer software, said Ralsky, that can detect computers that are online and then be programmed to flash them a pop-up ad, much like the kind that display whenever a particular Web site is opened.

"This is even better," he said. "You don't have to be on a Web site at all. You can just have your computer on, connected to the Internet, reading e-mail or just idling and, bam, this program detects your presence and up pops the message on your screen, past firewalls, past anti-spam programs, past anything.

"Isn't technology great?"'

Met with Yisa at the Heeren yesterday. Crepes and Cream doesn't serve pork. Evil!

There was this Praise and Worship roadshow on the grass patch oppposite the Heeren. How (*ahem*) insensitive! It's Hari Raya, so, as in Malaysia, we cannot do anything that might conceivably offend Muslims. Hell, the whole month of Ramadan is holy, so during the month all bars must be closed down, prostitutes stopped from operating and no pork can be sold.

After that I wanted to go watch the portion of Evil Cult that turned up carol at CHIJMES. Yisa made some effort to keep up with me, then gave up and let me lope there. Along the way, I stopped and talked to Chris Lin (the Commando Clerk who used to sing under tables, not the hairy cadet who used to compare his thrusting power with Melvin's in overturning my table), who was going to eat Bak Chor Mee with his friend.

At CHIJMES, 15 of them were performing in their normal performance attire - a little unsuited for an occasion as this, I thought - under the baton of Kelvin Chan (*clap*), serenading diners as they ate and moving from establishment to establishment like itinerant mendicants. And at the end they indeed got paid by an Italian matron, the owner of an Italian restaurant, but with Lemonade and Fruit Punch, not with their supper.

Overall, I felt that the performance reminded me of a well sequenced MIDI - no matter how well you sequence a MIDI, no matter how realistic the voice library is or even how you tweak the rendering for excellence, it can never compare to an MP3 ; there was a lack of accents and dramatic pauses in their renditions of the songs. And towards the end, they got twangy and *really* off. They might have been fatigued, but I've done a 2 hr gig with RV before, in Pasir Ris, though by the end my feet were nearly dropping off. Maybe they need TBS to whip (woah) them back into shape.

At one point, the carollers walked into China Jump to perform. The place was deserted. I'd have thought that it'd be crowded, this being a friday and public holiday's night - this after all, was the place where people were licking each other's belly buttons the other time (if my failing memory serves me correctly). Sicheng echoed my thoughts when he offered, as a reason - "All the Muslims aren't here". ;) Incidentally, Mr Reeves was being interviewed on one of the sports channels at the time. Hehe.

One of the teachers in charge - a new one - was present, and she's so young that at first I mistook her for a J3.

Jason - who's really shrunk after JCC (Jungle Confidence Course) - was there also, to say hello, as I did, to the RV juniors and probably to acquaint himself with a new generation. And earlier I greeted, perfunctorily, Moses, Enbin and Edwin as they were sitting outside one of the restaurants.

Many of their scores were suspiciously familiar and indeed on confronting him, Kelvin admitted that he stole them from Nellie. It was nice to hear songs I'd last sung in Hawaii in 1999 *wistful*

Some of them were affected of the bad habit of, when singing a lively song, flailing their arms around, grinning like fools, shuffling around and looking at each other from time to time. This is one level of degeneracy below "jerking head and shoulders when you sing". It's quite funny to watch really, but rather distracting.

The material of the skirts looks like it's cheap PVC. It certainly has the dull sheen of PVC. Yeech. And some of the girls lost their flowers. Lucky no guys lost their cravats :)


Why are Mambo and Quiksilver shirts so popular among guys? Maybe it's the same as for pool :)


I just got savaged (and I do mean savaged) again. Of course, I was baited to rant here, or to others, about my complete lack of culpability. And though the person professes not to want to "touch [my] site with a ten-foot pole otherwise", I wager that somehow, the person will come to know of this.

And no, I haven't and won't be "trumpeting [my] lac (sic) of fault to all and sundry". My fault, often, is in talking too much. And I talk too much in camp too, which is why people get annoyed sometimes too. Though I won't begrudge them whatever fragment of amusement they may garner :)

I sought to apologise, and got several unwarranted (?) barbs thrown at me. Oh well. I suppose if you take things personally, you do tend to get quite insulted, just like why I'm outraged whenever someone in Saudi Arabia gets his head lopped off with a sword for apostasy or such other offences under Sharia. So maybe I should stop caring about male genital mutilation also. Nevermind. I suppose everyone needs some personal causes, whether mundane or eccentric.

Dammit. This is such an inconsequential matter. If it was of any consequence, I wouldn't be quite so flighty.

Add to that someone else's seeming weariness with me. Tim said maybe I seem to fall out with many people because I know a lot of people. Mayhap.

I was discussing with Yisa how I wanted to try not to piss people off so much and he asked if I was sacrificing my individualism to conform. Actually I think that often, what irks others is not that I'm weird or offensive, but I choose to broadcast that to others :) Perhaps it's the exhibitionist streak that is the problem.

This seems to be a trite topic, and I've exposited on it at length before. I wonder why I come back to it every now and again? And when all is said and then, my thinking before making any move would mean that the magic of the moment would always be gone, and I'd never ever say or do anything as a result. To different people be different gifts. Maybe I am just not gifted in this arena like others.

Maybe I should just go into a corner and hide.

2:40PM:

"when i first knew you, i really couldn't stnad your brand of humour, and commentories.... they too made my blood boil... hence my earlier stand-offs with you.

You have a knack for saying things that many pple think and nobody says. Of course you'll piss some people off. That's the reason why the majority say nothing to begin with."

People say the thing is I just talk too much. Well, you know what they say about Silence being Golden.

"and the argument about judging... who can truly judge a man? :/"

What can change the nature of a man? Okay. That has only peripheral relevance. Never mind.

When I want people to take me seriously, they don't. When I don't want them to take me seriously, they do. Bah.


At least, out of this, I got some very interesting and meaningful views from people. About more ways than one why the person in question was so pissed off, and other complementary matters. Thank you to all who were discussing the meaning of life and related matters with me :) (In the unlikely event that you come here)

"Then the name - John... at the end of Planescape: Torment, all the hate mail... Put a poll, "What do you think his name should be?" Then you put "Agagooga", then everyone votes." - Tim

Gah.

Empire Earth's combat system is ridiculously scissors-paper-stone-like. And Isaurian bowmen jump like dying fish when they die.


Got my CDs exchanged - curiously, they worked on the computer of the man at the shop ; only thing is, instead of taking Medieval: Total War, I took Age of Mythology! ARGH. Hope Julian will buy it from me. And the changed Warcraft 3 still won't read on my computer. Maybe the whole batch of CDs doesn't like my computer.


Super Mario Brothers. Hit 80s Video Game, Or Subtle Communist Propaganda Campaign?

I bet He Who Must Not Be Named can't get 20/20 on this quiz.

Haha look what Ger dug up:

Accomplishments

I painted a picture � green sky � and showed it to my
mother.
She said that�s nice, I guess.
So I painted another holding the paintbrush in my teeth,
Look, Ma, no hands. And she said
I guess someone would admire that if they knew
How you did it and they were interested in painting
which I am not.

I played clarinet solo in Gounod�s Clarinet Concerto
With the Buffalo Philharmonic. Mother came to listen
and said
That�s nice, I guess.
So I played it with the Boston Symphony,
Lying on my back and using my toes,
Look, Ma, no hands. And she said
I guess someone would admire that if they knew
How you did it and they were interested in music
which I am not.

I made an almond souffl� and served it to my mother.
She said that�s nice, I guess.
So I made another, beating it with my breath,
Serving it with my elbows,
Look, Ma, no hands. And she said
I guess someone would admire that if they knew
How you did it and they were interested in eating
which I am not.

So I sterilized my wrists, performed the amputation,
threw away
My hands and went to my mother, but before I could
say
Look, Ma, no hands, she said
I have a present for you and insisted I try on
The blue kid-gloves to make sure they were the right
size.

~Cynthia MacDonald


Oddly intriguing:

Asperger's Syndrome


It's ludicrously easy to bypass the expiry of Norton Antivirus subscriptions - just change the date.

Why didn't I think of that?


Bah my Warcraft 3 and Age of Mythology CDs are spoilt. At least I'm still within the 1 week window the man gave me. I hope he's open today.

I think Disney has a delibilating effect on people. Too many feel-good, stylised portrayals of our world tend to screw people up and give them unrealistic expectations (cf Romance Novels).

Witness Screwed Up Girl. Right now she's singing all manner of Disney songs to me over the phone - all from the 60s or before and exalting dead and long gone values and ideals, and encouraging people to have unrealistic expectations (like having a Prince and a true love and all that jazz).

Unhealthy. Very unhealthy.

At least children find out that there's no Santa when they hit puberty.

Intrigued by a Life! feature today about the Amazing Race 3 in Singapore, I watched non-PRLR TV for the first time in a while. Like all reality TV, the show was surrealistically contrived. At least the method of elimination is fair, and winning individual rounds does bring rewards. The length of the show was tiring, though. 2 hours?

Of course, people having nothing better to pick on were grumbling about how disgraceful it was to have chosen Phua Chu Kang to appear on the show instead of some (questionable) alternatives like the Singapore Girl (SIA - Sex In the Air) and Zoe Tay. At least PCK got to say "don't pray pray", probably because this was for a foreign-produced show.

They claimed that locals believe that the Fountain of Wealth's waters bring good luck. What bullshit. I bet they'd just as soon have related the, ah, Legend of the Merlion.

[07/12/02:

LOL

"AHHH!! Major disgrace to RGS. I nearly *fainted* when I heard this. Derek and Drew asked directions to the Zoo from an RGS girl and SHE DIDN'T RECOGNISE THEM!! I could just DIE. If it was me I'd... I'd... I don't know. Apparently Sin Ni's senior just gave them directions, turned around to her other friend and said, "They look familiar." Ahh! How could she? That's the crime of the century!!!"

NB: Apparently this wasn't in the final footage. Oh well.]


A most atypical and surreal way in which someone found Balderdash:

"found it in my sch comp...hahahaha"

wth?! Apparently this page is popular with Raffles Guys. Witness the rave reviews: "Haha Great webbie you got here! Keep it up :D", "hey agagooga, you are the one that visited the rgs gym site too right? haha... been to your sites...it's real funny.."

This person's in both Flesh Parade and Associate Flesh Parade ;) Woah.

[NB: The link to me has mysteriously disappeared, for reasons unknown to men living]


A guy named Shunjing seems to like a guy named Dalglish

Now, where have we heard the latter name before? :)

Comparing the 2 blogs, we come to a very interesting conclusion.


More disturbing RJ rantings on clubbing:

"but my fren had connections.. and soon all of us were getting shots for FREE!!!! woohoo!! hahaha... then i hit the dance floor after checking out this group of gals

tats when i met limins fren...hwee ye...

oh yah.. dunno if i should say this but will anyway..... i really kinda liked the way she was holding me... warm and nice sensual feeling...
serious.... its dumb to say this...but i felt like really loved....... it was seriously nice.. never been touched that way b4... wad was to come later wasnt as nice... serious... as in the way she caressed me... the first one nicer all haha..... sigh.... im really fucked up lah... so des sometimes............
then went off for more shots...
and went back to look for hwee ye.. but i couldnt find her... met hwee ye frens who was also looking for her...
and thats when it happend... it close... touchy.. very touchy i guess..
cos before i knew it... we were making out..damn................
dont know who started it... but dont think its me... i NEVER did such stuff before.. the most just the touchy part
it was like totally uncalled for...
still can rem a bit of how it felt like i think... it was my first GODDAMN time lah... (i was fucking saving it for some one special maybe?... future gf or smthn....)
pissed but happy at the same time...
my first time... lost it to another of limins class mate also!!!!!!!! found that out the next day
lost it to someone i dont even know or gif a shit bout........
damn sad lah in a way....
but could rem a few things..... it was def frenching...... could feel it.. haha ok ill spare the details...
but i dont know...
its kinda hard to get over........
first time leh......
of course i def enjoyed it...
nice sensation all.......
but dont hink ill be doin it again anytime soon......
still feel like braggin bout it haha.... but i shant....
it was some pretty wicked shit........
next day when i was at my frens place... took of my shirt.....
and i noticed.... a fucking LOVE BITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
shit man!!!!
luckily it was small and on my collar bone..
how the heel did her lips even get so deep into my shirt?!?!
amazing...
collarbone leh..... you wear any shirt you cant see it!?
then how was that area exposed for her?
my shirt was in perfect condition.. no tears nothing haha..
it was quite red... thats why i noticed it...
told you it was wicked...
luckily it didnt bruise.. and was gone in 3 days...

yup... tats wad happend on the big nite out........
lost my first kiss........ sighs......
but i really had mixed feeling over it...
told myself that i had to lose it by the end of this year... so kinda fulfilled that part..
but was hoping i lost it when i got attached by the end of this year... but dont think thats gonna even happen.......... either.......

and one more thing... i swear i always kena SNGS gals.................
two of them were from SN.........

MATT BOUNCER.... IF YOU EVER get a chance t o mayb read this.... FUCK YOU again.. haha...see wad you can do NEXT YEAR!!!

a girls more wild.. and not as stuck up as rj gals.......
fucking losuy rj gals...............
should just go to a lesbian club next time... la.. stupid fucking bithces...
none of us got chance to dance close........... i think...
i know i didnt get anyone...
all the bitches just dancing in their lesbian circle all...
or round those fucking high profile cute guys(fags)
or they were attached
means one thing.... they didnt fucking drink enuff...... bet they just go there to talk cock say hi to thier frens.. and just dance.. cos mommy say cannot drink all...

but i swear i hate the rj crowd....... so boring...............
everyone just stick to their own groups...... like in school...................

really wanna FUCK RJ sometimes...............

the unlce puts GANJA into the MILO PING....thats why its damn good... but their teh ping tastes like fucking ice lemon tea........"

The ganja in the Milo Ping must have made him deluded.

[Ed: This is Screwed Up Girl's classmate, so you know why he got so screwed up]


Seems I've come across Huihui's cousin. Small world.

"i think my cousin's showed me your website b4... hui jun and hui mei from rjc...know them?"

It seems that people my age don't like me, and those younger than me are amused by me. Perhaps I'm at their mental age :)

"Gabriel,


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!@#$%^&*()

I was under the impression that BIOS upgrades were free.


On a side note, I almost forgot to bring my keys with me when I left camp. Bleah.

Haven't posted here in a while :) Busy with many things, not the least of which is this:
*shameless plug*


I know Agagooga linked the site earlier, but that was when it wasn't launched yet :) Now it is.

I finally got around to designing my own site / online journal, so i'll mostly be posting there now (yeah, good riddance! :)
Besides it being my online journal though, the site also has the translations of songs Chinx and I have done so far, and *will* (note how I say will - this means sometime in the future :P) contain our translation to Sakura Taisen GB2 when we actually do finish it :P

What else to say... Never played Planescape Torment. Busy with other stuff now, hopefully i'll find some time someday and play the game, which Agagooga is "highly recommending".

Xephyris, signing off. Ja ne. I'll be on Waxin' Lyrical if you guys want to get me for anything.

In the meantime, here are a couple of links

Pretty damned good Torment art.

It's in .. erm.. Hungarian, I think. So there.

Below is a very nice stylized Rune of Torment. It is now my wallpaper at work. The vanilla Rune of Torment on black border I save for home:) (metaphorically apt)



Oh, and I spent 4 hours trying to find a screenshot of the Rune of Torment spell. In vain. Is someone nice enough to play the game and take one for me?

And here's a tres cool poster

Word of the day: "pfffffhhhhtttt" (spellings may vary, depending on your dictionary)

It's official - this blog and blogger.com have been completely blocked off at work. Must be all my frantic attempts to reload and repost everytime an entry gets consumed by the Void.

I expect blogging to diminish considerably from now on, as a result, given that, at home, my priorities are mainly to finish watching VCDs and playing games. Ah well.

In the meantime, some advice for you, Gabriel.

"You have to understand that things like pride, friendships, dignity and acceptance require you to pay way too much attention to pointless trivialities such as the opinions of others."

Normally I abhor such stuff, but I was sufficiently intrigued by the notion, the concept, and the result :)

I am the Anti-Seducer Seducers draw you in by the focused, individualized attention they pay to you. Anti-seducers are the opposite: insecure, self-absorbed, and unable to grasp the psychology of another person, they literally repel. Anti-Seducers have no self-awareness, and never realise when they are pestering, imposing, talking too much. Root out anti-seductive qualities in yourself, and recognise them in others - there is no pleasure or profit in dealing with the Anti-Seducer. Symbol: The Crab. In a harsh world, the crab survives by its hardened shell, by the threat of its pincers and by burrowing into the sand. No one dares get too close. But the Crab cannot surprise its enemy and has little mobility. Its defensive strength is its supreme limitation.

What Type of Seducer are You?
created by polite_society

Cheers to juwel


Screwed Up Girl is driving me crazy.

She memorised the most screwed up song I've ever heard, emanating from a Unicorn Soft Toy when you squeeze its hooves.

The lyrics go something like:

Hello hello hello hello hello hello how are you?
Hello hello hello hello hello hello how are you?
Thank you thank you I am fine
And I hope that you are too

Hello hello hello hello hello hello how are you?
Hello hello hello hello hello hello how are you?
Thank you thank you I am fine
And I hope that you are too

All sung in a sickly sweet voice reminiscent of the smell of putrefying flesh (I love to use this description)

http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/life/story/0,4386,158221,00.html?
"Carreras, 56, is, after all, just about the most celebrated opera tenor in the world. Together with two other opera greats, Placido Domingo, 61, and Luciano Pavarotti, 67, they make up the Three Tenors - the Backstreet Boys of the classical musical world"

Suhaila Sulaiman- How could you????!!!!!

Celebrity sighting? i heard you can see him if you go down to marine parade- one of the coffee places or something- he's often seen sitting there.

I'll be back in singapore on 12 december!.(will be in adelaide at ocf convention for a week before that- http://www.ocfconvention.org/ )

Have finally gotten down to sending Sarinee (who's managed to play even more games than Tim) of The Underdogs the 5 Blood Sword Books. God willing, they will be speedily received and scanned and PDFed and returned to me. Hoorah!


David's last paper was today, so I met with him for a while today. Twas nice catching up with him.

This being Orchard Road, it was inevitable that we'd see people. In Wisma Atria, he saw 2 of his squeaky JC classmates, and in Borders, we ran into Jamin and Caleb.

I was told that Johann's going to wear a tie and a jacket to prom. Without a shirt. Wonder if he'll get thrown out if/when he rips off his jacket during the event :)

Apparently, Alfian Sa'at was, for a while, sitting quite near us. Too bad I missed out on the celebrity sighting.

Especially after a while, I began to feel a touch like the fourth leg on a tripod. Partially because of the Econs S and Lit S - especially the latter - influence on the content and manner of their speech, and partially because Jamin, as usual, was somewhat frosty to me.

The bottom of Far East Plaza, now that Metro has moved out, has been turned into a hotbed of "hot" clothes shops with glitzy apparel, shoes and accessories. The gaudy decorations almost blinded me. Bleah.

In Far East, too, was a shop selling pirated CDs. And pirated DVD movies - a first (that I, the bumpkin that I am, have seen)! Not that I'd watch them, having the facilities to play DVDs only on my computer and not wanting to watch them on my puny 15" LCD screen, but it's nice to have an option.


I've learnt been forcibly reminded that females hate people making disparaging remarks about their or their friends' appearances (as Chinx graciously tut tut-ed).

"Heh. Its difficult to ever say anything bad about girls and mean it unless u dont mind the shockwave that follows.." - Wise words from Thai Boy.

Discretion is indeed the better part of valour. Bleah.

More generally, I wonder what went wrong when I grew up. Why I alienate people and piss them off. Why I lack tact, discretion and also am poor in assessing characters/personalities/tolerance levels. Why I sometimes have the urge to do certain things, even though cost-benefit analysis would not dictate action, because those things are fun and add a splash of colour to this often monochrome world, though people might be hurt or get pissed off. Not why I am eccentric, because that is interesting and makes for a most un-dreary life.

Equally, I wonder why some people are (hyper)sensitive. Maybe it's just me, being thick skinned, and having a higher tolerance level than others (except for physical pain).

It's impossible for everyone to like you, but I think I rank above only Yaodong in that area.

9:16PM:

To put it in a clearer perspective:

"see that's what you don't get
your perception of things are VASTLY different from everyone else's
if you walked up to someone and told them, hey your dress sense sucks, OF COURSE they'd be insulted. if you can't understand why they would be, then you really have a problem."

Okay. It's just like #1-#7. I really don't think there's anything wrong with being ugly, but most people think that there is.

9:35PM:

And then again:

"so you're wrong for expressing a personal opinion?

I don't get about your friend's line of argument."


Andrew tells me he can only see the Fortunecity logo where pictures are supposed to be on this blog, but everyone else tells me they can see the proper pictures. Argh. Argh.

New link icon:



And go look at this

Off the Raymond E Feist FAQ:


Are Kulgan and Meecham a gay couple?

From: "Raymond E. Feist"
Date: Mon, 18 Nov 1996 09:56:07 -0800
Subject: Re: Behavior or genes?

Kulgan and Meecham were characters I didn't wish to create controversy with, rather just let them live together in the woods and have Meecham disapear when Kulgan died. If you reread their exchanges, especially in Silverthorn, you can see a hint of a couple, rather than a man and servant as was publicly their roles. But two old guys living together in the woods for 20+ years? Ya, roomates.

LOL


What would happen if someone were to name their child Nalar?

> From: "Raymond E. Feist"
> Date: Thu, 10 Apr 1997 09:45:22 -0800
> Subject: Re: [spoiler]Names
They wouldn't. It wouldn't occur to anyone; the gods would see to that. It would be subtle. Someone might begin to think the name, but somehow it would change to "Nolar," or "Nelor," and then they'd think, "Why don't I just name the kid 'Rectal Itch' or 'Seeping Boil?'" and they'd get rid of the idea. There are fail safes built into the system.

Haha.


How come each chapter in REF's books starts like "The Storm Broke"?

> From: "Raymond E. Feist"
> Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 14:12:00 -0700
> Subject: Re: Stylistic query for REF
It was just something I tried with Magician that seemed to stick. Every chapter but one (I think it's 24 in Mistress) starts that way. Janny and I blew it in that one instance. Anyway, we did it with the Empire stuff because it's related. Faere Tale, on the other hand, doesn't have that, neither will any other non-Midkemian related books.

This is a very irritating quirk of the Midkemia books. All the chapters start with something like: "Pug ran", "Eric grimaced" or that sort of thing.


Is Tsurani culture based on Japanese culture?

From: "Raymond E. Feist"
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 07:07:15 -0800
Subject: Re: Tsurani

Japan during the Tokagawa Shogunate, China during the Sung Dynasty, Korea for some of the cultural window dressing, a touch of Zulu from before the Zulu-Boer War, and a couple of things I cribbed from the Aztecs. Mix well, stir, and pour.


Other excerpts:

""Feist stuck his girlfriend's name on the book" deal, or any of the other things people have said over the years. As to the last, Janny was never my girlfriend, so I don't know where that one started."

"somehow it excites you to see people disturbed and distraught and you feed on their discomfort"

Right.


"(26 Nov 2002) HOMEX will be closing its services by 31st December 2002. Please transfer your homepage files to another homepage hosting service as all of our members' homepage files will be deleted by then."

Damn. I need a provider that allows hot linking of images!

Till then:

Finally! I've been looking high and low for this - the mark etched on my skin since the start of BMT, because of all my tribulations, and only starting to drop off gradually. And all I had to do along was use Google's Image Search. Silly me.



And I made a link icon (since Xephyris suggested I needed one) with it:



And without:



I like Kidprint.

Nice and simple icons, but I can hear strains of the cacophonic chorus from He Who Must Not Be Named already.

Courtesy of He Who Must Not Be Named:




Made some tweaks to the sidebar and the titlebar. Yeh. Looks good.

test:



It seems Fortunecity supports hot linking ;)

See? Horse is smiling. Doesn't she have the cheeriest smile? Aww.

11:50:

And done. I should go edit all the picture links in Balderdash's archives but... heck.

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO MELBOURNE ON 3 DECEMBER!!!!

Some people like to follow the letter of the book(s), to the exclusion, even of following the spirit. Surely you cannot lay down 1001 timeless principles down. Of course some will be universally applicable, but most times, you have to be flexible.

---

The debacle of the Ms World riots in Nigeria is really ridiculous. More than 200 people dying because of mere words. And innocent words at that:

"The Muslims thought it was immoral to bring 92 women to Nigeria to ask them to revel in vanity. What would Muhammad think? In all honesty, he would probably have chosen a wife from one of them."

I think that a pretty decent and frank statement. Please see: List of Prophet Muhammad's Wives. He had 11 wives. That's almost 3 times as many as normal Muslim men are allowed. It's no wonder that Ms Magazine is featuring Isioma Daniel, the writer in its "Women of the Year" issue in December. Maybe the rioters were too hungry. Apparently 10,000 people have died in similar riots there since 1999. Oh well. Hyper sensitivity is never good. If you're not happy about something, or feel that it is insulting or otherwise, refute it with logic instead of killing people or censorship. If you do that, you're only showing that you have something to hide - the truth, maybe?

---

Obsession with memorising and quoting the Koran, Hadith and what not is not very healthy.

"Unfortunately what Muslims follow today has nothing to do with "Submission" preached by Abraham and Muhammad. They are following a religion never authorized by God : They divided the religion of "Submission" in to so many different sects, such as, Shi'a, Sunny, Ismaili, Hanbaly, Bahaii, and .... they follow two books, made by human and satan, "Hadith" (what Muhammad said), and "Sunna" (what Muhammad did), instead of following the Quran, the true word of God. They are Idolizing prophet Muhammad against his will, and asking dead saints for health and happiness. They are following the religious leaders instead of following the teaching of God in the Quran. They are nulifying their daily prayers by adding Muhammad's name beside the name of God, nullifying their Hajj pilgrimage by inventing the second Sacred Mosque (Muhammad's tomb). The religious practices that are performed by Muslims is not keeping with teachings of the Quran, such as, paying their charity, fasting, covering the women from head to toe, cutting off the hand of a thief, stoning the one's who commit adultery, killing the none Muslim, and .... The duties of Submission provided by God in the Quran have been nullified by such Muslims that are following a religious path that has not been authorized by God. Becasue of these fanatical followers of misguided teaching, the true nations of Submitters are misrepresented in the eyes of the world. That is why Islam and Muslims around the world have labels like, Terrorist, the Violent people the skew the worlds perceptions of the true nature of Submitters. That is how so called Islamic societies brought disasters upon themselves and they are among the most unhappiest nations in the world."

Rashad Khalifa, PhD (I think)

---

The Mists of Avalon, by the late Marion Zimmer Bradley, is replete with many concepts, ideas and passages which are conceivably blasphemous to the Christian faith, and bigoted, irrational and xenophobic priests are made to look stupid. Yet, she died in 1999 of a heart attack, not blown up by a suicide bomber, because people know that it's just fiction. Now if only Salman Rushdie could stick his head above ground... [Incidentally, I've tried to plough through his book. I don't know about blasphemous, but it is singularly boring. I wonder if Ayatollah Khomenei ever read it]

Word of the post: "candour"

*bleep*

On Saturday we had a 5km run at East Coast and I was doing cover. While there I saw Aravind and Simon from SMM. Busy place, East Coast is, ranking up there with Orchard and Suntec. West Coast... now that's someplace few people go. I remember going to a beach on the West Coast, and the sand was black. Erk.


Quotes:

[Tim to me on going online in camp] Yeah, why don't you... [Gabriel coughs] Oh, okay.

[On wrong directions from a RP and getting lost while looking for the SOC ground in MINDEF] Hor lan / Holland liao. I tell you - never ever trust Mat. (a Mat)

Excellance in Service (Excellence) [Ed: Apparently not excellance (sic) in spelling]

I saw him this way. I also got a shiok (and I, shock)

Last time, they asked the driver, 1 times 3 tonner - tear it down... Down to the screw [and rebuild it]... This was in the 17th century (1970s)

S4 and I were disgusting (discussing)

Your CSM don't turn around the bush (doesn't beat)

Gabriel, you look like the fyour'nix in Harry Potter (Phoenix)

Totally there is 8 persons (In total, are)

Editor's note: I will now, depending on the vagaries of my whims, post words of the post, like The Associate. Unlike him, though, I will not resort to posting obsolete, medical or technical jargon, mostly foreign words, or words so obscure no one could possibly know or use them.

Word of the post: "wanton"

I was supposed to meet Tim last Sunday but his parents didn't allow him to go out because of the lightning. Anyhow, I passed the memory chip to his brother and have gotten a new one - but the problem persists. So I'm now trying to get my BIOS updated. Now if they'd just reply to my form submission...

I maintain, as I always have, that chequered shirts and blouses = tablecloths. I've not seen an exception to this rule to date.

The Straits Times School Pocket Money fund has been relentlessly campaigning for donations. The principle is good, really, but I would like to see some statistics detailing how the money is given out. I suspect that most of it is given to families which are very poor and which have 4, 6, 12 or even more children. Now, if you are poor, you have no business bringing so many children into this world, when you cannot provide for them. 2 if fine, 3 even. But once you get into double digit figures, one wonders if we're creating a moral hazard by being kind.

Some people have long memories. A Mr Tan Kim Hock wrote in, to complain about Jack Neo's holding of "Wah lao" to be a Singaporean export we can be justifiably proud about, referring to his letter dated May 1995. Must've been a high point in his life. Actually if they accepted my letter I'd probably be rather pleased too, seeing how hard it is to get into those pages.

I am never drinking Carlsberg Beer. Not that I'd drink beer, or any alcohol, but their damn ad has pissed me off royally. I wonder if they know that their campaign hit diminishing returns long ago.


Thought on covering bodies overly much:

'"No," he said. I would like to climb straight up the slope - but" - he hesitated - "is it too long and steep for a girl? I have climbed in rougher country, hunting, but can you manage in your long skirts?"

She laughed and told him that she had climbed often. "And as for the skirts, I am used to them," she said, "but if they get into my way I will not hesitate to tuck them up above my knees."

Morgaine flushed. "I have never thought modesty had much to do with bared legs for climbing - surely men know that women have legs like their own. It cannot be so much of an offense of modesty to see what they must be able to imagine. I know some of the Christian priests speak so, but they seem to think the human body is the work of some devil, not of God, and that no one could possibly see a woman's body without going all into a rage to possess it."' --- Marion Zimmer Bradley. The Mists of Avalon, Pg 149. Del Rey, 2001.

The compulsion to make women cover themselves is actually an admission of weakness on the part of men, so why should women have to cover themselves from head to toe just because of the weakness of a few - okay, many - men?


Some other people whose letter got rejected by the forum (On the initially simplistic stayer-quitter matter)

"For instance, when we made our film, we sincerely wanted to reflect the speech of regular Singaporeans accurately, rather than the polished and ersatz dialogue on TV. Yet, this led us to a full-on collision with various authorities who disapproved of us using dialect or Singlish, the low point of which was having the Singapore Broadcast Authority yank our 15 second TV trailer off the air for having "excessive dialect and Singlish", when last we heard, Singlish itself, while discouraged by some, wasn't illegal in itself. We note with some interest that PM Goh's own use of Hokkien and Singlish during his address wasn't cut."

I suspect the main reason it was rejected, really, was its length :)


They're closing GEP in RI, RGS and the Communist Boys' School, and stopping supplementary intake too. I'm gonna become an anachronism - doubly so. Eeks. I wonder if GEP can survive without Raffles. "I just hope they'll stop gep soon so I can go on knowing i was part of something exclusive. I shudder that cedar or st. Nicks will replace raffles."


Quotes:

[Mother to me] The Pioneer magazine will do a feature on you - the mad serviceman who brings soft toys to the army

[Tourist from Brunei in the Forum] If you don't like what I said and want to sue me, too bad.I am going home on Sunday.

The post that used to be here has been moved up.

In its place I offer you this:

Update to earlier post:

"Ephesians is not a letter written to Western marriages! It is a letter written to Christians who were living in a culture where marriage was a type of slavery. Young teens were wedded to middle-aged men in order to bear them a legal heir. It is difficult for us to imagine the level of degradation and hopelessness these young wives must have experienced... perhaps more than the slaves. Paul was not intending to set up gender hierarchy in marriage in these passages any more than he was endorsing slavery by encouraging slaves to submit to their masters. He was simply referring to the slavery and male headship that was already a part of their secular culture."

Might I interest anyone in assorted shots of fashion disasters *bleep* Oh, and an inane shot of a hairpiece. Half of them scanned in horizontally instead of vertically. And numerous lessons in the miracles of padding.

Oh I really shouldn't. *bleep*


The next time I have any say, however small, in a cross dressing stint (not as the model, of course), I am going to try to prevent their preferences for the "cheap slut" look from manifesting. Erk.


Glossary:

*bleep* - Deleted.