skribbles of the anjaxive wunderkind

Magnetic Man - I Need Air

2010-07-07T05:10:00.000+08:00

I’ve been off blogger so long, I’ve forgotten how to blog.

Hence, I shall reacclimatise by putting up a track, which I heard alot on BBC Radio 1 (on Annie Mac’s show especially) while I was in London. I heard it whenever I put the BBC iPlayer on, while slacking at Su's/washing dishes/ reading the papers or whatever else I was doing. So it stuck.

Skream + Benga + Artwork = Magnetic Man

Kinda like it when acts collaborate to form supergroups. I mean, look at Velvet Revolver.. members of Guns N Roses and Stone Temple Pilots. Audioslave was made up of members of Soundgarden and Rage Against the Machine. Swedish House Mafia consists of Steve Angello, Axwell and Sebastian Ingrosso.

Pure Aceness.

Just like this track..and how breezy it is. It’s like a new breed of dubstep. Or electro. But screw labels, it’s just a bloody good listen.

my hockey journey (LAMEASS TITLE, IKR)

2010-02-23T03:11:00.001+08:00

So, I play hockey for my hall..and have been since the Inter Hall Games (IHG) started in December last year. I ended up in it by chance..being just called up for the team cos they didn't have enough players and cos they decided to tap on the softball girls for "sportswomen" who could potentially play the sport.

Yeah I've played hockey, but recreationally in secondary school and JC..in other words, I was pretty much a noob at it- but it wasn't like I hadn't handled a hockey stick before. So I was like, ok fine, just play.

I remember distinctly it was a Sunday morning and we had to report at 9am. Of course Izzy and I turned up, together (we sorta come as a package haha) and we learnt the rules of the game in the half hour before the match started. This was both our first times playing on a real hockey pitch, at Delta summore! (It has a massive "Home of Hockey" banner there haha) so getting used to the vastness of the place and getting our bearingswith the stick.

They actually let me start! As a forward during the first half, and Izzy subbed me in the second half. With the help of two national players on our team, and pure talent from some of the other girls on the team, and just keeping the ball in play (on the part of the noobs) we progressed rapidly from qualifying to quarters.

We returned the following Sunday, again keeping the same order of play where I played the first half and Izzy, the second. We played our hearts out and we won 2 more games and qualified for the semis (the final 4). Oh yes, at this point I should probably mention that all 16 halls sent in male and female hockey teams for the IHG. Ok, done.

Upon reflection of my time thuse far in hockey, I realised that in any team sport I play, I usually prefer playing the role of defender..so playing as a forward required a mindset shift. No, I didn't score any goals (lol please, that would've been expecting too much) but at least I didn't make a fool of myself and I was very proud of that! I also quite liked the shrots and knee-high socks combination, mostly because I could finally put my soccer socks to use.

I was also hoping that I was making my dad proud in some little way, carrying on his hockey playing legacy. He played hockey all through school and he even played it for the army. So basically that's all he did throughout National Service; play hockey. What a life.

He was rather impressed that we were playing on astroturf, which has to be watered down before and after every game. He used to play on GRASS at the grounds near CCAB and the Old SMU (haha! old skool yo!). He always picked me up after the games..I think it's cos he wanted to hear how they went, and how I'd played. :)

So we'd qualified sometime in early January, and we finally got the call last week (a good 2 months later?), that they'd decided to bring the matches back to the school grounds. We have a lovely,well-maintained pitch at NIE, lying RIGHT there all along -__-

I was relieved that they were finally happening, but I was shit scared cos I knew I was unfit. Since the softball season ended, the only exercise I'd been getting was at the clubs (dancing, of course! what were you thinkinggg) -__- I think I can speak for all of us that we were super out of it, having not played the sport for months. (Well, except for Izzy..she's a true sportswoman and super fit and can play anything and I am so tempted to use the word goddess-like now hahaha)

And then I get a bombshell of a text.

The captain asked me if I could play Keeper. At first she said it was cos the two other girls who'd been playing keeper all along couldn't make it (and i was like, thanks. i feel like such a spare tyre now) And then she revealed to me that they were neither tall enough nor agile enough. LOLWHUT. Yeah ok i'll take that as a compliment!

But then it got me thinking that maybe I just sucked as a field player so they dumped me in goal..so I was realllyyy upset about it, and I was telling my "jock" friends that I didn't wanna do it cos I thought it was lame, but mostly cos I was damn scared about the responsibility of defending goal. But by then I'd already agreed to play. Take one for the team, Ahmad had advised me. And yeah, I was actually willing to. Even though I'd never actually been in the keeper's pads before, much less played that position!

GUH. The beauty of it was, the first time I wore the full pads (which consisted of "Smartypants" LOL, which are massive weightloss advert-type padded shorts, a chest plate, shin guards, kickers, which is the bit that covers your shoes, a rectangular shaped shield in my left hand and a hockey stick with a glove-like thing in my right hand. OH. And a claustrophobia-inducing helmet) was 40 minutes before our semis match. LOL. I was like, this is some JOKE right?! Cos i looked like a transformer, and could barely move..

But my captain and vice-captain and the defenders were so supportive of me in my noobiness and promised that they would run back to help me guard the post if ANYTHING happened. They'd defend with their lives for me. It was all a bit drama, but it was reassuring lah. I felt safe. I felt I could ACTUALLY pull it off.

But hey, I didn't even have to do anything during that match cos the attack was SO good, that the ball crossed the midline no more than twice during the course of the game. WHUUUUTTT. Ok lah, the other team was just fumbling. We won them 4-0.

The captain warned me that I WOULD be tested in the next match though, the finals, in other words.

As we cooled down, we watched the other two halls battle it out- the traditional powerhouses vs a bunch of relative unknowns who were putting up a pretty decent fight (the team was made up of half the winning female softball team, so hockey wasn't their first sport either, just like our team). I remember being instructed to watch the keeper of the powerhouse team, cos they said she was an experienced one. I don't remember wacthing her much, cos unlike our semis game where play was concentrated on one side of the field, this game was mostly played out in midfield, with few shots on target and the keepers weren't tested. Except for the 1 goal that the powerhouses scored, which was really unfortunate. Cos the underdogs put up SUCH a fight.

After that match ended and we had half an hour till our 10.25pm Finals match, I was taken aside and again reminded that this game, I'd definitely be tested, so I needed to be on my toes. Literally. (It was advice given to me by the keeper of the SA guys hockey team in my year, who was there to support one of our girls haha :) I listened to him alright!)

to be continued..

2010-02-07T21:08:00.001+08:00

I really don’t want a 21st birthday party, but my grandma insists I have one cos I’m the eldest granddaughter.

If it were up to me, I’d just have a coupla mates over at my place, and dinner at Hard Rock Cafe..just like I’ve done all these years.

But NO..for indians it’s gotta be this extravagant semi-wedding sorta thing where everyone comes dressed to the NINES, and there’s a DJ and silly games and it’s all just VERY unneccessary.

I’d rather all the money wasted on a big party be channeled towards a car/ a trip to London during my summer holidays where I can watch gig after gig with Venetia and Su Hui, in venues like the Camden Roundhouse and Brixton Academy and WEMBLEY stadium.

for fuck’s sake.

That would make me happy, not all the peripherals and flashiness. Honest to God.

2010-02-07T21:08:00.000+08:00

last niiiite, she saidddd

2009-11-22T00:18:00.004+08:00

I love The Strokes and all, but NO. Their album shouldn't be the top in NME's Top 50 Albums of the Naughties.

1. The Strokes - Is This It (gotta say, that album cover, every time it comes up on my Ipod, it makes me chuckle and look around nervously lest someone thinks i've porn in it LOL)
2. The Libertines - Up the Bracket (YES. Doherty and Barat, TIME TO BLOODY REUNITE. but agh...not that brilliant to deserve Number 2)
3. Primal Scream - xtrmntr
4. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (fucking brilliant debut)
5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever to Tell
6. PJ Harvey - Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
7. Arcade Fire - Funeral (i prefer Neon Bible)
8. Interpol - Turn On the Bright Lights (yes)
9. The Streets - Original Pirate Material (YES. Mike Skinner.)
10. Radiohead - In Rainbows (FK YES. great album.)
11. At The Drive In - Relationship of Command (wtf, no)
12. LCD Soundsystem - The Sound of Silver
13. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
14. Radiohead - Kid A (how the fk is this lower than In Rainbows?)
15. Queens Of The Stone Age - Songs for the Deaf
16. The Streets - A Grand Don't Come for Free
17. Sufjan Stevens - Illinoise
18. The White Stripes - Elephant (yeah i prefered stuff of Elephant too)
19. The White Stripes - White Blood Cells
20. Blur - Think Tank
21. The Coral - The Coral
22. Jay-Z - The Blueprint (jiggaman :D, reprezentin on the list!)
23. Klaxons - Myths of the Near Future (FKIN ACE ALBUM THIS!! so forward looking. i think i did a review)
24. The Libertines - The Libertines (*sings* can't stand me now, can't stand me noww)
25. Rapture - Echoes
26. Dizzee Rascal - Boy in Da Corner
27. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
28. Johnny Cash - Man Comes Around
29. Super Furry Animals - Rings Around the World
30. Elbow - Asleep In the Back
31. Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
32. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
33. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (*thumbs up*)
34. Grandaddy - The Sophtware Slump
35. Babyshambles - Down in Albion (the one with "fuck forever"?)
36. Spirtualized - Let It Come Down
37. The Knife - Silent Shout
38. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm (mehh)
39. Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles
40. Ryan Adams - Gold
41. Wild Beasts - Two Dancers
42. Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (YEAHHH :D ezra koenig is love)
43. Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
44. Outkast - Loveboxxx/The Love Below (lol finally another hip hop album. one of Outkast's better ones..since they each did their own thang. I prefer Andre 3000, anyday)
45. Avalanches - Since I Left You
46. Delgados - The Great Eastern
47. Brendan Benson - Lapalco
48. Walkmen - Bows and Arrows
49. Muse - Absolution (i take GREAT offense at this. This is the album with fking T.I.R.O, Stockholm Syndrome, Hysteria and Butterflies and Hurricanes on it. ARE YOU KIDDING ME that this is not top 10, i mean, top FIVE?!?)
50. MIA - Arular (REPREZENTTT :D this is a masterpiece, in my not so humble opinion. I still remember paying my $27 for it when HMV at the Heeren still had it's urban section. It was a few days after my birthday, in year 1 of JC. Went home immediately and played it through once and was blown.away. One of my most prized possessions. )

Ok yeah so lists are usually largely inaccurate and not representitive, and no one is ever happy with them. But this is a pretty decent list nonetheless (the less American acts the better :P)

AIYA i'm still miffed about The Strokes taking top spot...would've prefered if it'd gone to the Monkeys or to my boys, Muse, yaknowwhatimsayin.

anyway, NME is damn biased and they're sellouts, and they probably rigged the list, but they're still an authority on music and I'd still read the mag. So there.

if only you could see me now

2009-10-24T17:48:00.003+08:00

Really, there is only so much "ironic juxtaposition" a term paper can take.
But what am I to do, when there really ARE all these deliberate placements and comparisons (subtle ones too!) in the movie that I'm supposed to be reviewing/analysing?!

Waltz with Bashir. That movie's the subject of my contemplation, as of late.

I'm not condoning warfare, but today I genuinely had to ask myself if there is actually beauty in war, and whether it was poltically correct to say so.

I choose not to use the term glorification of war, instead, "stylised violence"- which is what war films nowadays essentially are.

But for some reason, this one phrase that Big K imparted to us in our final few months of study of literature, keeps resounding in my head. "Only Connect"- as said by E.M. Forster.

Writing this term paper however, has been one of the most organic writing processes I've had since school started. All the other writing I've done so far- academic, journalistic or otherwise- has felt rather forced. There was no natural inclination to push my own boundaries, which I found highly unnerving. Perhaps I let the competition get to me. I've never had to deal with this many other people who want to enter the same profession, and have followed similar "writing paths" as me before (wrt writing experience and engagement with publications).

Case in point- I haven't been blogging here either! Cos I haven't felt inspired enough, really. To put it in prose. I put it in tweets instead (omg what a sellout. i know right.)

But this term paper exercise, has got me back to my comfort zone almost. I'm not trying to impress anybody but myself. I want this to be a solid piece of work, unlike the rubbish I've been producing for school assignments prior to this. (well not always rubbish- sometimes I think I've done a decent job, but then having a tutor with a vendetta against you is not always advantageous. Apparently, she's always picked on the indians, cos she wants to see us do well. But all she's achieved with me is demoralisation- is there such a word- and an unspeakable desire for vindication. She has made me doubt my own abilities, deliberately might I add, and I will never forget her for that. I might not even forgive her.)

I'm even giving up deepavali visiting to do it. That's how much "in the zone" I am with this piece. I've missed this feeling, cos honestly, it doesn't always happen. And there's been a dry spell for the past 10 weeks.

I think I might be giving up deepavali visiting for other reasons as well. I don't care much for getting dressed up today, THOUGH i've been ITCHING to go out all week. To party, not to stuff my face with goodies and mingle with people. One of those anti-social days, yknow? Either way, there's a party at the Indian Association that we gotta attend tmr- which'll be more worth my while I think. Plus I get to lay eyes and walk on the beloved cricket pitch at the IA I once played on as a 17-year-old.

I'm fully aware how badly this is reflecting on me as a filial daughter for not making obligatory appearances at relatives houses. I never resented doing that before- why now?
Maybe cos I don't care anymore. I've become a cynic, and a prat. A cynical prat.

But this too shall pass.

2009-10-05T02:20:00.002+08:00

I didn't respect Lady Gaga as an artist until I saw this.
Watch it quick before it's taken down!

Is it me or is there a lot of New York-centric music coming out recently? That's inaccurate, there has been New York-centric music for decades now, expressing nothing but love, really, for the Big City. The big city and it's big dreamers. The land of opportunity. New Yawk.

I need to see it for myself. Newark airport doesn't count :P

2009-09-30T14:32:00.003+08:00

It feels damn good to be part of a team again.
A sports team. Softball, for my hall.

I can't tell if it's the exercise/pain or the endorphins that I'm addicted to. OK addicted is a strong word, but it's close enough!

The cricket training I've had helps me out in fielding and throwing..BUT, sometimes I start throwing downwards like I would when bowling a cricket ball, which you're NOT supposed to do in softball. Haha that's when I get Oi-ed at, in a playful way of course, and I literally knock it into my head to remember not to do it the next time. Frustrated lah! When I lapse into simple, stupid mistakes. Then again, this is only session number 3 :P And when fielding, I have to be conscious of the fact that I've a new appendage of sorts- a catcher's mitt. What I don't understand is that even with a bigger target (a softball is bigger than a cricket ball) and a slower pitching rate and a bloody glove to catch the thing, I'm still fumbling!! ALKSHAK:JSA:SAGSLA.

Batting on the other hand, is going much better. Golf is helping with this one haha- Where you're supposed to impact the ball, where the wrist breaks, the follow through..is all the same. Yeah Cheryl (my neighbour) was right- I'm a ball and bat person. I was rubbish at even throwing the frisbee that she'd brought along to training (lol don't ask me why she had one on hand). Now I just have to practice finding the sweet spot and pulling off the softball equivalent of fours and sixers. Actually, come to think of it, in slow pitch games, a pull shot (i dunno what it's called in softballing terms)-one that you hit hard n low, which makes it run on the ground- would be the
most effective type of shot. But nothing beats the satisfaction of hearing the ball thwack off the bat at the sweet spot- oh man, still gives me shivers. D, you know what I'm talkin about.

I remember when we played softball for PE in JC, yj and I would talk tactics and batting order during every session...especially if we were playing against A7. And you know how yj talks with his hands? Floppy arms and expressive fingers hahah. It was bloody competitive when we played on different teams. Tennis boys (joe included), tennis girl (stace), consummate sportsman (tuan),cricket girl, BRING IT ON BITCHESS!! i think we still lost to A7 lah :P :P

I must say, BenSoh was a good teacher when it came to softball though. A lot of the things he taught us have come in handy- BenSoh and that pro softballer fella we got as our sidekick PE teacher. Stance, batting technique, not so much fielding lah- that's a whole different ball game (excuse the pun). This was FATED I tell you!

Now, I just have to get my teammates to get my name right. Cos it's kinda dumbass when you're calling for the ball, or you're signalling someone during play, and you can't remember/pronounce your teammate's name- what's new *rolls eyes*. Excuse me while I go bang my head against the wall.

we will be victorious

2009-09-18T16:56:00.003+08:00

The Boys Are Back In Town...
May be a song by Thin Lizzy, but it is most appropriate to herald the return of the kickassest three-piece band of the 21st Century. Do not question it.

here they are KILLING IT on Jools Holland

Uprising:

United States of Eurasia:
which is STUNNING live, as well. even though it sounds far too complex to reproduce on the album.

I am BellamyGirl89, dontchoo forget that.

2009-09-13T02:40:00.005+08:00

Depeche Mode..I mean, Muse. :P jk jk.
performing the fking ACE new track off The Resistance called "Undisclosed Desires"- easily my favourite, on my first listen through the entire album. Matt Bellamy with a Keytar. what more reason do you need to watch this video. just click play already.

I've been waiting for this damn album for a good THREE YEARS. Now that it's here..with all the hype that was built up about it, with Zane Lowe (the authority on music in general, imho. i trust his taste, i really do. though i don't always agree with it) describing the album as "A beautifully recorded, strong, sweeping, fighting, uplifting, rocking, and inclusive record about love."

I pretty much AGREE WITH HIM.
Though I'll do a proper review once I get my hands on the CD proper and listen to it a gabillionjillion times. It's my Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends of 2009, I can feel it already.

Which reminds me, I haven't listened to the 5-hour Muse Night special yet. OOPS. Why do I get the feeling that Zane will absolutely love this track as well? haha

AND AND..there's so much of a classical influence, Case in point: a three- part, count em, THREE part symphony at the end of the album. Absofuckinglutely floored by the gloriousness of "Exogenesis" and all its grandiose orchestral sounds. LOVE.

LOVVEEEE.

K I'll save it for now.

BFF

2009-09-11T01:18:00.000+08:00

I am telling you now.

I'm going to be miserable, absolutely miserable from tmr night onwards.

Mmm whatcha say, Mmm that you only meant well?

2009-09-07T01:45:00.002+08:00

We went bowling on National Day.

The kids were fascinated by the scoring system..even at the tender age of 6, Ishani was questioning why the score additions were not uniformly incremental- if you got a strike or a consecutive spares. Hell, even I don't know how it works. I just play to win :P

But yeah, definitely my fave niece.
(L-R) Ishani, Harini.

sunk in

2009-09-07T01:35:00.002+08:00

The stunning, stunning Audi r8.

If only you could hear it as well.

I took this last night, while on the drive back from an interview with a civil servant for my media writing mod.

I believe the point of the exercise was to get field experience..and go through the trouble of securing an interview with people with gahmen jobs (it's harder than it looks, trust me), and deal with setbacks, and churn out concise, balanced work within a short timeframe. Whether the final piece is up to standard or not is another question, but if you happen to be the one whose name your tutor remembers and likes to pick on, you'd better damn well do a good job.

i don't really know who this person is, nor why she's pretending to be a singer

2009-08-30T00:20:00.006+08:00

Anderson Cooper totally slagging off Heidi Montag

ROFLMAO.
Heidi got served.

I had no clue AC was so catty! But he told it like it iz, yo!
I can't stand heidi, OR spencer BRATT for that matter..they actually deserve to be shot. I'm sure you would agree with me on this if you also watch "I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here"/ The Hills. (before you judge, come now. i need my share of mindless telly as well, no? this one takes the cake lah.)

ok back to the nastiness that is Speidi. They're so atrocious, they've been banned from E!. HAHAHAHAH. I'm not kidding you. Back in the day when I'd the time to watch e! news regularly, I clearly remember Seacrest putting it to a poll and asking viewers to vote on whether the couple should be banned or not. The public spoke, and we are all the better for it.

Unfortunately, these fools find nooks and crannies and keep themselves in the spotlight.
You know what?
fug it. i'm doing my term paper on Speidi..purely cos they're a fascinating case study in answering the question of the role of celebrities. and in doing so,I will unwittingly have perpetuated the spread of Speidi in my own small way.

NOOOOOO!!!!!!!

ready for the weekend

2009-08-26T03:11:00.005+08:00

this is serisously TOO. COOL.
Calvin Harris you are my hero.

AND i frickin love this song..PIANO :D hehe

2009-08-26T03:11:00.001+08:00

2009-08-23T02:49:00.002+08:00

Ganesha aka Vinayagar aka Ganapathy aka Pillaiyar- is one of my favourite gods I have images of him in my room, that I wake up to every morning. There's a statue of him, much like the one in the pic, on top of my stereo. There's a lovely mother-of-pearl inlaid mahogany flat portrait of him at the front of the house, at the top of the main wall facing the front door..can't miss it. There's a minute ganesha statue just below the speedometer of the car, blue-tacked down to keep it secure.

He's a protector and a remover of obstacles..revered, loved, and accessible. The first prayer of a Hindu is usually to him.

Tomorrow it's the Vinayagar Chathurthi..a very auspicious day celebrating the birth of the elephant-headed God.

Every year, my dad's side of the family (the hindu side), has massive prayers at the temple. Every one makes an effort to turn up cos you can't miss this one. My grandparents, as heads of the family, take charge of everything. The daughters and daughters-in-law are expected to turn up the day before to cut vegetables for the massive feast that'll be distrubuted the next day. The men are expected to run alot of errands, getting supplies and ferrying people in cars. The grandkids are expected to set up and serve the food after the prayers. This involves rolling out the mats in the dining hall , laying out the banana leaves for the seated devotees, walking down the line serving the different components of the full vegetarian meal (rice, a variety of vegetable dishes, sambar, yoghurt, vadai and a sweetmeat), topping up the quickly emptied food vessels and of course, clearing away the used banana leaves one by one after the people are done eating and setting up for the next round of people. It runs like clockwork, and it's exhausting. But this is our duty to the fellow devotees and in a way, it's like serving the community because it's not only family that turns up to be part of the prayers, but complete strangers as well. People usually flock to the temple on an auspicious day, cos they want a piece of the divinity haha.

It's all good.
Share the love.

non entity

2009-08-15T16:29:00.004+08:00

weekend update.

it's been a mad first week of school, involving an intense first day full of comms lectures -yeah so what if first week is all the intro lectures? the intro-ing bit doesn't actually last very long. they pretty much got right down to the content and threw us in the deep end haha. welcome to university, the second time round. (yeah, how many people can say that eh? crossing continents in the pursuit of education).

campus is ASIAN, humid and full of steps. i am going to comprain comprain and comprain summore, i don't care. garden campus is a pretty way of saying that it's right smack in the middle of the jungle haha. got a sweet deal hall-wise, except for the roomie from hell (actually she's from Uttarkhand) and I have nothing nice to say about her so I won't say anything at all- unless you meet me in person- then you will get an ear-pummeling, from the diatribe I aim in her general direction, about her.

my coursemates speak lovely english. it literally makes me float with happiness, cos i've been in a system of schools (not SA of course, SA was decent. or rosyth for that matter. people spoke good english in rosyth. ok so that leaves A.S.S) where they've absolutely mauled the english language with inability to construct grammatically-sound sentences. "We rox", for instance, was a common fixture of A.S.S table vandalism. yeah, bad english affects me. deeply. i do not claim to be a grammar nazi (look at my posts..i don't capitalise where i'm supposed to, and i don't spellcheck and *shockhorror* i use sms-language) nor a particularly pedantic person (neurotic, more like. :P shadup, all of you who're sniggering)

not only is their english good (what else do you expect silly, you're in a communications course?!) they're caring, accepting and such warm people as well! and some of em are hilarious :) they've made me feel so comfortable. we even have a routine, some of us, since we're in the same hall. We all have the same 9am classes (pre-assigned modules), so we meet for breakfast at 8 at our hall canteen, Golden Spoon (yes that's the name of the place lol), have our breakkie then head off to school via shuttle bus together. we sit in the LT together as well (so cliquish ah? but it doesn't feel cliquish, it's more like camaraderie- from knowing that you're with likeminded people who're in the same situation as you are. you stick together, but there're no obligations.)

it's going swimmingly for now.

other than that, this is probably the first time in a long time that i haven't been for this many gigs. and they were all within reach- i had people to go with, i had the funds, i had the time- but i just didn't go. i'm still trying to figure out why, but it's not affected me that much, really. i don't feel a deep sense of regret.

except for NIN. i might've just missed out on something massive. When i was in Sydney earlier this year, I remember one time I was waiting to cross the road outside uni, and there was this chap with the NIN tour shirt on standing in front of me, and I was throughly impressed. phwaor. in that instant, i decided that if NIN came to singapore, i'd go. I even remember telling Pre about this.

but eventually I didn't go. hmmm. something's not working up there in my head.

this is one of the songs I really wanted to hear. "Wish".
It's mostly one of my favourites cos I was so floored when Linkin Park did a cover of this song at their 2004 gig at the Padang. I was like, "FK, NINE INCH NAILS! aaahhhhhhh!!!!", cos i totally wasn't expecting it. Have I mentioned, Linkin Park was the first ever band that I watched live in concert. That I went with my friends..without parental/cousin-al guidance. so yeah, that was a milestone for me :)

at least i got to experience a teeny bit of the Lady Gaga concert though, albeit in a less than favourable but terribly stealthy and unconventional way. Lol. I exaggerate. ven and ken, you guys are LOVE.

would've liked to have been at Keane, but I dunno, I'd rather see them in a festival lineup, though i DO adore their songs. just not enough adoration, i guess.

BUT, not to worry. there will be other opportunities soon..VERY soon.

A thousand butterflies, your lips to mine

2009-08-08T02:26:00.002+08:00

my pick for summer song. it's absolutely LOVELY.

I never knew Ed's eyes were that...blue! hahah..and i love the way he dances. that's freedom of expression right there. it doesn't look in the least silly when he moves like that, imho. but that judgement is reserved for him alone :P

i loved his shirt and how the sleeves are rolled up really high (he seems to always wear his shirts like that), his sand-coloured oxfords (boat shoes would've been more appropriate for the theme haha). I loved the dancers' billowy outifts in that amazing spectrum of rich colours. I loved the Venetian masks they had on..such a festive vibe that added to the already Carnivale rhythm :) most of all I loved the starkness of the aquamarine background and the sparse gravelly foreground.

i love how BRIGHT it is lah :D *insert smileys galoreeee*

without you it's a waste of time

2009-07-30T23:51:00.006+08:00

JT. Third kit. Welllll fit ;)

i really like this one..i might get it!

aaaand,

Schumi returning to F1 is the best news EVAARRR!!! :D :D my F1 hero! the reason why I started watching F1! i hope he still has it :P

Aanddd this as well!

finally, a youtube version of the vid for Strawberry Swing by Coldplay. I promise you, it's one of the coolest and brilliantest videos you're ever gonna see. no really, just watch it. and in high def cos it's stunning that way. and yes, that was all drawn on the floor in chalk a la Art Attack (thanks ven ;) ), and done frame by frame.
plus, Chris is in two-toned, split down the middle, red and blue high tops (today has been a rather Converse day, eh ven?). WIN. my fave bit is him tip toe-ing *grin* the bit that makes my heart fill with the warmth that only coldplay brings though, is the confetti butterflies explosion. So many lovely memories...of blissful times.

but i hope the vid doesn't distract you from the song itself! one of the most beautiful off VVLODAHF. the kind of song you need to savour via sennheiser headphones/ at least noise cancellation ones/ alternatively, a silent room and earphones and this track on your ipod (or music device of choice. let's be inclusive about this). let the acoustics wash over you as the track's layers build and you are taken to a higher place. side effects include tapping your feet involuntarily and an unanticipated but barely noticeable smile forming on your face.

once in a while something truly exciting happens in s'pore

2009-07-26T02:25:00.008+08:00

I turned up in shades of blue (Keep the Blue Flag flying high. Mighty Mighty Chelsea FC) and Char turned up in her Spanish National Team-Torres jersey. Met Sham, Navin, Navan and Ganesh near Liang Court and waited ever so patiently for either the team bus/ the boats on the river to turn up.

We heard them before they came. The screams built up, as Char and I went into action and jostled our way as far front as we could. And then we laid eyes on him. That blonde crop is hard to miss lah :)

I swear to God I screamed out Torres' name and he waved back at me.
AND THE SAME HAPPENED TO CHARLENE! :D
I caught Fernando Torres' attention (claim to fame :P)

And Carra as well! Carra was more reserved though..he didn't really wave back. Xabi was all smiley and lovely, but rather unresponsive as well. Kuyt was hilarious..beckoning people to jump into the river and towards the boats they were on hahha

And we totally found a stray liverpool flag while walking toward Boat Quay HAHAHHAHAA.

and somewhere along the way, we were RUNNING like seow, trying to catch Nando's boat, battling the crowds and stopping every 200m or so to squeeze our way to the crowd, line up with the rest of the crowd waiting on the steps of the s'pore river, and scream/wave frantically at Senor Torres while he looked back and leaned over the railing flashing his glorious biceps/immaculate hair/amused smile.

I have grown to appreciate Fernando Torres via osmosis from being around Char so much hahahah :D. ok i'll let her tell the story in greater detail. she'll prob do a better job at it anyways. But I am SO HAPPY for you Char, that you finally got to lay eyes on Nando in person!

Tomorrow hopefully we will have equal success, at the match.

I am STILL tempted to wear my Chelsea jersey. I have successfully deluded myself that since it's in black it'll be inconspicuous. (yeah yeah keep telling yourself that. until you get beaten up, then you'll know) Lol but seriously, what does a neutral party wear to such a footie match?

edit: for fuck's sake I just want this whole Man City bidding for JT rubbish to STOP. I wish JT or the club would just make a statement and put an end to all this uncertainty. Prove to everyone that you're a True Blue, John Terry. In your 14th year of service to the club, I hope you will remain hand over heart, Blue till the end. My captain.

EDIT: I'm so happy I could CRY.

John Terry realeased a statement, an hour ago, pledging his commitment to Chelsea Football Club.

EDIT: Told you Char would do a better job at recollecting things. (yes, i'm referred to as Jelly in the post. that's me. your's truly) Pictures and all :) I'm honoured to have been through it all with you, Char. Keep The Blue Flag Flying High!

i want that woman's job

2009-07-22T04:34:00.002+08:00

I can't embed the video, but this is the link for the bestest interview of the HP trio out of all their press junkets for HP6 (and a bit of Tom Felton thrown in as well haha).
It's the source of the awesome 4-panelled gif that's floating around, of the cast members giving the presenter a high 5 each :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIsa-CEmMG4

I can't believe Rupert got Cascada either! And N-Dubz! hahahha (speaking of which, why do they not play N-dubz on s'pore radio? the closest we've gotten is Tinchy Stryder's "Number One" on which N-dubz is merely featured. FAIL. i believe i'm living in the wrong country, radioistically. )

I can't explain why i'm so chuffed that Dan Rad got Jamie T and he likes 'Sticks N Stones' too :D :D (aiya i can't make up my mind whether i like Dan Rad or not. he's so blah as Harry, but he's brilliant during interviews and is all awkward and funny and SO witty and sharp, and he has fantastic taste in music and sport. tom felton is still tops though. cos he's such a jock :P)

I feel terrible for Calvin Harris though..that none of em recognised him. Ouch.

"They haven't stolen your youth! Thank god for that"

it was trying to tell me something

2009-07-20T23:40:00.002+08:00

Last friday I went to the zoo.

I INSISTED that we go to the snake section.

While I was at the tiny enclosure of the rattlesnake, I noticed that it kept following my finger as I traced a pattern on the glass.

Right there, I wished I could speak parseltongue, so badly.
:(

and in other news, the new MUSE track. FINALLY. in all its glory.
it gave me goosbumps cos it was a lil bit Queen, a lil bit Zeppelin (kashmir) and a lil bit Rachmaninov.
and the LYRICS. pay attention kiddos. especially if you're familiar with Orwellian texts.

and. the new Doctor.

a BOWTIE?! are you kidding me? and that mousey coloured jacket (as bad as Tonks' dreadful hair in HBP). this is a major downgrade from the converse and travelling coat combi of Doctor number 10.

and WHAT have they done to the Tardis? it looks like a joke shop, poorly made prop.

i don't like it already :( (only JH will understand my feelings *tragic sigh*)

i saw some other on-set pics with a woman who looked a lot like Lady Cassandra!! will that woman never die?!

JT don't do this to me

2009-07-19T22:52:00.004+08:00

Have I mentioned?

I would be absolutely devastated if John Terry left Chelsea for Manchester City.

Devastated to the point that I don't watch footie anymore. It will be THAT bad.
It would be like breaking my heart, and then stepping all over the broken bits.

bombay dreams

2009-07-18T01:06:00.003+08:00

The awesomest bollywood song & dance video in recent history.
Finally, available from youtube in High Def.
Starring Shahrukh, Kajol, Preity Zinta, Bipasha Basu, Rani Mukherjee and Lara Dutta.

lol wait I did an entire post about the movie before..LAST DECEMBER hahahaha. here.

mischief managed

2009-07-16T22:57:00.002+08:00

OK.
Half-blood Prince.

It's my favourite book of the series, no doubt about that. It was the book in which such catastrophic and dark things happened that it brought my appreciation of Harry Potter to a new level. It made me feel things while reading, that I'd never felt before (i have never felt more hatred for a character i.e. Snape. It vindicated Draco in a way as well..even Harry acknowledged that he wouldn't have killed Dumbledore, cos his wand was already lowered. I'm telling you, Draco's a good person on the inside!). And it pushed my imagination, helped along by the wonderful delicious details that Rowling provides of place, time, reactions, everything.

Alright, so it's a lot more adult. The bits with the snogging (Lavender Brown, you annoy me so. "wonwon" was classic though. and you know what! i STILL felt uncomfortable about Ginny hooking up with Harry. It just doesn't work for me), and the hormones, my god the flying hormones. Haha, but it's only natural, this progression! It was so endearing..like watching your own best mates get burned by love, and aaw i felt as sorry for Hermione as I did while reading the book.

Harry, Ron and Hermione didn't get enough 3ofthem time though..that's my only bone to pick, really. The film didn't trace the deterioration and the subsequent re-energising of their friendship. Their rapport didn't come through. They're preparing for great tumult in the next 2 movies, and this didn't set up the united front properly.

This version of the pensieve is exactly what I imagined it to be like. And the cave from which Dumbledore and Harry retrieved the horcrux- it looked so familiar as well! From my imagination! haha

The kids who played young Voldemort gave me the creeps.

Yes, I recognise the bits that were left out. Some of my favourite chapters were gone! "Occlumency" for instance..and that whole episode where Harry goes into Snape's memories and sees him getting bullied by James Potter. Man I wish they'd film that scene. The entire portion about the House of Gaunt was missing as well..I was quite looking forward to seeing what Voldy's mum looked like- Merope, and Morfin..those vile creatures. They didn't explain why Snape's the half-blood prince either, oops. ok, BIG OOPS.

I'm glad they kept Felix Felicis in the plot. Well I guess they had to eh. But that is the one potion that has always stuck with me. Liquid Luck. I love the idea of it. That one potion right there encompasses all the magic that the Potterverse stands for, to me. Especially because Ron thought Harry had slipped him some before the quidditch match, and went on to perform spectacularly. Placebo effect hahhaha :D It makes you think no? what IS magic then? I'm not gonna pull a House and rationalise this. I just wished they actually made it look like molten gold like it was described, and not some clear liquid -_-

The Cave scene and Dumbledore's death were the hardest things to watch. It got me right where it hurt :( all the same emotions I had when I read HBP the first time round came back. It was exactly like how it was described in the books, so I'm grateful to David Yates for that.

That moment where the students and teachers pointed their wands to the sky was poignant enough. Including the funeral would've been overkill, though it was beautifully described in the book.

I think I liked it so much because the film managed to elicit the same reactions from me as I had when I read the book, and that is a measure of the success of a print-to-screen adaptation for me. I was contented with the film; not pleased, just contented. It was magic, in a largely subdued but effective way. Any moments of lightheartedness were shortlived, but I think that owes itself to the subject matter and the gravity of the events taking place. This is the calm before the storm, and you feel it alright.

2009-07-13T23:27:00.002+08:00

I've been in various states of semi-conciousness the past coupla days due to the strength of the meds i'm on. I have lost entire days to sleep- which is SUCH a weird feeling. I've missed out on things that I kick myself for, and I can only function in Disney Time at the moment (on perpetual holiday in other words..i've pretty much lost track of when i'm supposed to have meals or take my meds or watch what I wanna watch on telly)

lol something tells me that last paragraph probably didn't even make sense, but I guess i'll read it in a coupla days and go "Whuuttt".

anyways, The Return of Calvin Harris

"Ready for the Weekend"- TUUUUUNE!! The man can do no wrong in my book.

and now i'm having a mental block.
i don't quite know what else to say (maybe it's a side effect *shrug*)

2009-07-10T13:47:00.002+08:00

alright alright let's get this outta the way.

It is the return of the epic feud- Blur vs Oasis. I believe there was even a term for it- Battle of Britpop.

the mudslinging gets pretty crazy on twitter..come on now boys, grow up. and all em music mags are absolutely loving it. But aiya, quite frankly I'm glad to have Blur back in the game. Oasis were resting on their laurels a bit, don't ya think?

The way in which Blur has returned as well- what STYLE. Headlining at Glasto haha :D pwnage. They kept playing the live recording of "Beetlebum" on various Radio 1 shows cos it was that awesome..oh man, another moment I wish I was in the crowd to witness that live -_-

And look at what Blur has coming up for them- this being festival season and all. T in the Park, Oxegen, V fest(?), Hyde Park..oh wait, that one's done already. I heard they killed it.

ALRIGHT OASIS. the gauntlet has been thrown down. bring you A-game, ya hearrrd?

long live oasis.

2009-07-08T16:12:00.003+08:00

In Our Darkest Hour
In My Deepest Despair
Will You Still Care?
Will You Be There?
In My Trials
And My Tribulations
Through Our Doubts
And Frustrations
In My Violence
In My Turbulence
Through My Fear
And My Confessions
In My Anguish
And My Pain
Through My Joy
And My Sorrow
In The Promise Of Another Tomorrow
I'll Never Let You Part
For You're Always In My Heart.

-Spoken bit in Michael Jackson's "Will You Be There"

2009-07-08T04:01:00.000+08:00

"We had Him"- Maya Angelou

Beloveds, now we know that we know nothing, now that our bright and shining star can slip away from our fingertips like a puff of summer wind.
Without notice, our dear love can escape our doting embrace. Sing our songs among the stars and walk our dances across the face of the moon.
In the instant that Michael is gone, we know nothing. No clocks can tell time. No oceans can rush our tides with the abrupt absence of our treasure.
Though we are many, each of us is achingly alone, piercingly alone.
Only when we confess our confusion can we remember that he was a gift to us and we did have him.
He came to us from the creator, trailing creativity in abundance.
Despite the anguish, his life was sheathed in mother love, family love, and survived and did more than that.
He thrived with passion and compassion, humor and style. We had him whether we know who he was or did not know, he was ours and we were his.
We had him, beautiful, delighting our eyes.
His hat, aslant over his brow, and took a pose on his toes for all of us.
And we laughed and stomped our feet for him.
We were enchanted with his passion because he held nothing. He gave us all he had been given.
Today in Tokyo, beneath the Eiffel Tower, in Ghana's Black Star Square.
In Johannesburg and Pittsburgh, in Birmingham, Alabama, and Birmingham, England
We are missing Michael.
But we do know we had him, and we are the world.

The greatest player in Grand Slam history

2009-07-06T02:06:00.003+08:00

ohmygod ohmygod
FEDERER, you are my HERO :D :D

REALLY.

Andy Roddick vs Roger Federer.
7-5, 6-7, 6-7, 6-3, 14-16

Back to number one, baby!! And title number 15, making history, in front of Borg, Laver and Sampras, whose record 14 Grand Slam titles he beat. I am so glad to have been part of it in my own timezone-crossing, watching it on telly for 5 hours straight way. It was mad and magical, and absolutely incredible to witness.

I felt so sorry for Mirka, having had to sit through that, being 8 months preggers- my goodness, that woman displays calm and fortitude like what was expected of a Roman soldier. And I felt a teeny bit sorry for Andy. ok no i didn't. he played brilliantly, and made Roger work like I haven't seen in a long time. Neither of them was letting up man. Especially in the last set. Neither could break each other's serve as much as they tried. The score for the 5th set is at 14-16 cos in the last set there's no tie breakers and you keep playing till you win a 2-game advantage.

Vijay and Alan kept giving Roddick credit for his serve. Yes, it was powerful and effective and sometimes lethal. But hello, can you not discount the fact that during the course of the match, Monsieur Federer served an excess of FIFTY aces? The exact numbers escape me, but if that is not an exceptional service game, I don't know what is. And the number of winners. COME ON. Alright, so Fed made more unforced errors, but clearly Fed had more finesse and variety of shots.

Even Sampras acknowledged in the post-match interview that Federer is a true champion, and a consummate player. Backhand, forehand, service..you cannot fault him. And he makes it look effortless.

At the end of the match, vijay or alan described it as absolutely intoxicating tennis. I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN, GUYS! I wasn't as emotionally involved as I was at last year's Wimbledon finals, but this was emotionally and physically and spiritually draining- yes, i prayed SO hard. i prayed harder for this that I have before a major exam -.- Viv just looked over at me and said "it's a bit too late to pray now" (this was sometime in the 4th set) I didn't even look at him. I just denied that I was praying and ended up biting my chain in anxiety. i totally saw him praying too. He's an emotionless fella, so when you see your bro pumping his fist with a "CMON FED", you know you're not in this alone.

At 27, I am certain that Federer has a lot more in him. He's gonna be breaking more records. The legendary Roger Federer is going to be an Icon- just you wait and see.

and now, excuse me while I pass out.

2009-06-28T14:33:00.002+08:00

still not over MJ. jus wish they'd play recordings of his live shows/concerts on telly. I remember him most as a live performer.

and I can't believe I didn't mention "Moonwalker"! OH MAN, i fking love that film! in the same way that I love "Speed". EVERY time they showed it on telly I watched it. Dude, this is the film with the epic extended vid for "Smooth Criminal". Zoot Suits FTW! And those blue accents on MJ's off-white suit? The armband, the bit of ribbon round his fedora. I thought he looked amazing.

and anddd, the movie intro-ed the song "Come Together" to me. I had no idea it was a Beatles song back then. I thought it was an original MJ number for the longest time. and i NEVER got the lyrics- hell i still don't know them! haha

so let us come together over the music.

let's not forget that it's Glasto this weekend, and some MAD performances have gone down (i am getting so close to going and getting tix for Lady Gaga)

I wish I was there..esp for this one, maannn..

Dizzee Rascal- Bonkers

and this

Kasabian- Club Foot

Heaven Can Wait

2009-06-26T09:41:00.002+08:00

My favourite MJ song- Human Nature

Michael Jackson's music taught me life lessons. I grew up in the 90's..arguably the era of the peak of MJ's success.

I remember thinking how INTENSE the video for "Earth Song" is. It was one of my first lessons about world/human and nature suffering.

I remember "Man in the Mirror" and the message of change. Before I ever heard any Gandhi quote about "Be the change you want to see in the world", I heard his lyric, "If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make the change".

I remember watching "Black or White" video, and that inspiring me to want to travel, to see all these exotic people- the african warriors, the native american pow-wow, the epic image of the Bharatanatyam dancer in the middle of the street. Oh man that last one, when I saw it, i think i knew what it was like to feel pride for my culture. More importantly, it taught me about acceptance and embracing other cultures. Mind you, this video came out in the early 90's, and i was a wee kid.

Remember back in the day (the early 90's) you could't play CD's on your car stereo? It was all tapes? Yeah..I remember MJ's "Dangerous'' being the first cassette tape I ever owned. I'm not making this up. My dad gave it to me, cos I loved the cover art so much. I played it so much I had to keep re-winding the black tape with my finger cos it kept coming loose. I don't have it anymore though.

I sort have a monopoly on all the music cds in the house. Vivek has only managed to take The Eagles Greatest Hits CD from the collection that my folks passed me ages ago. I still have a working copy of MJ's "HIStory" which has the gorgeous song "Stranger in Moscow". The video taught me about cinematography-angles, filters, lighting.

I remember that when Izzah and I were coming up with dance moves for the campfire routine, the go-to source was always MJ. What would MJ do? And when we found a move we could use, we'd call it the "MJ move" when we were running through the routine. MJ taught me how to dance, through all the musicians and performers he's influenced, who have in turn influenced me.

I think aviators and military style jackets are cool cos of MJ. Not cos of Top Gun, pfft. MJ. The King of Pop. Not only pop music, pop culture as well.

There will never be another individual like him. Never. We should be grateful to have lived in this era, to have experienced part of the phenomenon at least, as children of the 90's.

Kyur4 Th Ich

2009-06-26T00:54:00.002+08:00

absolutely CHUFFED :D

i got my en-tee-you mass comm place. (i spelt it like that cos i don't want to be traced :P)
i genuinely thought i fked up the interview.

vin explained that that's what they do at interviews, try to get under your skin to see how much you want it. IT WORKED ALRIGHT! whatever it was the interviewer was doing. i think i wanted it to the point that i almost sounded desperate at some points during the interview.

by god's grace i've gotten the place lah. i honestly believe that.

now it's up to me to be a BAMF journo. \\m//
(lol no lah, that's not my style :P )

2009-06-25T21:43:00.002+08:00

today when Crazy Train started playing on my ipod, the first thing that popped into my head was 'i wonder how it'll sound on piano'.

and then i found a piano cover on youtube. woohoo. there is hope!

and then Journey's Faithfully played and I was like, mann, my ipod is going out of its way to get me to start belting out epic karaoke/roadtrip songs on public transport :P I also thought of Jean. And that Family Guy episode where Peter and gang sang Don't Stop Believing at the Drunken Clam. oh wait, i found it:

I've also been wondering how Basement Jaxx sound live. And if they do acoustic stuff (HAHHA, i can't even imagine that)

and your voice was all i heard

2009-06-24T01:20:00.003+08:00

new post!!

Federer looks SO dapper in his warm-up kit for Wimbledon this year..trousers, waistcoat AND overcoat? I mostly approve :D If he's massive enough to have his own logo (i think the "RF" logo is gorgeous, and oh so classy..just like Tiger Woods' "TW". Maybe one day i'll have a wicked cool "AR" logo. ynever know!) And the gold detailing, against the white :D My fave though was when he had the preppy sweater. It looked like a cricket vest. He looked so smart in it.
I think more people want Murray to win though. Well sonny, you're gonna have to work for it :P Have i mentioned this yet? It's such shame Nadal isn't in the competition :( (i'm sorry jean, i realise it might've been insensitive sending you that text about Federer's outfit of all things)
mass comm interview sucked. (but rhubs, thanks for putting it into perspective. shara as well. you da man.)
Watched Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen and was ABSOFKINGLUTELY blown away. (char, this is a recap of our convo, so don't mind me)

I was so bloody proud to be a Linkin Park fan.

That riff throughout the movie? Whenever the Autobots/heroes come into view.. That was written by LP yo- "New Divide". And its such an EPIC riff, that it was the basis for all the thematic music used in the background score, which was done by Hans Zimmer (EPICKKK! man, i love that word)Remember in Transformers 1 as well, they used What I've Done? :D so proud of em, that they could come up with such massive tunes.

The vid for New Divide, that in itself, is a work of art man. It was filmed in the "Tomb of the Primes"- that doesn't count as a spoiler! But it all fits man..the epicness of the song, the epicness of the film, the intensity, the INTENSITY! the lyrics, have i mentioned the lyrics?! The lyrics fit as well..you'll get what I mean if you watch the film :)

SPOILER ALERT:

when the opening titles first came up..and the industrial sounds that accompanied them, that filled the theatre- man, i knew this was gonna be a winner. The sounds, man the sounds has a large part to play in the entire movie. It was like being in a Universal Studios ride, cos it was surround sound that enveloped you and your senses and messed with your head and your suspension of disbelief.

The explosions, aaw hell there were alot of explosions, and gunfire and stunning wide panning shots of various world wonders (Petra in Jordan, and the Great Pyramids) of Shanghai and New York, of the Gulf of Aqaba, and my favourite? The shots in the Smithsonian. MAN i need to go there (dad says Washington in Winter is miserable though. but he's actually been considering it since last year..cos we can hit Virginia, and NY. actually there are at least 10 national monuments and museums in D.C. that are all I wanna go see. Just those and i'll be happy. oh wait, i think i've done a post about this before :P).

OK back to the movie. YEAHH the shots, esp at the Air & Space Museum..i was just in awe. The thing about having a bro who watches nothing but aviation, spaceflight and warcraft-related programmes on telly, is that you inevitably learn about everything from aircraft carriers and how they function, to Cessna's, to the frickin Blackbird (which prompted ash, viv and myself to give each other, OH MAN did you see that? jawdropped looks when it showed up on the screen). My fave though was the Raptor..the jet that was actually Starscream? Yeah yeah alright, Starscream was my fave character from the cartoons..such an Iago he is! I've always thought Decepticons was a cooler collective term than Autobots anyways :P

Aiya, basically it had Michael Bay written all over it, and I ain't complaining :D

as for the plot? heh. The comic relief bits with the mum getting high on ganja and making an ass of herself? unnecessary. Various shots of Megan Fox's face, derriere and decolletage- unnecessary. Though I must say, I dunno of they jacked up the saturation? But her eyes are absolutely stunning. The dialogue was throughly entertaining in a smarmy american/ frat boy/ gangsta lovin, "i'ma gonna beat yo ass down" way. Those twin Chevy autobots though? They were the Jar Jar Binks of this movie- a bloody waste of time, AND highly annoying at that. I'm just glad there wasn't much snogging/ romantic plot development- cos that would've ruined it. Shia was underutilised :( it's almost as if he got some bit part.

But all those epic fightscenes and showdowns and throwdowns more than make up for it! Visually a-mazing! tyvm, ILM ;)

Now this is the kind of summer I've been waiting all the previous year for.

2009-06-22T11:38:00.002+08:00

I'm actually a bit sad that neither Button nor Hamilton won at Silverstone yesterday. No actually, i'm VERY sad. Home race, cmon! Sad is so generic, but it's the best word to describe it, right now, in all this sadness i'm wallowing in.

Not only cos they didn't win, but also cos they placed 6th and 16th respectively. OUCH.

On top of that, this was supposed to be the last race at Silverstone before moving to Donnington (where BBC's Big Weekend was held recently..hmm). I decided a bit too late in my F1 fandom that Silverstone is my favourite track. OOPS.

Dammit lah, i think Ecclestone is making a BIG MISTAKE moving it. There's so much history and tradition that Silverstone holds. It's a British icon. A racing stalwart of sorts- an integral cog in the motorsport machine.

And on top of that, Sri Lanka got beaten by Pakistan at Lords (for the Twenty20 cricket tournie). AGH. Being a supporter of the Indian cricket team, Pakistan winning is definitely not the most favourable outcome. I wouldn't have minded so much if the Lankas had won. The scrolling thingy (char, i need the word again) at the bottom of the screen of Eurosportsnews this morning called it an "emphatic 8-wicket victory". I still haven't been able to bring myself to read match reports or watch match highlights. Holdon, you know what sucks? I can't even watch match highlights on the amazing telly at home cos of the fact that cricket channels are EXPENSIVE and the sport is largely inaccessible in this country. askjda;fhas;fasf.

ANGST.

more angst. Tiger Woods isn't doing so good at Bethpage. He needs a 65 or better if he's gonna win the US Open. But then again, it's Tiger. He's the miracle man. But that miracle may be thwarted by the fact that he's been out of it for 8 months since his knee surgery and hasn't been quite as epic since.

nooooooooo :( :(

I approve.

2009-06-17T18:13:00.003+08:00

While Ash was whacking golf balls i was messing around with his new phone. (i wasn't allowed to play today. i mean, i wasn't capable of doing so cos of body aches. i believe i'm ill.) Ill is not the same as sick. Just as tourist is not the same as traveller. That might or might not make sense. (''you can come, but you can't practice", thas what my dad said to me. and i just sulked and got in the car)

There's a chock o block of music he's put in there so far, INCLUDING Bat For Lashes *beams*

alongside, get this, Incubus, Metallica, Sodom (and a tonne of other metal bands), The Prodigy, Muse and U2.

well done, bruv.

bonkers

2009-06-17T14:51:00.002+08:00

okok
Summer Sonic Lineup usually has clues as to who'll be performing in Singapore, either at Singfest or at their own gigs.
seeing the lineup though, has got me HYPERVENTILATING man!! (i shouldn;t get my hopes up too high, but agh, heck it)

NIN
Paramore
LINKIN PARK (CHAR TAN! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH)
Hoobastank
Placebo
Beyonce (all hail beysus)
Ne-yo
Keane (aaw bless)
KASABIAN (please! dear god!!)
Katy Perry (i have a soft spot for her, don't hate)
Limp Bizkit (apparently they were awesome at Download fest)
KLAXONS (ATTN KENN LOE)
CSS
Datarock
N.A.S.A
Jack Penate (i love himmmm!!!!!!)
Gogol Bordello (buncha gypsies hahah)
Golden Silvers

you seee what i meaaannnnnn!!!!!

he walk like this cos he can back it up

2009-06-15T11:42:00.006+08:00

a quick comparative study
this was the tracklist in like, the 40 mins I was listening to Greg James today.

Gorillaz- DARE
The Yeah You's- 15 minutes
some Carolina Liar song (which was a good song btw)
Lady Gaga- Just Dance
White Lies- Death
Dizzee Rascal- Bonkers
Phantom Planet- California
Take That- Said It All
Kasabian- Fire

dude. THIS is music.

compared to the same ole drivel they play on s'pore radio. come on guys you gotta switch it up. switch up the genres! a bit o' indie, a bit o' electronica (eg: deadmau5..i'm lookin at you jean), yknow what i'm sayin?

they can't be playing current top 40 tracks all the bloody time. there was a glimmer of hope this morning on 987 though..they actually played Fat Joe's Lean Back. woah. something actually from the mid noughties.

i like the "new" 913 though, cos they play tonnes of new music that the bigger stations don't necessarily pick up on as early. for eg, new Jay Sean ft Lil Wayne song debuted this week. Dya honestly think 987 would play it if it wasn't a potential massive hit? for pete's sake, they didn't even play his track "Stolen" back in 04. only power 98 did.

hold up, has 987 even started playing Beyonce's Ego? i just checked their New This Week. nope. they aren't. they're NOW ONLY playing Archuleta's Touch My Hand. come on. wayyyy behind guys!

AND one more thing. 987 Stripped is a ripoff of Jo Whiley's Live Lounge. The other day, I heard this version of No Diggity (originally by Blackstreet & Dr Dre) covered by The Klaxons. I was like, AAW HELLL NO!, cos i'd heard it originally on her show on Radio 1. wahlaoo. that's just not right. that just pissed me off.

ok rant over.

now for some G0od tImeZxzz music.

I realised, from reading the comments, that I wasn't the only one who thought that the lead singer guy sounded a LOT like gary barlow and that the band's sound is VERY Take That. which is never a bad thing ;)

(which reminds me, i'd better go grab that Take That Live in Manchester DVD)

bi bim bap

2009-06-10T22:52:00.004+08:00

Jean, you gotta be proud of me.
2PM's "Again & Again".

this version even has the routine switched up in the middle! but as you already know, my fave bit is the interlocking hands ;) and i LOVE how the girls are chanting along at the right bits..it's organised chaos! FANGIRLZ WIN.

2PM >>>> Super Junior, IM(NS)HO.

thanks ven for the intro to KBS (which i didn't even know i had) and Music Bank and boys over flowers :D LOL
(can i just say, the fact that they glittered/glowed/sparkled when they made their first appearance on the show is SUCH an edward cullen thing to do :P :P)
I'm such an AZN.

2009-06-09T14:55:00.000+08:00

after months and months of asking my dad if we could go to the -newly renovated- driving range (since i got back from sydney), I am finally going today. in an hour actually!

you see going to the range isn't exactly something i can do myself. for one, there's my whole bag of clubs that i gotta lug with me. all that gear is no mean feat, esp without a car.

secondly, since i'm below 21, my dad has to be there personally to sign in to the members area of the driving range. as well as to provide funding (:P) to top up the card that when you tap on the machine dispenses the balls for you automatically ie. raises the tee, on your little square of green, with the ball loaded. if you're in the non-members area, you gotta go dispense a whole basket of balls from the clanky machine and pour em into the divider and you gotta set the ball up yourself everytime after youve hit a shot. PLUS the non-members area is on the hot sun on the upper floor. So as well as not being sheltered, you don't get a completely accurate gauge of your shot since it's from an elevated position.
so spoilt innit?

but frankly i'm more worried about being able to get the ball more than 70m. fuck lah. i know my short game is alright, but distance has always been inconsistent, and with months of disuse and lack of practice, who knows how much its deteriorated?

i shall endeavour to not get any blisters today. and i shall endeavour not to beat myself up (figuratively of course) if i *fail*.

it's alright to suck. it's alright to suck. *chants*

the use of :(

2009-06-06T23:27:00.004+08:00

oh safina, my heart broke for you :( :(
i completely agree with the commentators that you weren;'t switching up your style enough and that you were too concerned with taking power shots and hitting hard. That's what Kuznetsova took advantage of. yup, you can't bludgeon your way through the opponent always. Have some finesse! Have some variety! and, from the looks of it, accuracy needs a lot of work

the way she cracked..oh man..on the brink of tears even! that's not a champion behaviour at all! you're world number one for god's sake :( that performance didn't justify the ranking at all, which was just heart-wrenching to watch man. She's been in this position- as a finalist- two years running already. And to lose the match on a double fault as well..runner-up has gotta suck man :(

Kuznetsova pointed out that Safina was "too tight", in the post-match interview. damn right she was! she was so tensed you could see the anxiety in her eyes man. It was tangible, the fear of the title slipping through her fingers steadily, as Kuznetsova kept her head on straight and played some fine tennis. It was emotionless tennis; efficient though.

i want Safina to win a grand slam this year.
and I want even more badly for Federer to win tomorrow. i will cry bitterly if he doesn't. i need him to win, just so that i can keep my faith in him. but ilu bb, no matter what!
Keeping the dream alive!

2009-06-03T20:49:00.004+08:00

today i'd at an "AAW LAMPSY i love you" quiet little moment to myself when i was discussing the FA cup final with the boys over lunch.

JT sent out an official message to the fans saying thanks to and praising Hiddink and also welcoming Ancelotti. (i've always wondered if other team captains do that! I'd like to think not..and maintain that JT is the awesomest captain EVERR) He used the word brilliant alot. What's not to love about that, man :D

edit:

HOW precious is this?!?!?!! :D :D ilubbs

in new music we trust

2009-06-01T11:07:00.001+08:00

fkin love this track.
the next big thing.

Mr Hudson - Supernova from Roy Thomas on Vimeo.

smorgasbord

2009-06-01T08:35:00.003+08:00

grandma's food makes EVERYTHING (well almost everything..) better.

yesterday took a walk to her house, via the newly paved walkway (that made the frickin news LOL). sunday morning walks alone with me and my ipod and a deadmau5/passion pit track on a loop = winning combination. esp if you had a late night the night before and are in need of fresh air (yknowhati'msayin). it helps that i had on a bright green polo..must have mood to wear that shirt ah, hahaha. annddd i got to wear my slippers after a week of having to wear covered shoes. YES.

breakkie was hot off the griddle thosai and coconut chutney, with a milo on the side. winning combination.

speaking of which, ven, one day we must have breakfast at murugan idli. remindd me! typical south indian breakfast.

lunch was white rice, sardine curry, a hardboiled egg and stir-fried, spiced cabbage. such simple food, but once again, winning combination.

right then, i should get down to reviewing Chelsea's season one of these days, but just as a note to self:

Lamps as player of the year (absolutely. he deserved it)
winning some silveware after the dry spell
Guus Hiddink and how much good he did the team
Ancelotti as the most likely replacement
now that season is over, what am i gonna do with no footie?!?! internationals don't make up for it lar :\

as for tennis. hel-lo roger! now that Nadal is out (shock of all shocks. no really. i actually felt sorry for him) and the door is wide open (well except maybe a bit of a problem in the form of Andy Murray), PLEASE WIN THE TITLE AT ROLAND GARROS TYVM.

Ivanovic. my god..what happened to her :( dramatic slump in form and in spirit and most prominently in rankings. I reallly liked her man :( but i guess i've just never had a fave female tennis player..though Graf is/was EXCEPTIONAL man. just that Safina is growing on me every day..

Attn K.Loe: i need to discuss one Miss V. Williams with you. holla atcha girl.

sheila goes out with her mate stella

2009-05-27T12:50:00.001+08:00

Attn: K. Loe

Jamie T, back in biznaz!!!
catchy tune, this!
any chance you'll get to see him?

re-prioritize

2009-05-25T00:18:00.003+08:00

air guitar got NOTHING on air violin yo.

keeping the dream alive?
very much so.

you do NOT reject me and not expect me to go down without a fight.
this is what i set out to do.
three for three.

as childish as it sounds, i need to prove that i'm good enough after what i went through. after the sacrifices i made. I don't talk about it much, but Sydney was a sacrificial lamb, so coming back had better be bloody worth it.

speaking of keeping the dream alive, F1-wise, at the rate this is going, I wonder if any of the big teams are even gonna show up by the time it gets to the s'pore GP. they might just boycott this ridiculousness and leave us all in the lurch. I can't even bring myself to watch F1 anymore man. OK well i ended up watching the first 30 laps of Monaco :P cos i couldn't resist (well mostly it was to relive Hamilton's victory there last year..i remember it so vividly. especially that chicane bit just after exiting the tunnel and that whole fiasco about cutting corners and letting the person you overtook pass *facepalm*) but after that its pretty much a shoo-in that its gonna be a Button victory.

I can't make out of its about the vehicle or the driver anymore. I can't make out whose skill set is being tested anymore. It's incredibly frustrating cos I believe Hamilton is a exceptional race car driver. that is talent, pure talent. you'll know what i mean if you've seen him on Top Gear- one of the many instances he's proven his skillset. He drove round the track in the "f1 star in a reasonably priced car" aka a Suzuki Liana in a blistering time. He was so fast, he beat The Stig! (if you take into consideration the wet conditions and how many seconds that added to his final lap time, that is). Clarkson was astonished, man.

Let's see how the rest of the season pans out eh.
And as for Roland Garros, I would actually prefer if Nadal DIDN'T win, but we all know that ain't gonna happen -__-. Safina all the wayyyy!!! (please don't screw up)
gah. i'm just so over it.

don't read this if you haven't watched Idol finale yet

2009-05-21T10:23:00.003+08:00

American Idol is FUCKED UP and BRILLIANT at the same time.
The finale show?
OMFG..i was stunned as one big name act came out after another. I mean I saw a bit of a preview of who was gonna be on Seacrest's twitter, but i was not expecting how EPIC it was gonna be *___*

It was like one knockout punch after another. KISS, Santana, Rod Stewart, Lionel Ritchie, QUEEN, frickin QUEEN.
When Adam was performing with Queen, and I saw Brian May give him an approving look and hug at the end of the performance of We Are the Champions, i knew right then and there that Adam needs to be the new Queen frontman, if his other endeeavours don't work out (as if THAT's gonna happen)
He fit RIGHT IN man.

as for Kris Allen. I have everything against you because you do NOT deserve the title. I was with Adam from day 1. it was supposed to be a Gokey- Lambert final in the first place. You came in from nowhere..and now you commit this travesty with the help of the American public?!?!

i am overwhelmed by the fact that americans are so daft to have chosen kris over adam. REALLY AMERICA, REALLYYY?!

That is really REALLY the most dumbass thing you've done since electing Bush to power for a second term. what is WRONG with you?!

Adam was SUPPOSED to win. We ALL know it. Did you see Simon NOT standing up when kris' name was announced? I think that's telling enough.

By not choosing Adam, these yanks have proven that they're not as open-minded as they're made out to be. Land of the free my Ass. Adam winning was supposed to be symbolic of acceptance. This is such a big upset, i don't even know what to say anymore...

Other than that Adam is gonna KILL IT. he's gonna be MASSIVE. bigger and better than kris will EVER be. he's a superstar. a goddamn superstar.

if you're listening to this, you are the resistance

2009-05-17T18:27:00.002+08:00

firstly, HOW star wars is that line please?
hahahaha

Secondly, watch the trailer. Using a NIN track..hell yeah!

thirdly, HOW the fk can you not wanna see this. 1.24. bloody intense, man. IN-TENSE.
after the eff up that was T3 and that dumbass series The Sarah Connor Chronicles, they had better not mess this up man. But nah, I think it's gonna be brilliant. :D

Supermassive Black Hole

2009-05-14T21:54:00.003+08:00

I have come straight home to do this. i've been in the same clothes since 7am, but the going to have a bath bit can wait. I have even put off watching my tivo of Idol to do this!!

I just got back from Star Trek- with G, THE trekkie. the only person i will acknowledge as a trekkie cos all the others are pretenders. just as i really only acknowledge that my own brothers are star wars fans. and shaun too (hi shaun, if you're reading this)

to put it plainluy, i genuinely loved it. no wait, i LOVED IT *proceeds to run around the room flailing arms excitedly as i did through much of the movie*

be warned, i am mostly going to gush about Star Trek. yes i can't believe i'm saying it either.

WHAT. WHAAATTT!.
I kept saying that alot cos I was absolutely fucking floored by the movie. Visually (ILM- Industrial Light & Magic- the people behind Star Wars, thankyouverymuch :P ) and sonically STUNNING (kudos to mike giacchino- yup a large part of why i put up with the tv series Lost is cos of the soundtrack- they are masterpieces the way they play with your emotions). Ok lah, it's not yet on a John Williams iconic level (tracks such as "The Imperial March"-aka darth vader's theme music you noobs, come to mind), but it's in a league of it's own and i can defintely appreciate it. I love the ethnic nuances of the Vulcan leitmotifs..it sounded like an erhu actually!

LEONARD NIMOY is godlike. Him and Patrick Stewart (i hate bill shatner) are my only links to the Star Trek universe. I'm familiar with the Star Trek universe, because being a sci-fi fan, i guess at a very young age i was exposed to both Star Trek and Star Wars. No wait its the other way round. I was exposed to both THEN i became a sci-fi fan. (yeah guess who did the intro-ing...now dya know why i love my dad so much?) i weighed my options and chose Star Wars (which I still love dearly, don't you forget that!). I know bits and pieces of the lingo enough to have a convo with G.

"Live long and prosper".C'mon. That's catchphrase is as much as part of pop culture as is the iconic image of The Beatles and Abbey Road (well at least in my perception of the world). And hell, that is the parallel to May The Force Be With You as far as I'm concerned. My personal fave though is "beam me up, scotty!" :D which wasn't actually in this move, eh G?

SPOILER ALERT-------

Just laying eyes on The U.S.S Enterprise- COME ON. EPIC moment.
Leonard Nimoy and Zach Quinto. Spock and Spock. OHMYGODWTFBBQ. all i could do was hold my hands to the sides of my face in awe.
As for Uhura...Silver-tongued spock seducer!! I actually liked Zoe Saldana before this. Not anymore. Maybe its cos i'm seething with jealousy at the fact that she got to snog Spock/Zach Quinto.
yeah if you haven't figured out by now, Spock was and still is my fave. I love the conflicted characters..the ones fighting deeper battles on the inside- harry, draco (yes i really did just say draco.), anakin, aragorn, gambit..they always have some sorta tussle btwn doing what they want to do and what they must do. but anyways, what's not to love about an intellectual vulcan with heart? whom i can't figure out. and whose eyebrows fascinate me.

Lightsabers > Phasers!
alot of the movie I was going omg that's so clever! but the thing about alernative dimensions, time travel..i watch Doctor Who and all, but that was a REAL mindfk. I promise never to use the term mindfk lightly again cos I finally experienced one properly hahahaa.

Eric Bana as Nero was..sufficient. But i don't think he felt enough like a Villain. Like a Supervillain, that is what you'd expect of a movie of this epicosityness. Simon Pegg as Scotty is love. Wish there was more of him. And Chekov :D :D ah-daw-rah-ble. James T Kirk. hmmm..i haven't decided what i make of him. he's just really not my type, i guess!

Oh yeah s
Speaking of Doctor Who,
the trailers before the movie..Chris Eccleston (the shite Doctor from season 9) is the baddie in the new G.I Joe movie. Wtf. firstly, i didn't even know they were doing a G.I. Joe movie. Secondly, nothing in that trailer vaguley resembled anything to do with G.I. Joe...except for the military thread. I swear I thought it was Thunderbirds. I mean, my bros used to play with G.I Joes and Action Man...that was NOT G.I joe. That was Channing Tatum in a batsuit thing. And one of the Wayans brothers is in the lineup. That was laughable in itself. and oh, Sienne Miller, a villainess?! WHUT.

ok fug that.
MUST WATCH:

Angels & Demons
Terminator: Salvation
Tranformers: Revenge of the Fallen (i have to watch this NAO)

Star Trek wuz brilliant.
But once again I must reiterate. I have chosen my side and I am sticking with it, because quite frankly it has become a part of my identity.
Star Wars 4EVA.

do not knock him out

2009-05-14T00:18:00.002+08:00

This is the shit.
the track is "fucking in the bushes" by Oasis, which is incidentally what they opened with, and made us all exclaim "dey that song's from Snatch!".

that was confirmation that we were all on the same wavelength- pop culturally at least.

sartorially as well! sneakers standard.

musically too. like srsly.

mad respekt for the RJ gang..WWIDw/oyou

and every night the city lights, they'll be out for us

2009-05-12T21:20:00.002+08:00

Radio 1 is the only thing that keeps me going at work every day. Without it I would be headddesking alot cos my job is a mindfk in questioningreality way.
"what am i doing with my life?"/ "did i just do this for the past 2 hours straight?"

the other thing that keeps me going is THE END IN MIND. if there's one city I love, its Munich. I have such vivid memories of Munich (involving G & Kel :D, and Nordsee, and Marienplatz and the may pole, and hofbrauhaus, and frauenkirche and the rathaus where I had my first taster of kartoffeln dumplings-yuck!, BMW welt, marvelling at Allianz Arena (from the outside -__-), the trip to Dachau. And of course my favouritest tshirt EVER hands down no contest: My München Bavaria coat of arms tshirt. Which ven and su got me version 2 of cos version 1 died-ed after years of frequent wearing and washing. :D :D I still keep version 1 though! just for old times sake.

the monotony OH the monotony.
but once in a while i get to do slightly exciting things like staple test sheets and analyze results and visit the clinics and read up on medical jargon which i later attempt to impress vin with. We're now on to autoimmune diseases, which as you will know, if you watch House, is when your body starts attacking itself. Big up Doctor Gregory House!! *adds House season 5 to list of telly shows to watch*

but i love getting to explore campus. and running into friends/family/others. I dont even have to send out a tweet, i mean a text, saying "Holla atcha girl! i'm in school today". speaking of which, blayne from project runways s5 made tim "makeitwork" gunn say Holla Atcha Boy in one of the eps :D HAHAHHA!! I wonder what tim gunn is like when he's drunk. maybe he starts doing accents.

ah where was I? yes, campus. i just feel so familiar with the place..since i've literally grown up and spent time at different points in my life there, for temporary stints. I went to the childcare, and I've attended a tonne of workshops through pri and sec school. I took part in a telematch in the sports field during a Family Day. I sent my first ever fax with Hi Appa written on it in my primary school scrawl from my mum's office when i visited. I attended my cousins' engagement at the guild house. I interviewed the kiwi minister for women's affairs at one of the institutes. Everythings just feels so right there, in a "I could see myself being a student here" way. But even then I dont know if i WANT it or not. It doesn't help that my application has been "processing" for the longest time ARRGH. gimme a decision, some closure, so I can move on!

ok enough of that. back to Radio 1. this past weekend, it was the Radio 1 Big Weekend in Swindon...I can't remember how exactly i'm slightly familiar with Swindon- I just am. All these pop culture refs that i can't put my finger on. Oh wait, i know there's some relation to Oasis. And loadsa famous people are from there. like the chavtastic, but adorable and v v lovable Billie Piper (ohman i have a soft spot for her. never thought i'd say that).
SO YEAH the lineup of acts was MADNESS.

Dizzee Rascal- I don't think Dizzee Rascal is appreciated in this part of the world. If Dance Wiv Me is all you've heard by him you aint heard nothing yet. Puh-lease.

Friendly Fires- Have i plugged them before? I can't rmb. They're fresh in a Vampire Weekend way. But ok lah they've been around since last year. Its only recently though that they've started playing at major festivals. And they have brazillian carnivale dancers on stage whenever they do Jump In The Pool :D TOO COOL.

This is for ven & su- cos i think of you two everytime i hear the lyric "one day we're gonna live in paris, i promise i'm on it" which is incidentally the first line :) ohh the entire song lah! every line!

Lily Allen- I was just telling ven today that I'd love to see her live!

Calvin Harris- OH MAN, i'm loving "I'm Not Alone" so much. It been played 23 times on my itunes today itself haha. Kenn! calvin, you, me..one day, ok? *proceeds to sing "I've got love for you if you were born in the eighties, the eighties.."

Doves- So chillout and so mellow. Su, i think you might like this song. and Netta too!

SO many other artists as well. Ear candy. But i think i'l stop here for today lah.
FESTIVALS FTW, for the variety and the atmosphere. And meeting others who like the same music you do, esp those people who show up for particular acts and where the other acts are fillers haha. Pity i didn't get to go for WWF this year *shrug*

Chelsea vs Barcelona: 1-1

2009-05-07T06:58:00.002+08:00

We were ROBBED.

I hope you saw that.
I hope that that ref gets a disciplinary hearing for blatantly denying at least 2 penalty opportunities, THREE in fact.

I wish horrid things upon him.

YES. I WANT.

2009-05-05T04:20:00.000+08:00

snap twist

2009-05-03T03:38:00.003+08:00

Char and I are what I call jinx buddies.
In every msn convo, we jinx each other at least 5 times.
In real life, our actions, our words, everything is potential for a jinx..for almost as long as we've known each other (ohhey! more than 3 years oready *wink*)
We are on the same frequency. Telepathy? mebbe.
We are damn twinzxzz.. it's uncanny and WAY COOL at the same time.

This post is potential for a jinx, cos I've a feeling if she wasn't having exams right now, she'd do one about how we jinx each other too.

2009-05-02T00:44:00.003+08:00

This is an eg of Coldplay on tap tap revenge. It was a link in this month's edition of The Coldplay Messenger :) Aiya basically its like guitar hero, but the portable version.

It was also in TCM that there was news about the free cd that coldplay are giving out at their North American concerts. lucky bastards!
I wish WE'D gotten it too aargh.
plus the cover art is perfect. View tracklisting and other deets here.

2009-05-01T00:45:00.005+08:00

i need an iphone/ itouch/ blackberry storm/ somethinggg so that I can play tap tap revenge/ check twitter updates (tweets?)/ get on fehzbook/ in the event that I get twitter I can tweet whenever wherever. But mostly so I can play tap tap. Hee :D

KEL & G I LOVE YOU BOTH SO MUCH.
see? if i had twitter i could tweet that.

edit: AARGH. maybe I should've gotten an itouch instead of a classic! FARK. me and my stubborn insisiting on getting a classic...as;ldks'fjsdfj
Gaspard, you are no longer my favourite thing.

Edit:

HAHAHA i was just telling kel not to get me started on this song today!

Edit!

G!! Wolverine WAS shot in NZ, and australia as well! which explains why some of the locations were so familiar! A lot in the South Island though..Dunedin, Queenstown and Christchurch- TEEHEE the running to the barn scene :D

we will follow chelsea, over land and sea

2009-04-29T23:26:00.006+08:00

I am SO BLOODY PROUD of our boys, Char. They didn’t roll over and die. They fkin tested barca. So to all of you who thought Barca were gonna pwn Chelsea Football Club at the Nou Camp, you are all haters.

Defensively, the Blues were SUPERIOR. Did you even get a glimpse of leo? Puhlease. The Barca attack, in general, was silenced. The three amigos up front and Xavi, Iniesta and Toure in midfield..got served. YOU GOT SERVED.

At this point I'd like to point out that I am drawn to teams that play a largely defensive game. Chelsea, esp under Mourinho, were constantly accused of playing boring football cos they'd win by one-goal margins/ 1-0 scorelines, cos they'd score and then defend x3 till the final whistle. They weren't attackers. It was an extremely consistent style of play. boring? Maybe. mechanical? perhaps. efficient? yes, definitely. that's why they won the fkin title back then. That's the way I like the team that I support to play. It's why I support Die Deutsche National Mannschaft as well (german efficiency extends to their footie as well ahhaha). Klinsi just brought out a bit more flair in them, just like Hiddink is doing for Chels. It's brilliant, the way Chelsea especially have matured in their game, this season. Especially after ALL the crap we've been through with the manager issues urgh. They are still delivering and getting the job done, and once again I have to say that I am so bloody proud of them.

don't get me wrong. Both teams play GREAT footie when they wanna. Unfortunately (wrt CFC), ppl (ie journos and bitter fans from rival teams) tend to focus on the negative, and how abramovich spoiled the market and blablablah. STUFF IT. at the end of the day it is about winning. strategy, tactics and execution. Passion and heart are not compromised on.

Like I was explaining to aanesh early this morning, the win for Chelsea is So important because it is a chance for retribution. Moscow 2008, Never Forget. Because of what happened last year, Chelsea will be the club with more of a desire to win.

I will personally never forget it because it is the day my heart broke, and I knew it was broken because I was miserable for days after and I did a lot of emo posts and I cried alot cos JT was getting so much flak, and i felt TERRIBLE for him and the team. "So close yet so far. Almost." Yes, i think that’s what love is. That's when I realised that I probably wouldn’t react this way over any other club. That’s when it was crystallised that I’m a Chelsea fan.

I want Chelsea to win the Champions League SO BAD.
I want them to win so I can tell all Manchester United fans to GET BENT. IN YOUR FACE. SHOVE IT. And to top it all off, a big fat FK YOU. I have had ENOUGH of being civil about it. Can you tell?
For all their smack talk and disrespecting, which GENUINELY infuriates me, to the point that I wanna scream COMMIE BASTARDS or something in their face to make myself feel better, I PRAY that Chelsea win the semifinal and then the finals, of the Champions League.

picture credits for this post and the former here. (i did the editing myself though)

i have to post these cos they're fkin gorgeous

2009-04-27T17:01:00.002+08:00

the little things you give away

2009-04-24T01:36:00.002+08:00

ven, and su,

the word pantaloon keeps ringing in my head.
i keep saying it, randomly!

and the tune for Joe Dassin's "Les Champs-Élysées" is STUCK in my head. it will come to mind, unexpectedly..when I notice my reflection in the glass doors at the train station/ when i'm picking out what to wear/ when i open my wallet. hhaha ok maybe the last one is a suitable trigger, cos i DO see the polaroid of La Tour Eiffel everytime my wallet's unzipped ;)

su, rmb once we were studying at the coffee bean in gardens and they were playing this compilation cd on the stereo on a loop, and this was one of the songs? I remember this song so distinctly. It was my first time hearing it. After having heard it god knows how many times the tune was embedded in my memory. That same day jas luv dropped by to say hi. And we were FREEEZING so we had to change tables to the one against the side window facing Maju Ave.

now that coffee bean is gone, cos they're renovating the place. everything's gone. the maagzine shop, the haato, the ntuc..the FRICKIn ntuc they took as well! I loved that place! I knew where everything was (ok almost). I used to love being able to go there with my dad immediately after he once in a while picked me up from school (pri, sec AND jc) for a spot of afternoon errand running. Almost always I'd run into someone I know or someone my dad knew or stuff like that. Or you'd run into other kids in school uniform accompanying their folks or there on their own for god knows what reason, but yeah, you always eventually met them at the chocolate section. I remember getting calls, asking what sort of chocolate I wanted, if it was viv or ash who happened to be accompanying my dad. If not, whoever it was would get me a Milky Bar. ALWAYS milky bar hahaha. That was my white chocolate phase.

I rememeber at a point of time, when we were alot younnger, my bros and I used to be into Kinder Surprise. 3 eggs. Just enough for the 3 of us. It was the thrill of the luck of the draw, the assembly process, and who got the coolest toy. It was exciting in itself deciding which of the boxes of 3 on display to pick out -__- Haha i think we read too much Charlie & The Chocolate Factory and wanted in our own small way to emulate finding the golden ticket- even if it just meant getting the coolest toy.

It is at THAT ntuc that I learnt as a kid how to pick out milk cartons according to the latest expiry date, and how to order cold cuts. It was there that I sometimes got the honour of picking out what sort of ice cream to have for the weekend- initially we'd to stick to plain vanilla/chocolate cos my dad's the only one who ate strawberry. But then we grew up and our tastes got far more adventurous. Though we all still agree that coffee-flavoured ice cream is not such a good idea. It's at that ntuc that I first learnt how to get a trolley by inserting the dollar coin in the slot. I even remember the progress..from not being able to lift the royal thai fragrant rice bag to being able to do it many years later once I was actually tall enough to reach the highest stacked bag hahaha.

Then there's the car park above the ntuc. With the ridiculous steep slope that lead up to it, that always ALWAYS made me feel nervous. I remember wondering if i'd have to gun it on the accelerator to make it up the slope waaaay before I was even old enough to qualify for driving. Going up it always gave me a fleeting knot in my stomach. I was also once in a while tasked with going to the uncle who sat at the table, while my dad parked, and paying him $1 plus for the parking fee.

I now forget what the entire complex was called, but that was a major part of my serangoon gardens. Now that it's gone, all I can sum it up with is a sad-faced smiley and dreadful feeling on the inside, that they're gonna make the new place all spiffy and RUIN it completely.

barcelona, bring it on

2009-04-15T16:05:00.004+08:00

MIGHTY MIGHTY CHELSEA FC. 4-4. WHAT a scoreline!!!

The boys gave me a million heart attacks. I wanted to CRY cos I haven't felt this nervous and on edge at a crucial match since last year's Champs League final against United. I couldn't even text Char..with "wtf just happened?!", or a "yay" even, but trust me I was fist pumping and biting my cushion and clenching my fist and dying on the inside and stopped breathing and yelping and everything in between. A whole range of emotions and reactions. That was an INCREDIBLE match.

We came back from 2-0 at halftime. After the score was level 2-2, one of the commentators said that "You sense it's not over". how ACCURATE he was in prediciting that! Kuyt and Lucas..2 Pool goals in quick succession and the score was at 4-3. And we all thought it was over after Lampsy's 75th minute goal -__- SO MUCH FOR THAT. Did you see Lamps' second goal?! That was stunning! the way the ball skipped off the post diagonally into the opposite corner of the net and swirled horizontally across the back of the net, as if the ball was marking its territory inside the Pool goal. HAHA. Eh but Chels played like fk during the first half, let's acknowledge that.

SUPER FRANK LAMPARD I LOVE YOU :D
BOOM!!!! hahahahahahhahaah :D

And Alex's free kick. WAH. Masterclass in freekicking man.
Let's not forget Didi's contrbution. (that's as much of a nice thing as i'm going to say about Drogba today :P) or should i say, Reina's contribution. it's like last year, where Riise scored an OG, tsk.

You never EVER see 4-4 scorelines at matches between big teams like this, EVER! You have to watch the re-runs. HAVE TO.

I am never going to forget this match.

"Chelsea are heading for the semi-final after being given an almighty test here"- Commentator.

YAAAAYYYY

2009-04-13T02:11:00.003+08:00

i should do a Chelsea post.
Chels vs Pool Champs League QF's, 1st leg, at Anfield.

I must admit that I didn't think we were gonna win. I thought we were gonna fk up and get pwned 3-0 or something, with all goals by Torres and Stevie G. Plus I couldn't watch the match with fellow CFC fan Char, so we had to make do with an online convo whilst the match was going on, which was an experience in itself hahaha.

From the tunnel, to the last whistle, that was a preeeetttyy awesome match.
3-1, YA'LL!!!

All hail Hiddink and what he has done for the team. Now...we just have to retain him (or as i'd prefer, get Mourinho back. yeah right..dream on,anjax) Pool didn't even see it coming, man! I mean, I didn't see it coming either!! I was getting so pissed off at Dogba and his ineffectualness and cocking up lampsy's passes and misfiring AND the fact that he, as captain of the Ivory Coast team, decided to play on the world cup qualifier match against Malawi while there were people dying. WHAT THE FUCK, didier?!? He was bloody lucky that his missing of TWO sure score goals in the first half didn't cause us too much grief by the time the fulltime whistle blew. His missing crucial goals has cost us before.

Even after Torres' goal, wah, I was just so fking impressed at the way Chels were pushing and pushing and utilsing all options. Though there wan't any finishing for quite a while, i must say i haven't seem them play this way in a while.

And Ivanovic! HEL-LO! well done, mate! Rafa's tactics probably didn't factor the Serb in hahaa. He was completely unmarked..just masuk during the headers and kapow, GOOOAAALLLL, twice!! And Drogba scored too. GOOD. If he hadn't, he'd have hell to pay. Trademark Drogba as well..took a low cross, snuck past 2 defenders and drilled it into the back of the net. precision.

Did you see Stevie G at all? Probably not. HAHHAAA. Essien was brilliant. Clamped down on him, shut up him up and broke down communication btwn Gerrard and Torres. The Chelski midfield was exceptional as well. Lamps was attacking so much more eh! Like he did in his younger days hahaha. And just like in his younger days as well, he was sloppy in delivering corners -.- Ballack, Malouda, everybody played so well..so proud of them! :)

ARRGH at JT's yellow. FK. WHY JT, WHY. He was rash lah, he deserved it. But c'mon mate, now's not the time to be getting suspended from matches! Damn suey. But then again, I'd rather he miss the second leg than say the semis or the finals :\ *touch wood*

Pool need a 3-0 win at Stamford Bridge. Uh..ok, good luck to Pool trying to pull that off! Even without JT around, which always ALWAYS makes me nervous, all we need to do is draw and defend.

And then we can worry about playing Barca. oh shid. the very thought of that makes me sick to my stomach. That's like, out of the frying pan, into the fire. But have faith..HAVE FAITH that good things will come to pass and you can stop talking like Gandalf now, thanks, anjax.

maybe you're gonna be the one that saves me

2009-04-08T17:07:00.003+08:00

I realise how unfair I've been to Liam.
yes, he's still a w*nker and a right prick and what have you, but he's a fockin rockstar. The last of the rockstars. Ok no lah, there'll be more..but he's one of the frickin PIONEERS of Britpop, the music that blossomed during our generation, during OUR formative years.
I should've been grateful to have been in the same room as him!

Lord Liam- surveying the masses.
(there, you can see the charcoal velvet curtains in the back)
The man has such presence and such an aura about him. I was thinking about it, and yknow that song Swagger Like Us? No one on the corner has a swagger like Liam. He literally and figuratively has a swagger hahah :) He swears, he drinks, he smokes, he has loadsa affairs and kids- but this is the same man who wrote Songbird, I'm Outta Time (which is actually off the new album. I know i know, i haven't said very man favourable things about the album, but it's finally growing on me..and this track is one of the reasons why) and my favourite song off Don't Believe the Truth other than The Importance of Being Idle- Guess God Thinks I'm Abel. He can write songs as well! Beautiful songs. But I don't think he can ever be as good as his brother. Even if he tried harder. Seriously.

It is my belief that Noel Gallagher is the McCartney of our era. And god knows how much respekt I have for Macca. Plus he's mates with Chris Martin :D

Liam.
Has a sense of humour..surprise surprise.
Before they came on, they were testing out the smoke machines at the sides of the stage. We all said that it was actually the cigarette smoke from the band's green room escaping :P

This is my favourite picture.
They really do look all enigmatic..and powerful and reverence-worthy.

I am in this weird place. I NEED to constantly hear or play or sing a coldplay or an oasis song. It's all I think about. Other than the footie clash tonight..between Pool and Chels *buries head in hands*

love is a litany, a magical mystery, oasis are damn beatles wannabe

2009-04-06T15:40:00.006+08:00

Oasis Live in Singapore:

First up, the set list.

Fuckin' In The Bushes
Rock ‘N’ Roll Star
Lyla
The Shock Of The Lightning
Cigarettes & Alcohol
The Meaning Of Soul
To Be Where There’s Life
Waiting For The Rapture
The Masterplan
Songbird
Slide Away
Morning Glory
Ain’t Got Nothin
The Importance Of Being Idle (my fave video by them as well. RHYS IFANS, HO YEH)
I’m Outta Time
Wonderwall (liam said 'This one's called 'Some Might Say' and then they started playing wonderwall -__- tricksters. i really wouldn't have minded if the played that man :( )
Supersonic
Don’t Look Back In Anger
Falling Down
Champagne Supernova
I Am The Walrus

Secondly, an incoherent, messed up review of the proceedings.

The stage was damn nice..the lighting was gorgeous and made Liam look all powerful and Lord Liam-like. Oh, and the background was like this charcoal colour velvet curtains..beautiful.
Liam is such a w*nker.
Noel is god-like. Plus he wore WHITE PANTS, ho yeah.
The brothers didn't even look at each other throughout the entire concert..its ridiculous. I don't understand how a creative partnership can exist with such a volatile, constantly feuding relationship.
Liam kept balancing his tambourine on his head with his back facing the crowd. LOL WTF MATE?!?! Mr. Tambourine Man. He eventually threw it into the crowd and the lucky fker who caught it was from the group of indons who were sitting infront of us in the line outside the stadium.
Speaking of which, we were in line from 5 plus..spent such a long time waiting, and with such good company, that I didn't even take not of what time the concert actually started. We did everything from watch Monty Python on Hossain's Itouch, to forgetting to buy makan before we got there (hence we had to pay 6 bucks for a bag of Lays -__-).
I was the only idiot in the group to wear an Oasis shirt. Which is a damn wh*re thing to do :P Everyone else was wearing a beatles/ radiohead/ franz ferdinand shirt.
Everyone who entered the standing pen had to get bag checked twice, metal detected AND patted down. oh kaaaaay.
We got standing spots RIGHT next to the barricade that ran down the middle, so Sinders and I had an awesome view of Noel, Liam and 'jesus' the keyboardist. All i wanted to see was Noel anyways :p Liam can fk off lah. Can't stand him.
When Noel was doing Don't Look Back in Anger, towards the end, the marshalls wheeled out a wheelchair past him and down the centre. He noticed it and went "What's the fockin wheelchair for?...*pauses and cranes neck to see what's going on*..."Somebody havin a stroke?" HAHAHHAAA..wtf Noel?!
After which Karthik proceeded to shout out "THE STROKES!! Play Last Nite" and actually started singing it until Sindhu ribbed him and told him to stfu HAHAHAHAHAHAHA :D
Everytime the crowd started chanting Oasis, karthik and jheevs chanted "Radiohead" instead, thus causing me to erupt in a fit of laughter and tears. FKING FUNNNYY!!! :D
They didn't do Live Forever like they did at the concert in Seoul :( :( oh COME ON. I thought I was on a streak, having my favourite songs performed at concerts I attend :(
They performed I Am the Walrus as their closing song. Fkers trying to be The Beatles lah! Hossain, one of the biggest beatles fans I know, in his review of the concert on the steps of the indoor stadium later that night, proceeded to say that that was the best written song of the night. Of course :)
FK YOU LIAM, YOU ARE NOT LENNON so BUZZ OFF.
I dunno what the turnout was like, but it looked like they were STILL selling tix on the day. Whereas Coldplay sold out in like, 11 hours? PWNED.
I don't like Dig Out Your Soul, the album, much. it's bearable lah..but it's not fresh, exciting and is damn Beatles ripoff lah srsly. Except Falling Down, which was done beautifully partly cos Liam had left the stage, and partly cos there was a spotlight on just Noel. LOVE.
The crowd responded so well..they were damn onzxzz. About the older catalogue especially. There were times where Lord Liam condescended himself to actually applaud the crowd's efforts.

Good timezxzz.

Now ven, to see Oasis in Wembley..or Manchester!! Fk..hometown concerts must be DA BOMB.

And oh..i'm still heartbroken that Jamiroquai isn't performing here :(

sport-wise, this is not the best time for my favourites

2009-04-05T01:48:00.002+08:00

Dear Roger Federer,
This is shocking, and unacceptable behaviour. You're supposed to be a role model whether you like it or not, so act like one. Let Nole or someone else do the tantrum-throwing, you're better than that! Calm.the.fk.down and take a break.
And for Christ's sake get a coach will you?

Now My Feet Won't Touch the Ground

2009-04-02T00:35:00.002+08:00

I think I need to OD on coldplay before I can stop thinking about/talking about/referencing/listening to them. Temporarily at least. it's OBSSESSIVE.

everytime I'm on youtube, i search for vids involving- coldplay
everytime i'm on itunes shuffle...i keep forwarding until i get- coldplay
everytime there's nothing to watch in telly, i go to the playlist of my tivo and pickout- Coldplay at Glastonbury
when i want to pick out something to wear to go meet my mates- Coldplay concert tshirt
when i was watching Idol with viv today, i wondered aloud if any contestant has done a coldplay song before. when i found out that matt giraud attempted VLV, i was incredulous + wtfhowdarehe at the same time.

eh but this is considered the effusive love for coldplay boiling over. i believe i can trace it back to the day I got VLVODAAHF, the album. I got it on June 18th last year, a week after it was released. I was out with Ven and I got it at the gramaphone at Bugis, which i didn't even know existed. It was viv's bday,the next day. That was the day I went to the zoo with karthik to see sinders, after which the familia went on the s'pore flyer. And when I got back I finished listening to it.

I'd only gotten through the first 4 tracks on june 18th. Life In Technicolour..it was like atmospheric Felix Felicis- you knew you were in for a good listening session once you got a taster of LiT. (if you dont get the Harry Potter reference too bad :P) Of course by then I'd already heard Violet Hill (track 8) and Viva La Vida (track 7) cos they were the first 2 singles released. Then there was Cemeteries of London..i thought it sounded like a modern interpretation of one of Shakespeare's ballads. I loved how deceiving 42 was, cos it started out so soft and piano-driven and i expected it to sound like Trouble. But Noooo! Jonny got to let rip his guitar prowess-ho yes.

Then there's Lost!..what i feel is the track you can feel Eno's influence most on. One reviewer said it sounded like U2's I Still Havent Found What I'm Looking For..and that stuck with me ever since. It influences the way I hear the song..hey, I love U2 as well (i'm not quite sure if i do so as much, though), but yeah I give respekt to the elders. The church organ on Lost! is love. Lovers in Japan..i think I needed to see the accompanying video, which was only released much later in the year, to fully appreciate the magic of the song. The hidden track, Reign of Love that followed won me over..just the piano and chris' voice, will ALWAYS win me over., let's just put it that way.

I LOVE the violins on Yes. Heartbreaking in the intro, jaunty and almost threatening during the bridge. And i quite like Chris' voice all low like that..switches things up a bit. Personally I don't like Chinese Sleep Chant, the hidden track..it's a load of noise, like leftovers of a jammin session. ok the guitar solo is decent..that's all i'm willing to give.

I have a soft spot for Strawberry Swing..it's so uplifting, and optimistic and delicate at the same time. It evokes images of Ewan Mcgregor and Charlie Boorman travelling on their bikes in Long Way Down through Africa. yes, there's a spirit of adventure about it..cos when I listen to songs I categorise them into scenarios.."could I hear this song on a roadtrip? while i'm in New Zealand? or Egypt? or on a boatride?" I associate music with situations and SS i most associate with travel..and travel is a deeply fulfilling experience for me. As is this song.

Death and All His Friends is like 42 again..the deceivingly harmless intro and then the kickass soaring cadence, at the bridge and then the softening again towards the end. The track is like poetry. *insert heart shape* The Escapist, the hidden track is so underrated. Eno's atmospheric sounds at their finest...it's like fairy dust and butterfly confetti falling in slow motion. Like rain..rain in the sunlight.

I love this album with the majority of my heart. Can you tell?

And now. One of the reasons why I adore Chris Martin.

high times

2009-03-27T23:26:00.001+08:00

NO. FUGGING. WAY.

Jamiroquai performing on 5th april at Sepang, during F1 and a coupla days later in Jakarta...

*falls to knees and clasps hands in prayer* DEAR GOD PLEASE I BEG OF YOU
let them have a stopover in Singapore as well!!!

It was fated.

2009-03-24T18:35:00.003+08:00

I think I actually screamed I LOVE YOU CHRIS before he launched into his mandatory self depreciating spiel followed by The Hardest part solo on piano LOL

I can't remember alot of what I did or said last night, cos I was not conscious of my actions. It's all there in disconnected images and discordant sounds (ie bits of coldplay tracks hahha). But the concert and the music I remember crystal clearly. I was on a high. Ven, I hope I didn't dig my nails into your arm during one of my many *OMG* moments and cause you physical pain or anything :\

But the butterfly confetti. All I wanted was more butterflies, cos I only managed to get one at the Sydney gig. I got two handfuls and a bit more hahaha *GRIN* To have it fall from the heavens..that was my truly evangelical coldplay moment, cos my hands were to the sky and my head was tilted back and my eyes were closed as the butterflies fell on me- with Lovers in Japan as the soundtrack. And when I opened my eyes, the neon coloured butterflies started falling..even MORE stunning.

Magic, all over again. Like Ven said, it's the best gig I've ever been to, twice over in two weeks. I don't think I would do this for any other band. (but i'm not writing it off just as yet ;) )

Singapore:

Sydney:

i'm back.

2009-03-22T07:48:00.002+08:00

laptop/ipod/hp time zone changed? - check
fb network changed? - check
horrid weather? - check
jetlag? - check
texts to mates to let them know i'm back? - oh they'll find out. somehow.
boring ass shows on telly?- check
craving for teh tarik and prata with fish curry- check

unpacking - forget it.

Je veux vous voir encore

2009-03-20T22:59:00.003+08:00

Goodbye Sydney.

You were good to me. It was great while it lasted.

bowlinnng!

2009-03-17T07:51:00.002+08:00

I love this country. They give so much respect to sport.
And they love their cricket :D
The ICC Women's World Cup is going on in Sydney right now..its been slightly over a week since it began. I'm so confused about the format..but I think its round robin and not elimination.

World Number ones Australia were beaten by India by 16 runs on Saturday (wooohoo) and the Indians beat Pakistan the week before (psyeahhhh). yeah DUH i'm rooting for India. I'm now wacthing the live match of India vs New Zealand. Indians are batting consistently, but not solidly. The Kiwis have brought their A-Game and their skipper's bowling was PHWOAR. She deserves every wicket she's gotten, srsly. And their fielding! The commentators keep labelling it "athletic" cos they really go for it. OH have I mentioned? One of the commentators is Wasim Akram :D Ex pakistani player..and one of the greatest bowlers EVER. Like, Muthiah Muralitharan level of awesomeness..except that Akram came first haha.

We're only up to the third batter for the indians though..I hope they can hold it out. OK maybe they can..Mithali Raj is playing. They love her here...talk about her in the papers all the time, raving about her skill and grace and excellent batting techniques. I'm watching her now, and I want to be like her when I grow up :P no really. She's superb. PLUS she uses THE reebok bat.

What i don't understand though, is why the Indians women's team don't have their surnames on the back of their jerseys. Ok, maybe some of them have damn long surnames..but I just checked the lineup and they're mostly maharastrian and andhra pradeshi, and not tamils, so they don't have to worry about lonnnnng surnames LOLLL. Yknow what I mean? I would be damn proud to have Raguspageddysauce on the back of my jersey. I would work my butt off to see that jersey materialise, if i ever even smelt the possibility of making it on the national team.

Gotta love the indian supportes...they brought Dhol drums and evrything :D Oye Chakde Pathey!

mega picture post for mates who don't have fb :P

2009-03-16T21:55:00.009+08:00

This is the song I was talking about..
The Hardest Part, done alone on piano by Chris Martin.
And everyone singing along ..oh! It was just lovely.

Today I was having lunch with Aunty Sha at this greek cafe called Calypso. That's not relevant but I thought that was such a cute detail. So anyways, this song came on the radio. I was trying so hard to pay attention to the conversation and not sing along :P Cos everything just came flooding back.

Ich bin zwanzig Jahre alt.

2009-03-14T21:59:00.003+08:00

Every year, I go to Hard Rock Cafe for my birthday dinner.
Every year.
This year was the first time I haven't done that in God knows how many years, and it feels odd!

But then again, I got to spend my twentieth birthday in Sydney.
Woke up to Happy Birthdays from the Vijayans and watching home videos of me and brothers and my folks and the Vijayans when we were all much younger and used to go on holidays together. There was even a scene in which Nish and I disagreed over playing London Bridge with this other kid called Nikesh and I promptly went over to my dad to complain :P My dad just asked me to deal with it myself cos I was being all whiny :P It was allll caught on tape HAHAH. And i was reminded of my backintheday afro..MAN i had thick curly hair when i was a kid! I could NOT do anything with that hair hahah!

After which we went to Eastwood for Yum Cha (dim sum). Good stuff yo! I swear to God it felt like I was in Changi Village when I was walking down the street. I forgot I was in Australia.
But anyways, I still want my xiao long bao when I get back, cos they don't have that here :(

After which we went to Paddy's Market in the city-which is like the Bugis Street of Sydney. Fkin fantastic. Bought my new birthday clothes there hahaha. *hint hint* (denim tights! dayumn girl!!! if i say so myself)

Drove home, got changed and proceeded to Darling Harbour for dinner at this place called Ice Cube. OH MAN, I still remember barely being able to eat anything in the Ice Cube at Gardens two days before I flew off- cos I felt so nervous about everythinggg. But this Ice Cube in Sydney does seafood and not desserts. I had grilled barramundi with potatoes, baby asparagus and toasted, skinned almonds. It was perfect..the combination of textures, complimentary tastes and the Riesling that accompanied dinner.

After which we took a walk down the harbour, trying to find a bar or lounge to go chillax at. Finally ended up at this place called Pontoon..they were playing a lot of Eric Prydz type House and then it slowly progressed to stuff that was making nish and myself wanna hit the dancefloor. And so we did. The chicks and blokes at the club were meh, and they didn't dance properly lah. But we two enjoyed ourselves :P Until they started playing all this 90's music..that's alright to sing along to, but not really to dance to. Especially after you play Nicole Scherzinger's Whatever You Like, and Chris Brown's Wall to Wall. It was stuff like Mariah Carey's Fantasy and Arrested Development's Everyday People. Oh well. So we decided to call it a night.

And now i'm watching Pool in the process of winning United..score is currently at 2-1. Well done, Nando! One on one with Nemanja "sonuva" Vidic summore hahhaha. CHAR!! I bet you had a lot to say about that particular encounter! Good. COME ON POOL. Get in the way of United so that Chelsea has a chance!

HAHAHHAHA RED FOR VIDIC!! in yer face, fergie!
OH MY GOD, GOALLL FROM POOL!! Beautiful goal, from a free kick summoreeee :D Aurelio!! Well done, mate!

kk, i think we can safely assume the match is Pool's.

God give me style and give me grace, God put a smile upon my face

2009-03-12T17:04:00.004+08:00

Coldplay live in concert. (warning: this post may contain concert plot and setlist spoilers)

THEY ARE MAGIC, PURE MAGIC.

The beginning was perfect..the moment I heard the intro of Life In Technicolour- immediately, goosebumps and I screamed like a fkin banshee cos I was having an off week dealing with all my "serious stuff" so I just HAD to let it all out if I was gonna enjoy coldplay properly. he excitement boiled over, pretty much.

The lads are such teases! They were behind a translucent black screen and as the track started, it lit up from the back and one by one they walked up to the front of the stage, so you could only see their silhouettes- jonny, will, guy and then finally Chris..

Then the curtains fell and just HEARING Chris Martin's voice, live, made me want to cry. It's not that he's a killer singer or anything. It is just the realisation that you are in the same room as the man and the band who wrote some of the songs that you have come to love the most, and that you have grown up with, and that you have attained your musical education with ; the band that you respect and adore and love so much that only you understand how much they mean to you; the band whose lyrics end up being your personal messages on fb or messenger, who's track is your message ringtone, whose album you listen to when you end your day.

Seeing his face on the big screen was enough to make my heart stop, in my moment of epiphany, that I was watching Coldplay live.

Chris is an amazing performer- yeah if you haven't already realised by now I am love with this man. Or the idea of him. Whatever it is.
I love the way he's so self depreciating when he addresses the crowd..for instance just before performing a solo acoustic piano version of The Hardest Part, he was all, "Probably no one remembers this song..It's not that good a song anyways". And then he performs it perfectly, with such control and melancholy that it just breaks your heart to hear the lyrics and the melodies elucidated- it was like he was performing just for me. This is what I mean by magic. I don't know how he managed to do that but he did. Especially since the crowd was singing along..not all loud and boisterously, but quietly and almost thoughtfully, contemplating every line cos that's when you realise how beautifully sad coldplay's older material is.

And the hardest part
Was letting go not taking part
You really broke my heart
And I tried to sing
But I couldn't think of anything
And that was the hardest part

I could feel it go down
You left the sweetest taste in my mouth
You're a silver lining the clouds
Oh, and I
Oh, and I
I wonder what it's all about

Plus Chris does a lot of crazy ass running around on stage and piano trickery and acrobatics and complex chord patterns and he holds his notes for a long time, which of course garners *impressed* applause from the audience. He screams and squeals and does it with so much heart- he's such a performer. He ad libs/ improvs to switch things up from how it sounds on the albums brilliantly (so much so that I still remember his ad lib from his performance of In My Place during Live 8- in the climas of the song where you just here Jonny's guitar he goes " oh ilikeit x4, luh-luh-luh-like it x2"

OH WAIT! I found it on youtube :D

When they did clocks, there were lasers of course. Just like in the video and their live performancs for MTV or the Grammys or whatever- that's why live music and concerts are so trippy

OH did I mention? the stadium seated 20,000 people. That's the biggest arena I've ever been in, having only gone for concerts in locations in S'pore-which CANNOT compare to the atmosphere of the arena. It was THAT massive, but it was still intimate. There was such a good vibe- it was like hanging out with mates. Especially cos halfway through the concert, the fellas walked off the stage and into this cordoned off corridor at the side of the standing area, up the stairs and into my side of the arena! They literally got on a platform that was in the middle of the seated crowd's seats and did a couple of songs :D :D Guy even had a sip of someone's beer LOL.

That's exactly what they did at their Brixton Academy gig, whihc was broadcast live over BBC Radio 1. I've done a lil post about this here. Yeah basically their Brixton gig was one of the first few times they performed tracks off Viva La Vida live to audiences- and it was also when halfway through the concert, they played the Thin White Duke remix of Talk over the sound system while the lights dimmed and the band ran up to the concourse and did a coupla acoustic songs there including Death Will Never Conquer which was sung by Will. He did that last night too :D Chris was telling this story about how when they were uni students in London, they decided that the person who lost at scrabble would be the lead singer. He went on about how he, being the most unintelligent but most talkative ended up being the lead singer when actually Will is a better singer, or so Chris said. I'm paraphrasing, but yeah that's the gist of it :P

THAT WAS WAY COOL LAH. They even did a cover of The Monkees "I'm A Believer"..yknow, the song that goes "Then I saw her face, I'm a believer..Not a trace, of doubt in my mind..I'm in love (ooooohhhh)...I'm a believer, I couldn't leave her if I tried" YEAH everyone sang along.

But the songs that did it for me are of course Fix You and Viva La Vida.
When the intro for Fix You came on, I had to take a moment to settle myself. That song holds so much meaning for me and has gotten me through the lowest points in my life, if a song is even capable of doing that. That is a song that till this day, I skip on my itunes or mp3 player if it isn't necessary to hear it because it chokes me up everytime I hear it.

Viva La Vida..OH COME ON, that one goes without saying!!! My song of 2008, the song I did an entire post about.. To hear it live? DUUUUUDEE. Went to heaven, said a Sup Homie to St. Peter and came back. When the crowd woaah-oh-oheedd together with the band :D :D Once in an interview, Chris called that section of the song the Bon Jovi bit hahhahaha. Damn right! Chris was so exhausted by the end of the song that he just collapsed on the floor while the crowd kept woah-ooh-oh-oohhhing *supermassive grin* *thumbs up to aussie crowds* And of course! During the song, there a were CONFETTI BUTTERFLIESSS :D :D :D MAGIC, I TELL YOU!! My heart skipped a beat at this point too, cos it was honestly such a beautiful sight. Its a feast for the eyes as well as the ears, this concert. The stage and the lighting and the floating orbs were all brilliant touches and stuff that I hope they have at the Sinagpore gig vennie, cos its just not the same without those.

OK pictures, soon, promise. A post just full of pictures.

now, the setlist, which I have with every concert review:

Setlist

Life In Technicolor (bestest instrumental on any album in the past decade, other than "Session" from Linkin Park's Meteora)
Violet Hill
Clocks
In My Place ( I have always always wanted to hear this song live as well. Jean, I think we feel the same way about this song)
Yellow (first song I ever heard by coldplay. this one's got a special place)
Glass of Water (off Prospekt's March :D My fave track off the EP)
Cemeteries of London (the acoustics of the arena made this hauntingly beautiful track sound incredible live)
42 ( this is the track that i call deceiving cos it starts off all soft and then the band breaks it down with wikkid guitar distortions and riffs)
Fix You
Strawberry Swing ( I realised recently how African this track sounded. And the lyrics- its as if Chris was telling a story)
God Put A Smile Upon My Face ("when you work it i'm worse than you". genius. Oh yeah! they did some techno version of this song, as well as Talk, which was the next track)
Talk ("I'm so scared about the future and I wanna talk to you")
The Hardest Part
Viva La Vida
Lost!
Speed of Sound (haven't heard this one in ages!)
Death Will Never Conquer
Politik ( I SO wasn't expecting this track at all..fkin intense man. One of the bets tracks off A Rush of Blood to the Head)
Lovers in Japan (butterfly confetti during this song too!! in purple, green and neon pink..STUNNING visual effect. And Chris started twirling a japanese parasol/umbrella around haha)
Death and All His Friends
The Scientist (OH MAN, I love the lyrics on this one too.)
Life In Technicolour II (yaaaay!! finally. knew they couldn't without this!)

The setlist..am very pleased with it! With the tempo and the song choices, and the mix of old and new. It was just right. Though Trouble is one of my favourite songs by them, I don't think it would've fit in at all..But i thought it was odd that they didn't perform Shiver :( Classic coldplay, come on.

BUT DEAR GOD, all in all, it was FKIN AWESOME and I had the time of my life. (I just wish you were there with me, ven.. what major gig have I NOT been with you for? :( ) Nvm lah, Glasto.

It STILL hasn't settled, I am still blood chuffed and I'm on such a high right now and I haven't even reviewed my pics and videos yet. Wow.

Just WOW.

just because I'm losing, doesn't mean I'm lost

2009-03-10T20:50:00.002+08:00

Tomorrow.
I get to see on of my favouritest bands in the world, live.
Finally.

Acer Arena, Sydney, 7.15pm.

They're playing 4 dates here and they've sold out all 4 days! I feel privileged and blessed all at once. This will be my form of celebration- the celebration that I was denied. The celebration that was marred by having to sort out future plans and self-inflicted/joint decisions that are thwarting my aussie adventures.

I hope to God there're confetti butterflies, and the concert is as evangelical and spiritually uplifiting as I've always imagined it to be.

Speaking of which, I have to visit the Murugan temple before I leave...

music-makes the people- come together

2009-03-03T20:18:00.006+08:00

I want to be around so that I can explain the music of A R Rahman to my mates who might be curious, to the best of my abilities.

I grew up on his music.
Slumdog Millionaire was not his best work..there's EVEN better. Come, let us rediscover Rahman.

Edit:
In the next month, a TONNE of people are coming to sydney to perform.

Last sat, Basement Jaxx, NERD and Paul Oakenfold performed at the Future Sound Festival, whihc i missed. I think i still might be able to live with myself *puts away self mutilation tool :P*

THE HUMAN fkin LEAGUE. On April 1st, in New South Wales AAAHHHH!! But either tickettek is down or the tix are sold out, i dunno. Pre I wish you were here.

Kings of Leon, on 18th March. SOLD OUT. Fk. But that's like, a week after Coldplay..too soon lah. And no money. It shall suffice, to stare longingly at official merch on the NME store website.

EDIT.
I just rechecked the lineup.
THE HUMAN LEAGUE.and Razorlight. But most importantly The Killers and The Chiefs, who were headliners from the start

SCOOOOOREEE.

(weekend) update

2009-03-03T16:09:00.002+08:00

with Seth Meyers.

day 1 of my supposed school day started with getting up at 6.15. Pre firstdayofschool jitters. I was more worried about GETTING to school than actually being in school, beat that :P This new country, new type of educational experience (ie uni life)..all that doesnt bother me, strangely. I think I've either become numb/accepting to alot of newness at once. Either way, its a step forward, so I ain't complaining.

Got to the train station by 7.40-ish..got in line to buy my train ticket. Realised that the stupid idiot sold me a ticket for a train that was coming in ONE MINUTE, so had to put my card through to the backintheday in S'pore transitlink ticket turnstyle, grab it and run up the stairs- in my dress -__- which was rather short. Thanks ah! I'd never taken an intersuburb train before, so this was my first time for a lot of things. The train was double decker lah! But was too worried about missing my stop (even though its the stop everyone gets off at) to try and get a seat on either of the decks. The ride was generally painless..except the view was a carbon copy of what we saw out the windows on our train trips from Maidenhead to Paddington, Su and Ven! Aust = England No.2, from first impressions. (they have UKTV here..which shows all em british programmes :D Gok Wan, Jamie, The Little Britain fellers, French & Saunders, Derren Brown, Eastenders, Parki, Fawlty Towers, Doctor Who and Torchwood...YAY). Got off at Central and found my way to the express bus that takes all uni students to campus, which is about 20 mins away. Phew. So much more convenient than taking the regualr buses, which DON'T run on time. Bus lanes? Puh-lease. As long as you have 3 ppl in your vehicle you can use the bus lane, so you get stuck in traffic ANYWAYS.

Got to school by 8.30 even though class was only supposed to start at 9. Sat at one of the lovely courtyards and skribbled some anjaxive wunderkind down, such as

School is right next to NIDA! (national inst. of dramatic art) of which Toni Collette, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving (elrond..agent smith..), Baz Luhrmann (LOVEE) and Mel Gibson were all alumni of. Way cool.
My first day of school music on Gaspard was all KYLIE :D In keeping with the aussie spirit :P It could've been a multitude of people..anyone from Silverchair to INXS to AC/DC, but nooo, i chose Miss Minogue.
I wonder if i can get away with wearing flip flops to school everyday..everyone seems to be doing it anyways! Thing is, I'm not the flip flops kind. I love my sneakers too much. ("Dust off your sneakers, time to save the universe!"

So, went into the lecture and met my other coursemates, a good 20 of them. Which was odd already cos the lecture was supposed to be full. Waited around for a good 20 mins, when one of the girls who went to check with the Arts dept. came in and told us that there werent any classes all week unless you get specific emails from lecturers. AARGH. Ok lah, so I wasn't the only douche who didn't know that. Instead went to the library and bookshop and got my texts..NERD ALERT. No lah, i'm just SO ready for new stuff after a year of relearning old things, yknow what i mean? I have to channel my excitement about school somewhere :P

Went back to the city cos I needed to take the train back from there. Decided to have a bit of a walk around, since I didn't have much else to do all day. It was kinda uncomfortable, cos i was lugging all my notes PLUS i wasn't wearing comfortable flip flops, like i should've been. But it was my little sydney adventure nonetheless. Didn't have free hands to take photos. I've said it before and I'll say it again..Sydney city reminds me of San Francisco in the following ways:

The massive Chinese population
The hilly, up and down streets
The parallel streets..if you miss a turning, you gotta make a whole round and come back. No U-turning. I'm defo not even gonna attempt driving in the city, no sirree.
The windiness. HAHHAHA. I've see too many girls knickers whenever they're waiting at pedestrian crossings and a sudden gust of wind sends their skirts up. OOPS.

The shopping is kinda blah actually, and they don;t have much of a cafe culture. They have coffee culture, but nothing of the Viennese sort. Its very grab n go, and the people in Sydney walk dead on straight..no swerving. So you gotta be alert. Felt good enough (and spontaneous enough) to buy flowers..Gorgeous pink, blooming, australian native variety iforgotwhattheywerecalled..but they were beautiful. As I made my way down George St, from Town Hall to Central station, SO many people asked me if the flowers were for them :P I literally stuck my tongue out and gave a cheeky smile.

Good day, yesterday.

Edit: Jas Luv! i found body lotion that makes me smell like Chocolate!! (havent found the oatmeal one yet..agh) Its a mix of Cocoa, Shea Butter, Almond and Olive oil..mmmmm)

Falling Down

2009-03-03T08:55:00.003+08:00

Well I"M glad they decided to officially release this track as a single. Usually my fave tracks don't get released :P But this one, love at first listen, cos it got leaked even before the album came out. OK not exactly leaked. The Chemical Brothers remix was ACE as well. wait haven't i donw a post about this before?

The sadness, and distance in the protagonists eyes..is haunting.
The guilt. The need to be put back in place.
oh, the farce!

Love the vid, the boys look fkin fantastic. And a buncha Manchester boys snubbing royalty..
I don't know whether to laugh or be appalled.

Best British Band at the NME awards, thank you very much! (Speaking of which, Muse won Best Live Act again haha..can't beat them lah! Best Video was The Last Shadow Puppets' "My Mistakes Were Made For You". LOVEEEE. And Worst Band was the Jonas Brothers. This is why the NME awards should be the authority on music, and not the Grammys :P)

The lyric-

Catch the wheel that breaks the butterfly
I cried the rain that fills the ocean wide
I tried to talk with God to no avail
Calling him in and out of nowhere
Said if you won't save me
Please don't waste my time

I definitely felt like that at a point of time. Noel's songwriting at its best.

white + black + union jack converses.

2009-02-28T20:14:00.003+08:00

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT- The Who, Chuck Taylors.

This is a longshot, but i'm a size 6 for converses, in case anyone wants to know *whistles and looks away*

voila mon passport

2009-02-24T13:53:00.003+08:00

It is so hot here. The past 2 days I've been here, be it sitting on the many well-trimmed, soft and non-dewy grass lawns around campus (like they do in the pictures on the website haha. "We're being Uni students now, i Love it!"- as jeremy said), or just walking from location to location, familiarising myself with the campus (so far, the Commerce Courtyard is my fave place..mostly cos it provides SHADE, and lots of benches under low trees with thick canopies) the SUN is killing me yo.

I literally see my energy bar on my stats depleting. It's terrible..it's as if the life has been sucked outta me. My body is slumped on the sofa like a rag doll, with my now empty water bottle tipped over. I swear i SAW the water inside it evaporate away before my eyes. Sunblock seems to have worked though.

The thing about not knowing any other freshers in uni is that you're alone alot of the time, unless you make friends and talk to people. Like i did with Jeremy. But most of the time I'm not bothered. I would've been bothered about walking around alone in S'pore, and being friendless (my mates don't come down to sydney until next week, since school starts later for them)..but here, I dont give a fk man. I don't care what people think about me either. It's quite liberating. And I can look people in the eye without worrying about whether they're gonna react favourably with a smile or not. I can be as open or as wallflower-ish as i want to be. People watching is so much more worth it too.

I have space.

Edit: this is AWESOMEE!!! they're showing Secret Diary of a Call Girl on telly here! Billie Piperrr :D

Sydney- Austrahliya.

2009-02-23T13:54:00.002+08:00

I've been here since Saturday night. The flight was a bit drama lah- I reached the boarding gate when it was Last Call !_! which has never happened to me before in all my travels. So i panicked. NO LAH i didnt. I just had to run a bit and shimmy my way through the aisles to economy, all the while looking down but feeling the gaze of 100s of pairs of eyes. It was a full flight, and I was in the same section as not one, but TWO babies (!) Thank goodness they weren't too loud. Shara, I watched Rock On! But kept sleeping off alot, cos the aussie lady friends next to me wern't too friendly. I read all your lovely notes and did my best not to cry. About 2 hours into the flight, there was an announcement asking for a doctor cos there was a passenger who required urgent medical assistance. I swear I've seen an episode of House like this. But the passenger wasn't in my section lah, so didnt see anything. As we were landing, it was just before pitch black night time-ness, so the colour of the sky was lovely and all the major landmarks looked like little toys! It was beautiful. Landed at Sydney airport half an hour early, but couldn't get off cos neeeded to get clearance from paradmedics and quarantine. Didn't have any problems at immigration or customs. Managed by some superhuman strength to get my 20++kg bags off the luggage carousel *pats self on back, and rubs sore lower back* (i DO ask for help. i don't feel so hesitant to here, cos aussies are alot more willing to help than most singaporeans will ever be. oh look at me, i've started the comparisons already!) Met Uncle Vij and Nish at the airport and went home to some chicken curry and bread (hahaha).

Woke up the next day (sunday) knackered. Had about 20mins to change into my Sunday best, cos we went to Nish's school's chapel for compulsory service. Ok that's not accurate terminology. It's a once a year event that the year 11's organise for the year 12's according to what House theyr'e in? OK but nvm, there was a garden buffet breakkie and then we went in to the lovely, cottagey chapel (it was tiny and so quaint!) and there was a short and sweet service by the Chaplain, interspersed with violin quartet performances by some of the year 12 girls. Somewhere along my stay here I'll be going to a temple too, of course. There's a sydney Murugan temple that my grandparents say is beautiful. Either way, I think that was an appropriate way to start my time in Sydney- with prayer, seeking blessing and guidance, and giving thanks. Got my prepaid card at a mall, where we also had my first Oporto meal (grilled chicken "healthy" fast food. dude, their meals here cost minimum 8 bucks.). Then in the afternoon went on my first tour of the city :D Parked at the rocks and then walked down to circular quay, where you can see both the harbour bridge and the opera house. Plenty of buskers and plenty of sunshine. Thank goodness I was in a sundress, But MY GOD does it get hot here, Searing heat. I am burnt i think, but i haven't started peeling, so i dunno if I'm actually burnt or not. It got to 30plus and then in the evenin dropped all the way to early 20's range. Cold enough for this Singaporean to have to throw on a sweatshirt. I dont understand the temperementality fo the weather!! (wait is there such a word?). I have loads of pictures, but they're all in my phone..i'm having trouble transferring them over -__-. At night, Nish and I made our own dinner and then Herry came to pick me up and we went to below the harbour bridge to see the city at night. It was even MORE beautiful. All twinkly and poetry-inducing :)

OK next day, went to get my bus ticket. As an intl student I dont get concessions *curse and swear* so i gotta pay 15 bucks for 10 bus rides. But lucky its only a ten min ride to uni. I kinda missed my stop actually, cos i didnt expect it to come so soon! But i sorta ran up to the front of the bus and said i missed my stop and the driver let me off, heh. see jags! i didn't panic. The campus is MASSIVE yo. Along the main walkway (which stretches for kilometres and was packed with stalls of all the clubs and societies and helpdesks and whathaveyou), I saw a stall with the word "cricket" on one of the signs and gravitated towards it, cos I'd time to kill before my Arts Fac. Intro lecture. Realised after a while that it was the hindu society stall and they were trying to get me to go for the bollywood dance class the next day -__- NO ITS OK. HAHHA. ok i love bollywood dance and all, but that can take a break while I'm here now. Turns out that their cricket team has places for 4 girls players and that this combined team plays against Uni of syd in an annuall tournie-which they have won the last 9 times apparently!! I WANT TO TRYOUT PLSTHX-that's all i'm here for!, i told the girl at the counter.

Ok the ruuuushed to the Auditorium which was already packed and then found a spot next to this attractive dark-haired aussie fella in black skinnies and a white tshirt with graphic print on it-he looked like a toned down version of Sam Sparro, but less buff haha. At the end of the talk, we started talking and we hit it off yo. My first friend in uni is gay. And he's a fellow piscean, which is prob why we clicked- the water signs in the blistering heat. And he runs an italian restaurant with his partner, who's a professional dancer. And he works at a cafe as a braista sometimes. And he loves my name. I even accompanied him to the GLBT and theatre booths. And we were like, BFF's by the end of the day. Went on the campus tour together and all! so exciting. Found my way back to the apartment without getting lost, phew. Even managed to drop by the shops for a bit to buy myself some green tea (lol..I can't do this having fanta/coke with every meal business, srsly). I never thought things would go this smoothly on day one (i hope i havent jinxed it).

Housing is still a pain, so I'm gonna have to wait for D anneh to get to sydney so he can help me out. So after spending the last hour typing out this entry, i am now knackered and waiting for herry to get back so we can go do dinner.

fin.

2009-02-19T01:52:00.003+08:00

"For death is certain to one who is born...thou shalt not grieve for what is unavoidable," says the Bhagavad Gita.

The most concise and familiar description of Hindu funeral rites I found..here. Vina anneh, as the son and only child had to walk around the body performing the following- Thereafter, the chief mourner (generally the eldest son) walks around the pyre three times keeping the body to his left. While walking he sprinkles water onto the pyre from a vessel. When that was done, he had to walk away from the body and cremation hall and not look back, which is part of the ritual. I thought that there was such finalty and gravity to that act. I couldn't bear to see him like that.

But I'm glad that my dad vouched for me (with my paternal grandma) to allow me to go to the crematorium. She said that it's not good for me to be involved in funeral proceedings so close to my departure date. But I needed closure.

There's a Paul McCartney song off his album Memory Almost Full called "End of the end"

At the end of the end, it's the start of a journey to a much better place. And this wasn't bad.. So a much better place would have to be special. No need to be sad! On the day that I die I'd like jokes to be told, and stories of old to be rolled out like carpets, that children have played on and laid on while listening to stories of old.

No reason to cry, no need to be sad... at the end of the end.

My itunes is messing with me.. After End of the End came on, jamiroquai's Too Young To Die did ;( And the msn pop-up thing that tells you who signed in!!! "Joy- death week".

And Dard-e Disco (death of disco), which is a song off the Om Shanti Om OST. I hit the next song arrow, and Los Lonely Boys' Heaven started playing. I am not making this up.

Life in Technicolour

2009-02-18T00:45:00.004+08:00

Oh who am I kidding.
I haven't felt this crazy a mix of emotions in the longest time.

I am anxious as it is. The excitement has died somewhat with the developement of recent events. I need to grieve, but I feel so hollow and so spent.. that I have nothing left to give. I am but a shell of my former self.

And then there's how I want to see all the people who matter most before I go, but Father Time, precious time is not as generous as I'd like him to be. It's not you, it's me.

I hate the fact that I will not be around. For birthdays, weddings, engagements, graduations, farewells, get-togethers, makan/teh sessions, concerts, gigs, poojas, tournaments, pool/tennis/golf games..Right now, I can't for the life of me consider all the new things I'm gonna experience there. I never realised how attached I was to this god forsaken country. It's the people..my people, those I consider my inner circle, who mean so much to me.

There are so many unanswered questions that will only be addressed once i actually land on ausse soil, but its hard not to think that far ahead when I am the way I am.
But just because I'm losing, doesn't mean I'm lost. (Have I mentioned? If I don't end up going for Coldplay, I will effectively be miserable the rest of my time there. I will not be able to live with myself. I have already expounded upon how much their music means to me..I wasn't kidding. I don't actually kid alot. I stopped kidding a long time ago)

MARK ANTONY

Tend me to-night;
May be it is the period of your duty:
Haply you shall not see me more; or if,
A mangled shadow: perchance to-morrow
You'll serve another master. I look on you
As one that takes his leave. Mine honest friends,
I turn you not away; but, like a master
Married to your good service, stay till death:
Tend me to-night two hours, I ask no more,
And the gods yield you for't!

DOMITIUS ENOBARBUS

What mean you, sir,
To give them this discomfort? Look, they weep;
And I, an ass, am onion-eyed: for shame,
Transform us not to women.

MARK ANTONY

Ho, ho, ho!
Now the witch take me, if I meant it thus!
Grace grow where those drops fall!
My hearty friends,
You take me in too dolorous a sense;
For I spake to you for your comfort; did desire you
To burn this night with torches: know, my hearts,
I hope well of to-morrow; and will lead you
Where rather I'll expect victorious life
Than death and honour. Let's to supper, come,
And drown consideration.

Exeunt

Stay positive

2009-02-17T17:41:00.002+08:00

A bit of modified Sinatra to keep the head screwed on straight-

Start spreading the news,
Im leaving (on saturday)
I want to be a part of it - sydney, sydneyyy

These vagabond shoes,
are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it - sydney, sydney

I wanna wake up in a city,
that doesnt sleep
And find Im king of the hill - top of the heap

These little town blues,
are melting away
Ill make a brand new start of it - in old sydney

If I can make it there,
Ill make it anywhere
Its up to you -sydney, sydney

fo yo listening pleasure

2009-02-14T01:42:00.002+08:00

Friday the 13th wasn't so bad after all.
But it was trippy, considering we ended up taking bus 66 and then walking past two casket companies 0_o

lol ok irrational fears and superstitions. ignore me.

but ohhh love is in the air. sometimes i feel like puking at the tackiness of it all, sometimes its like intoxicating delirium..and its only been 1hr and 47mins into february the 14th.

Love songzxzz comin right up.

Marc Antony & Tori Amos- I Want to Spend My Lifetime Loving You
(epic love song, this)

Plus One- Last Flight Out
(dude, remember this song?! the vid is boyband tackiness at its finest. so yemotional. char, its good to harmonise on too ;) )

Boyz II Men- Water Runs Dry
(lovely song. come on, a boyz II men song is a given in this sorta thing..i used to own their albums ok!)

O-town - We Fit Together
(i have a soft spot for these guys. but i really like this song cos its so clever cos its so innuendo-ed but sounds damn harmless :P )

But of course, the one that takes the cake..
Can't deny the BSB fanaticism yo..first loves last with you forver

The Backstreet Boys- All I Have To Give

Backstreet Boys - All I Have To Give
Uploaded by thamara

Good riddance

2009-02-10T15:51:00.002+08:00

Now. Let's just hope we don't get Grant back (though he did a much finer job with Chels than LFS ever did -__-)

Let's Stay Together

2009-02-10T02:45:00.005+08:00

I want to say the SICKNESS that was M.I.A (obviously lip synching. i dont blame her man, it was her frickin due date. she shouldn't even have been on stage goddamit) plus Lil Weezy, The King T.I., Kanye (whatswith the hair) and Jay hova, together on stage at the Grammy's was the best performance of the night.

Oh come on, Jay looked the flyest. And Queen Latifah's intro, where she essentially called them the modern day Rat Pack :D when i heard that i knew we was in for something DOPE.

And it bloody well was dope. Legendary. And MIA killed it in her infinite pregnant-ness and awesomeness and ridiculous outfit that i've seen Agyness Deyn in before and her kickass dance moves. Please give it up for MIA, now.

And heyy Rahman won big at the BAFTA's later that day, for Slumdog :D :D Slumdog in general won big hahaha waht am i saying!

Oh ok back to the video i'm plugging. This is Radiohead performing 15 Step off In Rainbows, which really should've won Viva La Vida for Best Rock Album come to think of it, but oh well. Lol at Gwyneth Paltrow presenting it! I bet it was Chris she winked at at the end of her intro ;)

Thom Yorke is made of supreme win, and gosh i love his hair like that. And whoever's genius idea it was to get the USC marching band in the perfomance, kudos to you. It was so good, I immediately texted Karthik to tell him that he had to watch it on youtube immediately cos it's fkin ACE.

Is it just me or was The Grammy's rather blue this year? I'm talking about the colour scheme, and by exetension the mood. It was all rather sombre, and controlled..considering it was supposed to be a celebration of music. Really, there was a lot of the colour blue..from the colour of dresses to the sets. And the most exciting thing about the red carpet was Ryan Seacrest telling Paris Hilton that she looked "distractingly beautiful" or something to that extent. (Love that expression!). Blink 182 reuniting was rather exciting!! And Greenday coming on last (char, their album drops in May, which your probably already knew). Al Green and JT were on form man. But it was still mostly..blue.

As for the winners, SO CHUFFED for coldplay :D A bit miffed about MIA not winning anything..i would've really been pumping my fist and dancing around the house if that had happened. respekt for Robert Plant, but that really shouldn't have been Record of the Year c'monn.

sexy can i

2009-02-08T03:10:00.003+08:00

I found this is an album called "cricket carnival nov 06".

FRICKIN oh-six dey!!

I can't remember if this was before or after the tournie (but probably before..if not i wouldn't have been this smiley. you know why :P)

btw i saw anand in da club the other day. and prashanth on the bus. our gurus! hahaha. they've got these beautiful new Gunn & Moore bats in rad colours at Mustafa! But the most pro-looking bats are still the reebok ones, which now come in black ;) nothing beats our fave blue bats though. and ohhh so many other stories!

Oh D, i miss you banyak-banyaaakkk!

Australian Open Mens Singles Finals

2009-02-01T21:59:00.005+08:00

Need to get this off my chest, NOW.

Nadal played exceptionally. I hate to say this but i gotta..the way he was playing, he deserved to win..

Federer was making way too many mistakes..even in the first game of the very first set. It was uncharacteristically nervous, just like Alan Wilkins pointed out. I've watched many a Federer match..especially the important ones, and I swear I've never ever seen him make this many missed first serves or unforced errors. In the 2nd set, he only got 36% of his first serves- wtf!

There were points where he just cracked and let Nadal get the better of him. I was absolutely gutted whenever that happened..especially when he actually hung his head after missed shots, during the 4th set. The commentator, can't rmb which one, pointed out that for the long-time Federer fans out there, to see him this crestfallen must be yknow.."oh man, why're you giving up?! Don't do this to me Roger :( "- well that was my reaction...

And then the 5th set came along, and Nadal was simply TOO GOOD for Fed. Wiped the floor with Roger aka PWNED him. It was a mix of disappointment at Roger and helplessness at Nadal's exceptional tennis..Wow Nadal is seriously superhuman. He must;ve been studying Roger's game. It's almost as if he anticipated some of Roger's shots and he knew how to force him to make mistakes.

At this point I gotta say watching grand slams has gotta be bad for my health. I'm already uptight and easily wound up, then I watch high stress, 5 set matches like this that send me over the bloody edge...wahh *shakes head*
The last set got to me BIG TIME. The good thing about watching it when your extended family is over and being among a number of Fed fans though, is that you're not the only one reacting violently (ie cursing and swearing/pulling out hair/ screaming "WHAAAT?!?")..but on the inside I was still dying..

And then Nadal won.
Roger went up on stage to get his trophy and speak.
Then he started faltering..I was like "PLEASE don't cry, please don't cry"
And then he cried...the worst I've ever seen him cry ;( He couldn't even say anything coherent other than that he'd have to try again later cos he was breaking down

My heart broke and I wanted to sob bitterly into my hands but AGH there were too many people there so I had to control :( Its the hardest thing I've had to do in a while..

What's worse is that he didn't stop tearing, even after Rafa gave his speech and they got off the podium to take photos..Oh man, Roger :( You will always be my favourite xoxo

The thing is, at this rate, as long as Nadal is around, there isn't a chance Roger is gonna get his 14th grand slam..but let us hope, that by some miracle he does, because he's the greatest thing I have ever seen in tennis in my generation

It would be frickin awesome if Federer won Nadal at Roland Garros though (ya right)

aussie aussie aussie oi oi oi

2009-01-27T19:16:00.004+08:00

i watch so much tennis its unhealthy..and it feeds my tv addiction, and general laziness, compounding the fact that i'm sick and can't do anything much other than watch tv and sleep.
woot.

i play tennis vicariously through the screen, though i know my backhand is MAJOR suckage (always has been) and i don't know if i even remember how to serve anymore :P I also long to go out on the court and prove to myself that I can play decently..which is why i asked vivek if he'd play with me. YOU KNOW WHAT HE SAID?? "I need more of a challenge lah"... -__- thanks ah bro. I'm not actually supposed to play until i recover, but heck, i need some goddamn exercise.

when ana lost her match, i was this close to putting " Oh Ana :( " on my fb status, but i figured fb doesn't need to be that clued in on my thoughts. BUT OH ANA indeed :( :( yes kenn, i wish she'd stop being so damn incosistent and get her act togetherrr!!

I mean look at Dinara Safina. She just won her qf match against Dokic 6-4 4-6 6-4. That girl works for the ball and does marvelous things to save break points..just like her bro, she has this flashes of multiple personalities (think Dr Jekyll, Mr Hyde) that either elevate or hinder her game. She's managed to tame that, and rise to the occassion more frequently than last time. And its proving advantageous to her game in general..she's amazing to watch, and i think she's well on her way to NUMBAH ONE babbyyy.

Have i mentioned how much i don't like Jankovic? can't stand her. Sharapova neither. Mad respekt for the Williams sisters, but I prefer the new blood when it comes to women's tennis. They switch it up and play a more exciting game.

The men on the other hand..are infinitely exciting. Laboriously so, when it goes to 5 sets. Except if nadal is playing..heh, he usually finishes it off in 3.

i LOVE to watch federer play. That man is the epitome of grace and execution. He is so stoic and composed on court, it's inspirational. Even when he's in a rut, he manages to draw upon the deepest reserves fathomable and pull back for wins. He's managed to find the right balance between celebrating and expressing disappointment at himself. I look up to someone like that because i'm wayy too emotional when i play sports..and i let losses and lapses of concentration affect me, i'll be the first to admit it. I take a long time to recover from a bad shot..be it golf, or tennis, or cricket; so yeah, just watch out, if you're playing with me :P

Roger has been almost the same way for the past 10 years of his career, since his monumental win over Sampras in Wimbledon. He still has his graciousness and more importantly his skill set which he constantly improves upon. It's like a mastercalss in tennis. Just like watching toger woods play is a masterclass in golf. He's a class act. LOVEE HIM. (and so does vijay amritraj- the commentator. HAHAH he's damn biased towards fed, can ya tell? but i ain't complaining :P)

Nole retiring from the match against Roddick..oh man :( what a pity. Well the temperature WAS 53 degrees (dear god!), but i didn't last long enough to watch him actually retire. Cough syrup makes you drowsy, you see.

okok gotta get back to fed vs del potro . looks like a walkover, but let's not be too overconfident. ok who am i kidding 6-3, 6-0 already :P
yes jean, a rafa-fed final would be awesomee! and an all russian women's final heh.

Let me introduce you to the love of my life

2009-01-27T01:54:00.003+08:00

the awesomestest kid in the world. matched only by her brother.

Ishani FTW, for life.

trufax, mate.

rock with you

2009-01-22T17:47:00.011+08:00

I feel left out when no one else does the dance from Unk's Walk It Out..or Lloyd's Get It Shawty. Or the Chicken Noodle Soup dance. Or the moves from the chorus bit of Drop It Like Its Hot. Or Lean Wit It Rock Wit It..come on, guys! oh i almost forgot that motorcycle move from Yung Joc's It's Goin Down..

But (almost) everyone know's the Soulja Boy dance :D
and Lean Back.
And Whine Up.

the most killa song of all though, is Beyonce's Get Me Bodied. Straight up, no competition.

When Shawty Get Loose came on last night, i was reminded of how much the vid for the song was a homage to Michael and Janet Jackson's video for Scream, aka one of the kickassest videos in HIStory (pun intended) which is also my first MJ album in CD form (all my other MJ albums at that point were hand me down cassette tapes that belonged to my dad :P)

I can't embed the vid, so watch it here. Watch in high quality, it's amazing.

INTENSE yo!! And so edgy. Bloody hell, these two INVENTED modern day dance styles. Think about it. They are the source. Every other artist/performer/choreographer/amateur or professional dancer is merely a distributary.

I don't think anyone will ever be as electrifying as Michael Jackson.

EDIT: OH MAN, i SO need to get myself a freakum dress. Watch this to get what I mean.

So help me God

2009-01-22T16:16:00.005+08:00

Obama's inauguration:
Make sure you remember where you were today- because you'll be telling your grandchildren about it.

CNN had uninterrupted coverage, woo.
As various senate representatives, ex presidents and their spouses entered the platform, I must admit I was more bothered about what they all were wearing. How smart they looked! In their 3/4 length coats of heavy wool, that looked so warm and snuggly. Once in a while there was a temperature update on the top right hand corner of the screen.

19 degrees fahrenheit. *whips out phone and punches in digits into Converter fucntion*
-7 degrees celsius. 0__0

i've experienced -12 degrees celsius before, at the Grand Canyon, and the memory involves pain. it was so cold it was painful. I was wearing thermals, a turtleneck, a pullover, with a hoodie over, a windbreaker, a scarf, corduroys, gloves..but i forgot my wool socks -__- so i was wearing regular socks with my converses. I pity the fool. i.e. myself. My feet got so cold, that they went numb and I couldn't wait to get back in the car. My hands were ice cold too, cos i took off my gloves to take pictures. Being the cold-blooded creature I am, i retain cold very quickly (which is why if you touch my hands after i come out of a cold lecture theatre, you get a shock at how cold my hands are)..so the COLD in general, is not good for me. I don't like the cold.

il fait froid. il fait mauvais :(

But i do quite like it when the cold wind hits your exposed face and it feels like a thousand tiny little daggers on your skin..it stings! And your eyes start stinging. And you have this sharp intake of breath when its a sudden wind that hits you.
Masochist.

Ok so back to the inauguration. The Obama girls looked adorable in what they were wearing.I want to squish them, or give them a big hug. I have so much affection for them! And Michelle Obama's coat and dress-the colour was described as Lemongrass. I LOVE it when they have a description as evocative as that :D

Then they had the Invocation.
At this point i gotta say I wish viv was up with me watching it too. He was really looking forward to it, but since he had school the next day, the best he could do was to tivo it..all four hours of it. This was almost 1 am. I was sitting alone on the sofa. Just a coupla hours beforehand we were discussing how we were gonna manage to tivo the repeat of the Concert for Obama cos we'd to tivo some other programmes too. "You have to make a choice," I said. (so much gravity in that statement, man!)In the end, we couldn't tape the Concert cos it clashed with the Inauguration. Oh well. Watched the U2 performance on youtube.. City of Blinding Lights still gives me goosebumps :)

Ok, the invocation. It's something viv would be familiar with, being a fellow saint. I bowed my head and prayed yo. I have mad respect for Obama. I believe you only pray for people you love, respect and care about...agreed? I'm a big believer in hope, though I may be a bit of a cynic at times. The invocation was a bit dramatic at first, but it was beautiful.

But what was even more beautiful was the benedicition.
My favourite part was the last bit:

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around ... when yellow will be mellow ... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen

Amen to that. Watch it here.

I wish vivek was there with me so that I could turn to him and have a shared moment of a laugh.
Ash would've laughed too, but he's not that interested in all this pomp and ceremony.

Obama's address was sombre and had so much gravity, as is befitting of the current world situation. It made my heart feel heavy though, cos i'm not used to hearing him talk like that. I'm used to his inspiring rhetoric..not a hardheaded poltician's argument. It wasn't as embedded in my memory as his acceptance speech that i last wrote about.

I mean, Kennedy's inaugural address had the immortal line, "Ask not what your country can do for you- ask what you can do for your country".
I dunno, it didn't work for me.

story of my life

2009-01-20T15:15:00.007+08:00

What did you learn today?
I learned nothin
What did you do today?
I did nothin
What did you learn at school?
I didn't go
Why didn't you go to school?
I don't know

It's cool to know nothin(x2)

Television's on the blink
There's nothin on it
I really want to really big coat
With words on it
What do you want for tea?
I want crisps
Why didn't you join the team?
I just didn't

It's cool to know nothin(x2)

-"Never miss a beat", Kaiser Chiefs

I guess it has finally come to bite me in the ass.

The sleeping at, and for irregular hours, every single day.
The lack of exercise.
The excess of chocolate (i eat chocolate in some way, shape or form everyday)
The lack of sunlight.

Gah i just need to go to the range and whack (golf) balls until my arms are sore as fk and my back hurts and my hands blister until they're red and fleshy. Yeah, i'm not gonna bother taping up my fingers! I need to sweat out all this bad energy.

And i need to start praying properly again.

edit: it's ironic. a day after i post lyrics from a kaisers song, i find out that they're coming to S'pore. and i won't be around. FKIN HELL. *curses and swears*

edit: HOLD UP. kaisers at V Festival in sydney on 28th March..The Killers, Kaiser Chiefs, Snow Patrol, Duffy, Elbow....
ok. set.

sh-sh-shakin'

2009-01-18T15:37:00.007+08:00

Shaan, Kaesh and Kev came over after watching the United match at gardens last night. (yes, being the only chelsea fan extends to family, friends- except char- and even family friends..it's quite sad really)

at 2 in the morning: "Eh you still awake ornot? tried calling ash and viv but the fellas turned off their phones lah!"

"we'll be there in 4 minutes"- LOL eh, obviously i dont have a say in this.
*scrambles to change out of PJ's* the good thing about curly hair is that you don't have to comb it..saves aLOT of trouble.

The boys rocked up to the visitors car park and we proceeded to talk cock for the next hour. It was quite surreal cos we haven't met like this, just the kids, no parents involved, in a lonnnng time. We used to go for holidays ..all of our families together, in car convoys. In primary school especially. We went to Malaysia alot..Port Dickson, Melaka, Terrenganu, Pulau Redang, KL, Penang. We went to Sunway Lagoon most of the time HAHAHA..love that place. Which vin doesn't understand AT ALL- "you fool, you've been to Universal Studios and both disneyland and disney world but you like Sunway Lagoon..you're mad lah"

But it's kinda cool at the same time, that we're carrying on our parents' friendship by meeting up once we ourselves have grown up. My bros, their bros, their sisters, all of us. We'll probably be mates for the rest of our lives, cos our lives are just interconnected like that. It helps that we're all just a few years apart from each other age-wise. We've done a lot of shit together as kids. Everything from playing footie on the beach, to snorkelling, to karaoke sessions, to playing cards in the hotel lobby in the dead of the night, to battling it out on the PS, to unscrewing the caps of the salt and pepper shakers so that the next person who uses it gets a nasty surprise :P, to climbing trees, to fist fights, to hair-pulling...haha you get the idea.

And we all agree that J---- is a douche bag :P well except Shaan..LOL.

Snape is the answer

2009-01-16T01:04:00.003+08:00

This is for all da Pottah fans out there.

WTF NEVILLEEE the parsnip?!? hahahahaha
and harry's peer pressuring ways, tskk- "you sicken me" *shakes head*

"Back to your skulking"

Dumbledore's SUPERSWEAR- *BEEEEEPPP BEEEEP* roflmaaoooo!!!

wonwon's (fail) reactions are da best though :)

"I could sit here all day"

2009-01-15T23:09:00.003+08:00

So could I, char. :D
thank you for today. for showing me a place with the sometimes blustering wind, which i absolutely loved. for the comfortably warm sunlight and for the comfortable numbness. for the calmness, and serenity i haven't felt in a long long time.

Slumdog FTW FOR LIFE

2009-01-12T11:01:00.007+08:00

As a person of Indian origin, I am SO DAMN PROUD to say that A.R. Rahman won the Golden Globe for Best Music Composer. I felt it well inside me the way my heart bursts with pride when Jana Gana Mana comes on.

and you know what? He thanked MIA :D

Now I just wish that proud moment- not only mine, that of 1 billion Indians- hadn't been marred by the fact that the incompetent yanks couldn't get his name right. Kate Beckinsale got it right when she announced it, but David Duchovny who came on to present the next award, apologised mistakenly saying that she' mispronounced it. It's Rah-maan, with an emphasis on the h; not Roo-men GODDAMIT YOU INCOMPETENT YANKS. And to think, there are 2.5 millions in the USA- 3rd in population size after Chinese and Filipino Americans, and home to the second largest Indian disapora in the world. Can't even get a name right.

I have every right to nitpick this cos my entire life the pronunciation of my own name has been mauled. If not my name, get Rahman's name right.

Spoiler Alert.

5 awards :D :D :D Danny Boyle for Best Director too! And Best Screenplay! and SHAHRUKH KHAN came on stage to present the nomination video for the filmmmm!!!AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!! YES! YES!! :D :D
"thank you hollywood for your graciousness towards the Indian film fraternity"
OH I LOVE YOU SRK.

and it won Best Picture! DUDE i haven't even watched the film but i'm so fucking proud right now, i can't even explain it. Happy days, mate..happy days :D For the country whose literature, film, music, art, cuisine, history, religion, architecture, and sports that I love, this is a proud day indeed.

EDIT:
the vid of SRK and Freida Pinto presenting together.. gosh I wish he'd danced :P
The beauty of it is, that he himself used to present Kaun Banega Crorepati, or KBC (india's version of Who Wants to Be A Millionaire..around whcih Slumdog Millionaire is centred)
He was BRILLIANT on it. Best.host.ever.

when will this madness end

2009-01-12T05:15:00.004+08:00

This is why I love David Tennant so much. Just watch him talk!
Ok well there's tonnes of reasons..

It was lovely having everyone back for the last 2 episode of series 4 :D
I have a whole new appreciation for Captain Jack Harkness aka John Barrowman *wink*

been having a predominantly shite week so far..if you exclude the bits where i got to be all journo and attend a press conference/seminar thinger, watch a movie with ven and have chai thereafter, and spend the afternoon with jas luv (i heart you to BITS, missy). i KNEW the loveliness wouldn't last long.

the woman at the chest x-ray place was a right bitch.
i felt like a smart ass, like i constantly did in secondary school, at the dinner at JP- where i was talking about stuff that the people i was around were just not interested in/too closed off to take in.
i found out that a ponce is gonna be the Eleventh Doctor.
i brought my class to adam's and they all prob thought it was shite.. but just weren't saying it.
i got all worked up about a medical that ended up being non -violating in any way.
the receptionists at that clinic were bitches too.
i was able to stay out on sat night, but NO ONE was in CQ..just my lucky day.
My team just made a right fool of themselves.
and for the past 24 hours i've been as sick as a parrot.

Its all this cynicism and bad energy that has manifest itself in my current state of bitterness, sickliness and general malaise.

Watching Doctor Who helps. ALOT. Someone get me the Series 4 DVD, plsthx.