Idle Musings: Domestic competition

Had a COD 4 marathon with Bowen and the lads on Saturday night where we played from 12 am to 6 am. And I must say I am quite impressed with his level of skill in the game; in fact I'd go so far as to say that he is either as good or better than I am. Although I was fatigued by LAN overload from playing on Friday night as well as Saturday afternoon at the behest of James, I'll admit that his skill is HGF level. In fact I'd go so far as to say he could go toe-to-toe with our leader "BRUNO!" (his new nickname, the faggoty gay SM bastard with his equally fagotty and gay non-competition-regulated mouse). His skill with sub machine gun classed weapons far exceeds my own and his stealth work with a silenced Uzi makes him almost impossible to detect. Well since he IS a commando I'd expect nothing less from his well-honed reflexes and concentration. Another one to note is Arthur, and while his skill with ranged weapons is mediocre at best, his knife skills could possibly rival those of Simply Red in a head-on knife fight. The final tally of the night was of course a draw, both of us having won and loss roughly the same number of matches, although I did manage to triumph him in levels. It was a good experience taking him on and I relish the chance where I can square off against him again, hopefully being at my peak level the next time we meet.

Idle Musings: You lose some, and....er....lose some again?

Shit, I lost my mp3 player again. Bloody hell and I just bought my Zen a year ago after I lost my old Zen Neeon which served me reasonably for a good four years. Can't believe it; I'm usually quite careful with my things, always checking and double checking to see if I left anything anywhere, and on the days I let my guard down just a tiny bit it comes back to bite me in the backside. Can't I just get a break from this foul streak or have I used up all my luck for this lifetime? (For a humorous take on this read "Love Hina" book 9; in fact read the whole bloody series, fantastic stuff) Well I just hope that some kind soul finds it in the cinema and hands it over to the lost and found so that I can collect it tomorrow. Here's to optimistic thinking and a little miracle. I don't want to waste money and have to buy a replacement again, not to mention transferring all the songs is going to be a real pain.

"What to do, life is like that."

Idle Musings: The King of Pop

I still remember the songs which I listened to way back. The first which come to mind are La Bamba by Ritchie Valens, Mrs Robinson by The Beatles and of course every one of MJ's songs. Back in the day he was THE thing on every one's high-fi and Walkman. My cousin is probably his greatest fan I know, in fact he used to have this Michael Jackson game they had on the ancient Sega console and LD's of all his albums. Heck I can even remember the Michael Jackson movie, now THAT'S how old I am! He was and is THE quintessential performer. While a flawed and eccentric character as all true geniuses are, his musical talent and supremacy at his art was undeniable. Watch his moves on the dance floor and I'll bet even Kim Jong Il will be mesmerised and forget to flick the switch on that nuke he's about to launch. The way he danced wasn't human, it was that of a well-oiled fluid dancing machine, his moves clinical, smooth and precise. His sudden passing was a real shock, and I'll admit that the thought of getting tickets to his comeback concert did occur a while back. Well guess this takes care of that little dilemma. His passing is a real loss to the art and I would go so far as to say that with his passing the last great performer from my era has gone. While many might focus on the more onerous aspects of his life I feel that we should remember the man for what he was, which is the greatest performer ever to grace the dance floor, not what he was accused of. In a way he lived a sad life devoid of a childhood and was taken advantage of by those who just wanted extra spending money. So I pray, that he has finally achieved the peace he so deserves.



This is probably my most favourite song of his. Brings me right back to my childhood where Power Rangers were still based on dinosaurs and ruled Saturday morning television and kopi was only for people older than me. Oh and milk was still served in a bottle. I guess I especially like the video because it has the romantic feel of the ole' American gangster era with their tailored suits and "Tommy" guns. Fantastic.

Idle Musings: Link

I've always thought of my Grandparents and their home as a constant and a link to my past, when things were much simpler. As a place I could turn to to get away from the hectic pace of my life, a sanctuary. Having been brought up by them and staying at their house for a good 10 years before returning home I've always treated them with the utmost respect and care and I'm not ashamed to say that I treat them leagues better than my parents. I can still remember the times when my Grandfather thought me how to take the bus and MRT, how he brought me back from school if I fell ill during class or after extra lessons. How my Grandmother would cook lunch and would either get my Grandfather to bring it to my place after class or deliver it herself. How I would spend my Saturday mornings at their place (Yes that's the only time I would bother to wake up at 8am on a free day and walk all the way from Balestier to Toa Payoh just to have breakfast with them) having breakfast with them, how my Grandmother would always prepare coffee and snacks which my Grandfather bought for tea at 4pm, how there would always be food waiting for me whenever I turned up. But that's all in the past, my Grandmother has been bedridden and unable to speak due to a stroke four years ago and my Grandfather suddenly passed away last year due to a fall. I can still remember my Grandfather calling me at least once a month (well I tried to call back at least once a week in any case) while I was in Australia, to check up on me and make sure I was fine and how my aunt would scold him sometimes for calling me too many times. At the time of his passing I truly felt that the last link to my past had gone. I now go back to visit an empty and quiet home. Where once the sound of loud conversations in Cantonese and Malay can be heard all that's left is silence. I still visit regularly whenever I'm back home but it'll never be the same again, it's still warm though, that's one feeling that will never change. I'll always miss the conversations and time I spent with my Grandmother watching the latest dramas on show on television and my Grandfather recounting his experiences during the Japanese occupation. Well knowing that you can never go back to the past is progress in itself, it would however be nice if I could go back to those simpler times one more time.

Idle Musings: Thoughts

This marks the beginning of posts titled "Idle Musings" which are a summarised version of what's been on my mind recently. I'll try to make them as short as possible unlike the other full length posts. OK, lets begin shall we. I've realised that deep thinking is the best way for doubts and insecurities to ferment in your life. The more you think of a matter the more you feel that a better decision could have been made, that you've made the wrong one, that the other one would've been infinitely better. You start thinking things like "Why is this happening to me?" or like good ole' Charlie Brown's "When do the good things start?", all very much depressing thoughts to plague yourself with. I guess that's why I tend to drink a tad too much and indulge in smoking off and on as a way of ridding myself of such thoughts, albeit temporarily. Such thoughts usually haunt me, a life which has steadily been full of regrets. What else can you do when you don't have anyone to voice these problems to, I mean they sure as hell can't be posted to the blog, what with them being sensitive and possibly confrontational. How do you find a place to channel these thoughts or do you keep them under lock and key for eternity?

Until You're Over Me

Great song by Maroon 5, well most of their songs are nice in any case, although their subject content is all rather similar. And since I haven't got the time to post anything for awhile I thought I might as well put this up, don't want the site to start smelling like stale sardines the next time I decide to post some real content.

Until You're Over Me

And to all you folks sitting for the dreaded end of semester exams, I bid thee Good Night, and Good Luck.

CONnex you've done it again

Have you ever wondered why terrorists never bothered to attack the Melbourne train line, but took the effort to hit the London, Madrid and if some of you can remember the Indian ones? No it's not that they found the Kangaroo's, Koala's and Wallaby's cute but a rather more insidious and diabolical reason. It's because Connex itself is a terrorist organisation. That's right the truth is out, CONnex and Al Qaeda are in bed together. In fact I have reason to believe that the Al Qaeda terror network is so impressed by CONnex that they have sent over some operatives to train with them and maybe pick up a thing or two on how to torture civilians while not getting shot at. This is state sponsored terrorism at it's height, forget Iran and North Korea for the enemy is right at our doorstep. Terrorists did indeed plan to attack the Melbourne rail system but after scouting the place out they realised that by bombing CONnex trains they'd be striking a blow for justice instead of their own insidious ends. They'd be helping the pagan infidels they swore to annihilate. Instead they marvelled at how CONnex could get away with crimes against humanity by providing the most shit transportation service ever known to man and charging commuters an arm and a leg. That's right, the service which CONnex provides is so bad it's considered terrorism. In CONnex, Al Qaeda found an ally, a kindred spirit, a mentor of sorts. And there lay CONnex's true mission, to destroy the lives of normal hard-working people, to rob them of their hard earned money and most important of all their life's blood, time. Forget the lies of technical faults and a lack of competent staff for it was all calculated and intentional. First they steal your money through the exorbitant fares, then they waste your time by delaying all their trains and making them stop at random places for no reason and finally they destroy your social and working life by making you late for every appointment. Bad service? No. Terrorism? Undoubtedly. There were days when not only did you not get to your destination, but is instead brought somewhere else. Like the Jews who thought they were going for a shower but ended up a statistic and a chapter in the history books. And it almost happened to me today, and this is what happened. I woke up at 5:50am to get to my 8:30am class this morning. I arrived at Melbourne Central station on time and promptly took the 6:50am Lilydale train. As usual it stopped at Flinders Street station but today however something strange happened. Unknown to me CONnex had changed the destination of this train, it was now going to Glen Waverly instead with the train on the next platform going to Lilydale. The only hint of this was the strange warbling sound over the PA system which strangely sounded like some secret Nazi code. Besides there are always announcements due to the hideous service provided by CONnex where something is always screwing up and delaying passengers. The only warning I had that they changed the trains was when I saw the train passing by had the word Lilydale on the LED sign at the back. You can already imagine the torrent of obscenities and hellish rage about to be unleashed by my being. I promptly went to ask the nearest CONnex staff what was going on and predictably enough he told me he had no idea and promptly went back to having verbal sex with his gay partner next to him. I sure as hell wasn't going to take this lying down so I went over to the service counter and unleashed hell on the two unfortunates there for the half hour needed to wait for the next train. I can safely say that CONnex is the most fucked up rail system in the world, it's so bad that it should be considered terrorism and crimes against humanity. We should get Jack Bauer here to kill and torture the lot of the fuckers for all the torment they put us commuters through. Actually after careful consideration I think CONnex are more than petty terrorists, instead they're a remnant of the Nazi party, waiting for the time when they can catch the civilised world off guard and strike back with a vengeance. I have a sneaking suspicion that their ruler is also a strange man with a disturbing mustache and one testicle, like his infamous predecessor..