Having a daughter is harder than you think...!

Especially when she:

1. Looks like she hasn't been eating
2. Screams outobscenities on top of a hill
3. Calls herself a prophet
4. starts pushing cards on a table and using terms like "tap", "in response", and "resolve"
5. gets a boyfriend who does item 4 as well
6. Gets caught by police for, er, random acts with item 5


On the other hand, it's kinda sweet when she gets drunk yet can still remember who her daddy is... :D

The real reason Scott's a West Ham supporter...

Presenting: The HAMMERETTES!!!



On the football field folks!



In one of their wiggly routines..



a bit blur, but check out THAT TATTOO!!!



Guess where Lampard, Cole and the Ferdinand brothers graduated from?



With this kind of welcome, they damn well better do well!

West Ham, the academy of choice!

Hilarious CSI episode...

So every once in a while I catch CSI and yesterday watched this one episode that was fun and freaky at the same time!

Basically what happens is that they find a dead guy in a raccoon suit, and upon further investigation, discover a whole community that believes in acting on animal instinct.

If you think that just means sex, that ain't it. These people actually socialise and interact in animal suits, aka. plushies and furries! And the dialogue was FULL of deadpan humour!

If you wanna find it, it's from Season 4, "Fur and Loathing" Enjoy!

GOODY TWO SHOES!!!

Came across this 80s song which i haven't heard in awhile and damn if it ain't fun!

With the heartbreak open
So much you can't hide
Put on a little makeup makeup
Make sure they get your good side good side

If the words unspoken
Get stuck in your throat
Send a treasure token token
Write it on a pound note pound note

CHORUS:
Don't drink don't smoke - what do you do?
Don't drink don't smoke - what do you do?
Subtle innuendos follow
There must be something inside

We don't follow fashion
That would be a joke
You know we're going to set them set them
So everyone can take note take note

When they saw you kneeling
Crying words that you mean
Opening their eyeballs eyeballs
Pretending that you're Al Green Al Green

No one's gonna tell me
What's wrong or what's right
Or tell me who to eat with sleep with
Or that I've won the big fight big fight

Look out or they'll tell you
You're a "Superstar"
Two weeks and you're an all time legend
I think the games have gone much too far

If the words unspoken
Get stuck in your throat
Send a treasure token token
Write it on a pound note pound note

Don't drink don't smoke - what do you do?
Don't drink don't smoke - what do you do?
(repeat)
Subtle innuendos follow, must be something inside

Quick update

Well, today I have another job interview, this time in Subang. Hopefully I'll be able to get back into the thick of things by January.

Although I admit I have had my fair share of social events in the past month or so. Despite not meeting my friends regularly anymore, I was able to attend a couple of events, most recently Triona's, Ahmad's, Ida's and Rizal's birthday party... an event I enjoyed heaps... despite the one-time enforced silence...!

I'll probably be working on revamping this blog's look for 2006, the fact that I haven't even been updating regularly seems to say that it's time for a change...

On the lack of updates...

Honestly, there's just not enough interesting material in my life right now!!!

I have regular updates on my EPL site, prob twice a week, coz there's always something to talk about football. But over here, man, it's tough.

Loved those Kelana Jaya burgers though, man I'd forgotten how good they taste!

Hope I can get to watch Survivor Series too!

Seething teeth

So I finally went off to get my teeth scaled today. Had been putting it off for months, all the way to the fasting month whern I couldn't. One of my cousin's a dentist so she had it done for me.

Although I daresay she was having her kicks drilling my face in. Everytime I rinsed my mouth, so much blood came out I could have auditioned in Exorcist for a minor part. But I guess that tells you how bad the state of my gums were beforehand. I'm surprised I still had all my teeth left after that ordeal..

Mouth feels very uneasy right now, but I guess that's why prevention is always better than cure, right? At least my teeth look better now...

I call upon the mystical feline forces....

Check this out!

Official site for Mirrormask, Gaiman's masterpiece:

Mirror Mask

Looks beautiful doesn't it? I went through a bit of the book Wolf showed me awhile back and it already looks spectacular... I just hope our questionable censorship board does the movie proper justice...

Seasons Greetings

Selamat Hari Raya to everyone out there!!! Maaf Zahir Batin to all... I admit to being a kinda evil person this year... But I appreciate everyone who's stuck by me through my ups and downs, high and lows, you are my true friends! And you know who you are...

Thanks!!!!!!!

One of the best days of my life for the past few months

Yesterday I popped in for the multiple birthday celebration at WGS, followed by Suitestay.

Yes, I finally made an appearance, after so long! It really did feel like a family get-together for me, after not meeting most of them for ages...

So I wandered into WGS with Y2J, er, sorry, Andy, at about 4:45pm, and I was greeted by heaps of people, starting with Emil. I have to admit I was quite overwhelmed by the warm reception I got. It was lovely seeing most of you. Thank you all, and I love ya to death.

Body auction was speedy this time around, and I successfully completed an intended transaction (gee, that sounds kind of cold ha ha). As usual, Raj and Johan did their typical price-boosting nonsense, yet somehow managed to bring it to a whole new level. While I got lovely Syazsie without much hassle, as with some of the other transactions as well, half of the auction items ended up trying to buy themselves to save themselves from many an imaginative labour!

Anyway, we accumulated a tidy sum to help fund our future dinner and accomodation. After the auction, I spent some time talking to a lotta people, but I ended up forgetting to buka puasa (not to mention a promise to buka with someone! Sorry!) I only realised when I was about to leave to KL and all I managed was a drink from the fridge!

We lugged a PC to Ahmad's car, and 5 of us took off to Suitestay to set up. Incidentally, the place was fantastic, and while waiting for the rest to arrive, we settled down to an eventful Tottenham vs Arsenal footie match.

The rest arrived and games and social stuff began to kick off. I managed to participate in a coupla games of Twister, but mostly I just spent time catching up with people. This was due to the fact that I couldn't stay overnight, and had to catch public transport back, which sucked real bad. But I waited to stuff myself with pizza before I left!

I farewelled everyone at around 10:15pm and took off with Syazsie, who had to balik kampung early next morning. We boarded an LRT at Ampang Point, making small talk along the way, and eventually I goodbyed her at KL sentral.

All in all, despite the short time available, I was quite the happy guy! I felt bad not being able to really catch up on a lot of people, esp. Triona and Wolf. Hopefully I'll be able to do so in the near future. C'mon fate, shine on me nicely will ya!

Thanks to all who helped make my day great, really appreciate it! Can't wait for the next opportunity!

I wanna go damn it!

I have to make an appearance, however brief it may turn out to be!

Forgot to count my lucky stars last night, but if all goes well, I should be able to make it.

Found out today that m'man Andy is a converted regular Magic person now. Good good at least they'll replaced me with someone who has more potential ha ha!! All the best Andy and target Nats for 2006!

Will be interesting to see the changes, especially in people...

Well...

Astro came back just in time, last Sunday, so I got my fix.

Anyway, yesterday I read in the papers on this community where everyone involved attempts to write a Novel in 30 days. It's actually quite a fascinating idea, as having some peer support really helps in getting the writing done.

Especially when you're a slow, procrastinating, wait-until-we-colonise-the-stars type of person like me....

I enjoy writing, but I always seem to lack the motivation to finish what I've started. I think some of my friends since my schooldays could attest to the fact that I have an idea, then start developing it in a flurry of writing, then proceed to lose all horsepower, sputtering to an unpretty stop.

Maybe I just need to learn how to pace myself...

Later....

Astro goes offline!

Damn it my Astro's disappeared. On a Sunday to boot! I'm probably gonna miss the footie tonight, not to mention the America's Top Model re-run....

Koko Krunch is amazing!

Macam budak kecik siut, dahlah tu, makan waktu puasa pulak!!! ha ha!

Anyway, this, believe it or not, was one of the doctor's prescription. Not Koko Krunch specifically, but cereal in general. Nothing oily, but with lots of fluids, i.e. milk.

And for meal entertainment, watch the America's Top Model marathon. Yeah, I'm really stretching it here....

Why does the milk here taste so much different then the ones I bought when I was in Australia? Over there, I drank Pura Milk by the gallons! (Sorry Mark, Rev never did it for me!) The ones here are not that bad actually, but they leave me with a bad aftertaste. Ah well...

Hey, Sean or Ben, howabout shipping me some cartons of Pura? Just a thought mind you...

blog browsing...

It's good to be able to catch up on my friend's blogs, the number of new ones just keep on increasing. I'd like to take the time to highlight a new blog that constantly captures my attention.

Deb, Jesus, Rajapati is the funniest blog I've read since quite awhile, it's extremely entertaining for a new entrant. It helps that there are three contributors, so the material remains fresh and wacky.

Of course, it is still a distance away from my current must-read no.1 blog, detailing the adventures of a Chinese guy in Australia. Yes, Ben, I'm talking about yours, and it's not just because of the Calvin, aight??

Carry on writing everyone, it's fun ain't it??

The one where I fall sick and launch an EPL blog!

After trying to survive off home medicine for the past few days, I finally gave up this morning, and headed off to see an actual doctor. The continuous cramps I was suffering caused me to be unable to sit still as I constantly moved around trying to relieve the pain (which didn't work, but heck I got a lot of exercise!)

The end result? I got a jab on my arse (painkillers rock don't they?) and enough medicine to knock out an elephant. This also means that I'm not fasting for the next three days or so while I recover. Yeah yeah, I'm a cop-out again, it's not like i haven't done this before ha ha!

Hmm, this also gives me more time online as well, so here I am. Now then, after looking at my past few entries, they seem to be inundated with football stuff, things that not everyone likes to read. As such, I've decided to launch a separate EPL Blog!

Have now created it and linked it on the left, feel free to check it out at eplcrazy.blogspot.com !

Enjoy!

My YFF team for the week!!!

It's really been a headache trying to choose players for the weekend, considering the last session was horrible and left me hanging precariously on my 4th position, with Tish and a runaway pig hot on my heels.

Add to my captain being incapacitated for the weekend at least, and suddenly a whole lot of options presented itself. After a lot of hairpulling and headscratching, this is the team I've decided to go with, unless sudden injuries present themselves tomorrow:

Strikers:
Owen: I got him at bargain basement pricing, and knowing his quality, I can't see myself letting him go regardless of whoever his opposition is.
Bent: Ditto, although his quality probably isn't as established as Owen's.
Defoe: This slot was the worst to fill in. I was trying to decide between him and Rooney, but in the end my enmity towards Everton prevailed.

Midfielders:
Murphy: I've got an affinity for this guy, currently my longest serving midfielder now that Gerrard decided to hurt himself.
Jarosik: I understand he's returned from injury and he scored the one time I had him. Hopefully he gets a start! (Yes, it's a gamble)
Greening: Yeap, another gamble. I like West Brom for reasons unclear even to me, and if it wasn't for the fact that Tottenham were playing Everton, I'dve have picked Horsfield instead of Defoe up there! Besides, if Y2J did well with this fella, I guess he deserves a look.
Pennant: Another Birmingham player. Yeap, I'm tipping Birmingham to win the derby! Anyways, Pennant's a reliable fantasy pick regardless.

Defenders:
Carragher: My Liverpool pick for the week. Don't argue.
Powell: Yes, there's a Charlton pattern running through my team here. Powell tends to get forward a fair bit, which is always good fantasy wise.
Del Horno: Despite the fact that I hope Chelsea lose this weekend, Del Horno's a must have in any team. Don't think anyone would disagree with me here.

Goalkeeper:
Reina: Okay, maybe some explanation is needed here, esp. considering the dismal performance last week. Well, originally I had Scott Andersen in this position, but apparently Charlton's 1st keeper, Kiely has recovered from injury. There is some uncertainty as to which one Curbishley will choose for this Monday but no real way of knowing who it'll be. As such, I'm defaulting to Reina (can't really afford anyone else, and no, I'm not taking Kirkland just yet.) There's a theory that Liverpool tend to perform better as a team without Gerrard, so hopefully, that theory pans out this weekend.

Additional notes:
I've ignored Man U vs Sun mainly coz I can't afford RvP, and I expect Defoe to score more than Rooney this weekend. Man C vs West Ham is a tough one, I really can't say who has the upper hand. Mids vs Portsmouth: I happen to like Middlesbrough actually (mainly due to Viduka, he's Aussie!!!) but they rotate their players way too often for my liking, and I'm not really keen on Yakubu.

To you bravehearts out there, if you're feeling lucky, pick up Aston Villa or West Ham's 2nd choice keeper!

Good luck everyone!!!

I'm back!!!!

Apologies to all, have had a long hiatus from being online which wasn't helped by the fact that my home com did not respond promisingly to the installation of Streamyx. Was forced to reformat the hard drive and managed to damage the registry in the process. Currently as we speak, I am re-installing MSN Messenger but it's not working. My PC even hanged when I tried opening Triona's blog (I think it's coz of the video thingie you put up Triona, my PC can't take the strain ha ha!)

It's been awhile since I really posted, and lotsa things happened since my last doomed football prediction posting. Wolf, Rudy and Sean celebrated their respective birthdays (Happy Belated, you all!) WGS opened up a new branch in Shah Alam, the Aussies slaughtered the World XIs in the cricket one-dayers and England made the World Cup in Germany! Yeap, I've missed the boat on lots of stuff, and my social life hasn't so much as gone down the drain, but rather it's grinding its teeth on the dust.

Now onto some football stuff. Contrary to popular theory :P, my absence from blogging was NOT due to Liverpool biting the big one against Chelsea. I constantly fail to understand why Rafa does not field Cisse regularly. It's gotten to the extent that Cisse performed under-par at the World Cup qualifiers which is more due to lack of match time rather then his personal skills. Right now, if Cisse really wanted to leave, I wouldn't blame him, coz he does feel unwanted...

As for my prediction skills, a 4 out of 10 leaves much to be desired. Gahhhhhh!!!!

Onward to Fantasy Football!!!!!!

Unavailable!

Due to various reasons, have been unable to blog. Will get back to it soones!

EPL prediction time!!!!

The matchups and predictions:

Liverpool vs Chelsea: Liverpool win. In all due seriousness, I sincerely believe Liverpool have got Chelsea worried after the midweek Champions League match. And Liverpool will carry that momentum into this Sunday.

Man U vs Fulham: Man U win. As long as Rooney doesn’t start at the bench, Man U have got way too much class despite all the injuries.

Charlton vs Tottenham: Draw. Tottenham are recovering, whilst Charlton seem to have defensive problems. I do believe Keane should start instead of Mido though.

Bolton vs Wigan: Draw. Yes, I do believe Wigan are strong enough to hold Bolton.

West Ham vs Sunderland: Draw. Broken record here, but yeah.

Arsenal vs Birmingham: Arsenal win. Birmingham have a talented team, but they don’t seem to gel. I feel bad for Pennant though. His quality is way too high compared to the rest of the strikeforce.

West Brom vs Blackburn: West Brom win. West Brom have to win this one, and I daresay they’ll rise to the occasion.

Aston Villa vs Middlesbrough: Aston Villa win. Props on Angel to score his first goal. Middlesbrough a bit inconsistent at the moment.

Man C vs Everton: Man C win. D'uh! Both teams maybe on a downward spiral but Man C are too much for Neverton. Sorry, Everton.

Well, aside from the first and the last predictions, I do believe I’ve been unbiased and objective! We’ll see what happens!

Liverpool vs Chelsea (with more dissatisfaction of public services bonus!)

Now, this blog was not meant to talk only bout football, but seriously, nothing else has been of any note lately.
Take last Tuesday for instance. I drove my dad to the Putrajaya hospital for a results review. Had to wait for almost three freakin’ hours!!! The review itself?? Fifteen minutes, tops.

Oh, and these were the results. Wanna know when the actual TEST in question was?

JULY. Yeap, I kid you not. Two bloody months ago! When you take into account that the results may no longer be relevant anymore (i.e. the conditions may have changed) and you begin to realise just how sad the state of our public service is.

Anyway:
Liverpool vs Chelsea Rd 1: 0-0



"Oh shit, I think he’s figured out how to beat us"

Aye, that’s definitely what was on Mourinho’s mind last night and boy is he scared. Chelsea were pretty lucky to run off with a draw last night, but unfortunately, the momentum is definitely with Liverpool now.

If Aston Villa showed us that Chelsea are not invincible, Liverpool has shown us how to NOT be intimidated by Chelsea. Chelsea were pretty much on the defensive for most of the match. I’m not gonna talk about the deserved penalties, goodness knows there’s tons of talk about them in the media already.

But Liverpool has given Chelsea a reason to worry, a reason to fear… so Sunday, Liverpool vs Chelsea Rd 2, here we come!

YFF Objectives achieved!

Okay, I admit it, my gamble and my dream tip didn't pan out as well as I would have liked.

Having said that, I have pretty much achieved all that my objectives I set out for myself for the week.

Er... unless of course, Mido decides to score a brace tonight... hopefully that doesn't happen, sorry Rudy!

Onto the highlight(s) of the week, -Liverpool vs. Chelsea- x 2

Despite the fact that Lpool drew against Birmingham last Saturday, I was glad to see that at least it was not another goalless draw. Liverpool need to take more chances and I'm glad I saw this last Saturday. Hopefully we can use this as a springboard into success against Chelsea.

However, I would be extremely annoyed if Cisse ends up not in the starting 11 in either of these matches. It's starting to get ridiculous and looking suspiciously like favouritism. Is Cisse being punished for some behind the scenes offense? Or does Rafa just not like him?

I do believe Liverpool can bring the match to Chelsea, and that being said, I am keeping Gerrard AND REINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The YFF SQUAD

My football fantasy team for the weekend, subject to Injuries of course:

Forwards
Darren Bent – So he didn’t score against Chelsea. Big deal. It doesn’t displace the fact that he’s been a scoring revelation for Charlton, and a consistent goalscorer. My only regret was not picking him at the start. He’s been scoring like no one’s business. Also, having his price drop after the match was tempting.
Michael Owen – At 7.79, this guy is a steal, and appears to be helping Newcastle gain momentum. His track record is impeccable, and the only reason he didn’t score in his 1st match was due to poor Midfielder support.
J. Floyd Hasselbaink – Okay, this guy’s a gamble. I had Mark Viduka in his place, but then I found out that he’s recovered from injury. He’s only played 3 games for only 2.5 pts??? Big risk, but one I’m willing to take.

Midfielders
Danny Murphy –After watching him play two weeks ago, I liked what I saw. Considering he gave me 9.5 pts against Chelsea, that makes him strong enough in my book.
Charles N Zogbia – Suddenly this guy looks a lot more attractive after scoring two goals in two matches. Currently he appears to be the sole Midfielder doing a good job for Newcastle, offering great support to the two strikers up front. At 7+, he’s also quite cheap for the performances he’s put up.
Steven Gerrard – I know I may seem biased, but this guy is doing so much in Liverpool compared to his teammates it’s ridiculous. I’ll only leave him out if he’s injured.
Matthew Etherington – Okay, this needs some explanation, especially in respect of the fact that West Ham are against Arsenal this weekend. Truth be told, I DREAMED I picked him this week. The Force is strong in this one.

Defenders
Jamie Carragher – Liverpool’s defence appears strong enough against a weakening Birmingham attack.
Chris Powell – Seems like a Charlton invasion, doesn’t it? Let’s just say I was disappointed by two of my favourite teams, Bolton and Man C (AFTER Liverpool of course!), so I’m being sulky.
N. Jensen – Tottenham are upset, no doubt about it, after their past few performances. I see Jensen doing a lot of work this weekend, even if Fulham loses, I’m sure he’ll get good points.

Goalkeeper
J. Reina – After two successful performances in my team, I see no reason to kick him out.

Other options:
Robbie Van Persie – Normally I wouldn’t choose an Arsenal player, but my Manager, Rachel Stevens thinks he’s hot! Hey, if you got a red card for inadvertently kicking a defender in the face, you’d be hot too!
Mark Viduka – It’s still a toss-up really between him and Hasselbaink. I just feel that Jimmy’s more hungry for goals at this point.
Peter Crouch – It’s a hunch, one I’m not sure I should follow up on.
Trevor Sinclair – He’s been a mainstay of my team before that injury he picked up against Bolton. If he recovers, I’d be hard-pressed not to put him back in.
Azier Del Horno – I’ll definitely make room for him if he recovers, even if I have to spend more than I did originally to get him back. This guy is DA BOMB!

The main issue with the selected team: Too Many AWAY matches. Then again, Newcastle did a spectacular job against Blackburn last week, so I’m hoping more of these anomalies happen.

3 objectives for the week:
Pull away from Who Needs Owen
Score 100+ points
Narrow the gap between S Club Executor and Deportivo de la Muerte

Here we go!

RockStar INXS Rant

Before I start, I want to advertise a hit job on Mr. Ainul of Blood Bowl/Twilight Imperium fame for spoiling the results for me! Any news and information on his whereabouts would be useful too! I will hunt you down, Mr Ainul, make no mistake…

After all the amazing performances this show has seen since it started, the finale was a REAL letdown. I was hoping there’d be more performances, i.e. a longer, spectacular show. The winner is gonna lead an established world act band for crying out loud! I was expecting a showcase of rock brilliance, and I was sorely disappointed. If you were one of those world audiences who voted, I’m sure you would’ve felt cheated.

Of course, this wasn’t helped by the fact that INXS chose JD, someone whom I always felt was more cut out to be a solo performer. It’s obvious in the way he does things, such as writing songs. He’s not cut out to be a team player. Let’s see if INXS don’t end up losing patience with him.

It’s a mystery as to why they chose him, although a plausible reason would simply be that JD’s rebellious streak is appealing to the current generation, and I suppose INXS are desperate to be relevant in today’s music world.
Talent wise, Marty and Mig win hands over, although MiG does appear less flexible when it comes to songwriting. I also thought that Mig’s decision to sing Bohemian Rhapsody was totally wrong, because it showed that you retreated to a safety net for a make-and-break performance. Having said that, I thought Susie sang it better too!

On the PLUS side though, Marty Casey and Mig Ayesa, not too mention Susie McNeill, are now world famous because of the show! Let’s hope that their solo acts are more popular and successful than JD with INXS will ever be!

All in all, despite the ending, I really loved the show. It was like a Journey through Rock and Roll, although I was disappointed that there was no U2 in it. I guess maybe they didn’t give permission to use their songs…

Splendid news

Wanted to post this on the WGS forums, but they're down I think, so...

http://http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/050921/2/ds2o.html

Great Cisse, this is EXACTLY what Liverpool needs to start scoring. Without a doubt. I'm sure they meant that type of scoring, I really do... I can't wait...

SEVEN

Alright, I've never done one of these things before, but thanks to YK, here we go!

Seven things I plan to do before I die:
1. Visit Prince Edward Island in Canada
2. Participate in GENCON (Damn you Joe!)
3. Watch the Ashes in Australia
4. Join the Mile-High Club
5. Write tons of books
6. Play the role of Danny Zucco in a theatre
7. Do tongue exercises with Ms Jolie (okay, that's a stretch)

Seven things I could do:
1. Dance to GREASE LIGHTNING!!!
2. Write tons of shite
3. Tell you the story of Lisa Hayes and Rick Hunter
4. Read Sandman over and over again
5. Teleport, oh wait that's a fantasy... but I could.... If I really wanted to...
6. Eat chocolate
7. Sleep... I shit you not

Seven Celebrity crushes:
1. Nicole Kidman
2. Claire Danes, my Juliet
3. Willow, er, sorry... Alyssa Hannigan, psycho witch
4. Buffy Summers.. err, sorry, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Vampire Slayer
5. Angelina Jolie, Male Slayer
6. Kylie Minogue, Aussie dance princess
7. Rachel Stevens, S Club Executor Manager

Seven often repeated words:
1. No worries
2. Shit
3. crap
4. Yeah right...
5. Girls!
6. Really?
7. Mmm... chocolate...

Seven physical traits I look for in my partner:
- Everything that all hot blooded males want!

Seven tags go to:
1. Elyzrin Mat Drai
2. The top-decking madman
3. Aileran Eirreannach
4. Steven Gerrard
5. The 80s fanatic
6. Adam Gilchrist
7. Sleepy Jedi

Alright you Seven! Start cracking!

Wake me up... when September ends....

There goes that IDEA!!

Last I wrote, I was trying my hand at predicting outcomes of matches. So how'd I go?

Results:

1. Charlton vs Chelsea: Chelsea
2. Portsmouth vs Birmingham: Draw
3. Manchester City vs Bolton: Bolton
4. Newcastle vs Blackburn: Newcastle
5. Manchester United vs Liverpool: Draw
6. West Ham vs Fulham: West Ham
7. West Brom vs Sunderland: Draw
8. Middlesbrough vs Wigan: Draw
9. Tottenham vs Aston Villa: Draw
10. Arsenal vs Everton: ?

My score: 2 out of 9! 6 & 7 correct

What have I discovered? Answer: I'm shite at this!

Azmin goes punting!

Alright this week, I wanna try some football punting aight!

Let's see if I'm good at this:

Charlton vs Chelsea: Charlton win! Yeap upset here folks!
Portsmouth vs Birmingham: Birmingham win.
Manchester City vs Bolton: Manchester City win.
Newcastle vs Blackburn: Draw
Manchester United vs Liverpool: Liverpool win! Okay I'm gonna say Liverpool win 2-0.
West Ham vs Fulham: West Ham getting stronger and should win.
West Brom vs Sunderland: Draw
Middlesbrough vs Wigan: Overwhelming victory for the Mids here
Tottenham vs Aston Villa: sorry Baros, that's a Tottenham win.
Arsenal vs Everton: Are you kidding me? Arsenal haven't looked good, but Everton haven't looked, period.

We'll see how we go starting tonight!!!

Final elimination performance!

Mig finally gets into the bottom three, which as I said before, is pretty much meaningless as they are all quality singers anyways. And Suzie finally ran out of her 9 lives, faltering just before the finish line…

So, there you have it. Marty, Mig and JD. Next week’s the season finale for the show, and I can’t wait to see what they have in store.

IMO, it’s a toss up between Marty and MiG. JD, despite being an excellent performer, doesn’t really fit INXS and is better of going solo.

Cya next week!

Liverpool picking up...

FIRSTLY,
I just want to go on record that I'm pretty happy with the way they performed this morning. Heck I ended up oversleeping and didn't watch it LIVE, but I watched the replay and they've definitely got a lot more drive...

BUT!
They need to play like this in the premiership too! I have to admit their last match against Tottenham WAS commendable, but I hope Rafa's not underprioritising the premiership again.

HAVING SAID THAT:
Peter Crouch and that Cinema guy are such a contrasting strikeforce! When Crouch patted his head, it actually looked paternal! Of course, from Cinema's point of view, Crouch is a bloody giant!

INCIDENTALLY::
Are players like Cinema, Jeremi and Traore ever going to play in the premiership? So far, those three have been like Champions League specialists. Of course, selection wise, I'm sure Rafa knows what he's doing. And I'm glad he benched Gerrard so that he'd be fully rested for the weekend.

AND ON THAT NOTE:
C'mon, Man U! We're waiting for ya...

Of MiG, Marty, JD and Suzie...

There were two highlights to this show:

1) Marty
I gotta admit, after watching this week's episode of RockStar: INXS, Triona may be onto something. From the last few shows, Marty clearly showed he was by far the best candidate. What exactly does he have going for him?

1. Creativity - Clearly, he's got it, as evident from his song Trees, which he was asked to perform again. Although JD also got to sing Pretty Vegas again, it wasn't all his song in the first place.
2. Style - Of all the rockers, he's the most unique. His mad conductor show is Still the talk of the show!
3. Vision - Unlike JD, he comes across as really honest, not afraid to say what he thinks. His interview with INXS was different from the others because he was actually planning out his future with them, and not just answering their questions.
4. Comfortable - From photoshoots to interviews, he appears at ease, and confident with himself. Suzie definitely had problems today talking to INXS.
5. Looks - Okay, I'll defer to Triona on this... She's the expert here :p.

2) Brooke Burke

'Nuff said!!

So, who'll end up on top! As much as I want MiG to be, I'm afraid this week's show belonged to Marty.

To kick out: Jd or Suzie!

A weekend reunion!

Faithful readers will remember about a month ago that I was harping about not being able to meet Yee Leng, a dear friend from Melbourne working in Singapore. Luckily enough, last week, she was back again in Malaysia, and, through some political wrangling, I was able to ensure that I would be free Saturday morning to meet up with her!

Sg Buloh is extremely far from Bangi though!!!

Her housing area was called Valencia (yes, you football freakos, Valencia!) and security in the area was tight! I passed through THREE security checkpoints before making it to her house, a delightful corner lot.

Being the supercool guy that I am, I managed to maintain my composure upon meeting her. Internally I was ecstatic though! Her dad was around (i had met him twice before, once in Melbourne, and once in their old place in Banting with my folks) and we ended up chatting quite a lot! Her family ranks in the Top 5 on my list of " friendly and hospitable family of friends", which, incidentally, is topped by Fina's family. :p

We could've gone on and on, but I came here to catch up with Yee Leng too! So, I took her out. First she gave me a short tour of the clubhouse where she hangs out and does her internet surfing, then we proceeded to 1 Utama for more walking and talking :) Talked bout all sorts of stuff, everything from Australia, to Sg Buloh, from friends to family, and worklife and relationships!

Popped by at Fish and Co to say hi to Sierra, then proceeded to get lost looking for the food court. In the end, we decided to double back and have lunch at Fish and Co instead! Lunch was great, I had the cajun style fish while Yee Leng took the coriander. Sierra popped by every now and then to chat. To top it all off, Yee Leng 'belanja'd me as well! Yeap, Azmin knows no shame...

Unfortunately, I couldn't stretch it much further coz I had a wedding to attend (Yes, Michelle, another one!) I sent her back and was just in time to catch YL's mum returning from work. Had a brief chat before I left, and said sayonara! In all I had a lovely time!

Footnote 1: YL's dog, Ginger, is about one of the most friendliest dogs I've ever encountered. Eeps, Hasan, don't get angry now alright!
Footnote 2: The wedding included Satay in it so I was practically stuffed by the end of the day!!! Yummy.....

Break!

The regular writing has currently been put on hold due to the 5th Test of the Ashes Cricket. We will resume regular programming upon completion of the competition. We apologise for any inconvenience.


GO AUSSIES!!!!!!!!

Quick note...

I forgot to mention a few days back that my phone has been, er... on loan. If my friend did not forward any messages left for me which I did not get back on I sincerely apologise and will deal with my friend in certain ways best left to the imagination.Should get my phone back on Sunday or Monday I think, till then, e-mail would be best :D

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a Football team to finalise and a cricket match to keep tabs on...

Revelations

This whole week I had an opportunity to find out what sort of person I was.

It was a test for me, and I failed it. Horribly.

I look in the mirror now, and I don't like what I see.

I am truly a selfish person right now.

Let's see how long it takes for me to change...

Farewell to Jordis

Considering the other 2 members of the bottom three, it would take a massive screw-up for INXS to choose JD or Suzie to leave over Jordis. And that didn't happen.

Unfortunately for Jordis, her downward spiral continued and she finally gave way, giving a lacklustre performance in her "Need You Tonight" performance. When asked if she's the right singer for INXS, her answer is an uncertain "I hope so..." For a world act like INXS, those are not the words you wanna hear from your lead singer. And with that, she was gone.

Mig remains the only performer never to take bottom 3. Next week with only 4 candidates left, will he ESCAPE it again? (Coz after that it doesn't matter anymore does it??) Looking forward till then!

Comments protection

Due to constant spamming, I am now forced to include word verification for visitors commenting on my blog. I do apologise for this inconvenience, but it's become necessary. I hope this extra step doesn't prevent y'all from continuing to comment, needless to say, I appreciate ALL your contributions to my blog :D

To the spammers, SCREW YOU!

Liverpool status report

Football fans ONLY

Personally, I don't mind Morientes got injured. Makes it a bit easier on Benitez mainly due to a reduction of options. With Morientes not exactly in form, now's the time for Peter Crouch to stamp his authority as a Liverpool striker.

The problem with Liverpool, as I see it, is their current defensive mentality, due in part, I believe, to their winning the Champions League cup. In all due honesty, Liverpool's first 2 matches haven't exactly been humdingers. Fortunately, they'll be coming up against Tottenham, who are on a high, despite losing to Chelsea. Liverpool need to rise to the occasion or suffer their first loss. Football Fantasy wise, I will be putting my money where my mouth is, buying both Gerrard and Reina. So show me the quality LIVERPOOL!!!!!! Rafa, please do Liverpool fans a favour and concentrate on winning the Premiership as well!

Five for fighting: RockStar INXS

One of my favourite aspects of the show is that the contestants are not only encouraged, but EXPECTED to fiddle around with established hits in order to suit their voice and style of performing. As such, the one comment so prevalent in other singing reality shows does not exist here, i.e. feels like karaoke.

And now the show has gone one step further: All contestants are to perform songs of their own composition, an ability vital in today's music world. Gone are the days where songwriters and singers were always two separate entities. Now, thanks to people like John Lennon, it is common for the songwriter and singer to be the same person.

Anyway, enough woolgathering, onto my review for the week:

JD: What a copout! Using the song which INXS had written the melody for smarts of laziness and sucking up! He did perform well though but he really should be punished for taking the easy way out.

Suzie: Overall a good performance, but the country-rock influences ain't happening girl. Look what happened to Brandon and Tara!!

MiG: Everything about him was great up until his song. Personally, I don't like him using a song that he co-wrote with some other guy, that person isn't gonna be in INXS, you are! The ballad, while nice, was definitely not in INXS's style, as Tim Farris mentioned.

Jordis: Her inexperience suddenly stood out glaringly in comparison to the rest. Her discomfort in the photo shoot, the lack of songwriting guidance, all these combine to create a very likely candidate to be ousted tomorrow. I wasn't keen on her song either, and I didn't think her version of We are the Champions was any better than JDs...Boy, she's in trouble....

Marty: And then we have Marty who was THE BEST this week. Not only did he put in tons of effort to ensure his version of Everlong sound different but still great, he also had the best original composition.

Mr. Marty Casey

Bottom three predictions (if they're planning on sticking to the system) will be JD, Jordis and Mig, Marty for the encore (if any). Will MiG's 1st time in the bottom three prove to be his downfall? We'll find out soon enough....!

The end of Australian dominance in cricket??

Alright Sean here's the news!!!

Today begins the last Test of the 5-Test Ashes, in which England lead 2 Tests to 1. After the 1st Test, all the newspapers, including the English tabloids, were panning the English team, telling them they shouldn't even bother turning up to matches.

Yet now, 3 more Tests later, Cricket has taken the focal point in England, with even Sven's nonsensical strategical experiments taking a back seat to Michael Vaughan and his merry men. Cricket has indeed, as the tabloids say, become the new football.

And why is that? Well, because after almost 18 years, England finally get a real sniff at bringing back home the Trophy, or rather the Ashes. The rivalry is intense, and understandably there's no love lost between the two, leading to many a funny exchange on the field, referred to in cricket as sledging.

Just imagine, as an English batsman, you arrive on the crease to bat, and the wicketkeeper behind you welcomes you with the following greeting, "So how's your wife, and my kids?"....... Priceless, absolutely priceless...

The main problem facing Australia's squad, imho, is that of age. Out of the 11 regular players, only 2 are actually under 30. The issue has always been that this group has just been too good in the past, and that most of the younger prospects have fallen short. As such, the lack of replacements is glaring. When Glenn McGrath was declared unfit for one of the Tests, Australia's lack of depth in bowling was alarmingly evident, as England racked up the runs with ease.

Whatever happens in the next five days, I would have to agree that whether Australia win or lose, their dominance is effectively over. Australia needs a solid succession plan after McGrath and Warne, and at this point in time, I don't see it.

As for my predictions, yes!!!!! Australia will still win and retain the Ashes!!! (Yes, Rudy, I may be a scouser, but when it comes to cricket, it's Australia, all the way!!!)

Relatively quiet 3 days...

nothing much happening in the past few days, online more often than not...

See the stone set in your eyes
See the thorn twist in your side
I wait for you
Sleight of hand and twist of fate
On a bed of nails she makes me wait
And I wait without you

My hands are tied
My body bruised,
she’s got me with
Nothing to win and
Nothing left to lose...

Selamat Pengantin Baru buat Fina dan Dave!!!

Yesterday, my dear friend from Indonesia, Fina Khairaty was happily married to her fiance, Dave, in Jakarta..

Sorry I couldn't make it to your wedding but hopefully I'll come down towards the end of the year to visit you both (and your family too, Fi!)

My congratulations and may you both enjoy a wonderful life together!!

All the best you two!

Ty takes his leave...

It was kinda disappointed that the elimination performances this week lacked the energy of the previous day.
Bottom 3 turned out to be Jordis, Ty, and JD, which in my opinion was meaningless, coz everyone's performance yesterday was OUTSTANDING! And in an amazing revelation (of which Triona would prob be ecstatic :D), Marty Casey had more votes than the bottom three combined!

See ya next week! Bye Ty, you were a great performer, but I believe what you lacked was, simply, personality...

Football dreams!!!

For the first time ever that I can remember, I dreamt I watched a football match! I've got the fever down bad folks, and I think it's something to do with the Football Fantasy League.... Eeepss...

The match was: Aston Villa vs West Ham!

And as much as I'm keen on West Ham, Aston Villa won...

Should I act on my dream, or stick with my preferences?

Fantastic INXS Concert!!!

Speaking of a great day, I got to watch the live telecast of the Rockstar: INXS competition this morning. The final six are Jordis, J.D., Ty, Suzie, Mig and Marty. I'm not gonna do a person-by-person evaluation this time around. Why? Because I thought everyone was great!!! Everyone did amazingly well, and I feel bad for anyone who makes the bottom three, coz quality-wise, there was no disparity.

Unfortunately, one still has ta go... and I can't say who. Good luck people!!!

A chockful of talent

Merdeka!!!

Happy Merdeka to all Malaysians!!!

I am feeling great today, things are looking up...

The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades....

Candles!

I miss candles...

Back in Australia, I liked using candles a lot. The changing shadows generated a mysterious atmosphere I was comfortable and the flame always gave off a friendly vibe. I used to keep a box of red candles all the time to use whenever I felt like it.

Over here, it's way darn most of the time, it's too darn hot to use candles. Practically the only time you use 'em is when you have a blackout. Otherwise, if you have to switch on air-conditioning before you light a candle, it sort of loses the whole point, doesn't it?

There's also the occult factor... mua ha ha ha!

Multiple spellcasting hazards

The wizard's apprentice was disobeying his master. Again. Already in trouble for trying to cast two spells concurrently a few years back, he was back at it. Again.

Progressively, Spell 1 appeared to be advancing rapidly. The ingredients were already sparkling in magickal fire. In comparison, Spell 2 would flicker briefly, then die again, despite the apprentice being much more involved, having started work on it much earlier than Spell 1. He knew he didn't have enough components yet, but in his haste, he believed he could improvise.

Suddenly, he heard a low hum to his right. He whirled towards the source, and was genuinely astonished to see an area of his lab glowing with magickal energy. He hadn't realised that the energy's he was manipulating had activated a THIRD spell. And the sound it was giving off was indeed, very promising.

As he panicked, he thought back in dismay at two of his earlier experiments, and wondered if it was too late to go back and make one of them work He knew one was resolving, but the other...? Guilt started clouding his emotions...

Meanwhile, the entire lab started crackling with mystical energy...

FFL (Supplement)

Oh crap, I feel embarassed now that Rudy's blog referred to mine when discussing his FFL picks. Whereas his contains some serious analysis, mine's just a peacocking of my squad, and an unashamed naming of RACHEL STEVENS as my manager ha ha... I don't know how damaging this is to my credibility... :p

So, I've decided to justify my picks, just in case those FFL players decide to wander into my blog from Rudy's. Similarly, if you've no interest in football, there's nothing here for you.

Let's see if I'm any good at this:

Geoff Horsfield: He got left out of the game against Chelsea midweek coz he's old, okay? No excuses. But that kind of made him a shoo-in against Birmingham. They lost but he accounted for both of West Brom's goals. Feel bad for Robson though...

Wayne Rooney: I hate his guts coz of his attitude but admittedly, he does perform. And he's a bit more mature this year... He's been in my team since the league started...

Mark Viduka: Aside from the fact he kicked off Mids win with two goals, Charlton won to Wigan and Sunderland, who aren't exactly great teams. PLUS HE'S AUSSIE!!!! Oi! Oi! Oi!

Trevor Sinclair: I picked him last week coz he was cheap, and he ended up scoring my only goal for MidWeek!!! I repaid my faith in him by retaining him in the squad, naming him Captain whilst Gerrard was unavailable, and he scored 10.5 not bad.

Joey Barton: Yeah, thanks to Sinclair, I got interested in Man City, and they are now my 2nd favourite team after Liverpool. Could have done better though...

Gary Speed: Picked coz of Bolton's reputation in doing well in set-pieces. On hindsight, should have picked a different Bolton fella.

Morten Gamst Pedersen: okay, i admit it. I picked him coz everyone else did last week, but he didn't do as well this week.

Asier Del Horno: This vice-captain of mine is incredibly hard working. I saw his potential after 1st week and subsequently picked him. Fast becoming an MVP. As a defender, he even scored a goal, ha ha!

Nigel Reo-coker: Um, same as Rudy. Read it over there!

Leighton Barnes: Actually, I wanted Jensen, same as Rudy, but couldn't afford him. Settled for this Wigan guy, who turned out really well!

Van De Sar: heh, same as Rudy too! Plus the fact they're against Newcastle who are kinda struggling right now...

And that's it!!! Sound credible folks? Definitely had fun writing it!

Fantasy Football League

Alright, as most of you know the EPL football season is on full throttle, maybe not as blazing as The Ashes maybe, but on fire nevertheless.

Before it started, Mr. Rudy, of Rudyism fame, propogated the forming of a WGS fantasy football league, where participants choose a football team of 11 players every week. The scoring is done by Yahoo, based on the performances of the individual players, and the scores tallied.

After two weeks, I am currently sitting on a less than satisfactory ranking of 9th out of 20, doing horribly on the 2nd week. Nevertheless, I am determined to make up for loss ground, and without further ado, I am unveiling my squad for the weekend openly here for fun!!!

ExecutorAzmin's S Club Executor

Forwards:

Wayne Rooney (Man U)

Geoff Horsfield (WBA)

Mark Viduka (Middlesborough)

Midfielders:

Gary Speed (Bolton)

Trevor Sinclair (Manchester City) - captain

Joey Barton (Manchester City)

Morten Gamst Pedersen (Blackburn)

Defenders:

Asier del Horno (Chelsea) - vice-captain

Nigel Reo-Coker (West Ham)

Leighton Baines (Wigan)

Goalkeeper:

Edwin Van de Sar (Man U)

Manager:

Rachel Stevens

Should be more than enough fire power to hopefully propel S Club Executor into the Top Five!!!

Six of the Best of Rock Star INXS

I just wanna say I am delighted with Suzie McNeil's amazing performance, constantly defying all odds. She has improved tremendously since she started out in the show, proving me (and the rest of the critics) wrong, time and time again, showing us that she can indeed, rock with the best.

Deanna, Marty and Ty rounded up the bottom three, with Deanna being next to go.

Mig and Jordis are now the only two who have not been in the bottom three. It would be interesting to see what happens if they fumble through an INXS song....

The Magnificent 7!

The 7 RockStars left threw an ALMOST amazing concert this week. ALMOST meaning, one singer was not up to par...

MiG: I must have been deaf or something, coz the song they were trying out at the rehearsals did not sound AT ALL like the song he eventually sang at the performance. I thought the song performed was fantastic, and, like INXS, I'm glad he didn't give in to Suzie.

Suzie: Speaking of which, this gal rocked the house!! Eating my own words, I honestly believe she deserves the encore for tomorrow. Having said that, I won't be surprised if she's there in the bottom three again, as evidently the voters don't seem to think she's right for INXS. And frankly speakly, I don't think so either...



Will Suzie's dive be her one and only?

JD: As much as I hate to admit it, this guy is doing reaaaaally well here...

Jordis: The one exception of the entire show. Cracks and chinks are starting to emerge in Jordis's armour. Her voice just couldn't achieve what she was trying to do, and this may well prove her downfall.

Ty: This was an exhiliarating energy-filled show, and having the three gals as back-up was fun too!

Deanna: The other original composition sung, and I thought it was great as well!!!

Marty: He's starting to worry me actually. It seems like most of the time he's singing with one emotion: anger. No other emotion appears evident. Apart from that, the performance was riveting!

Bottom three:

Oh wow, this is the toughest ever!!! Definitely Jordis, but the other two?
I'll have ta go with Suzie, as I mentioned earlier, and Deanna (mainly because i'm not sure if the voters appreciate the fact tha most of the song wasn't her composition, but Ty's)

We'll find out tomorrow folks!

Sorry I'm not home right now, I'm walking into spider webs, so leave a message and I'll call you back...

Funny thing is, the webs are of my own making... Getting into major deep shite here...

Interesting weekend...

Well, I ended up having an okay weekend:

Obviously, from the previous post, I had a neighbour's wedding to attend + help out on Saturday. Did some adjustments to my fantasy football team (more on this another time!), on Saturday morning, then went off with my folks to UKM for the wedding.

I ended up becoming one of the ushers/guest welcomers. I was located at the flower arch after the double doors. The original plan was as guests arrive, they should go through the flower arch. But half the time, they seemed to avoid the arch like the plague , veering left and right instead!

Highlights of the day:

1. Got paired with a considerably attractive Terengganu lass as usher. She's actually my back door neighbour's family friend, and I already knew her before, having met her when she visited my neighbour. Never realised how attractive she was until now though...

2. A makcik with a beaming smile went up to me and said, "Ni husband Salmah kan?" (You're Salmah's husband right?!!!!!!!)...... (sidenote: Salmah was a classmate I was interested in back at school. Incidentally, she is now happily married with a kid to boot!) Once again, I was speechless (twice in two days)...! I finally was able to stammer a few words, claiming that "No lah, that was an old story..." Even funnier, she apologised!

3. Bride and groom joined us at the archway to greet/thank the guests for coming. The groom turned out to be a quite cool dude. And suddenly, EVERYONE was going through the arch!

All in all, it was a great wedding, but standing around all day was more tiring than I thought it was gonna be!

And no, there weren't any occult related incidents, thank goodness... :)

Didn't know how to react!

Funny situation happened last night:

My back door neighbour's wedding is today, a few hours from now, scheduled to be held at one of the UKM halls. Last night, I went with a bunch of others to the hall to help set out chairs and table, you know, typical gotong-royong stuff.

Anyway, half-way through the whole process, I notice that some of my fellow *gotong-royongers* start whispering to themselves, casting odd looks in my direction. I'm not really friends with any of them, so I try to pretend not to notice, but I couldn't help but wonder what they were whispering about.

My questions were soon answered though. Apparently these 'whisperers' decided that something needed to be said, so a few minutes later they sent a 'representative' to me.

"Mmm, maaf ya, boleh saya beri pandangan?" (Sorry, can I make an observation?) -- he said.
"ya......?" (yeeeeess?) - i said, worryingly.
"Saya rasa, baju awak tu tak sesuai dipakai... (I think, your t shirt isn't suitable) -- he said.
"Apa...?" (What?) - it was an old white t-shirt, which of course i chose because we were doing labour stuff.
"Itu bukan macam gambar setan ke?" (isn't that a picture of a demon?)

I was stunned!!! Then I realised what I had on... a Magic Pre-release Prophecy t-shirt with The AVATAR OF WILL image emblazoned at the back!!

"ini bukan gambar setan, ini orang pakai topi ni..." (It's just a guy with a hat) - okay this was weak, but I really didn't know what to say!

"ya ke? Yang Prophecy: Magic the Gathering ni, bukan maksud dia um, ramalan sihir beramai ke?" (Doesn't Prophecy: Magic The Gathering mean 'mass foretelling witchcraft?) ???!!!!

At this point, I was speechless. I was totally at a loss for words! All I could say was, dude this is just a free t shirt for a game I played in a competition, it's not supposed to mean anything! With that, I just carried on with the work!

Having said that, I'm just THANKFUL I didn't wear the one with Blur's favourite creature on it:

Then I'd really get it!!

RS: INXS Results for Week 6

As expected, MiG got the encore, and ended up singing with Marty and Jordis.
The bottom three were Jessica, Deanna and Suzie.

And Jessica finally ran out of steam in her stream of successful elimination performances...

Good luck girl...!

Week 6: Acoustics round...

The RockStar INXS episode was quite unique this time, as all the songs chosen were done in acoustics. And most of the songs were pretty much mainstream music, as opposed to Rock stuff. And the rockers didn't get to choose this time around.

Marty: This was the freakiest!!!! Hearing Marty singing to the audience to "Hit Me Baby One More Time" sounded like a creepy track from a horror flick, haunting even.. And ... it sounded fantastic.

Mig: INXS seemed to love it. I thought the arrangement was great, but I didn't quite like the way his voice sounded at parts. But his presentation did have the desired effect... Based on INXS's remarks, I'm pretty sure he'll get an encore tomorrow.

Suzie: The surprise package of the competition. The CAT's still here! And I must admit, she did wonderfully well...

Jessica: She did Natalie Imbruglia's Torn. And INXS found a song that worked great for her. Should avoid the bottom three quality-wise.

Deanna: I think she struggled quite a bit here. Her voice, while can be great, definitely has issues.and I don't see INXS able to solve it.

J.D.: Lemme tell ya something about JD. He's not the best performer, his voice doesn't have as much quality as Jordis, Marty or Suzie, but what he does have though, is STAGE CHARISMA.

JD, the bad boy whom girls just love...

Ty: I've figured out what I don't like about Ty. It's his expression. His wide smile, looks.... well... fake. And he doesn't seem to have a variety of expressions at all. He sings damn well, no doubt, but overall performance wise, he's not there.

Jordis: Compared to the 1st episode where Dana's version of Knocking on Heaven's Door made you want to go to hell instead, this was done beautifully. Unfortunately, I'm starting to wonder if she can sustain faster rock songs though.

My bottom three for this week are:

Ty, Deanna and Suzie (okay, admittedly I'm doing some perverse forecasting math here... I don't really think Suzie should be here). We'll see what happens tomorrow...

Urkk...

Never thought I'd felt so much tension READING a cricket game in progress before!!!

I am, of course, referring to the third Australian-England Ashes Cricket Test, which I was following via text commentary on http://www-aus.cricket.org

Left: Ricky Ponting, Man of the Match

Right: Outside Old Trafford, and no this ain't no Man U football match either, it's Cricket!!!!!

As much as I believed that Australia could get 399 in one day, in the end it became too much to ask of a team surprised by England's resilience. Nevertheless, it always remained a possibility whilst Warne + Ponting remained at the crease. However, once Warne was removed, Ponting had no choice but to buckle down for a draw with his two remaining teammates. But in a breathtaking moment, Ponting was eliminated, leaving Lee + McGrath (!) to survive for 4 overs!!


Aussie furniture being rearranged by the bleedin Pommies

It became a comedy of errors as Lee tried desperately to keep McGrath (Australia's 'best' batsman) off strike. Twice he tried to score a single at the end of an over to keep the strike, only to accidentally whack the ball away for FOUR instead!!! Ha ha...!

Fortunately, McGrath survived, even scoring a Four himself. In the end, Lee pummelled the last ball of the match away for yet another four, bringing the match to a draw as the Australian dressing room sighed collectively in relief.

Following a Test Match which was won by TWO runs, this was yet another nail-biter!! I can only imagine what it must have been like to the spectators at the stadium.
Can't wait for the Fourth Test now!!!!

THE ASHES ARE ABLAZE BABY!!!!

Minimum Wages

How the Hell (pun intended) did a blog entry looking for a child to play the part of the Devil's son evolve into a minimum wage issue?!!

Yes, this happened on my tagboard, so I felt compelled to address the latest incarnation of the issue on in a main entry.

Why don’t we have a minimum wage system in Malaysia?

If I remember correctly, the last time it was seriously brought up was back in 2003 on Labour Day. And of course, it got shot down. I’m not going to wax lyrical here, but I’m gonna highlight in short the reasons why a minimum wage system hasn’t been implemented:

Foreign workers – The two main industries Malaysian workers are generally loath to participate in are the construction and plantation industry. As a result, Malaysia takes in a significant amount of foreigners to work in these sectors. Consequently, the salary paid is actually lower than that paid for the local equivalent. If minimum wages were to be introduced, the cost incurred would end up being heaps more than the current situation. And we can’t have that can we, oh great and powerful corporations??

Strength of unions – ha ha ha, the problem here is that there’s a ridiculous LACK of it here. The MTUC has virtually no lobbying power whatsoever.

Economics – If a general worker’s salary increased, supposedly a person in a much higher position would ask for more too, as in a chain effect (regardless of how much the disparity was in the 1st place!!) And as such, Malaysia’s competitiveness in the World Economy would be affected. Yes, apparently we’re more concerned with our competitiveness in the World than the welfare of our lower-income people.

Yet, somehow, despite our Govt’s refusal to implement a minimum wage system, costs continue to increase. Fuel is a main factor, which gives off a chain effect too!!! The argument that "WE’RE STILL CHEAPER than other countries" just doesn’t have much weight anymore, give me a break. Oh, and in the news today, our beloved Transport Minister has just warned us to be ready for increasing toll rates, simply because it’s in the contract between the Govt and the Highway companies, despite highways being a public amenity!

It seems all appears to be well with the big guys. Yet the small fries still need to be taken into account. And in the end, the small fries make the big guys… And the Govt needs to remember this sometimes...

So, yes, Tech and Michelle , you are both right!

Top 20 Playlist....

Oh wow... how can one do this... So many songs...
Okay, firstly, there's no order to this, I think that would take AGES to do...

So here's a list, as of now (in no particular order)

1. Grease Remix 20th Anniversary (John Travolta + Olivia Newton John) - Actually if i did have an order, this
would be first!
2. I will fly - Ten2Five
3. My Sharona - The Knack
4. There's More to Life than this - Bjork
5. Creep - Radiohead
6. Nothing's gonna stop us now - Starship
7. I hate Myself for Loving You - Joan Jett and the Black Hearts
8. The Man Who Sold The World - David Bowie
9. Ironic - Alanis Morissette
10. Milik Siapakah Gadis ini - Sudirman
11. Smells like Team Spirit - Nirvana
12. Tell Her About It - Billy Joel
13. I'm still standing - Elton John
14. Tempted - Squeeze
15. I would do anything for love - Meatloaf
16. Hyperballad - Bjork
17. With or Without You - U2
18. Calypso - Spiderbait
19. Song 2 - Blur
20. Kiss - Prince

These are songs I could listen to again and again and again and again....

EPL weekend kick-off!!!

Yeap, the season's back, folks, and if anything, I'm gripped in football fever more than ever!

Having said that, I was so frustrated by the way Liverpool played in the 1st half, I was actually flipping channels watching video clips....Sloppy, very sloppy... Not too mention I was extremely annoyed by the fact that until the 57th minute, Liverpool's formation was 4-5-1!!!!!!!

Second half they came alive though, Gerrard had so many chances but just couldn't capitalise... match ended 0-0 to many a Liverpool fan's frustration.. Middlesborough even went down to 10 men in the 74th minute!!
So frustrating...

Meanwhile, it was a rain-soaked day for cricket, but thankfully with the few overs played, Warne and Gillespie held off the English attack...

RockStar INXS: Brandon is out!!

alright, i actually got 2 out of 3 again this time around, that being Suzie and Jessica. Typically, the person who got kicked was the one I DIDN'T think would be in the bottom three, in this case, Brandon!

Apparently he got stuck in a rut, and just plummeted to a point of no return. He just couldn't shrug off his Bluesy style, ended up missing lyrics and keys, and ultimately, the boat. And that was that.

SUZIE, GIVE ME A MEOW!!!!

Lazy hazy days...

I'm looking outside, and everything looks so white... (Okay, correct me if I'm wrong here)

On a personal basis, I can still deal with the visibility of the last two days. But it's getting ridiculous.

I hate the smell though! The smelly air is getting to me...

RockStar INXS Week 5

Okay, the highlight of this week wasn't the competitors, it was the host, hottie Brooke Burke's oufit.

Hubba hubba...

Onto the concert, not as spectacular as last week... I think Dave Navarro should stop the mercy compliments that accompany the criticism. If they didn't do well, just say so! They've been around long enough, they can take it!

Suzie: Contrary to what INXS thought, I felt it was a bad arrangement. I think the voters would probably agree with me here. A for effort though.

Marty: Okay, this was amazing. He did Mr. Brightside which is fast becoming one of my favourite Britpop songs, in acoustic. I was sceptical at first, but he pulled it off brilliantly!

Mig: This guy continues to rock on! I predict him to go at least till the top three! Unless he screws up a ballad next week...

Brandon: Okay, so he chose the wrong song. But I think he did okay, performing quite well. Still needs to prove himself though...

Ty: I kinda fell asleep here, so I guess he didn't impress me THAT much ha ha... okay performance I suppose...

Deanna: After last week's shocker, she's looking great and did fantastic!

Jessica: Urgh, what was this weird voice she was trying to do for "Come As You Are"? Did she take the title song literally? This was horrible, and it just might seal the end for her. Kurt Cobain probably turned in his grave

Jordis: I didn't like her performance. It was rather, lacklustre? C'mon Jordis don't take it easy alright you should be moving around a lot more for this song... did the last two performances sap all your energy?? Or was it that visit from your boyfriend ???!! :P

J.D.: Nothing exceptional, but good enough to avoid the bottom three.

My bottom three is therefore----->

Jessica, Suzie and Jordis (it's girl time again!)

And Jessica should get the boot imho, Suzie still has 3 lives (She's a cat, remember?)

“The role is open to all young mothers who want their sons as sons of Satan.”

Here’s the best casting advertisement currently out there:

Wanted: Anti-Christ. Must
have angelic looks, demonic
presence and sinister smile.

If you know anyone who fits the description (should look around 5 yrs old), send a picture and submission to Twentieth Century Fox now!
What movie you say? Well, it’s a remake of this one.



That’s right, if you think your son or little brother is the spawn of Satan (which shouldn’t be TOO hard for some), then sign him up now!
Don’t worry, he won’t be told the part he’s playing, heck he won’t even be allowed to watch the final product (!), until it’s too late…

Competitions!

Just entered a competition to watch the theatre Stomp! Hope I can get tickets :P

I wanna make it a point from now on to enter as many comps as possible, be it CCGs, Radio, Astro, Newspapers, etc... Heck, if they're easy to participate, why not? Screw the ones where you have to sms as many times as possible, those are so phony (to use a phrase by Holden Caulfield ha ha)

Well, as long as they're not too pricey, like those pesky Magic comps... Man, at RM40 for Standard format, it's ridiculously expensive... But I wanna make Nationals, so there ya go!

Marketing Strategies

From Robin to Nightwing! What a name-change. If ever there was a simple example of a successful marketing strategy to get out of someone else's shadow, this is it! What a stroke of genius...

And all of Batman's sidekicks probably suffered inferiority complexes... poor daft sods...

Noooooooooooooooo.....!

Drat, after not being able to access the internet whilst I was in the North last night, I was unable to support the Australian Cricket Team as much as I wanted to!! The score is now 1-1, with England, pulling off a two run win... If only I had watched, OZ would've won! (yes, in this case I believe the cricket world revolves around me!)

As much as I detest the Pommies, all credit to them for finally scoring a win while the Ashes Series is still alive, something that had not been done since 2000. Lovely to find out that Australia's last two wickets were worth 100+ runs though!

Of course, doesn't matter coz Australia will still win the series...

Decisions decisions

Is currently 12:15am. At 4 o'clock I'll be driving north for a, say, 4 hour drive, which would include a breakfast stop.

Question: Should I try to get some sleep now??
If I did I'd get around 3 hours of sleep roughly, is that advisable, i don't know...
Sheesh at my age, I should have figured out these things by now!

Oh well, approximately 15 overs of cricket left, guess I'll decide after...

Yes Azmin, even things like this you procrastinate..

Woolgathering time!!! College years...

Dug up my ole residential college (University College) yearbook 1999 and re-living some funky memories!

Dodgy extract from the autograph section of my yearbook:



Yeap, those good old years of college...

And just to clarify, that Marian is spelled with an 'a'.! ha ha...

Results of RSINXS Wk4!

Of course, the results were preceded with an encore by Miss Jordis, who was amazing yesterday AND today!

Bottom three turned out to be Brandon, Ty, and Tara (2 out of 3 for my predictions). Ty was unsurprisingly defiant, though. I also noticed Jessica had yet another skimpy top again... Tactics, maybe? ha ha...

In the end, Tara's luck run out, and truth be told, her elimination performance was really lacklustre. Guess her heart wasn't in it anymore... poor thing... Suzie cried of course !

See ya next week :D

Blister in the Sun: Violent Femmes

I hadn't heard this song for so long, so when it popped up in RS: INXS it was good times! It's been awhile since I posted lyrics, so here ya go:

When I’m out walking I strut my stuff yeah I’m so strung out
I’m high as a kite I just might stop to check you out
Let me go on like I blister in the sun
Let me go on big hands I know you're the one

Body and beats I stain my sheets I don’t even know why
My girlfriend she’s at the end she is starting to cry
Let me go on like I blister in the sun
Let me go on big hands I know you're the one...

Bloody simple lyrics, yet fun to listen too!

WE WILL ROCK YOU!!!

RockStar INXS Week 4!

Is Suzie gonna cry all the way until she gets eliminated??! It's getting really annoying... The voice control clinic was fascinating though...

Anyways, the song choices this week had some cool stuff, most notably David Bowie, Queen and The Police all in one night!!! It's like an precursor to Zouk's Mambo night ha ha...

It was a great concert, recovered after last week's dismal showing (by comparison). Unfortunately, this also meant that Dave Navarro turned into Paula Abdul again, ha ha!

Mig: Sang "We Will Rock You!". Loved it to death and it certainly set the stage. Oh well, he

Tara: Hmm... she just might drop again... not satisfying...

Ty: Oops, he's starting to show signs of vulnerability. And unlike him, I have heard the song before ha ha!

Marty: Good performance, but kinda looked identical to last week's, and that's not good.

Jordis: "The Man Who Sold The World" She didn't sound like David Bowie or Nirvana, but made the song her own!!!!!!!!!!! It was an extremely high quality performance and she's definitely building momentum!

Jordis Unga (lovely tattoo too!)

JD: A great performance after last week's lucky escape...

Deanna: What the heck, this was an almost freakin' LAPDANCE!!! What, was she feeling insecure after the vocal clinic! I thought she sang okay but this was ridiculous..

Jessica: I thought she did alarmingly well, despite her defeatist attitude in the mansion. Her whining is bothersome. In a Communist world, she'd be shot.

Suzie: Hello, welcome back to the bottom three. Sorry Suz, I wasn't impressed.

Brandon: Personally I thought it was plain bad. Seems like where Jordis is gaining momentum, he's losing it. Rapidly. (Yes, I'm still unhappy with him from last week)

Bottom Three: Brandon, Suzie, Tara. If the voters felt sick with what Deanna was up to, then she'd be in there too!.

The WGS Personality Quiz!!!

Are you a WGS entity???!!! If you are, check out this link:

The WGS Quiz!

Have fun!!! ha ha ha...

Spending my time...

Been spending time altering my blog's appearance bit by bit... I ended up forgetting to blog yesterday.

I'm just trying to make my blog look clearer, so I've widened the area, and susequently increased the font size

(That Tagging Board is giving me shit, though...removed it until service returns to normal, if ever)

Plus the fact I'm in several wars in the WGS Forum ha ha!!!!

It's been a year!

A bit over a year since I started this blog. At this point, I'm just glad that I'm writing all sorts of trash. It's fun fun fun!

Thanks to all readers, thanks to my friends, and heartfelt thanks to those special few who, whether directly or indirectly, helped to make this blog happen and sustain itself. You know who you all are...

Here's to the next year!

Quick Fantastic Four review (with spoilers)

Alright, if you haven't watched the movie stop right now...

Okay, let's get the main purist issue out of the way first. Victor Von Doom, say what??? What, they couldn't think of a way to make him menacing on film without giving him flashy powers? The evil genius of Dr. Doom is what he's all about. Taking that away from him just changes the character entirely. Is it because they were afraid they couldn't convince the movie-goers that a no-powers human brilliant genius (albeit with some limited mystical knowledge) could take on a whole superhero quartet?

The comic that started it all

(I wanted to post Jessica Alba but I think that pic's been done to death on the Web, ha ha)

Okay, onto business...

This movie has the problem of having extremely successful superhero movies preceding it. From Spiderman, X-Men, and most recently Batman Begins, Fantastic Four was always gonna have a tough time in front of the critics.

The main difference in terms of superhero comics was that the FF did not have secret identities. Sure they had codenames but everyone knew who they were. In a sense, this caused the comic stories to be less darker and more colourful than the rest, and consequently, the movie too.

And when it followed Batman Begins, it just looked horrible.

But for all that, I think the movie did okay. It set out what it intended to do, i.e. have a more colourful, cheerful image of the typical superhero group (in this case, family). Although there were other things I didn't like, e.g. Reed's wimpiness with Sue, and Ben Grimm changing BACK into The Thing (where'd the additional power come from? And is the machine still around???!), the Fantastic Four movie was a success in its own way.

Oh, and of course, they found a way to show Jessica Alba in skimpy undies. Never doubted it for a sec!

The Importance of Follow-Up

Back when I was in KPMG, to a lot of fellow colleagues and myself, the word Follow-up was pretty much a four letter word that happened to start with the word F as well. In audit, doing the initial work seemed much easier than chasing people to get outstanding stuff. It's like writing a brilliant opening chapter for your novel, only to experience writer's block in the next.

Nevertheless, it becomes really important not to let any momentum built up thus far simply wash out.

Case in point:

I was at Zouk's Mambo night Special on Wednesday evening (thanks Ruud!), and the Grease Anniversary Medley came on! I was high enough at this stage I leaped on the already full platform and started replicating the movie dance moves.

Then, halfway through the song, a pretty Chinese girl moved to stand in front of me but on the dance floor. She didn't dance, she just looked at me doing my nonsense, smiling sweetly all the time. Towards the end (the slow Summer Loving portion) I started singing to her and she smiled on. Song ends, I introduced myself (still on the platform) with a handshake. Her name was Ju Shuen (not sure bout the spelling). Then she walks away from the dance floor, and throws one more smile at me. And what did I not do?

I didn't FOLLOW UP!!!!!!!!!!!!! Damn damn damn, I just continued dancing instead... An opportunity passed up, just like that...

This is wishful thinking I KNOW, but I hope to high hope that our paths will cross again...

Anywayz, I'd like to write bout Mambo more, (it was an Abba theme night!) but that has ta appear elsewhere on the web ha ha...

Nooo!!! Unbelievable!!!

Rockstar INXS

The bottom three turned out to be Jessica, Heather and Daphna. I think it would have been close, as at least half of the performers had a bad day. And bloody JD dodged another bullet!

And who did INXS eliminate?

Not one, but TWO performers, Heather AND Daphna!!!! Aieeeee, there goes my favourite. I guess she made a mistake of not showing what INXS asked for, vocal range.

So we're now down to ten, instead of eleven, and that's 1/3rd of what they started with.

And currently in the driving seat, IMHO, are... Mig (yeap, eating my words), Marty, JD and Jordis.

Well!

A few posts ago, I admitted I didn't have any recent pics of my my college buddy, Yee Leng coz I didn't meet up with her. She has since kindly provided me an update with tons of pics. Thank you heaps, dear! Here's some samples, and she looks lovelier than ever!!!

Miss Yee Leng as I live and breathe

Rose Gardens, Budapest

Of course, I can't deny the fact that I'm tremendously jealous finding out she went on a huge 4 week trip to Europe!!! Here's another shot:

That's Mozart back there! Well, a likeness at least...

Apparently, she's also quite an avid photographer. Here's an example which I rather liked myself (okay fine, I can't comment on the colour technique!!! I get it already)


Mirrabel Garden, Salzburg

Europe, Europe, sure I went before but I was bloody well 4-6 yrs old at the time!!!

Patience, Azmin, your time will come...

Hmm, saying that more and more these days ha ha

Broken link...

This entry is for Meeshell,

I would like to draw your attention to the left column of my blog. Scroll up or down until you see Sleepy Jedi Associates in small blue font. Then scroll down to the link after Loco and before Moeology. Then try to click on it and see what happens...

But I do feel sorry for ya for such a ridiculous matter to occur. My condolences and hopefully a replacement will be up and running in the near future...

Till then, that link will remain!

The Dirty Dozen

It's Rockstar:INXS time!!!! (think I'm getting a bit obsessed here!)

Well, as you all know from last week's episode, J.D.'s comments about him loving INXS songs compared to the rest of the group, who have to learn them, didn't sit well with the rest. Antagonism towards him has obviously not gone away and it showed this week.

This week's clinic was rather interesting (unlike last week's which I didn't bother commenting on). The focus was stagecraft and the comments from the two members of INXS were quite insightful, too bad it wasn't an hour show.

The Dirty Dozen

But, the concert was not as good as before, maybe due to the songs available. A lot of the singers seem to have problems with more mellow songs.

Concert Report cards!

1. Mig : For someone whom I originally said "Nope" to, I have slowly been forced to eat my words here. Great performance!

2. J.D. : Looks like the gang has problems believing anything he says now. And his excuse for not doing the song well was pathetic. Terrible showing.

3. Heather : She didn't look scary today, and somehow it affected her singing. Apparently she really WAS sick this time and looked it.

4. Brandon : He sang Twisted, a song which I absolutely LOVE. I first heard the song in Reality Bites (awesome Movie) and it was primarily for this song I bought the soundtrack. BUT! He sang the song horribly!!! This just could be his downfall.

5. Daphna: Going the total opposite of INXS here. One of INXS went so far as to say she murdered the song. I Have to disagree totally! I think she sang great! If anyone murdered a song, it was Brandon! But I hated her outfit, though.


Daphna Dove

6. Suzie: She's definitely improved, I'll haveta say, definitely one of the harder working contestants here, if only for the fact she listens to criticism and works on it. Will survive again, the cat, but I stand by what I said last week.

7. Tara : Could be better, but comparatively to the other singers she did well. Then again, maybe I'm biased coz I'm partial to David Bowie songs...

8. Ty : Fantastic job.

9. Deanna : I thought she recovered very well after being shafted the previous week, and should avoid elimination

10. Jordis: Love the song (Gimme gimme some lovin') and she lived up to it, regaining my confidence in her.

11. Jessica: I didn't like this either. Jessica's steam seems to be running out

12. Marty: The best performance of the evening! I'm slowly warming up to his voice too!

Finding the bottom three is hard coz a lot of them didn't do well. Here's my list, in no particular order:

Jessica, J.D., Brandon (Yes, I am VERY upset with Brandon's treatment of the song!)

Had to choose between Jessica and Heather, but if Heather drops to bottom three, she won't get kicked coz of her previous solid performances.

So am I totally off my element here!? We'll find out tomorrow!!

Of sports...

Aside from Australian cricket and Liverpool football, I don't really follow many sports religiously. I am aware of Malaysia's achievements on the international stage, e.g. Nicol David's recent win (well done gal!), but usually not till the final stages. If I tune in to pool or tennis on Astro, I usually have a watch, but that's about it. Well, with tennis, it's when Maria Sharapova plays heh heh...

However, sometimes someone becomes so outstanding one just has to look up and take note.

This guy is a monster:

Mr. Lance Armstrong

Yeap, he just ended his involvement in Tour De France by winning his 7th (read: SEVEN), signing off on his cycling career in a flourish. I tell ya, this guy is someone you've just got to admire. You're looking at a guy who, seemingly at the peak of his career, finds out he has advanced testicular cancer spreading to his brain and lungs. He then undergoes chemotherapy and makes it through, establishes a Foundation to help the worldwide battle against cancer, then gets back into competitive cycling and proceeds to win 7 Tour De France competitions. IN A ROW.

You gotta give the guy credit. What an achievement!

Yee Leng, college buddy

Was trying to clean up and organize my e-mails yesterday and came across one I had overlooked before: A Malaysian friend of mine working in S'pore had been home in Malaysia for the holidays for the past four weeks and was going back to S'pore.... ....THAT SAME DAY!!!

Panicked and called her up and luckily enough I caught her about THREE hours before her flight back!!! Phew...
Flattering when I called and she immediately recognised me, going in her classic greeting, "Yes, Azmin..."

I met this gal in my 1st year at Uni, and I went into the same residential college in our final year. I think we became close coz we kept having the same courses. To my memory, the clincher was our Accounting Information Systems assignments.

!Ai de mi! I can never forget those Macros that just kept having us duped!

This is what she looked like 5 years ago (gimme a break, aight?) I don't have any recent pictures of her...



I don't know what she looks like now, although she'll prob. have that professional aura on her. 5 years working in PWC does that to ya...

It was good to catch up with an old friend, esp. a person like me whom, after two weeks not with the WGS gang, miss them like nuts! In any case, having her MSN username makes it a LOT more easier to stay in touch. Hopefully I'll be able to spend more time with her the next time she comes back down, which should be in about two months.

Till then... :)