The Ramblings of ExecutorAzmin, Liverpool fan extraordinaire - with a focus on fantasy football!
Categories
Pages
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Football dreams!!!
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!!!
Unfortunately, one still has ta go... and I can't say who. Good luck people!!!
Merdeka!!!
I am feeling great today, things are looking up...
The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades....
Monday, August 29, 2005
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
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...
Sunday, August 28, 2005
FFL (Supplement)
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!
Friday, August 26, 2005
Fantasy Football League
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!!!
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
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....
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
The Magnificent 7!
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!
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Sorry I'm not home right now, I'm walking into spider webs, so leave a message and I'll call you back...
Monday, August 22, 2005
Interesting 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... :)
Saturday, August 20, 2005
Didn't know how to react!
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!!
Thursday, August 18, 2005
RS: INXS Results for Week 6
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...!
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Week 6: Acoustics round...
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...
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Urkk...
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
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!!!!
Monday, August 15, 2005
Minimum Wages
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!
Sunday, August 14, 2005
Top 20 Playlist....
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!!!
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...
Thursday, August 11, 2005
RockStar INXS: Brandon is out!!
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...
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...
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
RockStar INXS Week 5
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?)
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
“The role is open to all young mothers who want their sons as sons of Satan.”
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…
Monday, August 08, 2005
Competitions!
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
And all of Batman's sidekicks probably suffered inferiority complexes... poor daft sods...
Sunday, August 07, 2005
Noooooooooooooooo.....!
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...
Saturday, August 06, 2005
Decisions decisions
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..
Friday, August 05, 2005
Woolgathering time!!! College years...
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...
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Results of RSINXS Wk4!
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
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!!!
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!
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!.
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Spending my time...
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!!!!