Are You Living In Your Own World?

Yeah, i know it's been a relatively no-work-ish sort of day in the office, judging by the amount of entries i made today here. Been reading Izham Omar's blog [8tv.com] and came across this interesting piece. Although he posted it a few weeks back, i just wanted to post it on here as well.

"Are You Katak Bawah Tempurung? (Are You Living In Your Own World?)

Are you katak bawah tempurung? Do you ever wonder why some people don't think the same way as you do? Do you ever wonder why everyone else in the world is strange, and you're not?

Are you katak bawah tempurung? Do you think you're the next Mariah Carey and get shell-shocked when suddenly Paul Moss, Roslan Aziz and Fauziah Latiff says you can't sing at all? Are you actually surprised they think that way?

Are you katak bawah tempurung? Do you think people in other countries should think like you do and have the same values as you do? And if they don't then you should invade their country, turn it upside down and tell them how to run it?

Are you katak bawah tempurung? Are you not finished yet with that great novel or script? Are you thinking that your work of art needs a few more touches still and please won't everyone just leave you alone because you're a genius?

Are you katak bawah tempurung? When you walk around your neighbourhood, do you know all the names of the people you meet? Do you care about who they are and how they feel and what's been going in their lives?

Are you katak bawah tempurung? Do you think you know a lot about something and feel compelled to tell people how to do something even if they didn't request your help? And when you communicate with them, they have only very short answers for you and you never even ask yourself why?

Are you katak bawah tempurung? Do you think that you should be respected and revered just because you've been around the longest? Do you pay little attention the little guy who is just starting out because "he doesn't know shit?"

Are you katak bawah tempurung?

Maybe I am katak bawah tempurung " - Ahmad Izham Omar, 8TV

I must admit, i do sometimes fall into some of the categories above, and i have met a lot of people that fall under most of them above as well. I guess the people that i come across the most are the ones that fall under the last one, where the more senior person would not want to listen to the new guy as he assumes that he "doesn't know shit". Working with several different clients, i have seen MANY corporate cultures where when you first join in, you are labelled as someone who knows jack shit, and should just shut the f*ck up and do what you are told. It is quite difficult going up to senior client staff at the start of a project and getting them to listen to what you have to say, especially when proposing something even remotely different or new.

Actually I am pretty glad that i am working in a firm where most of the people do not have that sort of mind set, where *most* of the higher management are open to suggestions from the people below them during a project. I guess it's just a company culture and the sort of people that we recruit.

ps, i have absolutely no idea who the chick in the picture above is

Foreign Strippers Must Submit Photo

Heard this on the radio when i was on the way to work, and someone forwarded to me the link as well. Dont really know whether it is true, but oh my GOD, who on earth would come up with such a thing.

Quote from the article, "Immigration officers are having to pore through naked pictures of hundreds of exotic dancers to keep imposters out of Canada."

OK, how on earth would they be able to keep "imposters" out of their country by looking through naked pictures of them "on the job". But of course, they wouldn't want people disguising themselves as strippers trying to sneak into Canada, would they? Yessir, no non-legit strippers allowed in Canada, please!

Reds batter Glasgow giants

Seems that the pre season games are getting better and better. After beating Wrexham, the Reds trashed [liverpoolfc.tv] the Glasgow giants in the states.

I know it's still just pre-season games, and I know I shouldn't get too excited, and i know that Smicer and Cheryou looked like world class players in the pre-season games when they first arrived, but it doesn't hurt to feel optimistic for the new season. From the reports, it looks as if Rafa has us playing a good passing game, and also some of the players seem to be raising their game as well, like Biscan. I mean, it HAS to be good if even Henchoz himself starts scoring, but then again, as they all say, its JUST the pre season games. Good to see Cisse start scoring as well.

Also, read that Neil Lennon has written us off [soccernet] for the Premiership this year. Very "interesting" comments from him considering the fact that his team were just walloped by the team he oh so confidently has just written off. Again, it's just pre-season, but then again, Neil Lennon, i give you the one fingered salute.

Rafa's first signing

Its been confirmed. Josemi, or Jose Miguel Gonzalez Rey, will be the first signing by Rafa this season.

Seriously, i do not know what to make of this news. I've never seen him play before, nor have i ever heard of him as well. Even my checks with my trusty CM0304 database revealed that he is, according to CM, an average defender, although these are the same people who rated Diouf so highly, he was the player of the season for Liverpool in 2004, which somehow hints to the lack of their credibility.

Anyhow, reading from the descriptions of him online, he seems like a tough tackling defender, one bad-ass mofo, hopefully NOT in the mould of Danny Mills, able to play in central defence, but mainly deployed as a right back. I trust Rafa since he probably has been seing this fella play in the Spanish league the whole of last year, so I guess, bring on the season and i'd wanna see how this fella adapts to the premiership.

Seems like Collocini is on his way as well, which would mean that the defence would then be sorted out. Now, if only those rumours of Joaquim are true as well. Pretty much doubt it though, but one can still dream. Ha ha ha.

Sisqo gets his debut

It's been a slow few days so far in terms of updating my blog. Haven't really had much of a chance being all busy and all, and haven't really been keeping up to date with what's been happening around.

What i do know is that Liverpool played their first pre-season friendly yesterday, giving Sisqo his first start (albeit a friendly start) in a red jersey, well actually they were wearing the fugly new yellow away one. Absolutely hideous. Good to hear that he had a decent game, and LeTallec scored a brace, and also Rafa giving the young ones a chance to impress while he rested our Euro-Stars.

Amazingly though, it seems Biscan had a pretty good game in the center of midfield, so good that Rafa actually commented that he was impressed and he would "like to see more of him in that position". OH MY GOD.

Yeah, yeah, yeah you tell me, that under a new manager, we should give everyone a second chance to prove themselves. Well, at least Diouf was no where in sight, and not even on the subs bench.

Can't wait for the season to start!!

Confusing Times

Somehow for the past few days, I just haven't had the.. inspiration, shall we say, to write anything here. It could either be that there is absolutely nothing happening lately that I feel like writing about, or I have just been so swamped with work that I just haven't had the chance to notice what ever has been happening around me. I think it's more because of the fact that I have been busy, exceptionally, working until the wee hours of the night every day. I am starting to think that it's getting really frightening that the last week just flew by so fast that i have absolutely no recollection of anything happening other than me sitting here in the office in front of my laptop.

I think i have arrived at a crossroads in my life. I feel like i am in desperate need of a change. I am getting bored with my work. I feel very demotivated, and I have a feeling it's been starting to affect the quality of the work that I deliver. Some people would say that i just don't give a damn anymore, but in actual fact i really do. Half of me just says quit your job now, while the other half of me says that I should go through with it until the very end and finish what I started.

Actually I have two choices now.

First would be to choose the path of the selfish bastard and just resign right now. I think i will be much happier. There would definitely be a lot of opportunities out there for me to explore and the earlier i get myself out of this mess, the better. However, the down side to this would be the fact that i would admit that i have given up on something that i have been working hard for the past year or so, and also i would feel that i am abandoning my project team members when they need me the most, especially since we are going through one of the most critical times of the project. I have spoken to some people about this and their advice to me is just not to care, since it is a big company and they will surely find a replacement for me eventually and the fact that it is such a big company, and all the "higher level" people don't really care about the team members as long as the project is delivered, i shouldn't really give a damn. But the actual fact is, i do give a damn and i do care, and that's where the problem lies.

The second option would be to stay on until the end, and finish off what i started. I keep everyone happy, except probably for me. I feel like i am in a rut already, and i don't think i can see myself doing what i am doing now in the long term, and I am also starting to lose interest. It also doesn't help, the fact that the project seems to be crumbling and no matter how hard we try, it just does not seem to help matters at all, if not make it even worse. I am demotivated and devoid of the "passion" to work, and deliver my best, like when i first started working 4 years ago.

So that's my dilemma. Should i be a selfish bastard, or should I just try and keep everyone else happy. It's very confusing and i think it's just time i had a change in my life. Sigh, these are the times when i miss my ex. I used to be able to talk to her about this and she would be at least be able to give some sort of clarity. Sigh. I need to call up my mates and go out tonight.

Later.

Malaysian Idol and Akademi Fantasia

Was a really really dull weekend for me. Nothing much happened, and, me being the "anak mithali" that i am, spent Saturday and Sunday night going out for dinner with my parents at Hartamas and Bangsar. Spent most of the daytime veged out in front of the idiot box surfing through the various channels on Astro without anything keeping me interested for more than an hour or so.

However, i did manage to catch both Akademi Fantasia (AF) on Saturday (blame it on the lack of live football on a Saturday night) and Malaysian Idol (MI) on Sunday noon on good 'ol TV3. One thing that i noticed immediately is the absolute GULF in the talent on show between these two "karaoke" competitions. I mean, MOST of the girls on AF just could NOT hold a tune to save their lives, except for the one that came from Johor, god forbid i remember her name, who supposedly was to be "surprised" by the appearance of the big boned one from last year's AF fame. The guys were waaaaay much better singers and also waaaaay much better performing. But comparing the talent on show on AF with the one's on MI the next day, i would say that probably 80% of the AF hopefuls would not stand a CHANCE against most of the people that were eliminated in the second round. I mean, MI has it's own hits and misses, but i mean, the AF 12 are supposed to be the ones who were picked from an audition of THOUSANDS!! I mean, from the thousands that came to audition for AF, is the 12 that they picked THE BEST that they could come up with?

I actually, am more impressed with the MI contestants, and it is actually good that they show it from the auditions itself so we can actually get entertained with the lengths that some people actually go to during the auditions. I remember watching it last Sunday (yes yes, i did sort of follow American Idol before, so i thought, might as well give us Malaysians a try), and i could remember watching ONE OF THE WORST and HIDEOUS and GROSS and UNSIGHTLY scenes i have seen on local television. You know, the one where the slightly overwight guy (?) giving his impression of Kylie Minogue and "Spinning Around", with the ULTRA-SHORT YELLOW SHORTS AS WELL. OH... MY... GOD... is only what i could say. I mean, i think it's absolutely HOT what Kylie did, and the year when she came out with that video, i admitted that sometimes, shorts can be even hotter than mini skirts. BUT OH.. MY.. GOD.. That fella has just spoilt that sweet memory of mine. Tainted forever. Actually i am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he actually lost a bet, or he is bound to receive HUGE AMOUNTS OF PLAIN HARD CASH to such an obscene national television showing, and if that is indeed the case, good on him. But still, absolutely gruesome.

Another one i remember from yesterday's show was the small kid, who i must say, did impress me during the first round auditions. I actually was looking forward to seeing how he would fare since we could be uncovering our own "hedgehog haired-one" (well, without the hedgehod hair). Sad to say, he turned out to be absolutely tone deaf. Sorry boy, if you can't sing in tune, much like me, i don't think you would have a chance being the first Malaysian Idol. Maybe he can go home and get some "tone practice" (is there even such a thing?) and come back next year?

I never fails to amaze me how people can just go out there in front of the camera and a panel of three "judges" and just audition without any supporting music. It must take a lot of balls just to be there. However, it also never fails to amaze me how some people can be so utterly deluded that they have a voice of the next "Mariah Carey" when it is plain bleedingly obvious that it's much closer to William Hung. Oh well, at least it provides the rest of us with some much needed entertainment on an otherwise dull Sunday afternoon. (Can't get 8tv at home)

Later.

It's worrying...

Signs that I am spending too much time in the office.

Last night, when i reached home, i took out my office door tag and was wondering and i was standing in the front door wondering for a second or two that i could not find any place to swipe it.

Secondly, nowadays at home, whenever i try to make a phone call out from the house phone, i always accidentally press "9" first. It's like it's becoming second nature to me already.

This is getting very very worrying.

Oh... My... God...

Oh my god. What a weekend for the underdogs. Firstly, on Saturday night, i was flicking through the channels randomly while i was waiting for my friends to decide where we should hang out that night, when i stumbled upon the Wimbledon's womens final. All i can say is, Maria Sharapova is HOT! My god! And she can even play tennis, unlike some other Russian womens tennis player who would be better off appearing on some "Enrique" watshisname music video. To think that she's only 17 years old and was only ranked 15th seed, to go all the way to the final and defeat the defending champion, one half of the Williams sisters, Serena? I must admit though that i was definitely biased when it came to who i was supporting for THIS tenning match.

Another "oh my god" moment came early this morning, when Carasteas ( is that how you spell it? ) headed in the winning goal for the Greeks to put them into history as one of the most unlikelist winners of the Euro Championships. This is even much more astounding compared to the Danes 12 years back, because at least then, the Danes had Schmeichel and the Laudrup brothers who were footballing stars already before the championships. Who did the Greeks have this time? Stelios Giannakopolous from good ol Bolton Wanderers, and Ex-Leicester City reject, Zagorakis (Even more astounding that he received the man of the match award!!).

All in all, congratulations to the Greeks for their astounding win over the Portuguese. It shows that you dont' need to have star players to win football tournaments. All you need is a team that works together as a team and also a tactic that complements the bunch of players that you have. In Greek's case, defend for your lives and hit the opposition on the break / counter attack / headed goal from a corner (pick one of the above).

Also congratulations to Maria Sharapova on her tremendous feat of winning Wimbledon. Now, THIS gives me a reason to start following womens tennis again, which ceased a few years back when Hingis decided to call it quits. It's the tennis skill i tell you.. the tennis skils...

From my inbox: Dilbert Quotes

Dilbert's Best Quotes. ps and Sophie Marceau is HOT.

1. I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow is not looking good either.

2. I love deadlines. I especially like the whooshing sound they make as they go flying by.

3. Tell me what you need, and I'll tell you how to get along without it.

4. Accept that some days you are the pigeon and some days the statue.

5. Needing someone is like needing a parachute. If he isn't there the first time, chances are you won't be needing him again.

6. I DON'T HAVE AN ATTITUDE PROBLEM, YOU HAVE A PERCEPTION PROBLEM.

7. Last night I lay in bed looking up at the stars in the sky, and I thought to myself, "where the heck is the ceiling?"

8. My reality cheque bounced.

9. On the keyboard of life, always keep one finger on the escape key.

10. I don't suffer from stress. I am a carrier.

11. You are slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter.

12. Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, because you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

13. Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.

14. Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level, then beat you with experience.

15. A pat on the back is only a few inches from a kick in the butt.

16. Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.

17. After any salary raise, you will have less money at the end of the month than you did before.

18. The more crap you put up with, the more crap you are going to get.

19. You can go anywhere you want if you look serious and carry a clipboard.

20. Eat one live toad the first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.

21. If it wasn't for the last minute, nothing would get done.

22. When you don't know what to do, walk fast and look worried.

23. Following the rules will not get the job done.

24. When confronted by a difficult problem, you can solve it more easily by reducing it to the question, "How would the Lone Ranger handle this?"

25. Only the mediocre are at their best all the time.

26. There's a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.

27. Bring ideas in and entertain them royally, for one of them may be the king.

28. If at first you don't succeed...... skydiving isn't for you.

29. Life is a waste of time; time is a waste of life, so get wasted all of the time and have the time of your life.

30. When everything is coming your way...... you're in the wrong lane.

Greece Lightning

Note to self, never write off a team that plays defensive minded tactics, EVER. It looks like history might be repeating itself again, as in Euro 92 (was it 92, i am not sure), where the Danes came from total obscurity of being called in to play to make up the numbers, and went all the way to win the tournament, playing mind numbingly defensive football all the way. Actually, I can see it happening again. The Greeks are a very organized bunch of players and defensively sound as well. They marked Koller and Baros completely out of the game last night, and once Nedved left the game limping, I had a funny feeling in my mind that the "not thought about" might just happen. None of the players that night had a particularly outstanding game, and i can barely remember any Greek player who actually stood out last night, either due to none of them actually had an outstanding game, or all of them looked and sounded the same to me considering the fact that the only Greek players i know are Stelios from Bolton and Theo Zagorakis from Leicester City.

Am still in a state of shock and as far as i can remember, time stood still for me for a whole 5 minutes after the Greeks scored the winning goal as my whole body went numb and i just kept on staring into the screen. Either that or i was just too sleepy at that time and my brain was giving an ultra vespa-esque reaction to the fact that the Greeks had scored the goal at the precise time when the Czechs would not have any time to reply. It was a "semi-golden" silver goal. Instant elimination. There goes my "revised" dream final of Czech v Portugal. I can see the game already, Portugal constantly hammering the Greeks defense while the Greeks try and hit the Portuguese on the break. Still am not sure who to support in the finals.

Who knows, that might just work. Ask the Danes. Expect the unexpected. Predict the unpredictable. It might just happen. I am blurr. Where's my coffee?!!

NOOoooooooo!!!

Portugal are in the finals

The host nation of Euro 2004 have made it to the finals of a major international football tournament for the first time, despatching the Oranje's in the semifinals early this morning. Without a shadow of a doubt, the Portuguese team were the much better side of the night although i got a bit irritated with the referree since i thought he gave a LOT of the 50-50 decisions in favour of the hosts. All in all, i was impressed by Figo, who i rate as the man of the match, and i think he had a point to prove after being substituted in the England match. The dutch were pretty disappointing though, and the only shot on target they had (i am not counting the goal since it was an own goal) was the one that was ruled offside, and i was pretty disappointed with Makaay and Van der Vaart who both did fark all when they came on.

At the end of the day, it was a fair result, and the better "football playing" team went through.

I liked the quote by the commentator when the Dutch got their one goal back and he said something like "Now, let's see whether the Oranje's still have some juice in them". THAT got me wide awake with laughter in the morning.

Am still wondering whether Nuno Maniche's "goal of the tournament-elect" was actually meant to be a shot on goal, or was it more of a "Gronkjaer-esque effort" since i didnt really see the goal in real time as the camera was showing a replay when the goal actually happened!

Still wondering how i am still surviving being up and working during the day today. On the other hand, it could just be the 3 cans of Coca Cola Light i just downed.

COME ON YOU CZECHS!! A Czech - Portugal final, now the thought of that makes one salivate. If that indeed happens, it will most likely be a high scoring final. No more of that 1 - 0 defensive football crap.