Just downloaded this new software blogbuddy which i think is just so damn cool. I got the link from this other blog that i came across just now and decided to download the tool myself and give it a go. So, please do excuse me for having some minor spasms of cheap thrills while i type this blog into this new toy of mine. Its like so darn convienient, since it minimizes into your system tray and can be recalled anytime i have an urge to write something (which is in fact not that often lately). However, i don't think it would appeal to the more "advanced" bloggers out there since you can only perform text-like entries into it. Also, now that i realize it, i don't think i would be able to preview my post before i actually post it either. Oh well, but i guess for my personal use, it should be more than sufficient.
Just decided to come online since they just finished the first half of the Newcastle and Blackburn game which i find myself just mildly interested in. Who decides what games they show on the television anyway? I wonder why they decided to show this one particular game instead of the Liverpool Man City match which one would presume would have a lot more people wanting to watch it? Or maybe not? I guess it's probably because the live telecast games are streamed live from Sky Sports in UK and in UK probably there are a LOT of people who would want to watch Newcastle and Blackburn fight it out at St Jame's Park. Oh well.
My brother just told me that they have an update of the Liverpool match and it seems Liverpool are one down already courtesy of a Nick Anelka goal. Shucks. Oh well.
Later.
Monday, December 29, 2003
Friday, December 26, 2003
It's been a busy busy busy week
I haven't been writing in here for quite a while already. One reason for this is that works been pretty hectic already as my current project has just started to get rolling this week and hence the ultra long hours in the office. I am still trying to get up more updates as often as possible, but I don’t think it will be as often as before, (like when I was still having my cheap thrill of just getting a blog and putting in entries every 5 minutes or so).
The other reason for me not finding any time to get my creative juices flowing would be due to me indulging myself in the writings of one of my favourite authors, Messer Nick “Arsenal Supporting” Hornby himself. A friend of mine passed over to me “How to be Good”, since he found out that I really really really enjoyed the last three Hornby books I read, About A Boy (which I also watched the movie, the one with the flopsy haired one in it), High Fidelity (which I ALSO watched the movie, which was ALSO a pretty good movie in itself, but not as good as the book), and also Fever Pitch, (no, I have not seen THIS movie yet, although I have in good authority, that the movie is pretty good but AGAIN, not as good as the book (actually, which movie has EVER been as the book that it is based upon?), the first of the Hornby’s that I read. Actually the only reason I actually bought Fever Pitch was because I was waiting for a friend in the MPH in Bangsar and by random chance actually picked up the book, started reading it and then suddenly laughed hysterically by myself in front of absolute strangers while I was reading it.
I think I truly enjoyed Fever Pitch since it is a true story about Hornby himself, writing about his life as an Arsenal supporter, and me, being a fan of another particular English team could easily relate to the emotions and feelings that he was trying to express in the book. I actually recommended it to some of my non-football following friends, but they seemed to think it was pretty dry though. But there was on part in the book which I still find absolutely hilarious until now. It was during a match in which he watched in the stadium where he brought his at that time girlfriend, and some other friends. He was absolutely totally engrossed in watching the match and cheering and supporting the Arsenal, that when his girlfriend suddenly collapsed and fell to the ground, the other friends that came with him had to pick her up and bring her outside to get a breath of fresh air. He was totally oblivious to what had happened, or he just didn’t bother to help since supposedly when he is cheering the Arsenal, nothing else get in between him and shouting to the top of his lungs whenever one of the player misses yet another sitter in front of the goal. I guess it was just a way for him to demonstrate how absolutely fanatical bordering on psychotic he was when it comes to his Arsenal.
“How to be Good”, on the other hand, is not a true story. According to some reviews I read on the net, it seems that this isn’t as good as his other works. I actually haven’t finished the book yet, probably around ¾ done already, but I can say that I am not disappointed by this one at all. In this book, Hornby writes from a first person perspective (AGAIN), of a woman who is supposedly a self confessed “good person”. The only reasoning for her being a good person is because she is a doctor, and doctors heal people, save lives and hence, a good person. She, however, is married to a “not good” person, David, who is actually not a very nice person. He is a columnist who writes a column as the angriest man of some town which I don’t really know the name of. Anyway, his job is basically to just complain and rant about anything in the world, making him seem like a very angry person. So, seeing that she is married to a bad person, she sorts of justifies herself having an affair with this other guy, which after the first night together with this other guy, she realizes that it is absolutely wrong. Oh yeah, she also asks for a divorce with David. Anyway, once David finds out about the divorce, he goes and sees this faith healer friend of his, weirdly named, DJ GoodNew, and hence he has been transformed from the angriest man in… wait let me check the book… ah yes.. “The Angriest Man in Holloway” to a person who actually calls up every person in the neighborhood and starts an “Adopt a homeless kid into your empty room of the house” program. Anyway, since I haven’t actually finished it yet, I can’t write much more about it. However, from what I have read so far, David (the former angriest man in Holloway) has now started to do more and more selfless acts of kindness in which just seems to be angering the main character even more than before. I think what the main message that comes out from this book is that you will never know what you really have until you have lost it, and you never know what you wished for, even though it seems better, would be the best thing for you in the long run. What the main character wished in the beginning was that the husband would change and not be angry anymore. In the end, the husband did change, he is not angry anymore, but he gets up her nerves even more, by doing his selfless acts of kindness and goodness.
Hornby isn’t the only writer that I sort of follow. When I was in standard five, when all my other friends were reading The Lord of The Rings (I have just watched the Return of the King, and I must say I am absolutely impressed by the whole trilogy. In Christmas 2001, when I watched the Fellowship of the Ring for the first time in Mid Valley, I just couldn’t wait for the ending. And now that it has actually ended, I must say that it was not disappointing at all. An absolutely breathtaking example of cinematic mastery. Actually I think if I had read the book before, probably I would have said that it was not as good, but what the heck. The only time I had actually attempted to digest the book was when I was in standard five, around 10 -11 years old, and the sight of the thickness of that book which was absolutely daunting. The book itself was also too complex for me at that time. Probably I should try and read it now, come to think of it),I read ALL of Roald Dahl’s books, from The BFG, Mathilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Witches. Out of those, Mathilda, Charlie and the Chocolate factory, and Witches have all been converted on to the silver screen, but I still enjoy the books much more. I think it’s because when I was small, my imagination can just run wild when reading story books, and when you read those books, you just imagine this absolutely wonderful world that you create that the characters live in. Seeing the movies just limits your imagination to what the director wants you to see, and not what YOU think it should be. I’ve also read all the Harry Potter books so far, and I also still think that the books are definitely much better than the silver screen versions. Its just that some of the things that happened during the movie, I just imagined it to be so much much more spectacular, I guess. Other books that I have read this year would be the three novels by Tony Parsons, Man and Boy, Man and Wife, and Something (?) for my Baby. Three pretty good books as well, but after I finished the first one (Man and Boy), the other two just seemed a tad bit repetitive since it deals around with the same issues and all. I read somewhere that people are thinking of converting these to the movies. We shall wait and see.
Anyway, gonna make a move now. Probably am a bit late, but just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Will probably have another entry before the New Year since there is a lot of stuff I still want to write about.
So, take care of yourselves, and each other. Laters.
The other reason for me not finding any time to get my creative juices flowing would be due to me indulging myself in the writings of one of my favourite authors, Messer Nick “Arsenal Supporting” Hornby himself. A friend of mine passed over to me “How to be Good”, since he found out that I really really really enjoyed the last three Hornby books I read, About A Boy (which I also watched the movie, the one with the flopsy haired one in it), High Fidelity (which I ALSO watched the movie, which was ALSO a pretty good movie in itself, but not as good as the book), and also Fever Pitch, (no, I have not seen THIS movie yet, although I have in good authority, that the movie is pretty good but AGAIN, not as good as the book (actually, which movie has EVER been as the book that it is based upon?), the first of the Hornby’s that I read. Actually the only reason I actually bought Fever Pitch was because I was waiting for a friend in the MPH in Bangsar and by random chance actually picked up the book, started reading it and then suddenly laughed hysterically by myself in front of absolute strangers while I was reading it.
I think I truly enjoyed Fever Pitch since it is a true story about Hornby himself, writing about his life as an Arsenal supporter, and me, being a fan of another particular English team could easily relate to the emotions and feelings that he was trying to express in the book. I actually recommended it to some of my non-football following friends, but they seemed to think it was pretty dry though. But there was on part in the book which I still find absolutely hilarious until now. It was during a match in which he watched in the stadium where he brought his at that time girlfriend, and some other friends. He was absolutely totally engrossed in watching the match and cheering and supporting the Arsenal, that when his girlfriend suddenly collapsed and fell to the ground, the other friends that came with him had to pick her up and bring her outside to get a breath of fresh air. He was totally oblivious to what had happened, or he just didn’t bother to help since supposedly when he is cheering the Arsenal, nothing else get in between him and shouting to the top of his lungs whenever one of the player misses yet another sitter in front of the goal. I guess it was just a way for him to demonstrate how absolutely fanatical bordering on psychotic he was when it comes to his Arsenal.
“How to be Good”, on the other hand, is not a true story. According to some reviews I read on the net, it seems that this isn’t as good as his other works. I actually haven’t finished the book yet, probably around ¾ done already, but I can say that I am not disappointed by this one at all. In this book, Hornby writes from a first person perspective (AGAIN), of a woman who is supposedly a self confessed “good person”. The only reasoning for her being a good person is because she is a doctor, and doctors heal people, save lives and hence, a good person. She, however, is married to a “not good” person, David, who is actually not a very nice person. He is a columnist who writes a column as the angriest man of some town which I don’t really know the name of. Anyway, his job is basically to just complain and rant about anything in the world, making him seem like a very angry person. So, seeing that she is married to a bad person, she sorts of justifies herself having an affair with this other guy, which after the first night together with this other guy, she realizes that it is absolutely wrong. Oh yeah, she also asks for a divorce with David. Anyway, once David finds out about the divorce, he goes and sees this faith healer friend of his, weirdly named, DJ GoodNew, and hence he has been transformed from the angriest man in… wait let me check the book… ah yes.. “The Angriest Man in Holloway” to a person who actually calls up every person in the neighborhood and starts an “Adopt a homeless kid into your empty room of the house” program. Anyway, since I haven’t actually finished it yet, I can’t write much more about it. However, from what I have read so far, David (the former angriest man in Holloway) has now started to do more and more selfless acts of kindness in which just seems to be angering the main character even more than before. I think what the main message that comes out from this book is that you will never know what you really have until you have lost it, and you never know what you wished for, even though it seems better, would be the best thing for you in the long run. What the main character wished in the beginning was that the husband would change and not be angry anymore. In the end, the husband did change, he is not angry anymore, but he gets up her nerves even more, by doing his selfless acts of kindness and goodness.
Hornby isn’t the only writer that I sort of follow. When I was in standard five, when all my other friends were reading The Lord of The Rings (I have just watched the Return of the King, and I must say I am absolutely impressed by the whole trilogy. In Christmas 2001, when I watched the Fellowship of the Ring for the first time in Mid Valley, I just couldn’t wait for the ending. And now that it has actually ended, I must say that it was not disappointing at all. An absolutely breathtaking example of cinematic mastery. Actually I think if I had read the book before, probably I would have said that it was not as good, but what the heck. The only time I had actually attempted to digest the book was when I was in standard five, around 10 -11 years old, and the sight of the thickness of that book which was absolutely daunting. The book itself was also too complex for me at that time. Probably I should try and read it now, come to think of it),I read ALL of Roald Dahl’s books, from The BFG, Mathilda, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Witches. Out of those, Mathilda, Charlie and the Chocolate factory, and Witches have all been converted on to the silver screen, but I still enjoy the books much more. I think it’s because when I was small, my imagination can just run wild when reading story books, and when you read those books, you just imagine this absolutely wonderful world that you create that the characters live in. Seeing the movies just limits your imagination to what the director wants you to see, and not what YOU think it should be. I’ve also read all the Harry Potter books so far, and I also still think that the books are definitely much better than the silver screen versions. Its just that some of the things that happened during the movie, I just imagined it to be so much much more spectacular, I guess. Other books that I have read this year would be the three novels by Tony Parsons, Man and Boy, Man and Wife, and Something (?) for my Baby. Three pretty good books as well, but after I finished the first one (Man and Boy), the other two just seemed a tad bit repetitive since it deals around with the same issues and all. I read somewhere that people are thinking of converting these to the movies. We shall wait and see.
Anyway, gonna make a move now. Probably am a bit late, but just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Will probably have another entry before the New Year since there is a lot of stuff I still want to write about.
So, take care of yourselves, and each other. Laters.
Thursday, December 18, 2003
I need my Chillies!!
Americans like 'em big. No, i wasn't talking about THAT, but in general, from my point of view, they like big things. Just look at their cars for instance. This is the country that made the SUV popular. But not your itsy bitsy teeny weeny SUVs that we Malaysian go crazy about like the CRV, or the Xtrail, or the Kia Sportage. I shouldn't even mention our local offering, the Kembara (is that an SUV in the first place?). No. Them Americans lust for 'em huge ass, gas guzzling Suburbans or Trailblazers. A small engined, fuel efficient, practical Honda Civic Hybrid for you, sir? No way. Gimme one of those Suburbans.
Now, i don't have anything against SUVs (And i don't have anything against Americans either). I, myself, would love to ditch my seven year old, power window failing, body parts shaking piece of Malaysia Boleh technology called the Satria and get myself one of those Ford Escapes or one of those Nissan XTrails. But once my heart has stopped thinking and my head kicks into gear, i just realize that one of those aren't really practical for now. I mean, i LOVE the interior space and the huge boot, and the ego boost of potraying a macho, outdoor-ish sort of image to everyone. But the mileage you get from one of those SUVs aren't really what you could call economical. And for someone like me who can barely afford paying the gas of a puny 1.3cc engined piece of semi-malaysian engineering, i guess i'll just have to put off my SUV driving plans for the time being.
Another thing that Americans like 'em huge are their food. The portions that they serve at ANY American styled restaurant, and you will see what i mean. The quantity of food that they consume in a single serving is unbelieveable. I just had a project team lunch a few days back at the Chillies in KLCC and i must say the portions that they serve there are definitely "American". Chillies is one of my favourite places to eat. The food is good there. The portions are extremely good. The atmosphere is, well, OK lah. But the one major gripe that i have with them is their "No Bookings, First Come First Served" policy. I know that they have enough people going there for dinners and lunches to not give a damn about their booking policy, but it is just a major pain in the arse when you want to have a group lunch there for 10 people. It also doesnt help that they ALSO have another policy that you need to have at least 3/4 of your total group before they give you a table. So, out the window goes the plan to send one fella first to book the tables and wait for us to get there. But what the heck. I STILL go there for their nachos and fajitas and their chocolate dessert. Dammit. I can't for the life of me remember what its called!
Anyway, i ordered myself the BBQ ribs that day since i felt like trying something new. The dish, when it came well, didn't really look THAT appealing. It was just one huge slab of ribs, and at the side some fries and one full corn on the cob served with it. Thats it. No garnishing whatsoever, and no vegetables to come with it. One cut into the meat and you know that the meat that they serve there is some good grade A prime and tender beef. However, once i started to eat it, i sort of started to remember that BBQ isn't really one of my favourite flavours. It sort of tastes like tomato sauce, it has the sour-ish tomato taste to it, but its not exactly tomato sauce. It also has a tinge of spiciness to it. Actually now that i'm thinking about it, BBQ sauce could indeed be made of tomatoes. Maybe i should check this one out. Anyway, after a few cuts of the ribs, you just start to get a bit sick of the whole thing. And eating the fries and corn doesnt really help that much either. All in all, i didn't particular enjoy it as much as i would have enjoyed some Mushroom Jack Fajitas or the Swiss Mushroom Burger, or the Big Daddy Dawg, so i guess, this particular order goes into my "never again" list. I didnt even manage to finish all the ribs, although this i would blame it on the amount of buffallo wings, fajita nachos and selery sticks i consumed before while waiting for some late comers to arrive (yes, it was ME who was sent early to go and book tables!).
On another note, a friend of mine just offered to me two tickets to the Lord of the Rings movie marathon this Friday which i declined. I just don't see the point of going into the cinema at 11pm on a Friday night and watching 3 movies back to back until 10 am the next morning. I mean, i DO want to see the movie very very very much, but cant get any tickets for this weekend (can't be arsed to tranverse through the crowd and all, just not my thing ). I just don't see the point of staying up all night watching the other 2 movies first, and by the time you get to the 3rd movie, which i guess would start around 7am, you would be like totally stoned that you wouldnt be able to concentrate on the movie, and hence, would bring down the enjoyment level of the whole experience. By the time it all ends, you would be left felling dazed and with sort of a jet lag, and you would throw away you're whole Saturday trying to recover. So probably i'll just do myself a huge favour and watch it sometime later, when the crowd isn't that huge.
Laters
Now, i don't have anything against SUVs (And i don't have anything against Americans either). I, myself, would love to ditch my seven year old, power window failing, body parts shaking piece of Malaysia Boleh technology called the Satria and get myself one of those Ford Escapes or one of those Nissan XTrails. But once my heart has stopped thinking and my head kicks into gear, i just realize that one of those aren't really practical for now. I mean, i LOVE the interior space and the huge boot, and the ego boost of potraying a macho, outdoor-ish sort of image to everyone. But the mileage you get from one of those SUVs aren't really what you could call economical. And for someone like me who can barely afford paying the gas of a puny 1.3cc engined piece of semi-malaysian engineering, i guess i'll just have to put off my SUV driving plans for the time being.
Another thing that Americans like 'em huge are their food. The portions that they serve at ANY American styled restaurant, and you will see what i mean. The quantity of food that they consume in a single serving is unbelieveable. I just had a project team lunch a few days back at the Chillies in KLCC and i must say the portions that they serve there are definitely "American". Chillies is one of my favourite places to eat. The food is good there. The portions are extremely good. The atmosphere is, well, OK lah. But the one major gripe that i have with them is their "No Bookings, First Come First Served" policy. I know that they have enough people going there for dinners and lunches to not give a damn about their booking policy, but it is just a major pain in the arse when you want to have a group lunch there for 10 people. It also doesnt help that they ALSO have another policy that you need to have at least 3/4 of your total group before they give you a table. So, out the window goes the plan to send one fella first to book the tables and wait for us to get there. But what the heck. I STILL go there for their nachos and fajitas and their chocolate dessert. Dammit. I can't for the life of me remember what its called!
Anyway, i ordered myself the BBQ ribs that day since i felt like trying something new. The dish, when it came well, didn't really look THAT appealing. It was just one huge slab of ribs, and at the side some fries and one full corn on the cob served with it. Thats it. No garnishing whatsoever, and no vegetables to come with it. One cut into the meat and you know that the meat that they serve there is some good grade A prime and tender beef. However, once i started to eat it, i sort of started to remember that BBQ isn't really one of my favourite flavours. It sort of tastes like tomato sauce, it has the sour-ish tomato taste to it, but its not exactly tomato sauce. It also has a tinge of spiciness to it. Actually now that i'm thinking about it, BBQ sauce could indeed be made of tomatoes. Maybe i should check this one out. Anyway, after a few cuts of the ribs, you just start to get a bit sick of the whole thing. And eating the fries and corn doesnt really help that much either. All in all, i didn't particular enjoy it as much as i would have enjoyed some Mushroom Jack Fajitas or the Swiss Mushroom Burger, or the Big Daddy Dawg, so i guess, this particular order goes into my "never again" list. I didnt even manage to finish all the ribs, although this i would blame it on the amount of buffallo wings, fajita nachos and selery sticks i consumed before while waiting for some late comers to arrive (yes, it was ME who was sent early to go and book tables!).
On another note, a friend of mine just offered to me two tickets to the Lord of the Rings movie marathon this Friday which i declined. I just don't see the point of going into the cinema at 11pm on a Friday night and watching 3 movies back to back until 10 am the next morning. I mean, i DO want to see the movie very very very much, but cant get any tickets for this weekend (can't be arsed to tranverse through the crowd and all, just not my thing ). I just don't see the point of staying up all night watching the other 2 movies first, and by the time you get to the 3rd movie, which i guess would start around 7am, you would be like totally stoned that you wouldnt be able to concentrate on the movie, and hence, would bring down the enjoyment level of the whole experience. By the time it all ends, you would be left felling dazed and with sort of a jet lag, and you would throw away you're whole Saturday trying to recover. So probably i'll just do myself a huge favour and watch it sometime later, when the crowd isn't that huge.
Laters
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