catcher in the rye

Jay mumbling Chou has this new album called November Chopin. I haven't heard it yet, in fact I didn't give 2 hoots about his songs since I can't remember. To tell you the truth, I don't think I was ever half as crazy as about 25 million of those people out there pretending to be able to make out what he sang without looking at the actual lyrics itself. What caught my attention, rendering it worthy for me to actually type this, is the name of the album. I wouldn't mind spending the entire day standing at the CD rack of that album at HMV or tower records pretending to be working there just to laugh my ass off whenever some fanatic fan comes in and goes gaga over it shouting "november chop-pin!" If you recall, I once wrote something about Chopin, some brief history and one of my favourite pieces by him. I do recall how annoyed I was whenever someone says his name wrong. Making people aware of how Chopin is said, that's probably the best thing that album would do.

While we're at Chopin and piano music. There's this recent hype about that pianist who defaulted NS whose name I can't even remember. What's the deal with that? What I don't understand is why so many people are so pissed off at him just because he got away with NS with a fine. So he only didn't come back to Singapore where his parents are for like what a million years? Big deal. Seriously, who the fuck cares and why? So he didn't attend national service, good for him, really. I'd be damn glad if I can not do national service. I'm sick of all the bullshit people say to justify their doing national service as not a waste of time. As fullfilling as NS is to some, it's cantankerous fuck shit to most. Many of those that claim to actually enjoy national service are probably the phoniest bastards wherever they go. The kind that smiles at you and laughs at your not funny jokes and making some very not funny jokes themselves. If NS is that good and gives you that much of a satisfaction, why is it that everyone looks forward to ORD. People talk bull about how much pride they take in their nationality when doing NS and how much we all whine about having to do it but always end up doing it anyway and appearing happy. That's the phoniest fuck shit I ever heard.

If you ask me, I'd be a lot more pissed off with those that are doing NS but doing nothing! They get paid to do nothing! I don't consider reporting sick and getting a 2 day MC about 2 times a week work. Because unlike NTI in which everything is always different and always better than before, in which you get paid for psychoing people into joining that bane of a company so you can profit from their membership, I believe work needs to actually be done. You have to actually do something to even consider it work.

The only reason people whine and still do it is because we have no choice. Unlike the dude who's been in the UK studying since he was 12, we're here right now. We can't run away. And that bull about how his parents should be partly responsible for letting their son stay overseas and pursue his music career and not return to serve his due term for the country. Seems to me like his parents are damn right. How many successful musicians are there that are actually from singapore? I don't know but I'm pretty damn sure it's very very very very much lesser than the whole bunch of guys you see roaming the streets, whether they were, are or will be in NS. And for fuck's sake he's been there since he was 12!!

Think about it. You send you child somewhere overseas when he was 12 to study music and when he turns 18, you get a damn letter telling you to bring your son back, put his studies on hold, send him to a camp somewhere to do a shit load of physical activity in preparation for a pseudo war we know will probably not happen since seriously, nobody fights anymore, it's always negotiation after negotiation, so much that it's boring me. So he spends 2 years or so doing combat training and what not and I don't know, breaks a finger, a limb or 2. Or maybe he just sprains his finger, or a ligament tear in his finger or something like that, I don't know, but you get the idea, maybe he dies. Then what? He can't play the piano anymore or he can't play as well anymore. Maybe he'd end up like another one of those jocks on the streets. Then what? So you're saying that for the country, you would do that after spending 6 years worth of cash on his specialised education overseas, you'd risk all that and bring him back to serve the country? Get real.

If I have a child, I'd bring my wife to UK or something a few weeks or so before she's about to go in labour and stay there and have a hell lot of fun until the kid is born. The kid gets a UK passport and I raise him here in Singapore. Sure I wouldn't have all the perks and stuff and his education would probably cost quite a bit more than all the other kids around. But he wouldn't know that and he probably wouldn't be feeling the pinch. What he does get to do is laugh his ass off while he goes off to college at while his peers get stuck in NS for 2 years. Then he graduates and becomes their boss. Now that's cool, seriously.

Avada Kedavra

The newest installment of the Harry Potter series was, much like the rest of it's predecessors, the talk of town and almost everyone, minus some hardcore christians that thinks it glorifies the occult, are scrambling to get a glimpse of it. I caught it yesterday with Kenneth and Zongzong at marina square which is now nothing but a half built cantankerous maze. Everything's in quite a mess and almost everything's new, not to forget that portions if it are still under construction rendering the entire complex a complete pain in the ass to navigate.

We got collected the tickets at around 3:20 pm and after quite a bt of debate, kenneth insisted on eating at long john's silver even though he hates it just to show that people eventually agrees with him, except piyo maybe and what the fuck happened to her by the way? I don't believe nothing happened and I believe I speak for everyone. So we got served by a clearly gay cashier, if you're too dense to notice his body language, gestures and tone of voice, that bright purple bandana he wore sure as hell gave his sexuality away.

The movie was a whooping 2 hour 30 minutes, which is good since ticket prices are not determined by the length of the film. My bladder never fails to properly regulate my pee in a movie that long, I went to pee once, at a carefully selected point in the movie I hope nothing much happened. The effects were stunning but the story felt like it's being told in pieces and quite a bit of the parts don't exactly fit. It felt as if a lot of content was left out and according to kenneth who read the book, was exactly the case. However the best part of the movie was unanimously agreed upon by all of 3 of us, and judging from the queue at the toilets, the water letting after 2.5 hours in a cold theatre. Undoubtedly the piss of the day.

stray

It was one of those nights, rather it was more like one of those days I slept a hell lot in the day and when night falls, I'm energised. Time passes quickly as I did my mundane bullshit, fiddling around with stuff I just happen to get my hands on or simply just fiddling around with nothing. Dinner was a combination of cup noodles and a Mac Donalds burger, more like bun since Mac burgers are tiny and never filling, throw in a couple of hours in between. With that said, I got hungry pretty fast so at around 3 am. I went on a hunt for prata.

Thank god for indians that don't need sleep because they fuel those 24 hour prata places allowing me to get prata whenever I felt like it. I could always use a walk in the night in solitude in between the mundane bullshit I have going. I left the house with $12.

I live in a pretty decent neighbourhood by day, with all the schools around and not to forget the homes of some really important people in the vicinity, our current president Nathan. So I'd say it's pretty much a safe neighbourhood and even at night when things get a little shady, nothing too extreme ever happens, not that I know of that is. The roads were pretty much empty with a car or two passing by once in a while. Taxis however were plentiful. Walking by the side of the road, they often slow down and horn to get the attention of the people walking. They would have that look on their faces, all of them did, that even with the minimal lighting in a cab you can clearly see. Without words, thoughts would be exchanged as I continue walking and I glimpse the loss in interest on their faces.

The prata place was a good 10 minute walk away, not that I'm complaining since it's pretty cool at night but you bet your ass I will be if it's in the day, my bitching would go on for a few more pages at least about how shitty the singaporean weather is. About 3/4 ways to the prata place, I passed by this girl. She was sitting outside one of those shop houses fiddling with this gigantic hello kitty key-chain-thing. She had make up on which I can clearly make out even in the dark, too much. I couldn't exactly see what she was wearing since it was dark but it looked like regular tees and shorts. I put her to be around 15 to 16. I figured it was just another girl doing yet another one of those random bullshit random people always do in this randomly shady part of the neighbourhood. But as I walk pass her, she spoke. The conversation was in mandarin.

Girl: Hey can you help me with something?

Me a little surprised but this really is what I said, monosyllabic but does the job: what?

Girl: Can you lend me $10?

Me thinking what the fuck: Huh? What do you want to do?

Girl: Go home.

Me thinking what the fuck yet again: Where do you stay?

Girl: Chua Chu Kang.

Me thinking what the fuck, yet again, the cemetery place as often stereotyped in rubbish TV programs produced by singapore's media monopoly. Looks into my wallet to find $12: Sorry I only have $12 bucks with me now.

There was a silent pause as I, for some reason or another, decided to help her and try to recall where the nearest ATM is. Stuff like what the hell is that girl doing there at 3 am, why she wouldn't just call home, etc. came to mind but it's none of my business and I don't need to know.

Me: I'll go get my supper first then I'll come back.

Girl: ok.

So I went on ahead to get my prata. Same pace, no hurry. Just another night, nothing new. The prata took about 10 minutes to be ready and I paid for it. I have $9 left. As I walk back, thoughts like maybe she'll be gone by now came to mind but she's still there.

Me as I got closer, pointed ahead with my free hand not holding my prata: Let's go.

Girl looking puzzled, probably thinks I'll rape her or something: What? Go where?

Me being annoyed: To take money.

Girl still looking puzzled, still probably thinks I'll rape her or something: Take money? From where?

Me still being annoyed thinking what the fuck? Where else but the ATM?: ATM.

Girl: Can you go get the money and come back?

Me being more annoyed than ever. What the fuck. I'm doing you a favour here, the least you could do is let me walk less. But understanding her caution: Ok. I'll be right back.

I start walking off.

Girl: Thanks. You'll come back right?

I waved, a gesture of acknowledgement, never looked back and walked. I got to the ATM and as if mocking me. It was "temporarily unable to dispense cash". Just her luck. It must have sucked to render her stuck in the middle of nowhere, considering where she lives, and apparently it went on to affecting the ATM as well. Being annoyed by all the walking, I went back to explain the situation.

Me saying something like this but not the exact words: Ok, I can't get cash from the ATM, it's fucked. I only have $9 with me and that's all I can spare.

Girl: Then wouldn't you have no more money?

Me: I'm going home anyway.

Girl: Oh ok then, bye.

Me getting up and walking away: bye

And so I walked. I looked back about 30 meters away and I still see her sitting there. What the fuck? I thought she wanted to go home? But it's none of my business and so I walked. Prata beckons.

quintet of bliss

Namely yesterday, today, tomorrow, saturday and sunday.

Dinner at 10 while watching CSI. Not exactly what I'd call appetising but nothing prepared me for what I saw about 5 minutes into dinner. Yes there were some graphic images on screen, shotgun wounds, severed limbs, grounded talon of raven, troll, whatever. But none of that was as disturbing as what I saw right in front of me, even when it's something you wouldn't normally flinch, you because I definitely wouldn't, about when seen on TV, unless you're a pansy-ass pussy.

So imagine this, a 1 day old cup of Seasons Ice Lemon Tea, it's so sweet it virtually preserves itself. Now imagine a house gecko, or more commonly known to the ill informed as a house lizard whatever. Now imagine yourself having dinner, supper, dinper, whatever with CSI: New York, I think, on TV when suddenly you notice a tiny creature struggling in a cup of Season's Ice Lemon Tea. It's glossy black eyes stare straight back at me as I watch it in shock for a moment. The first thing that came to my mind was SHIT! Followed by damn it'd better not climb out and run amok all over my food. So I watch as it stop struggling, probably catching a breath or something, before I pushed the cup a good distance away from my food. Geckos can wait, at that moment I was hungry. So life went on. It didn't bother me much but I wouldn't say the same for my monther.

It was after dinner, let's make it dinner since dinper just sounds stupid, that I decided to get rid of the damn thing. I saw it floating motionless, drowned in sugery heaven, Season's Ice Lemon Tea. I'd even say it's pretty sinful for a gecko to take in that much glucose so it's got to be going to hell. Plus it didn't say the sinner's prayer, we all know that's all it takes to get to heaven.

X-10

So remember my last post? Yeah. Still happening. I'm 2 episodes to completing 2 seasons. That's good. Right? Then I can move on to other things like I don't know season 3? That's if I get the files in time. Damn you torrents without seeds hence I'm stuck at 97 to 98% for all my OC s3 torrent!!

My room smells like someone just drove a van with a spoiler, freshly painted, into it. Tamiya makes nice cement and the Tamiya colour, code X-10 Gun Metal is now my new favourite colour. I like it's dark sci-fic look and feel, like mixing mecury and lead, the glossy graphite look. Not to forget how much it kicks ass on a Gunpod. almost 12 hours since I started and I haven't even completed 1 leg of my 1/72 1994 reissue VF-1J Valkyrie [ Variable ] Millia type. I'm not even close. Thanks to the paint taking forever to dry, plus the fact that every damn part is originally resulting in a shit load of painting required to make it look good.

Now the smell in my room's making my nose run like it's being chased by a troll with the hots for salt. It took quite a while, about 6 hours in fact, for the effect of all that thinner and modelling cement to kick in but when it finally did, unleashed upon me was a torrent of mucus, sending me into sneezing fits for the first few minutes of it. Not cool.

Back to OC.

can't stop

3 days, 1 season + 7 episodes, and I can't stop watching The OC!! I'm screwing up my sleep cycle so bad I'm writing shit at 5am, with OC on pause!!

I didn't even start on my macross yet, not that I can since I will need some modeling cement if I want it to stay together. And I've put the RC Mu CMS translation on hold and didn't translate a single module since I got back. Pretty much the only progress I've made is that ickystuff.net is now a registered domain and the OC episodes I've been watching. Hell I watch so much OC I didn't even watch any of my anime and it's all piling up, with an entire new series added to the stack anytime within the next few hours or less.

Now back to OC and I love Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie.

1994

I was 9 that year and I pretty much couldn't remember anything that happened then. So why I put it as the title for this post you ask, probably another one of my random meaningless titles that appear on a regular basis here you think. No. 1994 is a significant year indeed, it's the year my new 1/72 scale VF-1J Valkyrie [Variable] Millia type model kit was made. Well it's a 1994 reissue but it's still damn rare!!! It is afterall more than 10 years old!

And that's only one of the many things I bought at KL, using not my money, where I spent the better half of my trip. My stay there would have been perfect if not for an incident involving a cab driver that makes you think everyone there is trying to rip you off simply because you're not local. KL is like Singapore with a very much worst public transport system. Imagine getting on a bus which door wouldn't close, a LRT to MRT transit equivalent that requires you to walk for a good 5 to 10 minutes and go through the damn gates countless times. The worst part is the instructions and directions written in english NOWHERE! There are virtually no english directions or instructions for anything that matters.

STOP speaking to me in cantonese! I don't fucking understand! I cried out loud a million times in my head while I was there. But all that aside, they do have a large number of collectable toy stores and for that, and almost that alone, I won't mind going back there. Everything is relatively cheaper and almost everything there that's branded is fake. Everyone carries a Gucci, or so it seems, and you can find DVDs going for as little as 8RM a piece, I know it's even cheaper in China but I'm not in China, everywhere. You can find stalls selling DVDs at virtually every stall front. I saw one at every "video rental" and game store. I even saw one at the cashier of a hair dresser!! With DVDs that cheap, I can understand why there is nothing even remotely worth watching on TV. Everything nice was not aired and whatever was aired was heavily censored. They fucking censored the word SHIT!! On a number of occasions, I was forced to watch some lame variety show with no variety whatsoever since it shows on a regular basis local MTVs, what the fuck?!, and there was this call in and make a dedication thing because there's so little TV worthy content they stuck a camera in a radio station or something. If not for the fact that I have to pay international rates to call in, I would have done it and shouted shit until they cut me off.