damian + turion

turion at 09:07

[290106] People have happy and joyious chinese new year especially on the first day, so why cant i have one as well... damn him, damn that man!!! in the end, caused so much unhappiness, tears and anger in the family... useless piece of thrash... another reason how life finds ways to screw you over especially during the festive period.

It was better at night as i went JJ's place along with Qin Hao, sunnymonk and Shi Qin, talk cocked, played some cards... drank some beer... (tiger's - yuck... i recall seeing the Jessica Alba's phrase: "Hey, Singapore. You have the best tasting beer in the world." Tiger must have paid her a huge fortune to have her say such blatant lies on an ad that just keeps on playing and playin on the telly these days... sheesh.. LIARS!!) in the end lost $6, think SQ and me all lost, with Yao Hui the winner of the lot with $12.. after that, they went double O as expected lahz...

Be thankful for good company and friends, those that you can call to be brudders. Not per say but honestly knowing that they are there for you, concerned for your overall well being and at times, for the foolish nonsense that never fails to bring a smile to your face. Those are my friends, my clique, my brudders...

turion at 08:58

[280106] 'walking along singing a song, walking in a robson wonderland'

It's funny... i was wondering whoever came up with the concept of reunion dinners? had a pretty interesting reunion dinner this year, ate it by myself.. yep... pathetic eh? after reunion dinner headed down to CHIJMES to watch NUFC vs Cheltenham at Carnaval's... quite a cosy bar by my standards... though i hear it's often packed to just standing room on the weekends and weekday nights...

Newcastle won 2-0 in the end, yipee.. but their manner of play still remain unconvinced and the twin terror in our defence, Bramble and Boumsong still doing what their doing best, giving away possession and like their namesake still scares the shit out of NUFC supporters by doing fanciful stuff on the edge of our penalty box... I think they must get a kick from scaring their fans... between the 2 of them, 13 million sterling pounds have been wasted... i could get alot better players than the 2 shitty defenders i see playing in the black and white week in and week out...

Chopra scored his first goal for the club so that was something to cheer about... though it was from benefitting from a defensive mix up rather than a chance he created or took.. but in our current predicament, cant be too fussy about how the goals are coming in, speaking of scrappy goals, Parker's goal was pure luck as the goal bounced off his shin to add the second.. hilarious... oh well... 2 goal lead... any hopes of a slaugter soon vaporised as time and again, we were exposed down the flanks and thanks to our twin terrors, their strikers had enough chances to actually bury us... it was only their lack of composure in front of goal that saved Souness's hide... if we're struggling against League One opponents when Boumsong's transfer fee alone would buy the opposition's team, it shows a lot regarding the state of the football club i love...

"There is no logical reason why Newcastle haven't won a major domestic trophy for more than 50 years," Williams said. "Success breeds success. I think it's much more difficult to break a cycle of success than it is to break a cycle of failure and Newcastle are a good example of that."

turion at 08:42

[280105] "A story like mine should never be told..."

Finally caught Memoirs of a Geisha, with Ben... 2nd movie in 2 days... burning a hole in my pocket man... wallet gonna be in ICU again... anyways... after being so hyped up over the movie... it was really nothing too spectacular nor was it very ordinary... was in between i guess... not a superb film yet it's above a decently average film as well...

The opening scenes in the movie really practically justified the $9.50 i paid... Suzuka Ohgo, the child actress playing the role of Chiyo totally blew me away... especially her eyes... her big, watery eyes... captures ur immediate attention.. i think she was wearing coloured contact lenses... girls with coloured contact lenses always has this attention captivating essence about them, guess eyes are really the windows to a person's soul... it seems so easy to get lost in those eyes.. haha..

anyways... Zhang Ziyi playing the grown up Chiyo or Sayuri as she was known later on in the film seemed to be kinnda far fetched to be the 15 years that she was playing... she hardly looked the part of being 15 years old... too old.. and both she and Gong Li along with Michelle Yeoh didnt really impress me as Japanese, maybe perhaps i know their nationalities but somehow they fail to make the cut... perhaps it is justififed to say that perhaps leading Japanese actresses should have been given the roles of the lead characters... i could name Matsushima Nanako who would make an ideal leading actress for the role of Hatsumono or Hameha while with the abundance of young Japanese starlets, it shouldnt be too hard to find someone closer to the actual age of 15 to portray Sayuri...

All in all, a decent film that makes me want to read the actual book... hmmm... a pretty good film... Suzuka Ohgo is definately gonna be a huge star in the future... haha.. and to think she's only 12.. she's like Kursten Durst... shot to stardom in Interview with a Vampire which she kissed Brad Pitt, she's been an A-list actress ever since...

Memoirs of a Geisha - 3.5 popcorns out of 5

turion at 00:35

[270106] No no.. the date is correct.. just need to backtrack on some stuff... watched Huo Yuan Jia (fearless) with Qin Hao at Yishun Golden Village... in the end, decided on watching fearless and since had more than 1hr plus to spare, went back to his place and chill before heading for supper... prata.. but it wasnt the best.. had better...

The movie starred Jet Li supposedly Fearless is claimed to be his last wushu or martial arts film but i wonder, if he doesnt act in the genre that shot him to stardom. What can he act in? Lovey dovey movies? Dramas? I cant picture Jet Li... wushu champion extradinaire being portrayed as anyone other than a fighter... his image with his pigtail just screams JET LI! and he isnt a solid actor to boot much like Jackie Chan who like Jet Li will never be able to act in anything other than films that has a martial art or fighting feel to it...

These two guys aint exactly Denzel Washington, Russel Crowe or Tom Hanks who are superb actors in their own rights who can accurately portray the roles of their on screen characters... I saw his interview in which Jet Li played down the speculation that Fearless was supposed to be his last 'action' film as his philosphy was that every movie he made was his first and his last... oh well.. only time will tell if we will see Jet Li appear in yet another trademark fighting movie...

Back to the movie... it tells of the ignorance of Huo Yuan Jia in his glory days, drinking, fighting on the lei-tai and trying to be tian jin's no.1 fighter and his fall from grace when he mistakenly kills his rival Qin ye in what turned out to be fault caused by his disciple in the first place and how he forsakes his friendship with his childhood friend. The one particularly funny film was the part in which the farmers would just stop and enjoy the breeze... hmmm.. the significance? O.o

overall the movie was quite enjoyable especially the fight scenes though i enjoyed the fight scenes in his earlier films, Once Upon a time in China I & II, Fang Shi Yu... which i think are more realistic as compared to the fighting scenes in fearless though they arent too bad as well... hmmm.. the story is pretty linear as well.. so nothing much to boast about...

Fearless - 3 popcorns out of 5

turion at 00:12

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

[180105] We're into the Quarter Finals!

After a tough round and abeit some nervous answering from me, we managed to win the Malaysian Gunners 39-22 in the last 2nd round match up... and we're through to the Quarter Finals!!! Yeah... credit due to terence i guess, his football trivia knowledge is really extensive and superb...]

Bit disappointed to have answered the question on Pele wrongly.. he played for Santos and the Cosmos, not the metrostars which we answered.. and damn the Jamie Carragher question.. i didnt catch the 'current' when the question was asked... damn.. luckily, despite me slipping, the team still managed to win thanks to Terence and his questions especially the one on Real Madrid and the 1950 world cup.. salute you bro!!

HOWAY THE LADS!!

turion at 21:58

Monday, January 16, 2006

[160106] Stand Your Ground

I watched Football Hooligans at Golden Village earlier today after school... So what is it all about? For the basics, it isnt a pure football movie just on football.. this is not GOAL... it's more to do with the supporters of a football club, their 'firm' so to speak.

It's a film, starring Elijah Wood and Charlie Hunnam, about football hooliganism in England. In the U.S., the film has the title Green Street Hooligans. In other countries, it has the title 'Football Hooligans' The film previously had the title Hooligans in the U.K.. An American college boy falls in with a violent English football firm and is morally transformed by their commitment to each other.

The film is named after Green Street, a street in Newham where the Boleyn Ground, home to West Ham United, a team notorious in the past for their fans' hooliganism, is. The film has provoked a largely negative response in the borough, with many comments in the local paper, the Newham Recorder, about how they felt that trust had been betrayed and that the area was no longer plagued by football violence.

What's a firm u may ask, no no it isnt the firm as in Lawyers etc but rather a football firm is an is an organized gang – mostly supporting a football club – that engage in fights with firms supporting other clubs. The fights mostly take place far away from the football grounds to make it as hard as possible for police and other law enforcement to interrupt. Football firm violence has in many countries replaced the more unorganized violence related to sports, though in the public eye both forms of violence are considered hooliganism.

The film was based around West Ham's United firm which in the film was known as the Green Street Elites but in actual fact they are known as the Inter City Firm (ICF) in real life... The show basically has quite a basic storyline, not much plot twists except for one towards the end... I had thought 'The Major' referred to Pete's Dad or something.. didnt expect it to turn out the other way... The fight scenes in the film looked decent and realistic enough and the music sound track's not too bad... overall a decent film but if you're not into the football culture, i would think there're other nicer shows around.

Football Hooligans - 2.5 popcorns out of 5

turion at 20:14

Brain Lateralization Test Results

Right Brain (32%) The right hemisphere is the visual, figurative, artistic, and intuitive side of the brain.
Left Brain (62%) The left hemisphere is the logical, articulate, assertive, and practical side of the brain

Are You Right or Left Brained?
personality tests by similarminds.com

turion at 16:46

Sunday, January 15, 2006

[150105] BEEN A LONG LONG DAY

Havent had much time to blog over the last few days, nothing much to blog about also... but I had a lot of fun last night... Met up with Qin Hao, Yao Hui, Jun Jian and Dharman to walk around town around 1400 hrs (as usual Orchard, Heereen, where else?!?) and went to HMV listened to CDs and stuff.. hmmm.. came across Eminem's Curtain Call, lotsa nice songs... his hits and some of the newer ones.. his STAN featuring Elton John is surprising good, kinnda different styles but hey, it sounds good...

Afterwhich we walked over to PS to walk around some more before wasting around 20 mins on watching a couple of fitness instructors dancing what they believed were Hip Hop... total waste of time lahz... if they're fitness instructors, they shld just stick to their jobs and not try to dance.. sheesh....

Next stop was Coffee Club where we chilled... shivered would be a better term, the air conditioning duct was practically above me and by the time we left, Im sure i was starting to experience the first signs and symptoms of hypothermia... it was that cold lahz... Proceeded to Crazy Elephant in Clarke Quay where we basically did what we used to do last time... chill, play silly games, talk, laugh and hang out.. it was a BLAST... with Qin Hao, Vivian, Yao Hui, Jun Jian, Kenny, Shi Qin, R and me... at the end, bought 3 jugs of drinks just for the forfeits for the games we played.. QH drunk til he really became his alter ego - Red fox.. haha... his face damn red lahz...

Supper was the next thing on the agenda as we had Bak Kut Teh at MS, quite pricey but it was quite nice... first time i had bak kut teh with you tiao... like so weird but supposedly, it's supposed to be consumed that way and it's more of a norm.. hmmm... oh well...

Went for the Recording earlier on, lost to Singapore Spurs 34-29 Nufc SG... darn.. gambled on 6 points and we lost it in the final round... but good news is that we managed to be the highest placed losing team.. 2 losing teams with the highest scores can a second chance in the Biggest loser battle so hopefully we'll have a second shot at the game... Still feeling quite gutted, at one point, we were leading by 11!!!! 11!!! for crisssakes.... geez... Lee Sharpe turned out to be quite nice and Sir Les was just fantastic... managed some shots with him as well as his autograph!! haha.. HTL!!

turion at 17:20

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

[110105] It's pouring yet again... will the endless stream from the skies never end? I certainly hope not... wonderful weather these past 4 days... cool, windy but it's just the wet part that bothers me... but no such things such perfect things in life... you win some, you lose some.. Took an online quiz a few days back that seeks to answer what kind of water you are... and i turned out to be rain.. with a description of what I am... supposedly i am:

"You are like rain--creative, unique, and an enigma. You have many, many moods, now, don't you? You aren't quite moody or temperamental, but you are a very unique person indeed. You can be playful and quite cheerful, loving people and wishing to have fun with them, or you can be sad and distant, off isolated in your mind, wallowing in depression. Or you can simply be calm and able to put others in a relaxed mood too. However, you are very loyal to those you hold dear but can make for a bitter enemy. Most people will love you for your undying fidelity and find you an incredible person to know, but there are those who will hate you for reasons you can't even understand...What people think of you can influence your mood greatly and you can be positive when placed in a good situation but negative in a bad one. Try to remember that life is not perfect and neither are people. Despite what an amazing person you are, not everyone will like you. I don't need to reassure you to always be yourself because you can be counted upon to do so no matter what."

Beatles - Yesterday
Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they’re here to stay
Oh, I believe in yesterday.
Suddenly, I’m not half the man I used to be,
There’s a shadow hanging over me.
Oh, yesterday came suddenly.
Why she had to go I don’t know she woldn’t say.
I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday.
Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play.
Now I need a place to hide away.
Oh, I believe in yesterday.
Mm mm mm mm mm.

A wonderful classic that seems made for such a rainy, gloomy and wet week... ah... the gloomy-ness of it all... glorious...

turion at 22:46

Monday, January 09, 2006

[090106] The Law of Attraction - Frankie Chee as reported in Straits Time Life!People dated 9th Jan 2006

I'm confused. If women are upset over men going for pretty women, why do they take such pains with their apperances in the first place?

One grievance my female friends often regale me with is that men are shallow creatures who go only for looks. To hear them tell it, we men are driven only by appearances when it comes to choosing someone of the opposite sex for a mate.

That seems ironic to me, coming from the gender that fuels the billion-dollar beauty industry. After all, one would assume women spend all that money dolling themselves up in the hope that we men would notice. In fact, with some of the make-up and clothes I see on the streets these days, it would be hard not to stare, unless I walked around blindfolded.

I'm sure women appreciate the attention they get from men as much as we appreciate their beauty. After all, works of art, like the paintings of Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci, were meant to be ogled. It would be a pity to do otherwise. All right, let's not talk about Picasso here.

So ladies, dont blame us for being won over by your powers of attraction. We're just hapless victims of your aesthetic manipulation. I detest this labelling anyway, because men do not go only for looks. Yes, appearances matter, but they serve only as an attention magnet, much like how the design of a car makes us take a second - and closer - look.

Come on, which would you rather look at? A fiery red Ferrari zooming by or a silver Nissan Sunny that is one among a sea of many? Looks provide the first impression and impact. Think of how a woman picks a dress in a shop. First, it has to grab her attention as it hangs on the display rack before she walks over and feels it. (Fret not, I will walk over to a woman, but I wont be feeling around). It's only after that that she might try it on for size.

The same goes for men. We might get that first zap from how a woman looks, but we also need to try them on for size. But dont get me wrong - what I mean by that is simply that we do move on from looks to learning more about the person behind the face before deciding whether or not we want them to be more than just an acquaintance. The process can be summarised in a little rhyme which the Shakespearean side of me (however little of it) came up when I was discussing this topic with a colleague: We are attracted to the outside/Then we look on the inside/Before we decide.

ON THE FLIP side, men arent the only "shallow" creatures to walk the face of the earth. Just look at any screaming fan when David Beckham comes onscreen during a football match. SOme of them cant even tell a goal post from a corner flag, yet they are glued to the screen whenever he or say, A.C. Milan captain Paolo Maldini is playing.

No prizes for guessing why.

Another thing I've observed is that good-looking men have a higher rate of success in getting to know that girl sitting at the bar by herself. Brad Pitt lookalikes will probably be able to spend the next 20 minutes chatting and laughing with her, while those whose looks remind her of Shrek wont even be able to get the time of day or, in this case, night.

That said, I am reminded of a song from the past by Jimmy Soul, whose lyrics go: If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life/Never make a pretty woman your wife/So from my personal point of view/Get an ugly girl to marry you

Yes, a pretty girl may be a prized possession but, like a million-dollar painting, she can cause you sleepness nights. You never know who else has sinster plans up his sleeve to snatch her away from you. That will never happen if your girl is more likely to send chills down people's spines than have their hearts-a-flutter. It's pretty ironic, really. A beautiful face is something every guy hankers after, yet we all know it's more likely to make us worry.

Unfortunately, no man in his prime wishes to wake up and face a hag every morning. I guess we are being only human in having to be satisfied visually before we can achieve complete satisfaction, hence the need for, as it were, a gorgeous array of food to feast our eyes on before we taste it for a leily climatic dining experience.

I mean, why else would anyone pay more to eat at a place where they spend a longer time making your steak stand at the right anglee than they do cooking? Never mind that, ugly or not, whatever is on the plate will eventually end up as a digested glob anyway.

Sigh. The plight of men. Damned if we do, and damned if we dont. But, men, here's our saving grace. As the late British philosopher Bertrand Russell once said: "Men are born ignorant, not stupid; they are made by education." So it's not entirely our fault if we happen to be what we are. (Okay, Im making feeble excuses.)

But here's a word to women: Be patient. The day will come in every man's life when he learns, after some setbacks, that behind every beautiful object lies a dark shadow. In the meantime, however, if you ladies are going to slap on your war paint and put on your tight little black dresses, then dont blame us men for wanting to know you better.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An article i came across in today's Straits Times.. some valid points made but overall think his views are slanting more towards a man's stand of point... oh well.. no such thing as equality between the sexes as envisioned by women... Nothing much happened today.. boring day in school except for the bag tag of war between Pei Xuan and Grace against myself, geez, my bag was almost torn in two and all because of... haha... stupid reason..

Sometimes I get highs, and I feel like nothing could be better. And other times, I am deeply depressed. Still, at other times, I feel totally indifferent and just feel internally calm. I'm not sure if I can formulate a real opinion to sum up where I stand in life.

Found this statement where doing a quiz thingy... quite true at least to me... reflects how i feel..

Tomorrow's holiday but I have meeting at Raffles City BK at 1230 hrs... yawnz...

turion at 23:05

Sunday, January 08, 2006

[080105] Rainy, wet and such a delightfully cold day.. heh.. been raining since early morning and still the sky weeps and cries... darn cooling lahz but damn wet.. pros and cons.. came back not long ago from recording for this Soccer quiz show im taking part in... ESPN KICK OFF! The first round is next sunday against Hotspurs sg... so it'll be a grudge match of some kinds since they've pretty much kicked our (NUFCsg) ass both times we faced them on the field.. so it would be nice to exact some revenge on them...

What's the prize my partner and me are playing for u might ask? *Drum rolls* 5D4N paid trip to the UK to watch ANY, yes i mean ANY match of our choosing!!! AIR FARE, ACCOMODATION paid for plus some allowances!!!!! *drools* it would be so cool to win lahz... man.. it'll be great man... but one thing at a time.. first need to get past the Hotspurs Sg lads.. so wish me luck for next sunday's showdown!

Went to R's 21st birthday yesterday night at Yishun Safra... been such a long time since i've been to any formal birthday celebration or party of that sorts.. it was nice to see all her friends and us helping her celebrate her 21st birthday... key to life eh? haha.. Happy Birthday R!!! Cant believe 4 years plus passed liaoz.. haha.. time flies man..

Feeling older and older these days.. the sec1s that will be coming in would be 8 years younger than me!!!! 8 years... haha.. they've just reached their teenage years while im at while eh.. adulthood? haha.. nothing wrong with it.. but.. haha.. cant believe time passes so fast.... still remember all my time in secondary school so clearly.. the care free life i once led.. sighz.. oh well... counting down to my own 21st birthday.. haha

turion at 18:36

Saturday, January 07, 2006

[060106] 6th day of the new year - 2006... doesnt seem any much different from 2005.. life still revovles around School, home, NPCC on fridays and some small resemblence of a social life on weekends if any... Came back from Orchard Cineleisure 1 hour plus back... played pool with Helmut and Pei Xuan... It's raining!!! haha.. sweeeeetttttt... great weather...

Went to school as normal... slacked through the 2 hour's class and decided to go Grace Goh's bday/Post FYP celebration thingy... BUT in the end.. haha.. ok, after that they decided most prob they would meet in Holland V at ard 1600 hrs after all their FYP submission, little did we know of the delay by Grace... she handed hers in at ard 1800+!!! lucky for them, Miss Chan was kind enuff to give them allowance... Kind indeed...

Anyways, after classes ended at 1300 hrs, went with helmut, ZC and mat and accompanied them as they finished editing their report, print and binding... and off to FC4 for my first meal of the day at 1500 hrs!!!! Almost starved to death lahz.. then talk cocked til ard 1600 hrs + and decided to look for Pei Xuan where she was shopping alone at Marina Square so off we went... long story cut short.. in the end after many hours of deliberation, we didnt go Holland V and they didnt come town so settled for pool at Cineleisure.. lol

Sorry didnt join u ppl at Holland V.. thot u ppl would wanna come town, who would have known you guys went for a freakin' 2nd round at Pizza hut or something like that.. haha.. but anyways.. to all my classmates.. it's all over!!!! Congrats!!! eh.. not really.. there's still the FYP presentation and the powerpoint slides.. one worry at a time my friends.. it'll be over soon...

turion at 00:02

Sunday, January 01, 2006

[010106] Virgin entry in the new year, 2005 has passed and 2006 is finally upon us... 2005 a seemingly empty year.. don't feel i've achieved much in 2005, nothing much to report, be ashamed of nor be proud of either.. just going through the motions of life, school and any other obligations i need to fulfill... boring boring boring... a mundane life.. A year of disappointments has passed, another year of disappointments to come...

It's January now, just 2 more months or so before i graduate... 2 more freakin papers and i'll be done with this!!!!! Finally... school life is about to be over and the next phase of my life will soon begin, one of serving the nation.. haha.. fulfilling my obligations and duties as a citizen and all that BS..

Glen Fredly - Januari
Berat bebanku meninggalkanmu
Separuh nafas jiwaku sirna
Bukan salahmu apa dayaku
Mungkin benar cinta sejati
tak berpihak pada kita

Kasihku sampai di sini
Kisah kita
Jangan tangisi keadaannya
Bukan karena kita berbeda
Dengarkan, dengarkan lagu
lagu ini melodi rintihan hati ini
kisah kita berakhir di Januari

S'lamat tinggal kisah sejatiku, pergilah
Kasihku sampai di sini
Kisah kita
Jangan tangisi keadaannya
Bukan karena kita berbeda
Dengarkan lagu,
lagu ini melodi rintihan hati ini
kisah kita berakhir di Januari

Dengarkan lagu, lagu ini
Melodi rintahan hati ini
Kisah kita berakhir...di Januari

turion at 11:49

Yesterday's memories

My past