... are you pondering what I'm pondering?

Just got done with Animaniacs Vol 2.

Yes, I enjoyed this second megadose of my blast from the past. But. I have to vent some peeves:

1. Why can't WB be CONSISTENT in what they print on the spine of the DVD? i.e. actually have Vols 1 & 2 to *gasp!* MATCH???!! Some may laugh at my getting irritated by something like this, but I see this as unacceptable sloppiness and lack of quality control: when I have the two sets next to each other, they look funny because "Vol 2" is printed 1 cm "south" of "Vol 1". It upsets the order of things!!

2. Yakko's "it's a great big universe and we're all really puny" song has been featured TWICE already. TWICE. Assuming they are running episodes "as aired" [unedited], does that mean they were already running out of fresh material halfway through the show already? And, I could have sworn that the visual for this song ends differently, where the universe as we know it ends up on like a piece on some aliens' chessboard which then gets gathered up into a bag. Ring any bells, anyone?

3. Assuming they are running the episodes "as aired" [in broadcast sequence], there are a few inconsistencies in certain storylines: sloppy editing? In Vol 1, what was obviously the "pilot" hippo episode came *after* we'd already seen them in their "deluxe apartment in the sky". Hmmmmmmmmmm. And in Vol 2, the intro of Pinky and The Brain had changed from "they're laboratory mice, their genes have been spliced" to "to prove their mousy worth, they'll take over the earth", which is fine, I figured they changed the intro for "season two"... except that it wasn't used consistently, so I'm left wondering yet again, whether all these episodes released on DVDs are in their proper chronological and unedited order or not.

4. It's really stupid to have a trailer for Animaniacs Vol 2 DVD when you are watching that trailer on the Animaniacs Vol 2 DVD! And, even worse: the episode clips used in that trailer? NOT in Volume 2, people!!! So, I'm glad I never did see that trailer prior to watching Vol 2, otherwise I'd be f.r.i.g.g.i.n. mad at the false advertising.

*sigh*

Still no sign of the 'toon to accompany one of my fave songs from the Animaniacs CD; the one where Dr Scratchnsniff wakes them up, bundles them into the car and takes them to a county fair. The kids' interaction [especially Yakko vs Dot] during the car ride is *so* awesome! I have a vague memory of the visual - I want it refreshed, stat! :D

*sigh*

But I gotta say, I certainly enjoyed the [at least] two references to The Clapper. *and* a "refreshment" of my one and only memory of a tiny toon character: Baby Plucky of "elevator go up da hole / down da hole" fame ;-)

*and*

I'm still torn... while I enjoy the Pinky and the Brain segments, I wasn't around to catch their spin-off, and am not sure if I'd survive extended exposure to the mousy duo... but I *am* curious about the spin-off series... hmmmm... methinks Netflix will help resolve the issue?? ;-)

*and*

just discovered that this cartoon Kosh has been referring to every now and then is also a product by Spielberg and the Animaniacs team: Freakazoid. Oh, and it's being "seriously considered" to be released on DVD. If this *is* released on DVD, then yay, at least I'll have *some* gift ideas for Kosh! and since it's of a lineage I appreciate, I'll probably enjoy the education too :-)

... ... okay, that's about it; so, *were* you pondering what I was pondering?

... it may be rice wine to you ...

... but it'll always be sake to me!

*splash!*

sake to me = sock it to me

get it?

heeheeheee!!

That specific sock-it-to-me scene made an impression in my young mind all right, seeing as that's the only real memory/recollection I have of ever watching Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In while a kid in Malaysia.

We have our grubby hands on "The Best of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In Vol 1" [it's a rip-off, by the way: only 2 episodes and a crappy interview per disc when they could probably easily fit four episodes per disc and shove those interviews up *SOME*one's a**!] and are slowly making our way through it: can't really spend extended periods of time watching it - the format of threading things together in practically random order makes for tiring viewing - but I must say Dick Martin's teeth never cease to amaze me, LoL!

One discovery/reminder from watching this collection is that my occasional tendency over the years to remark that something is "veeerry eeeenteresssting" is NOT, as I previously thought, an extension of Mr Burns' "exxxxcellent", but rather a mirroring of that German soldier who does almost nothing except say "veeerry eeeenteresssting" in just about every episode.

Yeah. [puts on my Forrest Gump voice] And that's all I have to say about that.

Ciao!

... the monster's loose ...

Hope everyone's recovering nicely from the Xmas weekend.

Had the in-laws over for dinner yesterday, not so much for Xmas as for the belated marking of MiL's birthday. I think we all survived; amazing, especially considering this was the first "real" entertaining we'd done [and by "real" I mean NOT shoving a frozen pizza into the oven because Kosh was over two hours later than expected getting off work so our outing with KTN became an inning instead... by "real" I mean having an "apple salad" followed two choices of baked chicken {herb&garlic with 'shrooms, or onion-soup-mixed} with a side of broccoli *AND* having all that prepared and ready to eat pretty much at the right time].

And now,, perhaps you're wondering what monster I'm referring to in the title of this post? It's the Netflix monster, that's what!!

I currently have one hundred and eighty three items in the queue.

Okay, so eight of them are "saved" [titles not within the Netflix inventory, but if there's enough "votes" they may consider purchasing the DVD]... but of the remaining 175 in the actual queue, over sixty are television series DVDs - that's over 35%. I dunno how other folks' queues compare, but I think that's quite a large chunk of TV I want to get to know/refresh myself on. You all know, of course, that I'm finally getting caught up on Buffy [will start receiving Season 7 soon], but I've also got other stuff like:

• Firefly [& Serenity]: Joss Wheadon's futuristic/cowboy post-Buffy venture I've heard nothing but good things about
  
• Weeds: Alissa's fault*! Right now I've gone through Season One Disc One, and teeheehee i think it's quirky, unusual, with some really good/unexpected dialogue and twists.
• Greatest American Hero: this one is Karl's fault* ;-) I only have Season One on request, however - we'll see if I like it enough the second time around to watch the entire series...
• Veronica Mars: this one is mainly Dave's fault* although I would never have bothered at all with this except that I happened to catch an episode a few months ago that indicated it was something I could try out... so Season One is on order.
• Battlestar Galactica: yes, the sci-fi channel one. the one which I'd caught a bit of two years ago and totally hated... then kept reading about how many bloggers, who seem to share similar preferences as me, really really liking this new version, so I bit the bullet and have Seasons 1, 2.0, 2.5 and "the miniseries" in the queue.
• The Muppet Show: Season One: okay this is Kosh's ;p
• Futurama: we own Vols 1 & 2, in the queue are Vols 3 & 4 [ 8 discs] - gotta love this "sci-fi cartoon" from the creator of The Simpsons!
• Tru Calling: This only lasted one season, and I'm only checking this out because I'm curious to see Eliza Dushku in a non-Faith role.
  
• The Guyver: this is Kosh's too...
• Neverwhere: BBC turned Neil Gaiman's book into a miniseries. I certainly enjoyed the book, so will give this a whirl and see how it compares to the real thing. Besides, with Kosh being too busy to do any reading, this is about the only way to expose him to tales I like.
• Dr Who: not the 80's version that I might have caught a handful of episodes of, but the new/revitalised one that I would never have thought to visit if it wasn't for Karl gushing over it recently. Yup, all your fault*!
  
• How I Met Your Mother: Kevin's fault* for countering my RHPS quote with something from this series that I didn't recognise so I asked him about it... although I admit, I probably wouldn't have added HIMYM to the queue yet if not for the discovery/reminding that my fave Jewish witch Willow [Alyson Hannigan] is on the show, teeheehee! Yes, I am a total BtVS whore, LoL!
  

I'm sure there are other TV series I'd be happy to revisit/get to know.... However, I continue to be totally bummed that Netflix doesn't have Robin of Sherwood: you know, the one with Michael Praed then later Jason Connery as Robin? *droooool!*

Anyways.

Couldn't sleep well last night, ended up having Animaniacs watch *me* on the couch. Maybe I'll repeat that right now. So what if it's 8am! This is what being a jobless bum is alllll about, teeheehee!

Say good night, Dick; "Good night Dick".

/out.

NOTE: * : I may say "fault" but I actually mean "credit" in the nicest possible way :-)

Cherry Mistmas!

Last year, "weeweechu"ed a Merry Christmas. This year... from an e-mail received a bit too late last year to feature here... so it's been in draft post form for almost a year waiting for Xmas to come around again.... another Xmas greeting:

Jose Cuervo Christmas Cookies:

1 cup of water
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup of brown sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
4 large eggs
1 cup nuts
2 cups of dried fruit
1 bottle Jose Cuervo Tequila

Sample the Cuervo to check quality.
Take a large bowl, check the Cuervo again to be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink.

Turn on the electric mixer. Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add one teaspoon of sugar. Beat again. At this point it's best to make sure the Cuervo is still OK, so try another cup just in case.

Turn off the mixerer thingy. Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit. Pick the frigging fruit off floor.

Mix on the turner. If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers just pry loose with a drewscriver. Sample the Cuervo to check for tonsisticity.

Next, sift two cups of salt or something. Who giveshz a sheet.
Check the Jose Cuervo. Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts. Add table. Add a spoon of sugar or somefink. Whatever you can find.

Greash the oven.

Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over. Don't forget to beat off the turner. Finally, throw the bowl out, finish the Jose Juervo and make sure to put the stove in the dishwasher.

CHERRY MISTMAS!

And on a related note... check out these "alcohol warning labels", including things like:
WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may make you think
you are whispering when you are not.
___________________________________________

WARNING: The consumption of alcohol may cause you to
think you can sing.
Hope everyone had a safe and fun weekend - here's wishing readers who celebrate it a Merry Christmas!!

milestone!

[I *just* saw this, so *had* to do a quick posting!!]

So recently Kevin achieved a blogging milestone. I was very happy for him, but I knew that for me I'd probly not want to achieve that milestone, mainly because I do try to stay pseudonymmed and eyes-blanked-out in pix, LoL!

But still... looks like I've achieved a milestone of my own!

What is it, you may ask?
I just got my blog "Favourited" over on technorati.

And who, you may ask, did the Favouriting?
Neilochka a.k.a. Citizen of the Month!

Sure, sure, he's got 408 others in his favourites list as I type, but, on *my* side? he's my first!

Thanx for the holiday cheer, Neil!

X-factor

I stumbled across the abbreviation "Xtian" for "Christian" recently. Wow, that looks really ugly and wrong for some reason. I can see the "leap" from Xmas to Xtian, I just don't think it's a leap that needs to be leapt.

Anyways.

Just a few more days till Christmas. I've got a great joke post for that, courtesy of Baby Angel, that has been waiting to be published for slightly less than a year now. It'll finally get out of draft mode on Monday, Whoohooo!! One down, twenty-four to go!

But for this weekend of last minute shopping trying to act on Santa's behalf getting gifts for family and friends whether loved or not... I just *had* to share this website I just found out about:
Letters From Bad Santa
Okay so some of those "Evil Toys" are taken off of the 'net cos I've seen them in emails a few times. But those letters to Santa by Tom Cruise, Paris Hilton, Keanu Reeves? Hilarious!

My fave section though, is Nigerian Santa. Tell me if you DIDN'T burst out laughing!

On that note [b flat?], I'll leave y'all to a great weekend.

Remember to check-in on Monday, k?

Ciao.

Welcome!

Just passing the word along in case you didn't already know...

• if you want to access Marina Mahathir's past columns published weekly in The Star, Sambal Belacan has been posting them online recently here.


• as a result of the above, SB inadvertently dragged Marina into the world of blogging, yay! You can find Marina's personal blog here.

Both have been duly blogrolled :-)

I really enjoy her writing and her views - we need more people like her not just in Malaysia, but in the world.

Me, I am a pale shadow compared to her.

I know, many dismiss her saying that she's "allowed" to speak up and out only because of who her father is. In a way, that is true. But that doesn't negate the message! And her actions! ESPECIALLY when you look at the other offspring of Malaysian politicians in general [or, a certain son-in-law, in particular..] have behaved, and continue to behave: typical "privileged malay" behaviour like hanging on daddy's coattails to get into 101 businesses and politics, stirring up racial hatred, depending on UMNO handouts and all that jazz.

In a country where people shy away from talking about sex, still cling on to the blinkered view that only married couples have sex, still think that AIDS is spread only thru sex, and where some politicians actually would like to send people with AIDS to live on an isolated island away from "normals".... in such a country, Marina Mahathir battled against such discrimination, mindsets and small-mindedness as head of the Malaysian AIDS Council [she stepped down a few years ago, I believe]. An uphill battle that would never have gotten as far as it has today without her.

Welcome to the blogosphere, Marina; I look forward to having my mind expanded by your rantings *and* musings!

My grade in Social Niceties 101 : "F"!

This weekend:

Ms Tex: "It's *SO* nice to *FINALLY* meet you!!

...we are queueing for the BATHROOM for heaven's sake, this is NOT the time for fake small talk... in addition, the obligatory-not-necessarily-true "Well, *me* *too!*" just dies in my throat, and all I can bring myself to do is put on this forced surprise/smile expression on my face, and nod.

Poor Ms Tex, I bet she didn't quite know what to make of me.

I've made quite the oscillation in terms of social niceties.

I have a memory at age 8 or so:

"*lynne*, say hello to Mr So-And-So", so I stick out my hand and mumble "Hello". Later I am scolded for not just the mumbling, but for the looking down at my feet while shaking hands.

aside:I wonder if "they" ever put *any* thought into *why* I'd do that? A symptom of low self-esteem & self-confidence, perhaps? Because the scolding? Not the best way to go about lifting one's spirits, y'know?

Aaaanyways... so many years pass... I grow into a conflicted person dependent on others for approval and yet wanting so much to believe in myself... the "gang" of friends in Form 4 & 5 helped "ground" me... then my university years in the US helped "free" me: I not so much emerged as LEAPT from my shell, LoL

Very soon upon graduating and returning to Malaysia, I remember attending some sort of function, and I held my own extremely well in terms of socially interacting with complete strangers, carrying on with superficial social banter [heck, after 5 years in the land of the great communicators, if you haven't picked up this skill, well, you didn't make use of your time there!]. I remember getting feedback from a particular couple who said, essentially, "Wow, you've really grown up! We're amazed that you carried yourself so well at that event!". Who this couple was, and why that actually seemed more insult than compliment will not be addressed, but if you know anything about my rants, you'll figure it out :p

Then I started work, and had to totally clamp down on how I expressed myself, and to whom. This liberal half-breed with *gasp!* uncovered hair stationed to a very conservative part of Malaysia, Muslim/Malay/male dominated, with both overt and covert disapproval of my presence felt from the start. Not fun.

Two years later I managed to get a job posting in KL, yahoo, back to civilization! But due to circumstances this time relating to relationships, I still had to clamp down on what I said, who I shared info with, had even been trained to lie and say what was wanted/needed to be said & not what my truth really was. For about 5 years. Again: not fun.

Then, my world changed: the absolute best and absolute worst thing that could ever have happened to me - I got assigned to this 9-month "special project" that was supposed to lay the foundation for a great change in the organization where I worked.

"The best thing" because early on, my "boss" recognized I had opinions I was not sharing, and encouraged me to express myself. In addition, with it being a "special project" and all, the team members comprised atypical hand-picked people plus consultants from a prestigious firm... essentially I felt "safe", and started opening up.

And there was no going back.

"The worst thing" because silly me, I actually bought in to the stuff our group produced that we were supposed to practice ourselves, and cultivate and put into practice in the organization... and the lip service I saw practiced by the powers that be totally ate at me... and the [much wiser!] team members who preferred to play political games rather than burn themselves being vociferous proponents of the change we were charged to bring forth from the organization - well, they REALLY ate at me. My contributions slowly warped from enthusiastic suggestions to cynical sniping.

Yes, there were PLENTY of other factors at play here on the personal side, but still... up till this point, my work was my life. But I was horrified at how ugly I'd become as a result of what was going on at work. My frustration and anger was resulting in my being rude and disrespectful - which is not really me [yes, I'm sarcastic, I'm blunt, but this was going waaaay too far!] *and* is NOT something one does in an Asian society!

It came to the point where I had to make a choice: be true to myself and walk away because I was no longer a positively-contributing member of the organization, or ignore/repress my true feelings, put on a fake mask, and "give in" to how I needed to behave in order to survive in the organization.

Remember I said "there was no going back" once I had been "re-released"?

I made my choice.

An important consequence to all of this?
- I have found myself no longer a willing producer of lip service, small talk, fake conversation and the like: I was tired of talking without meaning. Words spoken unnecessarily and not truly "felt" twist my mouth and taste like ashes. And I try hard to live by the credo "if you don't have anything [nice] to say, then say nothing".
- I have also found myself reluctant to enable or encourage others who speak words from the lips, not from the heart: I'll smile and nod politely [hopefully the smile doesn't come out twisted / wry / painful.. you know, unlike how that smile to Ms Tex felt like!], probably get this glazed look in my eyes, then turn my attention to my plate / drink / *something!* Quite a challenge, what with my being in the US, and everyone does a lot of talking...

And so.

Kinda amusing that at age 34, some people might classify me "almost as bad" now as how I was at age 8.

After all, through the years, I *still* struggle with the eye-contact thing. At least the mumbling part's no longer an issue, though here in the U.S. I feel I talk too softly PLUS my accent/inflection/pronunciation has most people needing me to repeat what I say.

I am perfectly happy to sit at the table / counter during a family/social gathering and just. observe. everyone. People watching is EXCELLENT entertainment!

At least the warped self-esteem/confidence manifestation of talking just for the sake of talking, to hear my voice, or to try to get validation of my existence from others is no longer an issue. Sure, I still struggle... but I've come *such* a long way, and I know it! Go me!

Bottom line: I'd rather be known as a person of few words, but the few words that *DO* get spoken are acknowledged as meaningful, relevant, bullshit-less and from the heart.

Of course, this leads to moments like the interaction with Ms Tex last Sunday.

And my avoidance of the telephone, to the extent I owe a few people a call and I keep. putting. it. off.

And.... gahhhhh... how on earth am I going to meet and get to know people during my year in Chicagoland??

I gotta get out and interact in my non-speaking social interactiony way a LOT more!

p/s> this "few words" policy applies to verbal communication - as you can see from the length of my posts, I am *quite* verbose when writing, LoL! [this post took about 1hr 30mins from start to publish]

a crying shame...

It was an anomaly on Jalan Ampang: a few hundred meters away from the PETRONAS Twin Towers; next door to Bank Simpanan Nasional's HQ; a stone's throw from Zouk; a house no longer suited to be lived in once the surrounding area became more and more commercial. It was a restaurant for the longest time, although a few years ago it shut down completely.


The Bok House / Le Coq D'Or ... BEFORE
[photo taken from mansonion's KL Travel page @ VirtualTourist.com]

I'd always heard that there was some will/instruction by the original owner of the building that the house was never to be demolished/ changed in any way, and must always stay in the family... and that of course, the current generation of family members were trying to find loopholes so that they could cash in on the valuable land the house is sitting on.

The Badan Warisan Malaysia [Malaysian Heritage Trust] has been lobbying for the longest time to get the National Heritage Act in place [2005] *and* to get the Bok House gazetted as a heritage site. Unfortunately, their efforts were in vain.


The Bok House / Le Coq D'Or ... 15th December 2006
[photo taken from Badan Warisan Malaysia]

I could go on and on about how this is just another symptom of the shallowness and myopia that is Malaysia... but I just don't feel like it,,, because this is just one of so many things that's happened recently in Malaysia that has me wondering if there is any hope for the country to pull itself out of this downward slide...

More reading:

1. The Day Bok House Died


2. Demolished - LensaMalaysiaForum [comment #13 gives an excellent essay on the history and heritage of this now non-existent building]

P/S> thanx to these photos, I am now past my 200th image uploaded to flickr. So now I have "... run into one of the limits of a free account. Your free account will only display the most recent 200 photos you've uploaded. All of your photos beyond 200 will remain hidden from view until you either delete newer photos, or upgrade to a Pro account. None of your photos have been deleted, and if you upgrade, they'll all come back unharmed." Gah!!!

it's Friday already? again?

So I was up and about at 6am - spent about 2 hrs just kinda spacing out on the 'net, then decided to crawl back into bed [you know, instead of crawling to the gym!].

Proceeded to have the weirdest dream[s], something about having lost my one and only set of car keys.. the thing was, i'd snuck out of the office to head back home in the early afternoon, so I'd be in big trouble not just for not being able to get back, but for having snuck out in the first place! So I was backtracking my path hoping to stumble across the keys, but to no avail. There was something about being at my car and debating whether or not to lock the car knowing I didn't have the keys. There was something also of me walking around in the house [which is not a house I've ever seen/been in!] still looking for those keys, and coming into a part of the house I'd never been in before/forgotten was there. I had my books piled up messily all over the place, and I thought to myself I might as well pack them neatly into boxes, since I didn't need them out at this time anyway... and that place I'd forgotten? It had huge bay windows that let in loads of sunlight, so I was semi-blinded. So I stumbled out and sat on some steps, struggling to open my teary eyes, major apprehension building in my tummy about having to call in to work and explain what had happened, and overall feeling just damn angry with myself. So angry, in fact, that I decided I needed a smoke. I hopped up and started walking uphill, and came across my schoolmate who called out to me "Hey, I know that look on your face, you're craving a smoke aren't you?" and extends her lit ciggie. "Thanks, but that's not my brand," says I, ignoring the sudden appearance out the corner of my eye of *another* schoolmate who I know *does* use "my brand": ignoring because I want my own pack or something? I turn around to keep walking toward the shops, and I think around that time I am rescued from all this by Kosh's phone call.

So *that* had me kinda weirded out already...

Then after this and that... cleaned out the kitty litter box... hopped into the shower.... walked out feeling nice and fresh... and almost choked as I inhaled a huge cloud of the most aromatic [not!] cat poo you can imagine! Gah! That the cat would use the box right after it's been cleaned is a given... but sometimes, like this morning, her poop just stinks to high heaven. And she seems incapable of covering it up. Gah! Sometimes it's so bad I have to take the scoop and scoop the sand over her poop for her. What a kitty... :p

Anyways - so today I hopped on the weighing scales and chose not to believe the numbers indicated [all you need to know is that they went UPwards, grrrr]: I will need to be upping the healthy eating and reducing the snackage.... my downfalls in August/September were Ben&Jerry's ice creams... then we discovered them Golden Oreos... then recently it's been Nutella [with animal crackers, or plain on a spoon]... gotta love the self-sabotage!!

Okay, off to spend Kosh's $$ on groceries and perhaps some clothes.

Ciao!

Short Post

"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished by how much he'd learned in seven years." - Mark Twain

Hey, Mr Twain? I think for me it happened the other way 'round. :p

= = = = =

came across this quote recently, thought I'd share, since it resonated, despite having the wrong parent and totally off ages... but the idea is still there... *grin!*

'laters!

subtitle my world...

Growing up in Malaysia, I was used to having subtitles when watching almost anything on tv [or movies]: everything not in Malay had to have Malay subtitles.

And while all too often the translations were below par, occasionally it helped to have them as a reference when the actors mumbled / used phrases you weren't used to.

Fast forward to the past few years: here in the U.S. almost every tv channel now is close captioned, and Kosh and I have that option activated on our tv more often than not. Glad he doesn't mind "reading tv", LoL! I *do* have issues with this, though, when what rolls across the screen is garbled characters... bad enough this tv's captioning happens on a black background that blocks what's on the screen!

So, even better: DVDs with subtitle options!

Without this, I would NOT be as appreciative of South Park as I am now... back in Malaysia I'd been exposed to this zany irreverent cartoon, but struggled to understand every other word they uttered sometimes, so missed out on A LOT of the sick irreverence! Then Kosh and I received South Park Season One DVDs - I said I'd watch it only if we had subtitles on - and the rest is history :-)

I do have issues with *where* the subtitles appear onscreen: when the DVD is a widescreen version, why can't the manufacturers have the text appear in the unused black bar on the bottom of the screen, rather than appearing on the "movie" part of it?? In LOTR it was really really really irritating!

But, why am I talking about all of this? Because I am having issues. A few days ago Kosh and I did an early end-of-year gift exchange thingy: I gave him South Park Season Three and he gave me Animaniacs Vol 2.

Animaniacs Vol 2, just like Vol 1, does NOT have ENGLISH subtitle options. I don't understand why not. Not that I urgently need it for this series, but still, occasionally Wakko Yakko or Dot talks a bit *too* fast or makes too obscure a reference and I need to rewind and try to figure out what was said... and if that fails, then I "activate' the captioning of the tv... and then have the closed captioning rolling across the screen and blanking out the bottom quarter or so. Bleh.

And South Park Season Three? NO SUBTITLES! Gawd dammit! Yes, it's close captioned, but by now you'll know that given a choice, I choose subtitles. And I don't understand why a feature that existed in previous seasons would suddenly disappear. At least for Animaniacs, subtitles are available, just not for English. For South Park Season Three there are absolutely NO SUBTITLES at all! WTF?! I'm going to have to see if the subsequent seasons are subtitled at all - not sure if that will affect future purchases, but I'd like to be "prepared" next time.

... but so used am I to having subtitles / captioning as I watch something, I kinda cringe at the thought of watching movies in the cinema here sans reading anymore...


= = = = =

And just heard on the news: Peter Boyle has passed away. Most people will remember him as Ray's father on Everybody Loves Raymond (did you know that his Frank Barone character crossed over to tv shows "Cosby" [1997] and "The King of Queens" [1998]?)

Me, I'll always be amused that he was the "monster" in Young Frankenstein. [Living on the Ritz!!]

Y'know, unless Kosh violently objects, we'll be watching Young Frankenstein tonight.

R.I.P Mr Boyle.

World of Tarot, Estrogen & Insults, oh my!

How appropriate!

You are the World

Completion, Good Reward.

The World is the final card of the Major Arcana, and as such represents saturnian energies, time, and completion.

The World card pictures a dancer in a Yoni (sometimes made of laurel leaves). The Yoni symbolizes the great Mother, the cervix through which everything is born, and also the doorway to the next life after death. It is indicative of a complete circle. Everything is finally coming together, successfully and at last. You will get that Ph.D. you've been working for years to complete, graduate at long last, marry after a long engagement, or finish that huge project. This card is not for little ends, but for big ones, important ones, ones that come with well earned cheers and acknowledgements. Your hard work, knowledge, wisdom, patience, etc, will absolutely pay-off; you've done everything right.

What Tarot Card are You?Take the Test to Find Out.

[H/T: SnglGuy]
Looking at this excellent card [excellent in terms of image as well as significance] reminds me of when I did "dabble" a bit in this area, while I was studying in the U.S. over a decade ago.

Started with this Native American Tarot Deck Set: with this I realised the pitfall of buying a themed deck when you weren't familiar with the theme, let alone the cards themselves! being interested in Native American culture and dating a Choctaw didn't automatically mean a Native American themed deck would "fit", y'know?

Around the same time, I'd also gotten my hands on this Medicine Card Deck Set: it's not a tarot deck, it was also Native American themed, and I used this a few times too. However, again, it just didn't quite resonate with me, so it went into retirement too.

I also have a totally unused Arthurian Tarot Deck Set, an end-of-year gift from some friends who'd seen this as a great combination of my interest in the tarot in general and the Arthurian literature specifically [it was probably during / soon after I took that excellent class]. I might have looked through the deck once, just to admire the cards.

Anyways, these three sets, plus at least one book on druidism, all sit forlornly, packed away in a box, stored with my many other boxes of stuff, at the "beach house" in Malaysia - reminders of a certain time in my life when I looked elsewhere for answers.

I've come a long way since then.

No regrets though: that era was certainly a necessary step in my spiritual awakening / development. If nothing else, it's a shame for me to have those items in storage, when I could probably pass them on to interested folk. Oh well. We'll see about shipping all those boxes over here on my next trip to Malaysia - whenever *that* is going to be!

= = = = =
So yesterday I attended my first ever baby shower. Pretty much how I expected it to be. It was nice to meet and interact with some people who knew of me via emailed photos. It was good to meet the mommy-to-be after so long [haven't seen her since, oh, either late last year or early this year], and it was fun to participate in one of these all-American rituals.

Thankfully I didn't overdose on all that estrogen present, heeheheee!

= = = = =
From Kim, who found these Fun Witty Insults here. There are 77, a bit of an overload, so here are a select few. Want the whole thing? Follow the link lah, what are you, a moron, or are you possessed by a retarded ghost (#72)?

7. I don't know what makes you tick, but I hope it's a time bomb.

10. If you said what you thought, you'd be speechless.

14. I'd like to say I'm glad you're here; I'd *really* like to say it.

17. Someday you'll go far, and I hope you stay there.

23. Let's go some place were we can each be alone.

37. I enjoy talking to you, my mind needs a rest.

42. I don't know what your problem is, but I'll bet it's hard to pronounce. [I have this on a t-shirt, haahahaaa!]

51. I'm busy now; can I ignore you some other time?

57. I would probably find you more interesting had I studied psychology.

= = = = =

Okay, the lbs vs IQ challenge re-starts today!

Gah.

Friday Freeze!

Brrrr!

Forgot about hot water not being available in the building for most of the day today. So here I am, slightly sweaty from a 30+min workout, slightly dusty from cleaning out the cat box, and definitely cold and wanting to immerse myself under a cascade of hot water... *sigh*

And to add to this mood? "A Chicago area individual was arrested for allegedly planning a "lone wolf" terrorist attack on an area shopping mall during the busy holiday season." Details are severely lacking at this point - more will emerge once the Feds bring this guy to court later today. Ugh.

On a more positive note, after spending most of Wednesday dozing on and off letting my body battle the cold, after going through probably a box of tissues to catch my snottiness, yesterday I felt a lot better, and today I think I can declare myself "okay"! :-) All the more reason to NOT try to take a quick freeze-inducing shower, eh?

Oh, guess what? I've "upgraded" to Blogger beta. By this time, I would expect most of the bugs to have been worked out, so hopefully readers will have no problem with leaving comments! The one feature I'm happy to see is the "labels" thingy! Of course, I may be a big enough freak to go back and label allllll my old posts, if that's possible. We'll see.

Okay, yawwwn, may wanna snuggle up and doze on the couch now. 'Laters!

= = = = =
UPDATE: 6pm
1. News on the lone wolf
2. News I woke up to instead of Jeopardy
Heh. Chicago is quite the happening place today.

Wednesday Whinings

Meat Loaf Tour Dates 2007

2/23/07 ... Pala, CA : Pala Casino
3/22/07 ... Syracuse, NY : On Center
3/24/07 ... Upper Darby, PA : Tower Theater
3/26/07 ... Poughkeepsie, NY : Mid Hudson Civic Ctr.
3/28/07 ... Binghamton, NY : Broome County Arena
3/30/07 ... Hershey, PA : Giant Center
4/01/07 ... Washington, DC : DAR Constitution Hall
4/03/07 ... Clearwater, FL : Ruth Eckerd Hall
4/05/07 ... Boca Raton, FL : Mizner Amphitheater
4/07/07 ... Orlando, FL : Hard Rock
4/10/07 ... Wallingford, CT : Chevrolet Theatre
4/12/07 ... New York, NY : Theater @ MSG
[May & June '07: various locations in UK, Ireland, Germany]

Meh. Wonder if this is just the first leg of a longer US tour, or if he really isn't going to venture beyond the east coast this time around [at least last year he made it all the way out to Ohio, which is where we caught him]. Not that Kosh would have the time to go anyway. And not that we were *that* impressed with the whole gig anyway :-( Oh well.

= = = = =
Last night I started the sneezing and the blowing of nose again. Might have been a delayed reaction to walking the streets at 6am in friggin cold weather to look for Kosh's lost IDs... unfortunately, didn't find them, so unless some good but procrastinative samaritan hands them in today, poor Kosh is going to have to go through the hassle of getting the various IDs re-issued. I gag at the thought of the administrative procedures that will cut into his already crappy schedule. :-(

= = = = =
I've never quite "got" the term "honky": I know its use as a derogatory reference to whites,,, but WHY? Is it linked to "honky tonk music", or something else? While I don't have the end-all answer, I now have access to a pretty comprehensive database of racial slurs with useful explanations and commentary. Someone certainly had a lot of time on their hands: check out the Racial Slur Database. You can submit your own too.

= = = = =
Machine. Unexpectedly, I’d invented a time
- Alan Moore
Wired magazine featured [very short] 6-word Sci-Fi stories by various people, inspired by what Hemingway called his best work: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." There are some excellent ones in there.

= = = = =
Have plenty more to share, but my stuffy nose/head is gonna have me curl up and sleep instead.

Laters!

I'm a cunning linguist! and other stories

See! I'm not making it up! I'm a cunning linguist!
[H/T Roberta]

Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence

You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well. An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly. You are also good at remembering information and convicing someone of your point of view. A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding your vocabulary. You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

= = = = =
Got some excellent news in the mail yesterday, over 6 months earlier than expected. Celebrated by having homemade tuna melt while watching Life of Brian. Whoohoo :P [i.e. we'll celebrate later when Kosh isn't braindead from work]

= = = = =
Had to share Samm's surprise gift with y'all: check it out here. Now, tell me HOW such an object, that looks like a ring, "fits perfectly to fill the gap between the tip of [a certain body part] and [a certain] spot"?? I just. can't. picture. it.

= = = = =

Still pending: perspectives on death, and update on the "something wicked & green".

interlude #2: the magic iPod meme

Ever since we got Meat Loaf's Bat III, I've pretty much adopted Kosh's iPod Shuffle as my own, to accompany me to the gym. A few days ago I expanded the playlist to include stuff beyond Mr Loaf, and figured I had enough of a variety to finally go ahead and "play" what I call the magic iPod meme.

Here goes [seen at many blogs; this version taken from SnglGuy from a long time ago]:

Instructions: Go to your music player of choice and put it on shuffle. Say the following questions aloud, and press play. Use the song title as the answer to the question.

How does the world see me? : Original Sin, by Meat Loaf
LMAO how appropriate! I'm looking for self-satisfaction while others [read: parents? Malaysians in general?] would view my actions with horror? "There'll be hell to pay someday So put it all on the bill 'Cause we'll always be paying And paying until We're beyond expiration With a license to thrill" I'll drink to that! ;-)

Will I have a happy life? : Fine Line, by Paul McCartney
Heh another good one that starts off "There's a fine line between recklessness and courage it's about time you understood which road to take" - this answer is essentially your life is what you make it to be - my sentiments exactly.

What do my friends really think of me? : This Never Happened Before, by Paul McCartney
"This is the way it should be for lovers, they shouldn't go it alone, it's not so good when you're on your own" Errr, so my friends are happy I'm finally married, is that it? LoL!

Do people secretly lust after me? : Paradise by the Dashboard Light, by Meat Loaf
LMAO!! I won't argue with that answer!!

How can I make myself happy? : House of the Rising Sun, by The Animals
"Oh mother, tell your children Not to do what I have done ..." ... so I can make myself happy by not perpetuating the mistakes of my parents, or repeating my own?

What should I do with my life? : Midnight at the Lost & Found, by Meat Loaf
"Have a double, it's gettin' late, you'll get home, just rely on fate" Yeah! That's kinda what I'm doing right now, anyway!!

Will I ever have children?: Where Angels Sing, by Meat Loaf
Wow. I love this song, but in conjunction with this "question", it kinda gives me the shivers. "I get so weary on this troubled road Unlock these chains and gently rock me home Beyond the clouds and the rain" A song about someone who's been hit hard by life, and is finally getting to let go and rest....

What is some good advice for me? : Blind as a Bat, by Meat Loaf
Heh, this could be interpreted in so many ways....

How will I be remembered? : It's All Coming Back To Me, by Meat Loaf featuring Marion Rav[e]n
I have a huge impact, perhaps an ultimately destructive impact, on people? but try as they might, they can't really block me out and I get to them anyway? Kewl!!

What is my signature dancing song? : Poison, by Alice Cooper
"... I want to hurt you just to hear you screaming my name" wow does this mean I'm a killer on the dance floor??

What do I think my current theme song is? : Wake Me Up Inside, by Evanescence
"Wake me up inside. Call my name and save me from the dark. Bid my blood to run. Before I come undone. Save me from the nothing I've become." Heh, so I think I'm "nothing", do I?? Well, I call it "being in limbo" and that's gonna be for another 6 months or so, so there!! :p

What does everyone else think my current theme song is? : Goodbye to You, by Michelle Branch
"Goodbye to you, goodbye to everything I thought I knew, ... the one thing that I tried to hold on to" awwww don't worry, I may be out of touch and halfway across the world but that doesn't mean I'm "gone"...

What song will play at my funeral? : Not A Dry Eye In The House, by Meat Loaf
Okay so I HOWLED with laughter when this started playing, gotta love the title as the answer [gotta ignore the fact that the song is about a betrayal in four acts]; besides, I'd prefer to have everyone celebrating my life rather than mourning my death...

What type of men/women do I like? : The Razor's Edge, by Meat Loaf
wow, isn't this the one where in the video Meat's in a straightjacket?? LMAO!! Yeah baby, yeah! I like my significant others to be slightly demented, who "don't roll over, don't play dead"? Sounds about right! :-)

What is my day going to be like? : Monstro, by Meat Loaf
Heh, anyone wanna help translate for me [babelfish didn't translate completely - what the heck is a "ladron"?] I love the sound and feel of the song, tho, if that means anything. Besides, the day's pretty much over [past 9:20 pm!].

Okay, just so you know, the playlist has 93 songs, of which 35, or 38% are Meat Loaf songs. They just happened to come up more often (60%!?) than non-Meat songs for this meme! I suppose that's a sign... just dunno of what, LoL!

Anyways, I sure had fun with this, hopefully *you *weren't too bored with this Me!Me! post :p

Ciao, and have a great weekend!

interlude

am working on some death-related perspectives, and it's taking some time.

in the meantime, thought I'd share something I found this when roaming the 'net a while ago.

I seems that some hijabis have taken to wearing some badges saying:

'My feet are cleaner than your face.'
-picture of taking the wudhu' (ablution) for the feet-

'Relax, it's a headscarf, not a bomb'

'My name causes national security alerts. What does yours do?'

I find these hilarious!

Now, if I'm not mistaken, these were sighted in Oz, thus indicating that despite having a "head" who likens women to raw meat and places the blame of rape totally on women, there's a small flash of hope that some Muslims there have a sense of humor and some creativity.

Sure, you can read them as totally arrogant too, but, trust me, the fact that humour and creativity seem present is a miracle to be thankful for!

Heh.

... of chalkboard goodies and geese?

In case you have the Animaniacs Vol 1 DVD handy, and you watch the episode entitled Cookies for Einstein... keep an eye out for some funny stuff on the chalkboard:H2O = WET
STP = OIL
[I only just noticed that yesterday when I rewatching that particular disc for like the 3rd time, I feel so ashamed, LoL!]

[There was also P=BM3 .. I wonder if it's got something to do with urination and bowel movements?]

And, of course, I do hope you've noticed that in the Pinky & The Brain intro, Brain scribbles THX = 1138 on the lab chalkboard? Would be funnier if it were George Lucas and not Steve Spielberg involved in this zany cartoon series, but what the hey.

= = = = on another note = = = = [ b flat? ] = = = =

Found this courtesy of Roberta:

Geb Engaging personality, sensitive, modest, occasionally narcissistic, but can rise above vanity. Colors: male: violet, female: rose Compatible Signs:Set, Horus Dates: Feb 12 - Feb 29, Aug 20 - Aug 31 Role: God of the earth Appearance: Green-skinned man, with leaves all over his body and a goose on his head. Sometimes he was shown laying on his side under his wife, the sky goddess Nut. Sacred animals: goose What is Your Egyptian Zodiac Sign? Designed by CyberWarlock of Warlock's Quizzles and Quandaries

... so don't be surprised if I goose ya next time I see ya, LoL!


= = = = = and now for something completely different? = = = = =

Wow has the weather turned! We had an unseasonably mild Thanksgiving week last week with temps in the 60's F ... and now we're going to be lucky to see anything as "warm" as 37F within the next 7 days! Yesterday it rained all day, and tonight we're expecting a major storm system that's gonna be throwing loads of snow our way. Wheee! I suppose it's high time to get real winter weather, eh?

Cheers, from the soon-to-be VERY Windy City!

no more grandparents for me!

So, my last surviving grandparent is no more.

She passed away peacefully in her sleep last night.

Didn't find out till an hour ago that she'd contracted pneumonia a few weeks ago and had been deteriorating rapidly since then: water in lungs, full of medication, all that jazz. Not fun.

I'm glad she's finally gone.

Some "portraits" of her can be found here and a little snippet here.

The last I saw her was during my short 2-week hop to Switzerland in October 2005;
the last time we spoke was a brief phone call placed when I arrived in the U.S. in July 2006;
the last written communication was the wedding announcement we sent in late September 2006;

The memory of her that I will keep with me is of a particular tradition / interaction we'd have when I was very young: 6 years old or thereabouts. During that time, we went to visit in Switzerland almost yearly, and always during wintertime, because that was when we'd have the long break between school years in Malaysia [unlike the long summer break in the western world]. So the weather would be quite cold, and my grandmother was worried we'd catch cold, what with us not being used to the whole winter concept and bundling up properly against the cold and all....

Her solution - Vicks VapoRub to warm the chest & lungs!

I looked forward to those "fricsionner" [sp?] sessions, where almost every evening before us kids went to sleep, she'd slather the stuff onto my chest and rub it in,,, then I'd turn over and get the same on my back. MmmmMmMmMMMMmmm! Good touches, given in abundance, contributing to a sense of being loved, of security, of simple happiness. Good times. Simpler times. Happy times.

But, like I said before: I'm glad she's finally gone. I hope she is now at peace, pain-free, perhaps even reunited with grand-papa who went beyond the veil almost 10 years ago.

Adieu, grand-maman.
J'espère que ta place préparé vers ton Seigneur Jésus est tout que tu a espéré qu'elle serait.

[more reflections on death later]

great Quotes & Catch Phrases?

So, it seems TV Land has compiled a list of 100 Greatest TV Quotes & Catch Phrases which it will reveal over 5 days beginning December 10th. Of course, the list is already available for our perusal. Go fig.

Anyways.

First, I gotta say that at least "they" are not myopically calling it the World's Greatest etc etc etc... and precisely because this reflects USA pop culture there are many on that list I totally do not know, or do not relate to. In fact, some that I do know are recent additions since getting to know Kosh - he and his deep well of tv "knowledge", LoL! Have I mentioned that if you're playing Trivial Pursuit or Scene It, you want him on your team??

Aaaanyways... here are some noteworthy ones from this so-called 100 Greatest TV Quotes & Catch Phrases, to me:

• "Don't make me angry ..." (David Banner, "The Incredible Hulk")
  Heh, it goes on "You won't like me when I'm angry" ... I totally enjoyed that show when younger, although I bet it's sooooo dated I probably couldn't sit through one episode if it was on air right now. I'd forgotten all about the haunting music at the end [when David? Bruce? Banner is walking along the highway, trying to hitch a ride] until it was "reproduced" by Stewie in Family Guy. It sent shivers up my spine!


• "Oh, my God! They killed Kenny!" (Stan and Kyle, "South Park")
  LoL, I feel a weird sense of pride for Matt&Trey for this to be in the list! Yes, that's despite that Jared episode I caught last night that had an utterly disturbing liposuction scene that actually had me turning away from the screen. And it's a cartoon. Yup, it was that sick. Gotta admire their twisted genius :-)


• "Whassup?" (Budweiser ad)
  Ah, the power of the internet. When I left the U.S. in 1995, Budweiser was just using the frogs in their ads. I heard about, and got to watch, the whassup ads thanks to vids posted online. And all those spoofs! There's one Jewish one with everyone saying "Shalommmmmm!" that is as irritating and as funny as the original Bud ads. What a hoot!

When I started this post, I was going to point out other great catch phrases of mine that I supposed hadn't made the cut,,, when I realised TV Land's list was based on TV, duh! So here are a few other noteworthy quotes and catch phrases, not limited to TV:

MOVIES:
Rain Man : definitely, definitely, yeah...
LOTR: myyyy preciousssssssssssssssssss
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: he chose [pause] poorly


BOOKS:
From "A Stranger in a Strange Land" : thou art God and groc


TV - CARTOONS
From Family Guy's Chris Griffin: I'm turning you into poo!
From Family Guy's Stewie Griffin: Victory is mine! and, my absolute fave uttered by him: click click bloody click pancakes!

TV - BABYLON 5
Delenn: abso-fraggin-lutely, damn it

Plenty more, but my brain isn't cooperating.

What are *your* fave quotes / catch phrases from TV/movie/ads?

cutting down on laundry time?

Found this handy "how to fold a t-shirt in ~3 seconds" video sometime last week.



Pretty nifty, eh?

So, I played it a few times: studied it, if you will; and was confident I'd be able to reproduce it when I was next in the laundry room with all those dried clothes a-beggin for some foldage.

But.

When that time came... I just couldn't remember the "trick". So I had to still fold the t-shirts the "long" way. Bleh.

Reminder #1: you can't just watch something being done and assume you can do it - you need to try it out yourself!

So, on the *next* laundry day? You'll find me practicing with one t-shirt in front of the 'puter before heading down to tackle the many tee's that will be a-waitin for my attention in the dryer.

In the meantime - if this trick helps *you* out with *your* foldage duties - you're welcome! :-)

Cheers!

it's that time of year when ...

... having big thighs is a good thing;

... of course that actually refers to the poor dead turkeys [turkies?], but what the hey :p


Yup, I've been quiet - [no worries, Monsoon, I'm fine!] - it's just that Kosh actually has this whole week off, so my time on the puter is both limited and not as high a priority. Things'll get back to normal next week :-)

Oh, and guess what else happens next week?

Hint: it's wicked and green! :-)

Cheers!

it's written in the stars

Well, more like written in that email from astrology.com: "Mercury turns direct in Scorpio on November 17, it's time to incorporate everything you've learned during this Mercury retrograde period, which began October 28. Hopefully, you’ve done your research and are ready to forge ahead. Independent Uranus turns direct on November 19, bringing change and a desire to be totally true to yourself. Just what is that magical mixture that makes you unique? As you are contemplating that, Jupiter enters philosophical and travel-oriented Sagittarius on November 23 for the first time in 12 years. A new course must be mapped out -- are you ready?"

Heh. There you have it. Mighty active astrological activity around us,, have *you* felt anything? [ /end rolling eyes]

Anyways.

Thought I'd share with you a well-written post, by one of my admired bloggers, on Borat and how it holds a mirror up to the USA. Still doesn't change anything for me: I'm certainly looking forward to seeing it - on DVD.

Speaking about DVDs... so with the Netflix and all,,, Kosh surprised me not just by insisting on getting Date Movie, but on pushing it up to the top of the queue. I mean, I *was* interested when I first heard about it, but as soon as I saw trailers for it, I knew it wasn't going to be worth a watch, even tho it stars my dear Willow. For some reason, Kosh had the impression it was really good [then again, he keeps saying Scary Movie 3 was great, while I felt the higher the Scary Movie number the worse the movie..] ... anyways, so the DVD arrived yesterday, and today we watched it. All I can say is don't do it to yourself, don't watch this movie, it's so not worth the time! I let out only two real laughs throughout. Now to see if I can get away with "accidentally" deleting Scary Movie 4 from the queue.... ;-)

And about Stephen King's Cell: while it was great to have a nice tale of King "horror" to sink my teeth into, the tale itself was just too much like The Stand, and nowhere near as satisfying. Don't buy it, borrow it from your library! [a proper review will hopefully be submitted to FWDT soon]. Now to take on Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five :-) no new DVD arrivlas till at least Monday, bummer!

Cheers!

Ups & Downs in mid-November

Down:
There are majorly strong winds a-blowin' out there; the Windy City is certainly living up to its name today. According to the weatherman, today is the cloudiest it's been in Chicagoland since 1992. Bleah.

Up:
So we signed up for a free trial of Netflix [2 weeks 3-at-a-time unlimited], to be followed by redemption of a 2month 1-at-a-time unlimited gift subscription.

And so I am finally on my way to completing my Buffy education [had only seen up to Season 5]. Devoured the first two discs of Season 6 in one day, whoohooo! Had so much more appreciation for both "Once again, with feeling" and "Tablua Rasa" episodes that Kosh had had me watch when all I knew was perhaps Seasons 1 or 2. Freak that I am, I would now love to get my hands [and ears] on the songs from the musical, and have added this to my wish list, LOL!

btw - other tv shows on the netflix list: Veronica Mars [caught one of the latest episodes a few weeks ago and was intrigued, so figured I'd start at the beginning...] and Battlestar Galactica [the "reimagined" version from the Sci-Fi Channel - wasn't impressed with the pseudo-pilot shown on NBC last year, but I've been hearing so many nice things about it from fellow bloggers who seem to have wavelengths comparable to mine,,, so... will try lah..].

Down:
The DVD player decided to crap out on us right when the DVDs arrived. At first I thought it wasn't regocnizing the disc because it was really really scratched, so I played it on the laptop instead. Then tried the second disc [looking much newer], which also was deemed "bad" by the player. Fine. Played that on the laptop too.

By that time, Kosh and I began to suspect it was the player. Tried our Bab5 DVDs that had worked fine a few days earlier : "bad disc".

Grrrr!

The "up" within this "down" is that Toshiba will replace the unit [surprisingly, considering the warranty is just a lame 3 month thing!] *and* will be sending us a shipping label thingy so that postage is on them too! But we won't celebrate teill we get that shipping label; send off the player *and* get the replacement! Might take a while....

... in the meantime, we are going to have to make do with laptop viewing, tho Kosh has already hooked up the "spare" laptop to our "system" so that we can at least view the next movies on a slightly larger screen :-)

more downs: the IQ vs lbs effort isn't yielding results at the moment. Sure, I delayed starting properly, then sabotaged myself food-wise all too often, *and* while I was good about the water drinking at first, I'm now barely doing 600mL a day; the only thing I'm doing relatively right is the exercise... but all by itself all it's going to do is help maintain where I am, not improve... *sigh*

Anyways, on a slightly related note: was surfing the net and got engrossed [and I do mean gross] reading the testimonials about this product. It's real easy to get sucked in. I'm now considering.... but will bounce the idea off of Dr Kosh first :-p This would make for some *awesome* photos, eh? LMAO!

Anyways - today I'm feeling lazy so probably no gym today.

Will probably finally finish reading Stephen King's Cell; all I can say right now is "omg Mr King how I have missed you! Yes, I loved the DT series, but,,, it's nice to sink mu teeth into a good "horror" tale that you are just excellent at producing!".

Cheers!

November's Bits & Pieces

Hi!! Missed me?? :-)

Here's a Bit:
So I went on the treadmill again today, this time hitting it at 3pm, which is a first - usually if I don't drag myself there in the morning I just ain't going... but today seeing as I *was* too lazy this morning then ended up not doing anything while waiitng Kosh to get back from rounds by noon [it's 4pm he's still not back yet] figured my having finished a pack of Golden Oreos *required* some effort on my part to make up for it. So i did the treadmill.

And funny thing - I'd swing my arms while walking on the 'mill, and occasionally I'd brush my hand/arm against the side/handle every so slightly, and yet it would hurt.

a tingly type hurt.

Kinda like I'd been.

Awww crap.

I was getting ZAPPED!!

Even worse was despite my figuring out I was building up static on that dang machine, I'd keep forgetting, so when I brushed against the sides, or, even better, when I gripped the handle prior to adjusting my speed/incline, I'd get one nice [read: nasty] zap.

I don't recall getting zapped the other times I've been treadmilling.

The new/different factor for today? I used my beloved Nikes instead of the cheapo Power pair. Hmmm. Of course, my ever-curious mind will dictate that on my next gym trips, I'll try to figure out if my Nikes indeed cause static build-up.

Here's another Bit:
Yes, I generate/build-up static very easily. Tis the season for me to dread getting out of the car and then closing the door, because, well, ZAPPPPPP! It HURTS, okay?? :-(

Here's a Piece:
Corny lyrics alert:

We know what to say
If you stand in our way:
"Don't stand in our way"

brought to you by Meat Loaf's In the Land of the Pig, the Butcher is King, written by Jim Steinman, and, cool beans, featuring Steve Vai on guitar :-)

And another piece:
Remember the mystery that was what song from BatIII did Meat sing at last year's concert? I don't know how much of this is "reconstructive memory" or whatever, but I'm pretty sure it's the song "Cry Over Me": after listening to the album numerous times [that's an understatement, btw] I can pretty much visualise the sight & sound of that particular song onstage. As far as I'm concerned, mystery solved. But I would like to know if the lyrics got changed between concert & actual album, because I *swear* the song did include "it only hurts when you feel"!

Oooh, another piece!:
Haven't blogged in quite a while. Why? Meat Loaf. Really. All I've wanted to do these past few days has been to curl up and immerse myself in the album. And by immerse that means not only having the album play over and over and over while I pretend to do other stuff, but also while I study the CD booklet and sing along with the songs, trying to set into memory some of the more memorable songs & lyrics.

Speaking about memorable songs: Have I mentioned that they have pretty much grown on me, such that even It's all Coming Back to me Now is extremely listenable, and Marion Raven's voice which earlier I'd thought was just plain flat and mismatched in that song now seems strangely complementary to Meat's own voice. It helps that I've always liked that song [and always thought it a pity that it was Ms Dion who'd sung it,, even well before I knew it was a Steinman creation]

What a difference a few spins of the CD make!

And one of my many favourites [I think every day a different song speaks to me more] is "Alive", such a large self-affirming song... at one point I listened to it like 4x in a row, and at the end, I'd sing out loud at the top of my lungs, with arms outstretched, head thrown back: Let the end of the world come tumbling down; I'll be the last man standing on the ground; And if my shadow's all that survives, I'm still A L IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII VE!

I may return to regular programming in a day or two.

Till then -

And I know that I'm gonna be like this forever
I'm never going to be what I should
And you think that I'll be bad for just a little while
But I know I'll be bad for good"

If it ain't broke...

... break it!

Whoohoo I've found my workout anthem :-)

Song #10 on BatIII sets just the right pace for me to work it work it work it on the treadmill without activating my shins, enabling me to totally immerse myself in the music and emerge unscathed from the workout 45 mins later [not that I listened to that one song for 45mins lah, but it came on as I was hitting my peak and that totally helped me go beyond what I would normally do, especially considering it was the treadmill {of which I am NOT a fan!} and not the elliptical thingy!]

btw - BatIII is definitely growing on me :-) Heck, even The Monster's Loose isn't that bad now that I've heard it like 10 times.. maybe it *was* a good choice for an opening track after all?

BUT: I have yet to identify the song from the concert. That's because I don't remember it or the lyrics while I'm actually listening to BatIII. Nvm, today I will get to the bottom of that mystery.

I leave you with some awesome lyrics from Song #2: Blind As A Bat

And I wish I could give you
Something in return
For the precious time you wasted
On the tears I never earned
For reaching out to help me
'Cross the bridges I have burned

On a humourous aside: part of the song also goes

Your love is blind
Blind as a bat
The way that you're leading me
Home like that

... but me being me, expecting a "you gone done me wrong" type song, I keep filling in my own lyrics, and laughing at myself everytime I catch myself. This is what I tend to sing instead:

Your love is blind
Blind as a bat
The way that you're lea*V*ing me
*COLD* like that

Okay so it's funny to me. :p I freely admit and acknowledge I'm a freak when it comes to Meat Loaf, k? :-)

P/S> Song #4 Bad For Good, apart from being a true-blue Steinman song, also sounded suspiciously like a Queen song in some places... and whaddaya know, that's Brian May on guitar!

[My previous post with first rxns to BatIII here]

where British comedy, cartoon songs and real life collide...

"You have big harrrmmh, may I touch?"

I don't remember how I got to this page, but teeheehee I just had to link it :-) I had lots of LOLs, and the last [#1] skit was soooo painful to watch and yet I had to keep watching... like a trainwreck... which is how I would describe just about every Borat skit I've seen anyway. Yes, click here for Cracked's 10 Best Borat Skits of All-Time.

Now, when the hype for Borat was starting to be heard about a month ago, I caught sight of the character and wondered why it/he was so familar. Took me a while to realise/accept that this was the person I knew as Ali G! Not that I liked that character either - he uses a brand of humor that's not quite up my alley. But his interview with Posh & Becks for Comic Relief was classic - "so do you want little Brooklyn to grow up and be a footballer like his dad, or a singer like Mariah Carey?" LMAO! The little bit about sarong/ so wrong is what has stayed in my mind for the longest time. Thanx to YouTube I managed to refresh my memory. It's a 10 min thing, and the audio doesn't quite match the video, but stick with it ... the sarong thing is right at the end, at about 9:30 or so. Check it out here.

After watching those 10 clips of Borat, I've decided that i will not be watching the movie in theatres - I'll be more than happy to watch it as a rented DVD, where I can divvy up exposure to Mr Cohen into small doses :-)

Once more thing: I don't know if it's intentional or just coincidental, but I vaguely remember that people in the Northern area of Malaysia [Perlis / Kedah] use a term sounding suspiciously like "bo'rat" as a colloquial for, err, harrrmmph. Any orang utara who can confirm/deny?

= = =

And since I was reminded of random British comedy... here's a Star Wars Episode One spoof by French & Saunders. Watch out for random teletubbies roaming around the marketplace. You'll cheer at Gui-Gon Jinn telling "Jar-Jar" to "piss off! piss off!" Again, the ending is the best "before you go, master, answer me this one last big question... do I grow up to become Alec Guiness?"

UPDATE Tuesday 1050am; here's another F&S SW:I 2min clip: watch for the changing Padme makeup! L.M.A.O.!

= = =

And this is related in the way that they all indicate the weird things that tweak my fancy... compare the following verses:

we like sweets a lot
but they make our insides rot
so remember it's your body
and the only one you've got

vs

we like sweets a lot
so give us all you got
and we'll stuff 'em in our bodies
till they make our insides rot

That's quite a bit of difference, eh?

Recognize the lyrics? It's the end of the Animaniacs song Be Careful What You Eat where Wakko, Yakko and Dot sing out the ingredients that make up candy bars and ice cream [pistachio almond fruit fudge butterscotch delight], yummy yum!

Now, I've had the Animaniacs audio CD for over ten years, and the CD has had loads of playtime over the years [having a 10-disc player in the car is one of the best ways to forgot you're stuck in a friggin traffic jam in KL, lemmie tell ya!], so while I may still stumble over the lyrics that are sang way too fast, I certainly know how the songs sound. And Be Careful What You Eat is one of my faves [heehehe I couldn't tell you right now which is NOT my fave, they are all nice and zany LOL!]

So it was a bit jarring for me to hear the alternate ending on the DVD [Vol 1].

I wonder if they re-recorded and re-worded the song to be more "responsible" on the CD?

I'm used to the responsible version, but the "original" is definitely more in line with the attitude that is Wakko, Yakko & Dot, don't ya think?

= = =

A self-update: The self-sabotage is going extremely well! Never have I so craved cookies as I have in this past week [damn you, Golden Oreos!], and I seem hard-pressed to drink even a bottle of water a day! So of course, the 5 or 6 small meals a day plan has been totally out the window for quite a while now. Grrrr! I've still managed to hit the gym about 4x a week, which is probably the only good thing for the moment.

Nvm, tomorrow is a brand new day.

No, wait, TODAY! It *is* past midnight, after all!

And I'm still nursing my caffeine-laden Coke Zero.

Gee, I wonder when I'm actually gonna sleep? Of course, actually getting to bed might help :p

Ciao!

Tuesday = Election Day

I will be *SO* glad when it's Wednesday.

It's been horrendous watching any little bit of tv over the past month, especially the past few weeks: as soon as it's time for commercials, they've been nothing except smear ads against other candidates! X would "seriously consider raising taxes"! Y has ties to the mob! Z was best friends with the disgraced governor! B supports illegal immigrants! C supports banning books by Dr Seuss! D is in cahoots with the NRA! etc etc etc.

Bleah.

Anyways, for those who will be voting tomorrow, here's something to keep in mind:

More Meaty Updates!

... but first: did you hear about this important pice of news?

A British company is developing computer chips which store music, to be implanted in women's breasts.

This is viewed as a major breakthrough as, up until now, women have complained that men were staring at their breasts and not listening to them.

Okay, that's not for real lah... but on a related note... guess what I'm listening to while typing?
BAT OUT OF HELL III!
[thanx Kosh hunny!]
So far is ok lah: I *am* just at song #4 right now... it's titled "Bad for Good", it's one of the Jim Steinman songs, and, well, it's obviously a Steinman song - very recognisable typical style *and* unfortunately it has whispers of other, better, Steinman songs from Bat II. We'll see how the rest of the album goes. Right now all I can say is it's not resonating like CHSIB did: heck, that resonated with me on so many levels that my hair was standing on end at my first listen-to!

Anyways.

I am gong to surf aimlessly while letting the music wash over me.

Cheers!

= = = =
UPDATE: decided to do a sort of "live blogging" thing while listening... here are my first rxns to the songs.

Track #1: The Monster is Loose = eh. NOT a song that hooks you, not the best thing to start the album [esp compared to BatI, even BatII]

Track #2: Blind as a Bat = definitely singalongable... but some lyrics seem totally lifted from older songs!

Track #3: It's All Coming Back To Me Now = yes, that song by Celine Dion is a Steinman creation, here sung as a duet with Marion Raven. I hate to say it, but this doesn't seem as stirring as the Celine Dion version. Bummer. I had such high hopes for this one!

Track #4: Bad for Good = reminds me of that song from Dead Ringer [I think] that goes how do you do it let me count the ways, how many hours baby how many days. Also reminds me of springsteen's baby we were born to run at one point! Actually *SO* many whispers of songs here! I'll have to reserve judgement on this one.

Track #5: Cry for Me = singalongable. Kinda sappy and slow :p

Track #6: In the Land of the Pig, The Butcher is King = wow that reminds me of an Iron Maiden like song, LOL! pretty cool :-)

Track #7: Monstro = a short little pseudo-instrumental orchestral blurb. eh. better than some of those interludes on Neighbourhood.

Track #8: Alive = a-ha! this sounds more like a track I'd play over and over :-) "I'm a runaway train on a broken track i'm the ticker on the bomb that you can't turn back..."

Track #9: If God Could Talk = also another that definitely clicks with me, melody-wise. Lyrics too.

Track #10: If it ain't Broke Break It = reminds me of a song or two from BatII, but y'know what, I don't care, this is one of them fun anti-establishment type songs, great beat rhythm guitar riffs too :-)

Track #11: What About Love = heh this sounds like a typical commercial pop type song. Oh okay nvm, it picks up @ 2:50 or so. Not too bad. Having Patti Russo as a counter-voice is nice too.

Track #12: Seize the Night = a-hah! This sounds like the operatic [?] song I've come to expect from Mr Loaf. of course, the guitar riff is totally lifted from BatII

Track #13: The Future Ain't What It Used To Be = another singalongable that's right up my alley. But the voice supplied by Jennifer Hudson doesn't complement Meat's like Patti Russo's does.

Track #14: Cry to Heaven = mega-slow, perhaps it's supposed to be inspirational, but it set me laughing my a** off "cry like heaven,, if it doesn't do it for you, go ahead and cry like hell!" Okay maybe I'm weird :-)

Just an observation: BatIII doesn't have any of them fun mono-/dia-logues like the "blood of the guitar was Chuck Berry red" thingy in BatII, "i bet you say that to all the boys" in Bat I, and there's something similar in Dead Ringer too. Pity - that's something I really enjoy on those albums.

And it's kinda disappointing that the artwork isn't by Michael Whelan like it was for BatII. The cover sure looks like it - at first glance only. The inside pix are rather disappointing.

So: the bottom line? Definitely worth replaying many times over just to really familiarise myself with its contents. however, only time will determine where BatIII will rank against the BatI, BatII & CHSIB albums.

Cheers!

P/S> I "owe" Kosh a game or two of Magic now. Urgh.

P/S#2> According to this playlist of the Concert we attended last year, it looks like "Only When I Feel" was the song from BatIII that Meat Played for us. However, that particular title doesn't exist on the album. I'll have to listen again to figure out which one it was, and what the title got changed to... or whether that song ultimately got dropped from the final song selection. omg am I a freak! :-)

signing out @ 6pm

Friday Frag

An excerpt from an email of supposed Maya Angelou quotations:

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

This is particularly true for me.

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Am again at the borderline of a cold.

Yesterday Kosh and I kept turning the thermostat higher and higher because omg was the apartment collllldddddd! Despite wearing lined sweatpants *and* having a wifebeater under my sweatshirt, I was as cold as a block of ice, and you wouldn't have been able to thaw me to save your life!

Having an entire wall comprising floor-to-ceiling glass doors really does make this apartment lose heat fast!

But good news! It seems we are going to have warm [like, highs almost reaching 60F!] weather for about a week - yay!

= = = =

While trying to find an alliterative word for today's post, scifi's version of the F-word popped into my head. In Battlestar Galactica, it's FRAK. In Babylon 5 it's FRAG. As in "abso-fraggin-lutely". I can still picture Delenn's mischievous smile when she used that on Sheridan, teeheehee!

= = = =

So last night we caught an episode of South Park on channel 26. Early on in the show, I was all like "Hey, this is *so* Children of the Corn!". It turned into something very Lord of the Flies-like too... and closer to the end of the show, it was Kosh's turn: "Hey, I recognise this ... this is from an episode of Star Trek!!".

So of course, we turned on the internet* and hunted around till we found confirmation: South Park episode 416 "The Wacky Molestation Adventure" parodies Children of the Corn, Logan's Run, Lord of the Flies, Pet Sematary, Risky Business, Army of Darkness, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome and especially the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Miri" according to wikipedia.

Kewl!

Gotta love the 'net :-)

= = = =

turned on the internet* = an inside joke for Kosh & me, and perhaps anyone else who had the misfortune of catching that one case of two feuding sisters on court tv recently: "she turned on the internet so that the call I was expecting couldn't come through".

. She may have turned on the computer.
.. She may have dialed up to get on the internet via the computer.
... She certainly did NOT "turn on the internet"!!

That phrase was so absurd we loved it!

= = = =

Okay, I just sneezed all over the keyboard. Bleh! Time to go out and soak in some sun.

Cheers!

Thursday Three

ONE
Had me a hysterical gigglefest last night: so me & Kosh were talking sleepily, and I dunno what I said but I musta said it funnily cos this dialogue ensued:

Kosh: Why'd you use that accent?
Me: Huh? What accent?
Kosh: You spoke like, ummm, ummmm, [obviously searching for the right word],,, like Scotty.
Me: Eh? You mean a Scottish accent?
Kosh: Urgh. Dammit. Yeah.

Okay so it doesn't come out well in the typed form. Lemmie just say that I could barely breathe I was laughing so hard at the absurdity of being able to identify Scotty but not his Scottish accent. Clarifying that it wasn't actually a joke, that he actually hadn't tried to be funny, he actually did draw a blank... all that contributed to my lack of breathing for a while, LOL!

Oh, and for the record, Kosh has said I sometimes sound like Wakko. Of course the one time he calls me on it, he says Yakko, no Wakko, so we waste some time figuring out which one he actually meant, so by the time I ask him to repeat what I'd said in Wakkoese to see if I remember/agree with him, he's forgotten what I'd actually said, LOL!

= = = = = =
TWO

Another of those cool coincidences: So yesterday I moaned about the R&RHoF nominees, and last night I caught that PBS special about music as a medium of protest & awareness ["Get Up, Stand up"] again; even tho I'd seen it once before, I didn't mind catching it again. And thanks to that I re-encountered Patti Smith, and maybe this time around I might remember Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five as one of the early hip-hop/funk/rap artistes. Made watching the show kinda cool, because I now recognised a few *more* groups/artistes, y'know?

= = = = = =
THREE

So I can't go about committing any crimes here,,, or at least none where I'd be leaving fingerprints behind! At least, before, all "they" had on me was prints of both index fingers and a retinal scan [and that's bad enough already!].

But this morning I went for my "biometrics" appointment, and got majorly fingerprinted. All ten digits. And boy was it a comprehensive session! First the four fingers together; then the thumb; repeat other hand; then the individual digits, slowly rolled across the scanner to capture the entire upper finger, each one done at least twice.

I'm surprised they didnt ask me to spit / take a mouth swab for a DNA sample *rolls eyes*

Oh, and the funniest thing? I handed over this form we were given to fill up; the checker looked at it and said, with feeling, "Oh, thank you!". I was like "Huh? She talking to me?" After all, she didn't look up and say it... but then she did look up because I didn't way anything I guess, and repeated the thanks... turns out that it's really rare for anyone to fill the form up correctly and completely.

Wow.

Scary.

It was a *simple* form. I'd think that anyone intending to stay in the U.S., no matter what their background & upbringing, should have enough of a grasp of basic English to be able to fill up such a simple form.

Then again, I've been brought up speaking primarily English, so I'm at a huge advantage compared to others in that aspect.

And it helps that I believe it's important to assimilate oneself into the culture/environment you are in: doesn't mean I bend over backwards and abandon all cultural identity... but neither do I clutch to that identity at the expense of being able to communicate and interact with the rest of the community. [yeah yeah, I know many would argue I don't have much of the Malay/sian culture to hold on to in the first place, and they wouldn't be too wrong... but still...]

All too many people/communities put this cultural (and/or religious) identity above and beyond practical realities of functioning properly within a foreign environment.

I understand the desire of such communities to not lose/forget themselves/ their roots/ their heritage... but you can't [well, you shouldn't] create such an exclusive community such that people brought up within it just can't function "out there"!!?

Then again, maybe I'm the odd one who feels I bring my culture with me, *in* me, because it is part of who I am; there's no need to assure myself of my Malaysianness by sticking to a Malaysian community here.

Eh.

I've always been different. This is just one of the many aspects of the proof.

Cheers!