... news like this ...

.. makes me *so* proud of the people in my country of birth ...

Referee pulls out red card, then a gun
A Malaysian referee took out his gun and fired warning shots in the air after a local soccer match turned unruly following the suspension of a player, a newspaper said Tuesday.

(full article here)

second thoughts

1. ... about the "hot rod" photo
I suddenly remembered that joke about two dudes with tattooed dicks taking a piss next to each other, where one had his girlfriend's name tattooed on it, and asked whether the other person's "wendy" was *his* girlfriend, but no, it actually was all that showed in flaccid form of the greeting "welcome to jamaica have a nice day!" ... and so I got to wondering how "readable" "hot rod" actually was, and whether that doctor had, ummm, manhandled a sedated patient in order to get a good pic of the dick. Yikes!

2. ... about The Name of the Wind
I've been reading books with a more critical eye lately, probably the result of my intention of getting a novel out sometime in the next millennium :p I forgot to add in my gushing review of this book that I caught two errors that really shouldn't exist in a book that should have gone through numerous stages of editing. Can you believe the it's vs its mistake is in there??? Just once, but that's once to many!! And the other was something that sounds right in American, but is wrong if written, no matter what version of English you speak: there was one passage where the characters "made due with what they had" ... ummm, it's make DO, people!! gaarrrrhhhhh! Does finding errors like this annoy you?

... and on a totally different note - I am currently reading a book from Kosh's Asian Mythology class he'd taken way back when as an undergrad. So it's a "proper" book and all, published by a division of Simon&Schuster, but iccck, its quality is like that of a photo shop reproduction - only the cover gives it a published legitimacy. And I've discovered so many typos already, ugh! :p

But...

... trudging through the pages, I've had one eye-opening tidbit jump out at me: did you know that Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was an incarnation/avatar of Vishnu (according to Hindu beliefs)? And that Vishnu had reincarnated in this person in order to lead disbelievers of Hinduism into destruction? Yes, those who reject the caste system, the Hindu system of gods, etc, are on a path to destruction, courtesy of Vishnu.

There's something totally wrong about that.

... and on another note: I attended a function yesterday that involved exposure to some sanskrit and hindi... and was amused at a few more words I recognised from Malay, AND rituals I think were (are?) used to "worship" the Sultans/royalty... as much as today's politicians and narrow-minded religious people don't want to admit, Malays were Hindus well before they were Muslims, and the language (and culture!) shows this history. Recently, over the past 10 - 15 years, there's been a movement to use Arabic words because they are "Islamic". How short-sighted. Never any pride in history, only shame. What a shame.

Again, there's something very wrong with this.

It's the same mentality that had the centuries-old statues of Buddha in Afghanistan destroyed, ainnit?

*sigh!*

Anyways. So, I wanted to list some Malay words I recently rediscovered as being of sanskrit origin, unfortunately my memory is failing me right now, so all I can share is this:
gajah = elephant

I still think it's cool.

Last book of 2007?

During one of my very random blog surfing, somewhere somehow I stumbled upon a blog by author Patrick Rothfuss, admittedly an author I'd never heard of, but he seemed to have a sense of humor that leaked through in his posts that I liked, so I blogrolled the site and proceeded to drop by occasionally, lurking,,,

I delurked the other day, and that prompted me to hunt down his book in the library. (That's right, singular. His second book is due out April 2009 according to amazon.) It wasn't difficult to keep his name in mind, it's so close to my Chemistry advisor's name, Mr Sulphur himself :-)

aaanyways... so, back to Mr Rothfuss. Picked up The Name of the Wind. And was hooked.

I love it when a book does this to me!

I finished it in less than 36hrs.

On one hand it's a typical fantasy tale, but on the other hand, it's told in a slightly different style than usual. I love it when the tale is not told in one simple timeline, I love it when information is fed in bits and pieces then elaborated on a bit further along in the tale, I love starting the tale in last third of the story and getting the first part of the tale told while we get hints of what the "present" looks like, so that the anticipation of getting an explanation of why the world seems to have turned between "then" and "now" is slowly appeased, while the foundation for a final battle is being laid. And what's with the whole Kingkiller thing, that's not explained yet... :-)

Did you get all that?

Nevermind... just take it from me, if you're looking for a new fantasy novel to sink your teeth into, try this out. Of course, if you don't want to have to wait years for the next installment, then put this on your t-read list and look him up again in a few years' time :p

... ...

for those who celebrate - MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

and for the rest of us - HAVE A GREAT REST-OF-THE-YEAR!

"hot rod"

What would be worse than getting your dick tattooed with the words "Hot Rod"?

Nothing, you think?

Think again!

How about having a doctor take a photo of said body part and tattoo (while you're sedated for gallbladder surgery!), and circulating said photo for hospitalmates to see? (more of the tale here).

He's "planning to contact an attorney". I don't blame him! Talk about a breach of privacy!!

= = = = = = = = =

on a lighter note:

A blonde hurried into the emergency room late one night with the tip of her index finger shot off.

"How did this happen?" the emergency room doctor asked her.

"Well, I was trying to commit suicide," the blonde replied.

"What?" sputtered the doctor. "You tried to commit suicide by shooting off your finger?"

"No, Silly" the blonde said. "First I put the gun to my chest, and then I thought, 'I just paid $6,000.00 for these implants. I'm not shooting myself in the chest."

"So then?" asked the doctor.

"Then I put the gun in my mouth, and I thought, "I just paid $3,000.00 to get my teeth straightened I'm not shooting myself in the mouth."

"So then?"

"Then I put the gun to my ear, and I thought: "This is going to make a loud noise. So I put my finger in my other ear before I pulled the trigger.

(from Jumbo Joke)

musical accompaniment...?

it was a weird dream about having to get somewhere, but I was delayed because someonw wanted to make sure I had a certain piece of paper or something, so I was going through this pile of old letters over and over and over trying to determine whether or not I had it, and my train? was gong to be leaving soon I was slowly getting more and more agitated, and so I said something like "you know what, (mouthing the f-word) this, I've gotta go", and a fellow schoolmate SHUSHES me in response to the already self-censored swearing, and i just lose it. I start raising my voice at her, asking her "did you even stop to think about the fact that by the time someone reaches our age, we've already made some decisions about how we want to communicate, and what we want to say, so please DO NOT insult yourself and me by trying to shush me like a baby" and on and on I went, ,,, and while that was going on, a sound intruded in the background, which somehow complemented my diatribe quite well, but it got me wondering why I was having some musical accompaniment to my dream, and I slowly woke up in time to identify it : the cat was puking up a hairball.

Yum.

So, update on the health-front: definitely getting better - can you believe it's been over a week since I first got floored by this cold?? Kosh got hit much worse than me, but he's more recovered than I am at this point in time. I'm still downing those 12-hr sudafeds, although the volume of snot blown out of my nose has steadily reduced. Maybe in a few more days I really *will* be more human again...

One last note: I'm no longer addicted to facebook, but, I love it because I can play scrabble with pals all over the world! And recently some of my Swiss cousins joined, so I've added them to my friends list. Which triggered a hunt for some Malaysian cousins, also added to my list. Okay so one doesn't "really" keep in touch via FB, but what with my inability to send text messages, my lack of emails, and my irregular blog posts, I do sincerely think that buying a round of drinks via Booze Mail, or throwing sheep is as good a way of keeping in pseudo-touch as any!

Anyone wanna scrabble?

"I'm menstruating out of my nose"

That's a quote from Kosh.

Just to give you an idea of the state of our nasal passages.

Yum!

out of commission

sudafed
tylenol
liters and liters of hot tea - earl grey, ho yan hor, raspberry leaf

Kosh and I have a box of tissues to ourselves, one perched on either side of the bed at night, and on either side of the coffee table when out in the living room.

Not much of a guess that I'm feeling like crap.

So maybe check back middle of next week, maybe I'll be human again by then.

Oh, and for those (few) who text me on my mobile phone - having problems with the &#**&% service provider - looks like right now I can receive but can't send out messages. If I can't have my parents solve this problem on my behalf, I might just throw in the towel and just get rid of the friggin line. Maxis sucks.

Ciao!

Food for thought!

Got this via e-mail, and found it just too good to keep to myself.

(Source unknown, and therefore unverified! But it provides food for thought!)

ONE WEEK'S FOOD FOR DIFFERENT CULTURES

Germany: The Melander family of Bargteheide
Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07



United States: The Revis family of North Carolina
Food expenditure for one week: $341.98



Japan : The Ukita family of Kodaira City
Food expenditure for one week: 37,699 Yen or $317.25



Italy: The Manzo family of Sicily
Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11



Mexico: The Casales family of Cuernavaca
Food expenditure for one week: 1,862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09



Poland: The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna
Food expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27



Egypt: The Ahmed family of Cairo
Food expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyp tian Pounds or $68.53



Ecuador: The Ayme family of Tingo
Food expenditure for one week: $31.55



Bhutan: The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village
Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03



Chad: The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp
Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23



... rather scary how few veggies are in the USA picture... and how sad it is to see how little some people subsist on, and how little it costs to help feed them, in places like Chad.

How much is YOUR weekly food cost, do you know? I don't.

we'd been just a little unwell...

...so for the past few weeks, Kosh and I have been passively fighting off some sort of bug, where you know you're not at 100% health, but it never really manifests itself beyond a very very low grade fever or just plain "feeling a bit under the weather".

Then this weekend we got together with the immediate family, including the nephews, two out of three with hacking phlegmy coughs.

Yesterday evening, I came back from class to find Kosh on the couch under three layers of blankets, totally febrile, complaining about not being able to get warm. The dude was running a 100F temperature! And me? I'd developed this little niggling scratch at the back of my throat about an hour before. Hmmmm, either we got what the kids had w/o cough, or exposure to them "released" the older bug to its full(er) potential!

Today, Kosh called in sick. First time ever. Hey, when you're on duty at a transplant section, dealing with patients who are immuno-suppressed, you certainly do NOT want to be bringing to them a bug like this one!

Funny thing is, I'm *not* running a fever; in fact, the thermometer has me at below normal temp. One of these days I should take my temperature when nothing is wrong, so that I know what my normal temp actually is! Anyways, so while Kosh is asleep (and still febrile, I just checked!), I have been awake since about 4am. Grrrrrr!

There's only so many mines I can sweep for in one sitting before I get bored.

Did I mention before that I've pretty much burned out on Sim City? I might just start up again today... ... ... although.... there's a new version that's just come out - Sim City Societies - that made me drool all over the electronics/games section of Target last week when I noticed it, because it's not so much a city-building simulator as it is a "social engineering" one. Am I sad or what?! :p

Ciao!

Moan-day & Meme

Okay, first something to make you laugh on a Monday:
a clip from a Japanese game show, featuring a Human Tetris segment.

I LoL'ed quite a few times, careful! :-D

Next... another meme: this time I got tagged by Dawn, a fellow Leo-Virgo cusp straddler, with the birthday meme.

Now for the rules:
1.Mention the person who tagged you and create a link back to them. (done)
2.Copy-paste the traits for all the twelve months (go here).
3.Pick your month of birth. (August)
4.Highlight the traits that apply to you. (see below)
5.Tag 12 people and let them know by visiting their blogs and leaving a comment for them. (no friggin way!)
6.Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve done it! (okay)

AUGUST: Loves to joke. Attractive. Suave and caring. Brave and fearless. Firm and has leadership qualities. Knows how to console others. Too generous and egoistic. Takes high pride in oneself. Thirsty for praises. Extraordinary spirit. Easily angered. Angry when provoked. Easily jealous. Observant. Careful and cautious. Thinks quickly. Independent thoughts. Loves to lead and to be led. Loves to dream. Talented in the arts, music and defense. Sensitive but not petty. Poor resistance against illnesses. Learns to relax. Hasty and trusty. Romantic. Loving and caring. Loves to make friends.

had to leave *some* un-bolded, riiiight? LMAO :)

Have a good Moan-day everyone!

(p/s : here's another video, unrelated, for your monday madness. it starts out serious, then totally loses it, LMAO!)

kitchen eggventures!

Firstly, a big thank you to you-know-who-you-are for the hilarious season's greetings from across the pond - yes, it certainly got us laughing :-) here's a pic to share with y'all out there :-)

Yes, that's Santa's butt :-)

And so, what's all these "eggventures", you ask?

Well, about a month ago, my occasional tennis mate brought up the topic of eggplants, and possible ways to prepare them. Sounded easy enough. And a few weeks later I found myself at a Whole Foods store, staring at a large pile of scrumptious-looking brinjals/eggplants/aubergines. Took two medium-sized ones for further experimentation.

The first:

following the instructions from tennis pal, complemented by a similar recipe I found online, I poked a few holes into the thing and put it to broil in the oven. The plan was, once it gets all charred, to let it cool, cut in half, then scoop the flesh into a bowl and add some goodies and mix voila.

I think I didn't poke enough holes.

It went kablooey.

Here's how it looked in the oven.

It wasn't that bad of a clean-up job (the next day lah!)

It wasn't too too bad in terms of salvageability (sp?) either, managed to get a decent baba ganoush-like dish together,,, edible, but not that exciting....

Second try:

For this one I went the opposite way - processed the raw eggplant first, mixed it with a can of diced tomatoes, a cup of breadcrumbs and some other stuff, then put them all back into the halves, and had that into the oven for 30mins or so.

Turned out A LOT better than the first one.

Extremely filling tho.

And now we're all eggplanted out for a while.