strike up the band and make the fireflies dance, silver moon's sparkling

[it's finally over]

my beloved family is now in possesion of three refrigerators.

one Sharp 3-door fridge, with seperate Freezer, Cooler and Crisper compartments, purchased in 1997 as a housewarming gift from my first aunt [father's side] for the Toa Payoh flat.
one Toshiba bar fridge, with combined Freezer, Cooler and Crisper compartments and Gravity Control system for the Healthy Cool cold water dispenser, purchased in 2003 with a discount from my fourth aunt [mother's side], who works for Best Denki.
one Akira wine cooler, with glass door, purchased in 2003, discount deemed unneccesary due to odious cheapness of product, but obtained anyway.

who needs three fridges? our wine is of the piss-water variety, and you don't cool bottles of XO, VSOP and Louis the 13th whatnot. i appreciate the cold water dispenser, but i have a bladder bigger than the three liters the water tank provides for. when she screams about the power bill next month, i'll consider smashing the Akira's glass door in.

i found a few 'i hate khoo kayyong' webpages while being bored online yesterday. coincidentally, most are also 'i hate matthias chew' webpages. also, one or two imply/outright declare matt and khooky homosexual dogs. hilarious reading.

while khooky is not having an allergic reaction to Teachers' Day, i certainly am. couldn't get my mask on this morning, and so i didn't get out of bed. i wasn't sure i wanted to witness the Shiny Happy People 2002 Edition make their inaugural pilgrimage from VJC to VS, considering it's enough of an effort to watch them head off into VJC land evey bloody morning, while on the last leg of your hour-long epic journey from Chuan Park to 2 Siglap Link, on board a crappy Mercedes bus emptied of its malicous payload of giggly, noisy, bitchy, dyky secondary and tertiary schoolgirls, listening to Garbage remind you that you should have, shouldn't have.

/don't end up in the gutter/just like the one before you/you're just the same/such a loser/

one of them contacted me later in the afternoon, asking if i saw the whole throng of us in vs today?

i had my mask on by then, so i didn't tell him to fuck off.

i did, however, tell Nicholas to fuck off, because he would not stop bugging me about whatever shit happened for Teachers' Day. i cannot be less concerned about the half-attempt to entertain all and sundry [teachers, students, liquorice allsorts] in school for the 'celebrations'. it probably worked out, which is what disgusts/disappoints me.

i tried to watch Chicago, but i got put off by the middle of the first song, All That Jazz, because Matthias has a habit of performing and dancing to songs from Chicago [we have the avi clips to prove it], and the lovely Catherine Zeta-Jones was continuosly morphing into Matt gyrating. she had a bad haircut in that movie anyway.

watching About A Boy on the 37-inch Sharp Aquos? good.
watching the MTV Video Music Awards on the same 37-inch Sharp Aquos, Christina Aguilera's 'Dirrrty' blown up in the LCD flat-panel's attempt at making her look not-so-thrashy, trampish song over the SRS-enhanced audio feed? not so good.

the same videos, repeated over and over again, were consistently nominated for most of the awards. 50 cent bagged three 'spacemen' for In Da Club.

interestingly, though, The White Stripes' Seven Nation Army was nominated for Best Rock Video. unsurprisingly/expectedly, it lost out to Linkin Park's Somewhere I Belong, which mostly consisted of much CGI and a bed in flames.

for this, they pre-empt VH1? plus, i missed what looked like the opening, with Britney Spears and Chirstina Aguilera camping it up in thrashy bridal gowns, covering Madonna's Like A Virgin, Madonna herself popping up after the 'duet', singing a remixed Hollywood.

why is this interesting to me? the Hollywood remix sounded good, and the whole scene confirmed that BS and CA really hate each others' guts. this is the, what, fifth time they've done a duet? it's like the Mariah Carey/Whitney Houston When You Believe scenario, except MC and WH had the prudence to make it a one night stand. plus, CA is doing a tour with BS's ex, Justin Timberlake [which Avril Lavinge mispronouced, on purpose i hope, as Justin Timberlass].

the silver lining of this dark cloud: there isn't one.

isn't this where i show a distasteful disregard for cliché and sign off with "good-bye, [cruel?] world"?

haha.

"Oh, kiss me beneath the milky twilight
Lead me out on the moonlit floor
Lift your open hand
Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance
Silver moon's sparkling
So kiss me"

- "Kiss Me", Sixpence None The Richer

Part Number P10293U - Palm™ Tungsten™ T Stylus 3-Pack - S$27.84

i've lost another stylus. my appetite for these shiny metal sticks is costing me an orange Yusof Ishak each time i lose one. it's the second one since i got my TT in march.

Khooky's fun when drugged. he just sits there, smiling to himself and looking dazed, like Matt on a good day. apparently he wasn't feeling well, and five seconds into his class i knew he was drugged. allergic reaction to Teachers' Day?

i will be scrounging around for my stylus if anyone needs me. [unlikely, that]

"Burn down all your idols
Destroy your idols
Create a scene
There goes all your reason
It's helter skelter
It's not a dream

Come down from the altar
Remove your blindfold
What do you see
Nothing left to do here
There's nothing new here
It's all the same

You're going down, down, down
How low can you go?
You're going down, down, down
How low can you go?
You're going down, down, down
How low can you go?"

- "Subhuman", Garbage

Blue-Gray Billabong Wallet

i'm back on the tracks again. they had my wallet! it took some doing, because i couldn't properly describe 'Blue-Gray Billabong Wallet' in Cheenese, and the staff at the interchange, predictably, didn't understand much English. the person in charge of the interchange was very kind, though, and he told me i was very lucky.

why am i very lucky and not just 'lucky'? because Service 105 passes through Orchard Boulevard between Toa Payoh and Jurong East. why, i do  not know, but imagine this scenario:  Heeren Shops/Orchard Cineplex/Linkin Park/Metallica/Stussy/77th Street poseur boards Service 105 at Orchard Boulevard. finds a Blue-Gray Billabong Wallet with $103 in it. the rest, including my wallet, is history.

thank you, whichever bus captain returned my wallet. i thought i'd lost it forever, but what you did made my day.

"Music stations always play the same songs
I'm bored with the concept of right and wrong

Everybody comes to Hollywood
They wanna make it in the neighbourhood
They like the smell of it in Hollywood
How could it hurt you when it looks so good?"

- "Hollywood", Madonna

Did You Know...

...that it takes SBS Transit Service 105 one-and-a-half hours to get to Jurong East Interchange from Toa Payoh?

where do i find the time to sit down in front of my PC and wax lyrical about SBS Transit's inefficency, you ask?

that's because i'm not. i'm, right now, at 09:48pm, hurtling towards Raffles Place Interchange in a metal cylinder, underground, to Transfer To A East-Bound Train heading for Jurong East, where my wallet is currently being held, writing this entry on my Tungsten T.

why? because i dropped my wallet on the bus while going to tuition.

losing your wallet is hell. see, if i lose my Ericsson, i can just buy another. my contacts are backedup on my Palm. if i lose my Palm, i can just buy another. my data is backed up on my PC. but if i lose my wallet, my cash, my Student Identification Pass, my IC, my Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf drink card with 10 stamps, my library receipts, they're not backed up anywhere. you can't HotSync your cash and IC back into your new Billabong/Braun Buffel/etc wallet. you can't resend your SIP via a Bluetooth connection.

hence, i'm losing two hours' sleep, spending the time heading to Jurong East to get my wallet tonight, mainly because it will be handed over the police after 24 hours of receipt, as my wallet contains a sizable chunk of change.

"You're going down, down, down
How low can you go?
You're going down, down, down
How low can you go?
You're going down, down, down
How low can you go?"

- "Subhuman", Garbage

hare hare krishna

i've finally manged to get Subhuman by Garbage. the song's rare because there were only 5000 copies of the 'single' [it's not a bona-fide single, because Subhuman isn't on any of their albums] made. thank you, MPEG Layer 3. Subhuman is every bit the lyrics promised. plus i now share Joycelyn Yik's view that Garbage's b-sides, unlike most other groups, are equally good if not better than their singles.

i've spent the day turning down invites, including my mom's for lunch. she's now at some pub, drinking beer and watching the EPL. somehow i feel my mom would have a much better time in my place, as a secondary school boy. i've sorted out too many Blaster, Welchia and Sobig viruses problems, some of them other peoples' problems, and done too little in other departments.

Full Frontal is an excellent movie. The Guru is hilarious. Chicken Rice War is the best homegrown movie made, knocking Forever Fever to second. Home Run is a ridiculous, heart-wrenching waste of time. i want to go watch Down With Love and Freaky Friday, but who with?

physics preliminary practical examination tomorrow, and no calcuator. i've never wanted any Casio this much, if ever at all. however, in the process of wanting one, i've learned that Jonathan Dax and Hongxuan need one as well, but not for tomorrow like i do. how this helps is unclear, but it's interesting all the same.

does my future bank on Casio? wish me luck.

"Hare Hare Krishna
Was that your sister
A cover girl
A wasted prima donna
She lost her way here
She disappeared

Come back to your altar
And build a fire
It's getting cold
Nothing stops you in here
There's not a soul here
You're all alone

You're going down, down, down
How low can you go?
You're going down, down, down
How low can you go?
You're going down, down, down
How low can you go?"

- "Subhuman", Garbage

never send a substitute to do your job

i got a C6 for my Cheenese O Level Exam, with a Merit in the oral component. exactly the same as I managed last year. i not ecstatic, but it's more than i can say for some people. since the HOD was away on a trip to Cheena, the subject head took over. he gleaned zero respect from the students as he attempted to reprimand them, and i almost felt sorry for the bugger. almost.

i'm retaking the exam. no point in not retaking, and having that much free time in the library would possibly make me rip my brains out. don't get me wrong, i appreciate the free time, but too much sitting there, listening to inane conversation from those not retaking and other assorted allsorts [it's like they're trying Really Hard to convince me that they're all female poseurs], re-reading what i've read, etc. plus the lower secondary runts are noisy, and all they do is get in your way. i once had to literally drag five runts out of my way when going up the staircase for Khooky's class.

however, i now realize that retaking the exam costs more then the $17 [or so i'm told] that i have to pay as exam fees. a part of my sanity goes along with that seventeen bucks, as i sit in Cheenese class, doing unhelpful compos, unhelpful workbook excersises and unhelpful lessons, remediation or otherwise. they forced us to stay back for remedial classes last term. did it help? why would it now?

i'm beginning to get home later and later these days, be it for school or tuition or other crap like dropping off my Sony/Palm/Ericsson for service, and in the interests of sleep, i rarely do anything else when i get back to my house in the dark weekday night, except for eating and showering. how un-depressing.

in other news, more people than i originally thought block me on their MSN Messenger Contact Lists. hmm. so much for All Things Remaining Constant.

"If we sleep together
Will you like me better
If we come together
We'll go down forever
If we sleep together
Will I like you better
If we come together
Prove it now or never

Make me a pretty person
Make me feel like I belong
Make me hard and make me happy
Make me beautiful

The emptiness
The craziness
Satisfy this hungriness
Darling
How would it feel?"

- "Sleep Together", Garbage

"Attention students: the school is now officially on fire. Please begin your Emergency Evacuation Procedure now. Repeat: the school is now..."

[Blogger has a character limit on post titles. the original title read as follows:

"Attention students: the school is now officially on fire. Please begin your Emergency Evacuation Procedure now. Repeat: the school  is now officially on fire. Please evacuate. Thank you."]

Received : Friday, 15th August 2003 06:33 am
From  : omanager@slss.edumin.co.sg
To  : allstaff@slss.edumin.co.sg
Re  : Today's Emergency Exercise

Hi all

As you are all doubtlessly aware by now, there will today be an Emergency Exercise at 11:30 am, sharp. Teachers, I understand that you have a tight schedule to run [especially with SARS affecting us this year], but please allow the students to leave the classroom when the announcement is made. Please make sure, though, that the students evacuate only after the verbal announcement and not immediately after the emergency siren.

Most of you have been briefed about this exercise already, but in case you weren't at the meeting yesterday evening, I mentioned that I have had some equerries from teachers on gate duty at the carpark, regarding their exact duties. For you teachers, your duty is simply to shut and man the gates during the exercise. This way, we will be able to block vehicular access to the school and prevent students from escaping, all while the school is 'on fire'. I'm particulary proud of this last stroke of genius by the committee. It is really an effective way of ensuring that the exercise runs efficiently, without un-expected interruptions.

The AV Club has been instructed to prepare a sound system for use in the carpark. I have requested for a larger, louder system, but Miss Kali informs me that this is un-feasable. The I/C will have to make do with whatever it is she comes up with, as the Club's students will be involved in the exercise.

That being all, let's make this a great Emergency Exercise. Remember, in this day and age of un-determinable terrorist attacks and SARS, Drills Save Lives.

--- End Of Message ---

- "Shut Your Mouth", Garbage