Friends Without Borders

Munich ! I'm here with jp for the oktoberfest for the next couple of days. Checked into Wombats hostel, rather pricey cos its the tourist season.... Shared a room with 3 american chicks and 2 aussie guys. a few of them were wasted already, abt abt 5pm in the afternoon. hah. jp and me didn't waste much time, and we headed down to the fest which was abt 10 mins away

oktoberfest runs from 10am to 10pm last order, and there were about 14 huge tentages setup for the event. It had already one on for 2 weeks, and we already missed the best part of the parades and festivities. still, there was more to catch. Each tentage could hold up to 7000 pple, and I think that at night more are actually packed in heh. So, bring a drinking festival, each of the tents were serving some specialty german beer. and they came in 1 litre jugs. yep 1 litre. thats 3 cans. brands like paulaner, hofbrau, ratzinger etc... and food. wow yummy. All the food was meat meat meat. chicken, lamb, pork, fish ,beef whatever you want its there.

the best part of oktoberfest are the singalong at night. every tentage is beautifully laced with traditional bavarian decorations, while at least 50% of the pple attending the oktoberfest wore the traditional bavarian dresses.... guys with suspenders, shorts, long socks and girls who wore super low cut dresses and killer ponytails heh. then every tent has a big band setup which plays many german folk songs and even contemporary classics like beatles, robbie williams, queen (!!!), AC/DC and what not. and everyone, from 8 to 80 yrs old would be standing on their benches, singing along, cheering every 10 mins to a beer song. and most importantly, it was truly friends without borders. I made friends with americans, aussies, south africans, swedes, germans, indians, italians, dutch... just not much asians, tho we kept getting mistaken for japs. I even met James Gomez's nephew at oktoberfest. Like, what are the chances of that? he's a nice chap heh. So everyone just drank and cheered, regardless of where you came from. Its really chaotic yet somehow everyone is like connected at the same time. haha.

oh and I swore I saw a mum fed her 3yr old kid beer. and the kid was walking drunkedly haha. The germans really train from young.

ok enough of talk here are the pics n vids

Welcome to oktoberfest

Outside a tent


the 1 litre jugs of bavarian brew


dinner time @ hippodrom. we sat outside cos inside was packed.

german sausages


amazing crowd during dinner


one of the brauhaus at 9am


3 hrs later


the craziest beer gorging bunch. See if you can pick out Gomez heh


the ships a stage


one of the many deco


random guy on the pee queue, from ireland


my fav meal. lamb fillet with superb potatoes and soup tt tastes like tomyam with apple strudel

some of the mates


drink until some started stripping. I can't put on the other photos haha.

we literally cheered till the glass broke

Hah. It was really really great.

This is a clip of the band playing We Are the Champions. Pls pardon my half high state and singing haha. And its kinda shaky cos the bench I was on also got other pple jumping on it hah.





Anyways on the last day we went walking around Munich and checked out the musuem, which was gigantic and was having some da vinci gallery. rather cheap to go into musuems esp for students. Also, we checked out the Glockenspiel, which is nothing more than a life sized music box up on some cathedral at Marienplatz.

Some pics of Munich. This is the Glockenspiel, where the bell tolls all around the churches in munich at noon
Architecture in Munich. The Roman influence is very obvious.

Went to Salzburg for a day after Munich. Small town, but the countryside is absolutely beautiful. Shot from a train... wouldn't this be a nice place to retire? heh

Back in London now !

Touchdown !!

ahhh...

Finally, I reached London. After a gruelling 15 hrs of flight, I now breathe and smell London air. heh

Anyways, I'm very lucky to have a great bunch of friends going to Changi Airport at the witching hours to send me off... really really appreciate it cos I didn't expect so many pple =) Thanks to my neighbours, Rockers, OAC, min/zl/eileen gang.... and also thanks for the gifts ! Got an multi-adaptor (in exchange for a guitar n amp not bad la), Lalabelle the dog so I can put my thing in, tasty mooncakes and a weird looking pencil case and a skicap!

some pics!


The last time I took such a long flight was to LA via Taipei, I think this one is even longer. At least it felt longer. Me and jp's plan to wear smartly and pray for upgrade came to nought in the end, as we were given Economy class still. haha wishful thinking.... but I think we were treated rather nicely on the plane haha. Dubai was 7 hours away and I've had real problems sleeping. Dunno why also, maybe its the hum of the plane + the adrenaline built up over time.

thankfully, emirates planes have this monitor in front of every seat, incl. the economy class ones ... there were abt 30 radio channels, 12 movie channels and 50 games to play! Really in-flight entertainment man ..... tried watching Thank You for Smoking but it kinda bored me ... so I ended up playing Reversi and Yahtze (dice game) against jp! He's quite good at reversi leh but totally no luck on the dice game heh. Oh, and emirates have this 2 video channels which show the view from the below and the front of the plane. So when we flew over Germany, we could see all the farmlands, the forested areas, the small towns, the roads lined with trees ... when flying over uk we saw many buildings, vehicles moving, soccer academies, tennis courts etc etc. its like google earth like that!

Anyways, when they served one of the meals on board, I specifically asked the attendant if it contained any cheese, and she said no! so I took one big bite and I almost immediatedly felt the puke come up .... sian diao. It was some cheesecake thingy ... and I should have checked the menu instead of being so trusting of the attendant. sigh. It was otherwise a pleasant flight. In fact, when we were transiting at Dubai, me and jp managed to walk into the Emirates Business Class Lounge, sat down, enjoyed the internet, TV, free flow buffet meal and drinks. Damn shiok la heh. They didn't check us, probably cos we were in smart attire, so I guess it paid off in that sense ha.



The service at the DFS was great too. I bought a pair of shades for abt 8 pounds, but the cashier could only give me back in AED (arab currency) ... So I tried my luck at the money changer, expecting a "WTH you wanna change 2 pounds" face. But noooo. I got my 2 pounds changed! Quite impressed.

Flight to London was another 6.5 hrs... this time managed to get some sleep with the help of a full stomach, red wine and some budweiser. emirates was rather generous with the red wine, I was given an 200ml bottle of red wine! Although it didn't taste very nice la, but still I only expected maybe 50ml or a small serving, but she gave the whole bottle. The man beside me, some Indian, had at least 5 bottles of brandy on the flight loh. And he didn't look the least bit high. Well trained sia.

Arriving into Heathrow and had my 1st taste of British efficiency. heh. Queues was massive for international passports and super quick for the EU nations one. They really treat the EU citizens damn well, and the rest of the world like aliens. After clearance had to queue somemore for some health checkup .... jp couldnt wait anymore he just left the airport to Bath. So there I was in Heathrow with 2 huge trolleys, 1 backpack and a laptop bag, struggling to keep it all balanced on the small luggage cart and no idea where to go next. Well, actually I had.

I went to the DFS for liqour.

Not that cheap actually (now that I'm in London and compared prices), in the end I bought a Green Label for 20+ pounds. Still cheaper than sg of cos.

So I went to find the Hotelink counter to get a ride for 17 quid to a hotel near my friend's place ..... but Hotelink was fully booked for the day! wa lao. I super sian. Cos that meant either I had to lug all my luggage with me onto the Tube, hand carrying them cos there aint any elevators, find my way to Gloucester with the risk of getting lost and arriving in central London in darkness... or I could take a cab, which would cost more. much more. sigh ... in the end I took a cab. and it cost me a whopping 47 pounds!! that for a 1 hour ride. So, sg cabs are really underpriced loh.

Anyways on the ride, I noticed that many pple in London are walking around wearing suits. yeah... in pubs, when driving, walking the dog etc. Its a very very common sight here. Even my cab driver had a suit blazer hung up beside him.... Well, as they say, when in Rome act like a Roman. Temp is about 20 deg so its not really cold yet, tho it will get colder in the coming months

Finally reached Edwin's apartment. It was far less equipped than I thought, but that's because the room has been empty for 3 months ... Only a family from sg were living there and they just moved in the same day as me! no internet, no land phone line, crampy place with beds placed all round... haha. Gotta get used to this man, even though its just for a few days before I move into my hall. Met Alvin and Eunice, 2 3rd years who just flew in too and are doing house hunting in London meanwhile. Walked around kensington park, hyde park into Bayswater area... ate at an Italian restaurant. Yummy! should have brought my cam out, but I forgot! Got my phone and Oyster (EZlink) card setup too

view from the morning
london street

So I went to college for registration and bank to open account. Another dose of british efficiency ahem. Im getting used to it already. everything took an entire day, and my legs are shagged out walking from the bank to the sch and back again a few times. but no sweat here in london la, thats the good thing.

Next post coming >>>> Oktoberfest!! All beer lovers or those who enjoy a party should really attend this fest at least once =)

Meanwhile ... here's my UK details

phone: 07928397435
address: Holbein & Willis Jackson Houses 61-69 Evelyn Gardens London SW73BQ

Care packages are highly welcome, and recommended too =)

Goodbye Singapore

Changi Airport Terminal 1 Row 2
2:10 am flight EK405

Bye Singapore!

.....and helloooo Europe.

TGIO 06

Its a beautiful Saturday morning. The day after KR's TGIO which was a blast to attend! Well, finally since I'm no longer in KR I get to watch and enjoy TGIO as audience heh. Overall, they were as good as last year, and their costumes outshone last years! So it's a step up =)

The Mambo band ... I still remember I did mambo in my 1st year too! and its still keith and yijia in it heh.

Goth band. Sorry my other Goth pics were blurred and this is the best shot le. And I think their costumes were the bomb la.

classic rock

hard rock. i don't wanna miss a thing is really good man!

yijia n me. good luck for superstar dude!!!!!

char n me.

rach n me and guest starring ian.

oooh laremy.

shili and me.

Star of the BOOters. not hard to guess where the name came from heh.

Mr cryptic message Lin. ok now i know haha.

It was a blast guys! I think of all things in KR, I will miss Rockers and my neighbours the most.
Hopefully, I will also find another fun-loving hard rocking grp in London, just like you all. Cherish your time in rockers, u crazy fellas =)

the countdown begins

So, scoliosis wasn't as bad as I thought. The doc just said don't worry about it, it's probably postural.

In other words, fuggedaboutit.

Did some shopping yesterday. Anyways, for the 1st time of my life, a modelling agency actually approached me and said they were looking for fresh faces. I think this must be the most desperate modelling agency ever, cos I was strolling down orchard in my lok-kok t-shirt and my lok-kok shorts in flip flops. So I've no idea how come they looked for me. Business must be bad.

So this girl Agnes came up running towards me
Agnes: Hi! Can I have a minute with you?
Me: umm.. sure.
Agnes: I'm from a model agency, and we're currently looking for fresh faces. Are you interested in doing some modelling? (hands me namecard)
Me: (checks it out) ok, tell me abt it.
Agnes : blah blah uninteresting stuff
Me: So when's your next assignment?
Agnes: erm ... erm ... I'm not very sure leh, I'm just here signing people up heeeeee....
Me: Well, look. I'm going abroad to study this Sunday actually.
Agnes: Oh! So will you be like, back next month?
Me: No. Next year.
Agnes: (stunned. Silence) ... oh er. er. Never mind, I'll just take down your details ok?
Me: ok.
Agnes: Name? (writes) Age?
Me: 22
Agnes: (gives me a weird look. WTH 22 yrs, old man!) .. Phone?
Me: Don't call me in UK lah.
Agnes: ok email add?
Me: (gives the usual fake email add)
Agnes: OK! So nice knowing you! Bye !!!!

I suppose that's the last I'll hear from them. Oh, and names have been changed to protect.... ya know the rest.

Was supposed to have lunch in school today but appointment cancelled. Getting frustrated already, esp since I'm flying off soon.

Met the old band for dinner at Clementi Hawker today. Needed some Hokkien Mee heh... should eat more local fare b4 I fly. Anyways, so nice to meet up with them again. I know it's been quite some time since I last jammed with them... I think due to sch commitments, hall, and even holidays work schedule kinda prevented ... Good to see them all still involved in their own music projects. Jun with Stentorian (NTU), Kel with SmashInc (NTU), ek with his CAC club getting munchie monkey gigs. Sigh, a bit regret didn't manage to jam at least once more b4 I go off... next time will be 1 more year le.



I managed to dig up our jam x pic for the 2005 one. This was our last public performance I think. Heh. We may not look the part, but hey at least we've got something to call our own =)

she take my money

I'm not a fan of black music, but this performance is really good. Kanye West and Jamie Foxx sings "Gold Digger" ala Superbowl halftime show style. Yep. The big band intro, drumrolls (KW State vs J.F.U haha quite creative), the national anthem diva style, the cheer-leading. good stuff la, including the "broke pose" heh. And the songs damn catchy too! (even with the radio edits of F and niggars)

Today started packing le. I'm trying to pack light already but I'm hit 35kg already! Wrote in the Emirates, hopefully they can gimme some leeway on this (I'm allowed 30kg now). I was told it will take 30 pounds to cab from airport to Edwin's house!!!! Wa lao. thats S$90 man. siao liao.

Sportgasm gathering at PC house - Sept 06 !

Food food, lotsa food. Indian poker, black jack, mahjong. Jack Daniels, Vodka, Schwepps (70%!). O Comm for Sports camp meets again! Here's the pics

Mr. GD as usual in superstar pose. we're just his posse.

I was sitting on this chair which was falling apart! Oh, and Alvin's in it too. Will see him soon in a couple of weeks time, in London.

Guys are lazing, Yuzeng's eating (what's new?), while the girls are posing.

Mahjong! My losing streak continues !! argh. It's gotta end sometime right?

You bunch are damn fun! =)

what a deathmatch

This is probably the best and funniest celebrity deathmatches I've ever seen. Al Pacino vs Robert De Niro, with the late Marlon Brando as guest referee.

The 2 fighters each reprised a role from their many famous movies. for Pacino -- Godfather, Scent of a Woman, Scarface (Say hello to my little friend). De Niro -- Raging Bull, Taxi Driver (incl the are you talking to me line) and the infamous baseball bat scene from Untouchables. say man, I remembered mentioning those films as well.

Unfortunately I couldn't get the jokes on Brando's part. Am sure theres some. haha. enjoy.

The doc called one day ...

Ladies and Gentlemen.

I'm suffering from a disease.

Yes, it's called Scoliosis. It's not a joke.

On Tuesday I will know more about it. Some spinal issue.

sigh...

Cat fights -- on track, off track

check this out

Fernando Alonso says Michael Schumacher is the most unsporting driver ever

read it first.

Well, it just sounds like sour grapes to me. (I like Ferrari, who doesn't? No preference towards Schumi tho, but this is just sour grapes)

Here's what happened this season. Earlier in Monaco, during Qualifying, Schumacher while doing the final turn apparently had some mechanical problem and his car went extremely slowly, and conveniently parked at the road side while the Q3 session was ending. yellow flags came out (meaning go slow, no overtaking for that sector).... thus his 'move' hampered a few cars flying laps. He was subsequently penalised by having to start dead last in the actual race. Here's the video.



Ok, I feel that even though Alonso didn't seem to be impeded, it was still very unsportsman like for Schumi to park there at the end of Q. It seems deliberate, hence he was punished. He eventually finished 5th from dead last (22nd) in the race.

Now, in the Italian Monza race 3 days ago, Alonso was found to be impeding Massa (Ferrari driver). the rules state that a driver on a OUT lap has to cede position to a driver on a HOT lap. Massa was on a HOT, and clocking good sector timings, while Alonso was late out of his pit garage to beat the clock (later driver = better grip on track = faster car. but he was a bit too late hence he needed to rush b4 the chequered flag)... so instead of giving way to Massa, he decided to pia to the start line, ignoring Massa. As it turns out, telementry proved that his distance in front of Massa was disrupting Massa's airflow (and hence cornering speed), resulting in Massa not clocking his best time. See for yourself.



Truth be told, it's rather hard to be convinced by the stewards decision, as Alonso seemed pretty far ahead... but the telementry info says otherwise. Eventually he got penalised, his 3 best times got wiped off and he started from 10th. In the race, he blew his engine, so its a DNF...did not finish.

For the sake of a balanced argument, here's Max Mosley's (president of FIA) view...



Well, obviously Max has to side with his stewards what! He has to defend his decision, although the common viewer like me have no access to their special telementry data. whatever la, the die is cast and Alonso was relegated. I must also add that there was a permanent steward which determines such decisions across all races, so you can't possibly accuse the Italians of favouring their red marquee.

In any case, Alonso got penalised for unsporting behaviour. And so did Schumi, earlier in the season. And now Alonso accusess Schumi of unsportsmanlike? Sounds like a big joke to me. Even though Alonso did also accuse the current season as being rigged, at least he had some basis to that from his point of view (his lead is now just TWO points) ... but sportsmanship? I'm not sure if he had the high ground to say that.

Also, I'm not too sure about him putting down a fellow competitor like that. I mean, the people who criticise Schumi are really the great drivers from the past who have long retired, and the journalists. It's rather unprofessional to put down your fellow pro like that, especially when he (Alonso) hasn't retired. Having said that, I'm gonna contradict myself and say, hey, who minds a little bickering. Stirs up the competition doesn't it? Alonso probably just needs to learn a bit of PR skills... and no one better to learn from than Schumi himself. Just wait for his response on this. That fella, for all his controversies, is still the best at handling the media. He never incites other drivers via the media. He just let his racing do the talking.


As I said before, Schumi's past is really blemished by some rather dubious racing. Here's what I found on YouTube



1994 (Adelaide) - Schumi (for Benetton then) and Damon Hill racing in Australia. Basically, whoever finished ahead of the other in this race gets to win the year's championship. Schumi was ahead of points at this stage, and this clip shows how he managed to get in the way of Damon, resulting in Schumi crashing out but not before damaging Damon's front suspension. Damon retired in the end, Schumi took his 1st championship. (Aside: Flavio Briartore was his manager then, who is now Alonso's manager. dig that) Anyways, the move was rather dodgy and it is generally accepted that he was intentional.

Heres another



1997 (Jerez) - Schumi and Villeneuve. Same situation as 1994, but this time only Schumi retired after the incident. All of Schumi's points were stripped from him for this season, handing title to Villeneuve.

The thing is, since 1997, he has avoided such stupid racing moves. Even though one of the Austrian GPs (I think 2001) where his teammate Barichello moved over on the last lap to let Schumi win, this was more due to a Ferrari team order than dirty driving from Schumi. They say he has come clean, and he has really done a lot of goodwill in this 9 years, a lot of charity work and no personal scandals, perhaps as a form of redemption for his younger, reckless days. Well, at least up to this year's Monaco, heh. Old habits die hard I suppose.

On another aside, I really miss Martin Brundle's commentary. He's my favourite commentator, and he was the one who I listened to 1st when I got hooked on F1 racing. I don't know how to explain this, but I'm sure most pple have their favourite commentators for their fav sports heh. Unfortunately in recent years Star Sports have switched to Chris Goodwin and Steve Slater. Nothing against Chris man, but Steve Slater, woah he is ridiculously biased to Ferrari. And some of the things he says really make me cringe. And he is horrible at speculation. eg when it is fairly obvious that a driver is on a 2-stop strat, he would say stuff like ' Now, do you think that in the 7 seconds of fuel that he put in, he could last till the end of the race? Maybe if he tunes down his revs, he could well possible do it!' And I bet Chris must be thinking 'oh WTF is this guy saying man.' but all he says is 'Well, I'm not so sure about that, Steve...' haha. I think my main gripe is that the current pair only comment from the studio at Star Sports, while Brundle and his partner are always on location at the racetrack. And we get to hear stuff that we can't see on screen that they can see on location. And the ontrack interviews are always a bonus, aren't they?

ok. Guess I said enough.

Here's a very, very good article I chanced upon... 'Where next for Michael Schumacher?'

Anyways, here's the 2007 Calendar (subject to changes surely)

Australia March 18 Malaysia April 08 Bahrain April 15 Spain May 13 Monaco May 27 Canada June 10 United States June 17 France July 01 United Kingdom July 08 Germany July 22 Hungary August 05 Turkey August 26 Italy September 09 Belgium September 16 China September 30 Japan October 07 Brazil October 21

Belgium returns!!!! My fav track at Spa-Francorchamps =) Seems like Suzuka is no more, they are moving to Fuji Speedway now. I liked Suzuka man. Heh. Gone are the days that I used to be able to memorise most of the track details after hours of F1 racing on my PS2 haha. The ones in bold ... I hope I have a chance to catch them when I'm in europe. Would really love to catch Monaco. Wah lao. Love, man..

Let's see how it goes ...



Tags F1 schumacher alonso

Song of the moment

Arctic Monkeys - View from an Afternoon

On an aside, I actually have a bit of an inspiration to write a screenplay. Yeah, me of all pple, writing a screenplay. But I have this idea for a script ... well, even in all probabilities it wouldn't get produced on stage, I think it would still be quie satisfactory to see the final product. Well. just watch this space.

Oh I watched Memento today. I would say this film has one of the best plots to hit the big screen. It talks about a guy Leonard who suffers from AMD (short term memory loss), how he reminds himself of his purpose in life but making notes and tattoos. The movie is presented in a very interesting manner ... like Y to Z, then X to Y, etc... thus the movie kept me guessing on the events that preceded the current one. very very thought provoking. + the ending = good stuff. Somehow, it reminded me of the comic 'Far Side'. I dont know if you guys read it, but its usually a 1 window comic showing a snapshot of an event, either just before or after something major to happen. And it always has me in tickles when I try to imagine what went on. So this show is something like that. And after watching this show do I realise that 'Prison Break' is quite a ripoff of both the Shawshank Redemption and Memento. It's a cool show yes, but the ideas not new really. Maybe they were targetting audiences who haven't caught either show yet.

Anyways, check this out. The world's 11th Annual Air Guitar Competition. haha. A quote from the article

The competition organisers have laid down a strict set of rules including that the air guitar must not be real ‘i.e air’ and that you cannot be part of a duo whether this duo is human or made of air. Over the period of the competition, there is also an intensive high altitude Air Guitar Training Camp near Oulu. This lasts for three days and costs 85 Euros, in addition to the 20 Euro cost of taking part in the competition itself. The camp involves ‘lectures’ on such issues as the history of air guitar, the sport of air guitar, dance and, most importantly, endurance training for those arduous air guitar championships.

haha. funny lah.

Monday blues

blues cos I woke up to the sound of pouring "rain". Yeah my aircon started leaking water in the middle of the night, creating a mess at my doorway. sibei sian. gotta call for repairs le.

Anyways, the US Open just concluded a few hours ago... I actually managed to stay up till 430 to watch the entire match. Federer, well, won again, in 4 sets. He is just amazing in that, when he is not on his best form, his average form can carry him along with the best of the game. And during parts of the match when he turns it on, well, its simply good luck to the opponent. But good job on Roddick too la, who has really improved of late. In any case, Federer does look rather beatable this few weeks too, often squandering break points and struggling to close out match points. It's really really hard to stay out on top man. Having said that, that bugger got into all FOUR grand slam finals, winning 3/4 of them. Magnificent la, the "struggling" Federer. heh.

Something interesting though. Tiger Woods and Federer met for the 1st times when Tiger came to watch the Swiss play in the finals. OK, they have admiration for each other blah blah. But ain't it interesting when the world's top golfer, who is American, is sitting in the VIP box in the Swiss corner rooting for Federer against his fellow American Andy Roddick? haha. I wonder what Roddick must be thinking. Either that he was pissed at Tiger or pissed at himself for not asking Tiger to support him. Although it doesn't matter to me la, with sports now being so international, with agents and companies ruling over nationalities (think the west ham issue; Tiger n Roger also same agent + Nike). But it's always nice to see a sporting legend cheering on another sporting legend, even though Tiger's earnings in half a year is easily more than Federer's career winnings. So much $$ in golf loh.

This week sees Agassi, Navratilova, Schumacher all announcing their retirements. While Tiger and Roger wrapped up their championships. transition loh.

ok .....

Movie post again ....

Caught 2 Brian de Palma films lately. This guy has a penchant for mob films. We can be good friends. heh

The Untouchables

The story of Al Capone, during Prohibition, and how he got brought down by a group of police officers who were nicknamed "the untouchables". They finally got Capone in tax fraud charges.

Yeah that's the whole storyline really. Frankly I wasn't very much impressed by the whole show, I mean it had a quite dull plot, not much memorable scenes. Granted, De Niro was wonderful as Capone BUT he had only like a few minutes of screentime !!!! What a waste of talent. He should be given more dialogue la seriously. Kevin Costner was really bland, and as lead I expected more leh. His style is really only for Dances With Wolves, which still is one of my fav movies all time.

Best Scene? Baseball bat. I knew he was gonna do something with that bat. heh typical mobster.

This one, can pass.






Carlito's Way

This film is wayyy better... Al Pacino acts as a Puerta Rican who got jailed after being busted as a drug peddler, tries to turn over a new leaf and go clean, but finds it hard to run away from the mob life. Quite a refreshing change, especially contrasting to Scarface where he went into Mob King status and degenerated later on.

Once again, I must say that listening to Pacino's dialogue is simply marvellous. Most actors they just read their lines but Pacino gets into his lines so much. There's so much emotion and thought when he delivers, and I think its really exceptional. Oh, and the director had quite a few long shots in the movie, meaning the shot was taken all in 1 take, which were crucial to the delivery of the movie. Props to that.

Most memorable scene ? ..... Hmm.. there was this handjob scene which was QUITE interesting. haha. I must say, lucky guy, heh

Al Pacino says this in the closing scene, on his death bed (ambulance stretcher). good stuff

Carlito: Sorry boys, all the stitches in the world can't sew me together again. Lay down... lay down. Gonna stretch me out in Fernandez funeral home on Hun and Ninth street. Always knew I'd make a stop there, but a lot later than a whole gang of people thought... Last of the Moh-Ricans... well maybe not the last. Gail's gonna be a good mom... New improved Carlito Brigante... Hope she uses the money to get out. No room in this city for big hearts like hers... Sorry baby, I tried the best I could, honest... Can't come with me on this trip, Loaf. Getting the shakes now, last call for drinks, bars closing down... Sun's out, where are we going for breakfast? Don't wanna go far. Rough night, tired baby... Tired...

Moh-ricans haha.
Go catch it if you can.

Oh I also watched Election (both 1 and 2), the HK mob show. not bad too la, though the 2 are quite similar. A bit lazy to blog about it haha.


Ok ... later going out to get the sony rechargeables. dammit sony, overpriced underperforming crap!!! the batteries better last longer this time. And a rice cooker too, and a webcam. seems like a good day for shopping hehe

Is he gonna retire?

Oh yes, my love for the Formula 1 sport.

Just finished watching The Italian Monza Grand Prix... Michael Schumacher just won, Raikonnen 2nd and this 21 yr old Polish fella named Kubica in a BMW coming in 3rd in his 3rd race only. Alonso, of all days, blew his engine with 10 laps to go, now reducing his championship lead to just 2 points. 2 POINTS! omg its gonna be a good close to the season with 3 more races to go.

But i suppose its the post race events that's gonna be remembered. After Schumi got out of his car to congratulate his team engineers and bosses, he must have noticed the start/finish straight. Yep. The tifosi had invaded the entire length of the straight, 100000 predominantly red supporters waving flags, setting off smoke bombs, singing the national anthem for a national victory (Italy also won the motoGP in Malaysia hours ago. V Rossi). With such a sight, could he possibly announce his retirement?

Yep.

So we are gonna see the last 3 races of a passing legend, one who carries with him controversies, but nevertheless the most outstanding race driver of this generation, and very possibly of all time. Till China, next time.

Meanwhile, I need to do some rice-cooker hunting. + webcam hunting. + sony rechargeable hunting. hurhur. And also, plan which F1 races I'm gonna catch while im in Europe! (I heard Silverstone in UK is offering tickets now which will refund 1/2 price if Jenson Button wins the 2007 race. hehe)

Federer vs Roddick , US Open final in a few hours time. shld be good viewing.

Oh oh oh oh oh oh

Well well what do ya know. Remember yesterday?

So I think bottom 3 will be Lukas, Dilana and Storm. I never thought I would be saying this though. Perhaps the voters would vote differently ba. And Brooke Burke, in her usual expressionless self, poor host and what not, still looked smokingly hot. HOT!

So, indeed, with a stroke of brilliance and loads of luck, I actually guessed it right. They were the bottom 3. Lukas did his original from the previous night again, and survived... Storm did a good rendition of 'Wish you were here' by Pink Floyd, while Dilana did Cheap Trick's 'I want you to want me'. Wah lao it's such a hard choice. But Supernova chose Storm to go home in the end. I think they couldn't bear to drop Dilana and Lukas cos they currently are the ones best fit for their band.

And Brooke Burke. is. so. hot! Oh, and she's pregnant with a baby girl. I think Dave nailed it on the head when he said that the world needs another young Brooke Burke. HELL YEAH. heh.

Final four.

Magni. Frankly, this guy's brilliant, he's just not for Supernova. I think he will turn out better with another band singing U2 type songs, and probably outlast Supernova anyways.

Dilana. If any girl can front Supernova, it's her. But her PR skills and lyric writing can be much improved, at least in Gilby's opinion I suppose.

Toby. I want him to win, though I doubt he will be chosen.

Lukas. If they want a guy, it's probably Lukas. (And I think the band wont last long. heh)

Toby, this fella is amazing la. He got the encore tonight, and he did that "Oh oh oh oh oh oh" song from last night. The whole crowd, after 1 listening, was now all singing along like it has been on the charts for weeks. And that tribute at the start to the late Steve "Croc Hunter" Irwin, was a very nice touch to his fellow aussie. Here's it =)





Tags rockstar supernova

Are you ready for the new sensation?

Watched rockstar supernova this morning. Quite surprising actually.

Dilana pulled her calf muscle and was unable to perform her usual antics, so she just sat down and did her rendition of The Who's Behind Blue Eyes. Hmm. She actually never heard of this song by The Who before the show! Well, that's not a very good thing to reveal in a rock star competition, and I'm sure its gonna hurt her in the votes. Her original was so-so, but her spirit given her injury was commendable.

Lukas, sang Bon Jovi's 'Living on a Prayer'. OK, I disagree with the judges on this... I think he arranged the song poorly and didn't kill the song with his vocals ala Bon Jovi. It's a shame, what he's done to a classic rock anthem. His original was slightly better though, but no show stealer.

Magni is really turning out to be the funny guy, along with Toby. After Beatles 'USSR' and his original, T. Lee asked him how come he performed them the same way. And his answer was "cos its me performing!" .. and I thought that was really witty heh.

Storm did her usual sex selling routine, reminiscent of Britney Spears stripping off in the MTV awards. She did another Bowie song (again ...) and her original was pretty rocking. Dave Navarro even said it was the best original he ever heard on the 2 seasons of the show. (Then again he was grinding with Storm on stage on the Bowie number ...)

But Dave spoke too early. For Toby was next. And he totally killed the Killers song 'Mr. Brightside' ... when I saw the song selections I knew he was gonna pick Mr. Brightside, because his vocals was totally suited to this genre of song. And then came on his original. Oh oh oh oh oh. Wonderful sing-along rock song, it's really the show stealer. It's the BEST original on the show thus far, without a doubt.

So I think bottom 3 will be Lukas, Dilana and Storm. I never thought I would be saying this though. Perhaps the voters would vote differently ba. And Brooke Burke, in her usual expressionless self, poor host and what not, still looked smokingly hot. HOT!

Oh yah, I also intend to catch Singapore Dreaming. Looks like a good show, directed by Talking Cock's Colin Goh. Hope it's good. Should support some local movies too heh.

(and I need tennis this week. rain rain go away pls)


Tags rockstar supernova

KO-ed by Genting

I've barely survived the Genting trip with only a few dollars in my pocket and my jacket on my back left. haha. Lost a total of 650 at the damn casino !!!!! Sigh. Actually to think of it, this is the 1st time I ever came back from a casino losing, other times have small wins. But this big one cancels them all away damn.

Heh. Was up 200 within the 1st 2 hours actually, then decided to spend it on a new pair of leather shoes. Abermain. not bad at all. Then went back, lost abt 300... showered and played again and won back 300. So was dead even after end of day 1.

Day 2, down hill all the way man. Everything I tried, baccarat, three pictures, big-small, roulette, all buang hehe. Limit break, then end up watching the rest of the gang (jp, zx, chazz) getting whooped too. All of us lost loh, and I think I lost the least. But all's good, it was really fun ba. Guess its good to know at least I'm spending what I earn here and there... Roulette was extremely fun! We would look around the casino for clues and hints on what the next number would be. Like we see a word 'pelaki' so it was 6 letters, hence EVEN. or we see a dominant black colour and put money on it. Well, judging by our losses, I think the outcomes were pretty obvious haha.

Anyways the whole casino experience is just a money sucking event la. We ALL know that going casino is probably not favourable as the house always has its advantage in all its games (like the 0 in roulette), yet everyone rides their luck and tries to catch the ups while minimising the downs. It's just plain addictive I guess.

Oh. And I got a sugar mommy in Genting haha. This plump lady in her 30s who sat beside me, saw that I had already lost 300 in that session, then gave me 50 to play on, as a sort of encouragement. haha. I know its just 50, but hey, how many pple have gotten money just like that. Heh. The interaction between gamblers is damn fun la, always coming up with various strategies to break the banker's good luck and disrupt his chi . Well, what do ya know.

Gotta do some shopping for SEP this week + medical checkup. Need a place to stay in London for the 1st few days at least.... hopefully Edwin can help on this. US Open also showing now, seems like a good tournament. Fed vs Nadal again perhaps.

Scarface & Donnie Brasco

It's mob-movie weekend again ! This time, I managed to check out Scarface(1983), and Donnie Brasco (1997). Guess what. Al Pacino starred in both films, although in very differing roles.

Scarface


Scarface's about this fella Tony Montana who fled from Cuba to Miami, dreamed the American Dream, set up his drug empire, but ultimately lost himself to the drugs and a girl. Typically, there aint no good ending for mafia films (cos come on if there's one, it's too encouraging, right?) Al Pacino, a decade after his marvellous 5-star Don Corleone performance in the Godfather Trilogy, puts in another stellar performance as Montana. I mean, seriously, are you sure this guy is an American? He can totally speak like an Italian. And he's totally cut out for mafia movies, perhaps only matched by Robert De Niro. And maybe Marlon Brando in the original Godfather. Acting, dialogue, this guy really gets into every damn character he acts. So the story's no big deal, but it's a darn good show of how a guy made it from rags to riches and then degenerate to his death (as compared to Godfather, Al Pacino as a war hero turn mafia boss turn losing his family). And besides, Michelle Pfeifer is hot in this one, la. woot.. And there's this famous little quote. heh

Al Pacino (Tony Montana): Say hello to my little friend!

Whips out his big ass ........ machine gun and starts mowing everyone down

hurhur.




Donnie Brasco

Al Pacino, in a really weird role reversal, acted as a totally incompetent wiseguy in this show. Basically, Johnny Depp was Donnie Brasco, an undercover cop who made his way up the mafia ranks by getting in through Lefty (Al Pacino). I mean, after all that great acting by Al Pacino as mafia head no less in all his shows, now he's just a small-time wiseguy. And he isn't particularly smart to figure out that Brasco was undercover, even though I would think it's rather obvious. Hello, Lefty has got 20 yrs of mafia experience and he couldn't sniff a copper next to him?

But the show's good when it strikes you on the contrasts of both characters. Lefty's a small time wiseguy, always looking out for his bosses but never gets much recognition. He loves his own family more dearly than the mafia family, and is a strict follower of the mob 'rules'. Whereas Brasco is a cop who got himself too immersed into the mob, even rising up faster than Lefty himself (with the FBI's help no less), but at the same time neglecting his wife and kids. In the end Brasco was so sympathetic with Lefty that he wanted to help Lefty get away, for Lefty has always been on the lookout for Brasco. Quite a good story I would say.

Memorable quote, had me in stitches.

Johnny Depp (D. Brasco): You think I'm a rat...?
Al Pacino (Lefty): How many times have I had you in my house? If you're a rat, then I'm the biggest mutt in the history of the Mafia.

hehehe, biggest mutt indeed.

Mob movies to date: Godfather I, Godfather II, Godfather III, Goodfellas, Scarface, The Usual suspects, Casino, Donnie Brasco, Pulp Fiction.

Next up? Carlito's Way? The Untouchables? (starring ..... Al Pacino and Robert De Niro again !)

Song of the moment: Plug in Baby - Muse

my song of the moment. Rock on!

Baa Baa Black Sheep

What a shag week!
Today's the only weeknight that I'll be home this week heh.

Anyways, was back in hall on tues n wed to chup in the KR Rockers auditions ... Heh I still remember the time when I was year 1 with all the laojiaos packing the couch and staring down at, watching what you were playing. I think I played master of puppets then, and then there was the long interview. Of cos I didn't know much as I had just come into KR so I dunno what else to join, Rockers was obviously my foremost option.

Anyways, sitting on the couch's pretty different. This time I get to play critic! hurhur. Quite mean to keep judging people, or just simply indulge in some fun watching the pple perform under stress. not easy ok! Hmm, tho I must say this year there wasn't any eye-opener, perhaps save the male singer with a natural vibrato whom I forgot his name, and this exchange student from Quebec, Lee, who happened to be Colin Monk's best friend! What coincidence. Anyways he has many similar musical tastes as me, plays a meaner guitar than me, and is a nice chap to hang out with. A pity he's only around for a year.

Suppers with the fellas till 4am, wake up at 7, make me damn shag for work next day. Cannot keep my eyes open. Heng I found a place called the Library, haha, where I spend a decent part of my lunch break at.

watched SG Idol on wed night, the performance night. I heard that Nurul is out. Ok, so there's a lot of scandal about Joakim these days, but I do pity that fella. I mean, he chose a karaoke favourite, Xiao Wei(which probly no one can go wrong because it isn't hard to sing it, really), and a Gurmit Singh song, which isn't a very well known song, not at least for a competition like this. BUT he still stayed on. I mean, perhaps he should attempt Baa Baa Black Sheep next week and sees if he still stays.

Look, this guy has endured lotsa shit, and he doesn't deserve it la. He is a bad singer and he knows it , and he's just staying on cos he has a battalion of fans in reserve to pump his votes up. So what's really wrong with the show?

1. Scandalous show turns pple, and voters, off. When viewers see whats going on with the show, they get disillusioned with the whole thing and just don't vote anymore.

2. Little talent to keep viewers engaged, to make viewers want to vote

3. 60cents per vote is daylight robbery. American Idol voting is toll free. Rockstar Supernova voting is via internet, ie free. It's like "hey i'm pitching for the singer, and have to sponsor him staying on the show."

I think its really all 3 reasons. Hopefully the producers one day will realise, that they shouldn't market the show to be a money earner, but instead find the next singing talent in Singapore and market him/her to earn for the station. And by being scandal free, attract more viewers. more views = more ad $. But will the pple in power suits have the balls to make the change? Hell, no. Why change something that, economically ain't broken. Well, marketing the new Idol is Ken's problem, not theirs.

food for thought, eh?

Clubbed on thurs night, Momo for UK Bound bash, saw Ross's band perform. Good on ya mate. Didn't stay long after, went over to MOS for the 1st time with peh, chazz, cc and zx. Big place, good crowd (my age la, cos Arts Bash), cheap tix ($16 w hair dye leh). Drinks are ex though... was high for moments. Really needed to club to let loose myself, especially after a heated argument with a friend of mine the night before. But it's ok now already. nubbad la mos.

Went geylang later, for tohua youtiao... another 4am night. Today go work super shag, but relax mood cos its Fridays. TGIF man.

ok gotta catch some sleep now.

this is funny