Until Further Notice

Hello everyone! I didn't update HORIZON for quite some time now. Anyway, this is just an announcement to tell you guys that there will be no entries until further notice after this. Most probably next year. So whatever that you guys have planned until new year, I wish you all the best and have fun. Till then...

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Dodgy Day, Crazy Evening

Slept very late yesterday, woke up fairly late this morning (expected, isn't it?). Spent my whole day reading novel and do nothing. Just some house chores and tiny bits of stuff (i know it's absolutely boring). However, dinner was entirely a different thing. Completely different from my uninteresting day.

Sony Speakers, Human Technology
We were eating dinner. Was still normal at that moment. When our dinner was coming to an end, I seriously didn't know what went wrong. It happens every week on Saturday. Everyone talked at the same time and it was rather crazy. For example, someone started a topic and within a short 15 seconds, everyone started talking at the same time. It was so hard to distinguish who is talking about what or who is listening to whose conversation. The best part was, they were all very loud. Bless our neighbour. At the end, I just smiled to myself and imagined what I have in front of me; a Sony home theatre system with 8 speakers (woofer included) but it uses Human Technology with Dolby Surround Sound system. Charming but horrifying at times (in a good way).

Disco Shower
Something was wrong with the bathroom's light when I went in to take a shower. It was fine at first, but it started flickering when I was half way through. It was kind of cool at first, I imagined I was throwing a disco shower to myself. However, after a while, it got kind of freaky. My eyes started to feel the tension as the whole place went bright, dark, bright, dark and so on. Out of nowhere, I started creating a scene from the movie Psycho. Someone is behind my shower curtain armed with a knife and was ready to plunge it into my heart or my head any moment. That was just my stupid imagination. Anyway, I started dancing to the beat of the flickering light. Yes, in the bathroom! Just don't picture that in your mind. It's not a very pleasant sight.

Broadband @ Dial-up Speed

How many of us are actually using TMNET's broadband service, Streamyx and complaining about the speed at things are loading? Honestly, sometimes I feel that paying the monthly charges is wasting my money especially those who subscribed to TMNET's 1MB connection. I can only imagine how those who are using dial-up feel. [sigh].

Actually

I had a quick discussion with my friend yesterday about this movie called "Love Actually". Because of that I watched it again not long ago. I forgot how good it was. The movie started at the airport with Hugh Grant talking about love and it ended at the airport with messages of love in the air. It was amazing. When I was watching it, it was as if I don't have a care in the world. Everything seemed perfect (of course, that is not entirely true, I have a lot to think about). I've watched "Kingdom of Heaven" too, 2 days ago. It's another fantastic movie and it came highly recommended. However, it took me several months to summon up the strength to watch it and I wasn't disappointed. I like war/epic movies. They are good. I will not go into detail how good it was because that'll take me forever to finish. [smile]. I really like Eva Green. She's very beautiful and elegant!

Gas

You will probably think my family is weird or something after reading this. When I woke up this morning, I went to the kitchen to cook myself a bowl of noodle. The moment my fantastic looking/smelling bowl of noodle was done, the hob turned off itself. I tried to turn it back on and I failed. Finally, I realised that I ran out of gas. Perfect timing though. At least my noodle is not half cooked. Best part is, none of us in the house have money to buy a new tank. All the money is in the bank. LOL! So highly likely, there'll be no dinner tonight. Damn! For those who are thinking "How about your extra tank?" My house has no extra tank. Come to think of it, we should get an extra tank. Crap!

Insomnia Strikes

If you know me well, you wouldn't be shocked! It happens some time. Actually, it happens all the time. Hell, I'm kinda used to it. Anyway, was browsing gossips online (that's what I do when I can't sleep), found out that Brokeback Mountain won 3 out of 4 major awards at the New York Film Critics thingy and is currently leading the Golden Globe at 7 nominations. Best director, actor, dramatics, film and etc. Read all about it here. For those who have no idea what is Brokeback Mountain, it's an epic cowboy romance story. Click on the excerpts' link at "My Links" on your right or visit the website.

Who's Your Daddy Now?

Had a horrible headache yesterday. Didn't sleep until almost 4am and had to wake up at 7am. Fast-forward to my time in University. I have a friend who is completely lost at what she should do after her degree. Masters or Work? If Masters, local or overseas? If work, where? If you do not have a clear goal before you enter University or during your 3 years there, you will be panic when graduation is just a semester away. Alright, let's skip the boring bit and head on to something much more interesting, much more memorable and much more... (damn! I can't find the words). OK!

GPA Celebration

I was at my Faculty due to a meeting. Yada yada yada... fast-forward (1000x). Phone call. Yes, the crucial call from my friend. Her name shall remain anonymous. I was in my mother's car when she suddenly called. Her face beaming and her lips were curled upwards. OK, that was just my imagination at work. Anyway, cool news is I GOT A 4.0 GPA for my latest semester in Faculty of Economics (you can start playing victorious music here). Yes, my very first 4.0 after a string of 3.95 and a not-so-successful 3.53 (mind you, only once and a STRING of 3.95). So you see, I am a 4.0 student (beaming with pride). In short, I'm fantastic! Despite my glorious victory, I am still the very-down-to-earth, humble and crazy piece of art.

Yes, that's it for today. It shall be dedicated to my GPA only. Have a great day everybody!

It's All About Speed!

Let's see. I woke up this morning, still groggy. Walked out of my room and I saw my sister all dressed up. I got panic. So I asked her "Where are you going?" and she came back with "MidValley! Wanna come?" You can basically imagine what I did next. Very alert suddenly - rushed to get my clothes - showered like crazy - got my hair done - put on my contacts - can't find my socks - found my socks - face was red (too rush) and then poof... I was ready to go out! Awesome.

Poisonous Burger

Man, Burger K*** is so gonna kill me after this. We had our lunch at BK and all of us ordered burgers. That's very obvious isn't it. So we had our burgers, walked out and then one by one started singing "Oh, stomach's aching!" I always have this problem when I eat BK. I just don't know why. Maybe next time should really stick to McDonald's when I crave for a burger. The only highlight of BK is their bottomless soft drinks.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The 3 Things

OK, so it's suppose to be The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. It's just too long and it will definitely spoil the subheading. Well, the movie was awesome. At first I thought it was just some kid movie like Harry Potter and the yada yada yada (4 movies). Actually, it's something like that but better. That is my opinion. It has much more meaning to it compared to Harry Potter. The cast = awesome and the story, fantastic. I liked the witch. She was very evil. Favourite human characters would be hmmm, all of them! (there was only 5 of them) Fav non-human characters, the beavers. Overall, it tells you no matter how bad you screw things up, family will remain family forever. Love the battle bit. Completely awesome. Never know kids can go to battle with such "gaya". I can't exactly find a suitable word for it in English. So now when people ask me "Harry Potter or Narnia?". I will simply answer Narnia. [smirk] I LOVE NARNIA, yay!

3 Extra Ladies in the House

Hmmm, where do I even begin! Yesterday was awesome. I was very busy doing nothing. Loitered around the house and successfully interrogated my sister about her friends in her University. BS-ed with my family a bit and positioned myself horizontally around the house almost the whole day. Yes, that's exactly what I've done on Saturday. Bliss [smile]... Not really. Anyway, what happened today?

Arrival of 3 Ladies

My sister has guests from Penang. Damn, let's not be so formal. OK, she has friends over from Penang and will be bunking at our place all the way until Friday/Saturday. It's fantastic. More noise and more people fighting for oxygen. I find it rather amazing how girls can just talk (not so loudly) but laugh until we can feel the vibration. Alright, so I exaggerated. :) You get the picture. People who have been to my house will know how tricky our bathrooms are. About 10 minutes ago, it happened! [laughing sinisterly] Let's just say that if someone is using bathroom A to shower, bathroom B can't be used. That's because of the water pressure which I intend to let the management (condo's) know about that. I just can't find the time, remember? I was busy. My sister didn't brief them on that and they had to synchronize themselves while showering. How cool is that? [giggle]

Crazy Dinner

Let me recap what I had for dinner today. We've basically messed up the whole table. My sister and my mom went to pack some food from a shop in SS2. When they came back, I can be very sure they thought that they are feeding 1 orphanage. We had prawn mee, fried kuey teow, satays, loh bak (spelling was given by my sister and her friends) and hmm... cake. Yes, cake. We ate until our faces were green and can barely walk but of course, satisfied. LOL! FYI, that only happen once a week. Twice if we are lucky on Saturday and Sunday.

Oh yes, anyone interested in obtaining the soundtrack for Corpse Bride? I can put the link up for you guys to download if you guys want it. Meantime, I'm just gonna keep on looking for goodness in internet and keep myself busy doing awesome things like be busy doing nothing and day-dreaming. And no, I'm not a computer geek. Kinda think of it, being a computer geek is not that bad, but of course, like I said, I'm not! [smile]

New Stuff

Wise citizens of Malaysia (and the rest of the world - I don't know how international is my site, chewah), yours truly has added a new link "My Downloads" to HORIZON's sidebar. There will be several links up very soon. Now (yes, AGAIN), it's Brokeback Mountain OST. Have a go. At least those who wanna listen to it do not have to waste a fortune purchasing the CD and waste time looking for it online. I hate myself for repeating Brokeback Mountain every now and then but... *bleep*, no "buts"! So, pop by and download! I'm so thoughtful.

Alright, so I'm a little self-absorbed but hey, you are in my HORIZON. It's suppose to be all about me. It's Me, Myself & HORIZON.

DOOM

I watched DOOM today. Well, it's kinda like your everyday scare movie. You just can't help thinking of Resident Evil and Milla Jovovich when you are watching DOOM. That oh-so-sexy-muscular frame of hers [squeeze]. Anyway, typical experiments gone wrong - humans transformed into ugly putz - big guns/small guns - big dudes/small dudes - 1 babe (yes, only 1 babe) - blood splish splash - body parts scattered all over the facility and that's about it. Oh yeah, people running around with clothes, not even skimpy ones (thinking of Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson in House of Wax & Dukes of Hazzard). It gives you a good scare but it's nothing original.

Sophie Kinsella

Probably guys will pass out when they read Sophie Kinsella as my sub-heading. She is the author of the Shopaholic series (Rebecca Bloomwood). It's chic-lit (that's what we call it now) and I don't think that only females are reading them. It gives pretty good insights into the female world to guys actually. You can see from the eye of Kinsella what sort of things ladies are infatuated with (universal infatuations) and thus, seizing opportunities to amaze your girlfriends with the knowledge [blink]. She (Kinsella) makes you laugh too at the crazy things that Becky does. And no, reading chic-lit doesn't mean that particular guy is gay (poor fella). Those homophobes out there who think so, do get a life.

Can Do, Can't Do

If you guys visited HORIZON earlier today, you've probably read "HORIZON with Music". That was because I have embedded Windows Media Player in it. However, it is too expensive to maintain the hosting of songs to be streamed to HORIZON. Therefore, I've decided to take it out [disappointment]. If anyone has any ideas on how to publish music online and be streamed without limitation, please let me know. For now (I don't believe I'm saying it again), HORIZON will be a simple site where you will read about my happenings and rumblings [sigh].

Soundtrack
Late afternoon, I've got myself Brokeback Mountain soundtrack (don't ask me how I got it). The CD has got some very nice instrumental (string - guitar) numbers. Never know guitar produces such sound. The songs are just fantastic and some are touching/sad. Listen to:

1. All the instrumental numbers / Gustavo Santaolalla
2. He Was A Friend of Mine / Willie Nelson
3. King of the Road / Rufus Wainwright
4. I Don't Want To Say Goodbye / Teddy Thompson

Overall, it's a good CD to me. Definitely not for those who do not dig country music. One man's meat is another man's poison! However, you might just like it after you listen to this album.

Not As Bright As I Thought

For the past hour, I've been trying to modify the template of HORIZON; add a new division with a few picture links on the sidebar and etc. The outcome was only satisfactory. I do not settle for satisfactory results. Certain things just didn't come out the way I wanted, *bleep*. Wasted an hour on HTML codes and no results. Thank God I'm not a Computer Science student.

I was thinking if I study the codes in the template, I could modify the codes and get things. Well, only 80% (imagine this: stabbing myself with a knife). HORIZON shall remain the way it is with a few extra links at the side. It's good actually because it has less things and therefore less cluttered and more reader-friendly! Simple with minimal frames... What's better than that? (comforting self) [smile]

What's In The Closet?

I know there is suppose to be a Part Two to my Part One. Well, I got lazy! Besides, the entry was long enough. Although this is my HORIZON, I don't see a point to kill my readers (if I have any) with words. So, we shall move on.

What's In The Closet?

When I woke up this morning, I was thinking "Hey, it's high time I wash all my clothes in my closet since I seldom wear them." So, I did! I was sorting them and I discovered something. As I was picking them out, I realised that it was all V-neck, V-neck, V-neck, Round neck (do we call it that?) and shirts. Honestly, I like V-neck because it does justice to my shoulder. Anyway, they were either white, navy blue, black, brown or grey and they are either fitting (not those stick-to-your-body type) or normal t-shirts. I have other colours but they are not significant. Since I'm already babbling about my wardrobe, might as well include my fav look. My favourite look is white t-shirt (slightly fitting) with a pair of washed out dirty blue jeans. I could throw in a khaki coloured canvas belt but I don't have one. Shame! Talking about washed out jeans, I need to get myself a pair.

Men should wear more pin-striped suits because they bring out the "height" and exude a classy and successful look. Trust me! Also, do not be afraid of wearing shirts in pastel colours. If you spiced it up with the above mentioned suit, you will look impeccable and expensive! NEVER buy double breasted suits unless you have very small chest. Always ask women about the way you look, never men (or at least try not to).

Is Reading a No-Lifer's Activity?
Who reads? Everybody. Who reads a lot? Not everybody. Some of us only read things that we must read. Others read just about anything because they read a lot (2). Therefore, is:

(2) + Free Time = No Life?

I don't think so! Those who disagree, drop a comment and we can discuss about this.

5 December 2005

Part One

I look forward to watching Brokeback Mountain. Probably you've been reading about Brokeback Mountain in my past entries. This will be the last. I've read the short story (Brokeback Mountain is a short story by Annie Proulx) and would really like to see how 2 men, Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) got to know each other and how their friendship had developed into something so profound. It is not any stories you will pick up and read. Somehow, you feel for these two characters and how their love lasted for so long (over 20 years) despite the distance and how the society's norm got in the way. In the end, their love for each other (through one person) lives forever. If there was anything that Proulx had done, one of them was she has made it clear that LOVE IS A FORCE OF NATURE. Amazing...

"That summer, when we split up after we got paid out I had gut cramps so bad I pulled over and tried to puke, thought I ate somethin bad at that place in Dubois. Took me about a year a figure out it was that I shouldn't a let you out a my sight..." ~Ennis Del Mar~

"...we could a had a good life together, a fuckin real good life. You wouldn't do it, Ennis, so what we got now is Brokeback Mountain... You got no fuckin idea how bad it gets... You're too much for me, Ennis..... I wish I knew how to quit you." ~Jack Twist~

"He lifted it off the nail. Jack's old shirt from Brokeback days... The shirt seemed heavy until he saw there was another shirt inside it, his own plaid shirt... He pressed his face into the fabric and breathed in slowly... there was no real scent, only the memory of it, the imagined power of Brokeback Mountain of which nothing was left but what he held in his hands."

"...he hung the wire hanger and the two old shirts suspended from it. He stepped back and looked at the ensemble through a few stinging tears... Jack began to appear in his dreams. And he would wake sometimes in grief, sometimes with the old sense of joy and release; the pillow sometimes wet, sometimes the sheets... Nothing could be done about it, and if you can't fix it you've got to stand it...." THE END. ~Annie Proulx: Brokeback Mountain~

Visit www.brokebackmountain.com

4 Bookstores, 1 Book

The Quest for A Novel
You guessed it! I was looking for Annie Proulx's novel. You will not believe what I've been through for that book. Six hours of shopping, 4 bookstores, disappointment after disappointment and finally, there was light! I was at Borders and MPH (The Curve) looking for the same novel but alas, Annie Proulx was on display but not Brokeback Mountain. Went on to check with the Information Counter (Borders) and that poor dude didn't even know where was Fiction located and how was books arranged (usually by last names but he searched first names and book titles). Went to IKANO (opposite The Curve) for Popular Bookstore. Well, I can tell you that it was 31,000 square feet of bad customer service. In addition to that, the book I wanted wasn't there. Feeling hungry, I pestered my sister to drive to 1 Utama for lunch. One last try at MPH and voila... Brokeback Mountain! Hallelujah.

Didn't get the chance to read it yet. Will do as soon as possible.

Mode ala Domestic

Crazy Morning

It's 3 December and I woke up very grumpy and upon exiting my room's door, I saw (play shocking music at this point) my living hall in complete mess. Picture this: DVD file on the floor with DVDs all over the place, mug on the floor, unfolded clothes, messy dining table (not food but books) and *bleep*, the whole house was crazy. So, after my morning bathroom regime, I transformed into Domestic Dude. Within an hour, the house was nicer. Not exactly very clean but better.

Major Housekeeping

No, it has nothing to do with the above (Crazy Morning). I was consolidating my University's notes. Trust me, daunting task. I was almost surprised at the amount of papers I used throughout my 2 1/2 years in University of Malaya (UM). Alright, so I name-dropped my University. Give me some space, it's the premier University in Malaysia. OK, back to the topic. I was shocked but very happy and felt very intelligent looking at the papers and files in the box. Very satisfying. It was as if I could conquer the world with that box of papers. I savoured the moment for about 1 minute and came back to the real world. I put the box neatly at 1 corner of my room.

Disappointment

In my previous entry, I posted my hotlist of movies. Alas, Brokeback Mountain (highest on my list) is not going to be in local cinema (not that i'm watching it in local cinemas but I felt a little bit disappointed). Anyway, such thing will not deter me from watching this epic flick. I have other means. (Laughing sinisterly). However, I can't sit and wait for the movie so I will get the novel by Annie Proulx (greatest writer ever). When I finish reading the novel, expect a lot of interesting remarks from yours truly. To find out more about the fuss I'm making, visit www.brokebackmountain.com and see for yourself. Make sure to read stories on how this movie had touched people's lives from around the world. Hint: Link at bottom right. Amazing soundtrack too.

Virgin Post

Yes, I am aware that I've said something like this blog will go online 1 December 2005. Well, it didn't happen because you see this entry today. Anyway, November and today's highlights are as follow...

MyKAD
I was at Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara (JPN) today to retrieve my MyKAD. Surprisingly, they were quite fast in making them. Was there at 8am and the queue to change ICs to MyKADs was horribly long. I shall trigger your imagination here (you can play some upbeat music at this point before you proceed): start from the entrance on the 1st floor, down the stairs, on the road, down the road and out of the compound. Cars and people were still coming in despite the queue. People are becoming desperate since it's December already. Lucky me!

On to my picture on MyKAD. Well, I look like hmm... I would say I look broad. Damn. Nevertheless, I'm learning to accept it and kept on telling myself it's a healthy looking face. LOL!

Mother's 54th Birthday
13 November 2005 was my mother's 54th birthday. Had a great dinner at "I-forgot-the restaurant's-name" restaurant. However, service wasn't that great. Dishes sequence were wrong and was rather slow. Nearly made a big hoo-ha out of it but was suppressed by my sister. FYI, I do not and cannot tolerate incompetent employees especially in the service industry. But like I've said, it was great because the food tasted great. In every occasion, you will have a photographer gone mad (by mad i mean taking photos as if the world is going to end). In that case, she's my sister.

Movies I Wanna Watch
Movies below are on my hotlist (way at the top; listed according to my interest)

1. Brokeback Mountain
   Highly likely will not be in the cinemas; Malaysian censorship board will have a field day with this.
   
2. Memoirs of a Geisha
   Although it's a Japanese thing acted by mostly non-Japanese, I don't mind.
   
3. Jarhead
   I don't know... I just like such movies.