"Solace", they call it.

The Big One Cometh

2009-10-24T17:35:00.002+08:00

We do what we do because we believe that we must.

And that, friends and readers, is my bullshit excuse for having not blogged for so long, updating with this extremely short post and not blogging for the next couple of months.

One simple reason. Sure, it's a bullshit and rather plain excuse for not updating, but then again I highly doubt my rantings will be sorely missed.

Mmhey.

As I was saying, SPM is around the corner and it's pretty much the biggest exam in my world so far. Bigger than trials, yes.

And I can tell you I've been studying a whole lot more than is actually healthy by my standards. No shitting around there. I've even stopped gaming so much. And I work out only twice or thrice per week now. A-friggin-mazing, huh?

"We do what we do because we believe that we must."

Storm clouds are gathering in my blue skies. There are examinations afoot. I'm off to the hunt.

So long, blog. So long, readers. So long, Twitter, Facebook and gaming.

It's been a slice.

And, I'm kidding about the last three.
Seriously, it's not funny.

Harhar :)

Ah, here's a picture of me before I go into hermit mode.

Until next time!

Alex out.

Feet First into Hell.

2009-09-27T21:18:00.003+08:00

Ummmm, wokay. I noticed that I haven't been updating in a long while.

I've had a whole week of break to do stuff worthy of a blog post. And yes, my life is so incredibly dull that even the Tokyo Game Show '09 is big news for me.... or that could be more due to my love of gaming.

In any case, please disregard the statement about my life being dull. That's my id attempting to claw its way to the surface to topple my cantankerous ego. This is an official statement from the mouth of the font of awesome known as Alex:

"My life is so fucking brilliant and vivid that everywhere I turn I literally see tigers leaping through flaming hoops and hot scantily-clad women parading in front of me while fireworks jizz on the sky and paint it white. And that's during the intermissions."

Uh-um, my ego tends to get rather hyperactive, apparently.

I'd love to be long-winded and present you a big wall of text that is as eye-hurting as it is self-indulgent, but I guess I won't. Not today anyway. The text thing hurts me too.

All you need to know (or would bother to, eh eh) is that today I picked up a copy of Halo 3: ODST. I'd like to, I really want to, I absolutely HAVE to give it a spin, but unfortunately I'm fucked with a Bible Knowledge exam tomorrow.

D'ya have any idea how cocked up something as innocuous sounding as Bible Knowledge actually is? I, for one, imagined it to be something like this:

"Question 1: Who's the son of God? :D

Question 2: Jesus turned water into wine. True or false.

Question 3: Pontius Pilate's a bad son of a bitch. Discuss.

Question 4: Judas is an even badder son of a bitch. Elaborate."

And the list goes on.

Boy, how wrong could I be. I have to memorize not one, not two, but - oh wait it's just two - TWO books of the Bible. You motherfuckas can count, right? That's like one hundred pages of Jesus and his pals having their epic roadtrip across the Holy Land. And the print is tiny.

. . .

Holy shit Gina! That's a lotta words!

And I thought "Bible Knowledge must be easy." Psssshhh, what a load of goatse.

I'm outta here. Need to learn the entire syllabus for tomorrow. Or at least I can try.

Alex out.

Secks. And pens.

2009-09-07T17:01:00.003+08:00

Bah, I haven't posted about the Merdeka Train Party yet!

I must remember to slack off during trials to blog about it.

Also to do: Buy a pen.

I don't have one. I need a pen for the trials. Y'know, to write with.

And a pencil to shade answers with. Possibly will use it to doodle more often than shade answers. Which will result in it being too blunt, short and useless to answer exam papers with.

... Better get two then.

I just finished drawing faces on the carton of eggs in the grocery bag. It's a obsession of mine. I seem to need to relate to my food items in an anthropomorphic sorta way.

Oh God, I hope I'm not turning into some kinda furry-fetishist.

"Now, off to KLCC to purchase a pen and two pencils."
Alex out.

Sweating over exams in my fruit suit

2009-09-04T22:46:00.005+08:00

My heart is pulsing with the rhythm of a drum.

Make that two drums and a bongo.

Two drums and bongo, "played" by a trio of disillusioned Manhattan jazz bandmembers and an emo Peking Opera singer. Who've apparently been told to make as much bloody noise as they can.

It's always that way with me on the first day of the exams. Why do I react so when I know I don't quite care about the outcome? The answer probably lies within me, and all it takes to discover it is some pseudo-Buddhist ritual I suppose I should try when I'm in college.

For now however, I will be content to just revel in the sensation of facing the worst adversary I can suffer in this age. My youth and adolescence seems to be just hurtling past me before I can get a handle on it and own the bitch. Slow down champ, I'd like to have my life back for a while thank you very much.

Oh...

This fruit suit my sister told me to put on isn't exactly helping. The baby shirt and pants I wore when I was an infant can't really fit me any more yet my family still keeps them. Now why would they do that?

You know that you know what a fruit suit is cos' you had one at some point in your life.

I look at my munchkin-sized getup for a few minutes, pondering how fleeting life can be. My brain is blank. Then I notice the funny fruit patterns on 'em and my brain is filled with happy thoughts. I think, therefore I is.

I've been sick for the last few days. To counter this aberration of my physiological conjuration I'm currently listening to (and liking) the sound of Regina Spektor's voice. Her vocals cut through the fog in my head like a European pornstar's penis through hawt Brazilian . . . cocoa butter.

THREE CHEERS FOR RUSSIANPOLISHAMERICAN MUSIC!

And good night.

"Sleep is the fairer reaper I gladly welcome to assail me.
Plunge the dreaming blade deep, spectre that you are.
And let me dream of the golden fields of home."
-Alex L.

"Chemistry."
Alex out.

Flag Up the Trains

2009-08-30T21:12:00.003+08:00

Tomorrow's the anniversary of our nation's founding. Pretty cool.

Tomorrow's the day of the Merdeka Train Party. Cooler than National Day? Absolutely :]

R.AGE and RandomAlphabets are teaming up to bring you THE incredible Merdeka experience you've never seen before. Am I gonna be there? Boy am I ever. Pics and blogpost may ensue.

And I don't need to mention this but, if you're one of the few people who do read my blog and want in on the action, feel free to drop me a line!

Alex out :)

CryEngine 3 and Hello, PS2

2009-08-20T21:12:00.006+08:00

Herro everybody. I like grilled stingray.

I'd normally start with a somewhat flashy intro on what I've been up to or what the post is about. This time, I will not.

Words are moot in the face of visual stimulation so highly attuned to your visible spectrum, for behold! At GC '09, Crytek revealed a real-time demo for the CryEngine3 graphics platform!

Now. . . I'm rather lazy to list down all the reasons I ~~worship~~ ~~adore~~ ~~love~~ ~~enjoy~~ ~~orgasm~~ like gaming, but consider this one of them.

Epic Tree Conquest

2009-08-12T20:49:00.006+08:00

I saw a bulldozer bulldozing a tree today;
A bulldozer ramming the life out of a tree.

That would normally have given me no more pause than the span of time it took me to glance at the scene then look away.

Today though, I looked on longer. Perhaps it was the weather. Rainy business it was up there. Whatever it was, I saw something more than just a bulldozer ramming into a tree.

I saw a tree, decades of years old;
At least that's how old it looked to me based on my understanding of botany.
It was the last of its kind; alone in a vast field (as vast as you can find in Ampang these days).
I looked at it and today, I saw something magical being cast down.
I didn't see an old piece of wood being hacked apart for lumber,
I saw a piece of yesterday being defiled and slaughtered.

Trees! Yay!

The tree and perhaps all his kin were being cut down and uprooted to accommodate our needs as humans. I can't describe the feeling inside me as that of sorrow, for surely sorrow is what we feel for thinking creatures.

No, it was something else. I felt despair.

I felt despair at our inherent lack of caring for the world. We humans represent the pinnacle of evolution on this little rock in this little solar system. I often wondered if we can regard ourselves so highly when we can "barely" manage the abundance of wildlife and resources on this planet.

Stewards, guardians, call it what you will. In any case, I tend to think of the world as something of a Patek Phillipe watch: You don't ever own it, you merely take care of it for the next generation. It's a lesson we've been taught in our Pendidikan Moral classes for the past 10 years.

Picture a huge tree. Alright, not as huge as what you may have imagined, so picture a tree that's about twice your girth. It would take about three people to ring around the tree with their hands connected. The tree is as tall as a twenty-foot non-tree-ish object. But it's a tree.

As the bulldozer slams into it, a shower of leaves rain down from its branches. Precious sap oozes out from gashes in the bark where the bulldozer's metal teeth scar it. Stem tissue stretches, bends and breaks as the tree is subjected to previously unknowable force.

I couldn't help but think of that as the tree finally came crashing down with a rustle of leaves and a woody groan. It may not have felt pain, but it died.

Waxing melancholic over a soon-to-be block of timber has never been my forte but perhaps the death of this one single tree in the middle of Ampang will make a habit of it. Scenes like this happen every second of every day all around the globe and they happen on a far larger scale.

They say it's necessary. It's a sacrifice in order to bring about change. Oh yes. Change like that comes with alacrity in these interesting times.

Sometimes however, change isn't what we need.

Alex out.

Sleeping Days do not rest at Night.

2009-08-07T14:16:00.004+08:00

Hello readers, I remark to the five souls still following this little blog.

I have an amusing(?) little tidbit of FTL (faster-than-light) travel from the Black Library forums (and how it relates to 40K) :

"Simple (non-magical scifi) space travel ought to cause merry havoc with their ages over a 'standard' 200yr period. Add in oddball warp-dilation *and* that they needn't appear across the galaxy in any particular time relative to when they disappeared. Some could appear before they disappeared!"

"because speed = distance / time."

"Yet when moving through the warp speed = a*distance / (crumpets)^lust, where a can be absolutely anything. "

"lol, exactly!"

You... probably weren't exactly amused by that.

How could you, after all?

Indeed, thank Stephen Hawking and his friends for such concepts as quantum mechanics and Calabi-Yau manifolds. It'll make the minds of any physicist sizzle like buttery popcorn, let alone us simple pieces of meat. Mmmmmmmm...... popcornnnnnn...

But yes, that is some quantum science talkin' right there... and it makes me feel so much geekier than I know I am.

"I am a cogent paradigm..."
:P

The more observant among you know it's a Friday and the last anyone checked, it's supposed to be a school day so what the hell am I doin' here surfing the BL forums and posting this gobbledygook bullshit???

Honestly I have no answer to give you. You may thank A(H1N1) though, since less than 1 in 10 Senior 5 students came to school yesterday on account of Hope class being quarantined.

Everyone's freaking out and wearing masks to try to keep the pain away, but you won't see me doing that. In the words of Padawan (and he's got a great post about this on his blog), "I can't afford to spend 1 ringgit to save my life." This is not to say I'm unaware of the flu's "incredible propensity for infection and body-mangling" - I just don't really care.

I, who get sick at least once a month, should probably have been one of the first to don a surgical mask and shut myself in at home to repel the sudden miasma of mucus-y death. I'm not, however, donning said mask nor am I staying home.... Ergo if I become a victim of the flu, you'll know I deserved it.

Thanks to the wonders of blogging and Twitter, you'll also know about it the moment my hair starts falling at my feet along with my teeth and kidneys.

And that'll be because you're all skipping school as well.

But enough about the flu, here are some Family Guy videos I like!

Keh :D

What else do I poop about here?

Hmmma, I do suppose I could venture a buncha awesome quotes from some Black Library publications. Hope no one minds how undeniably fascist they sound, but seriously lah the 41st millenium has no time or space for such delicate sensitivities. Spess Marines don't sip tea out of little pink china teacups.

Though... that WOULD be cute :)

ULTRA MEGA QUOTEZ TIME IS GO! 8D

"Great balls of the Saints!" - Guardsman Hawke (Storm of Iron)

"Skaven! Lament! For your warlord has been killed in a terrible accident involving a crossbow and an exploding donkey!" - Grey Seer Thanquol
'Revenge is a dish best served with mayonnaise and those little cheesy things on sticks' - Osric the Loopy, Imperial Commander

"After the orbital strikes, Thunderhawk bombardments, Whirlwinds, Vindicators, fusion and starfire and finally Battle Brothers with flamers had finished cleansing the world of all the enemies of Man, we built a monastery in the center of the largest, most radioactive impact crater. We named the planet 'Tranquility', for it was very quiet now."

"Who told you to die! Keep fighting!" - some Commisar

"Look! Rhinos! RHINOS! Our enemies hide in METAL BOXES, the cowards! THE FOOLS! We... We should take away their METAL BOXES!" - Sindri

"As you know... our brothers are stationed in SPESS."

What is the terror of death? That we die our work incomplete. What is the joy of life? To die knowing our task is done A dagger in the dark is worth a thousand swords at dawn - Tactica Imperium

"You have caused us great discomfort, little flea... And I feel inclined to scratch." - Grimspyre, daemon of Khorne, to Inquisitor Hand

I am the Hammer. I am the Hate. I am the Woes of Daemonkind.
- Battle Prayer of the Grey Knights

"The strong are the strongest alone."

— The Tyrant of Badab

"Some people like the simple things in life.
Others need all the wealth they can muster.
I choose not to let that distinction bother me."
Alex out.

Kick the Covenant in their ghoul-ees.

2009-08-02T17:00:00.003+08:00

Sunday afternoon.

Too lethargic to type in full.

Just finished cleaning the apartment.

Before that, I did some flower arranging with Mom and the Sis.

Now, am watching the first ViDoc for Halo 3: ODST.

The coolness factor is pretty high. Is cannot wait.

My energy level's a little higher.

I click on more links on GameSpot and IGN. IGN disappoints today. Much to my surprise, GameSpot has another Halo-related trailer. A cursory glance at the title made me chortle in glee and dismay. To hell with it, I think. I should give it a chance.

The next five minutes totally blew me off my seat. And when you weigh as much as I do, it takes something with a prodigious amount of strength and majesty. . .

. . .

HALO fanboys and anime lovers rejoice, for history is in the making!

The perfect mesh of an American gaming icon most sublime and the best animation studios in Japan.

A collaborative endeavor the like which has not been seen since the Animatrix... and perhaps even the Bible...

Presenting. . . .

HALO LEGENDS!

Can you imagine? Bungie Studios meets Bones, Studio 4C, Casio Entertainment, I.G. and a host of other top talents in their field. Hell, even one of them alone could seal the deal. Bungie got a dozen.

You can say what you want about HALO and anime, but try to deny that this is gonna be epic.

Alex's prediction? Must get! :P

Alex out.

BRATs Are LOVE

2009-07-29T20:34:00.002+08:00

Same story with the BRATs list. I'm expecting this list to grow a lot longer.

From the Ipoh 2009 Workshop:

Chelsea

Caryn

Anne

Farzana

Adeline

Stephanie T

Stephanie A

Rachael

Jaishree

Michelle

Isabelle

Aivee

Suhaili

Victoria

Abbie

Najwa

Mark Chan

Joy Tan

From a 2008 workshop:

Sandra Sandoii

Stan Da Man

Random Friendlies

2009-07-29T18:58:00.007+08:00

Sometime in the middle of 2009, Alex came to the abrupt and not altogether pleasant realization that his link list was insanely huge. How huge? Well, if one could take the time to extrapolate the rate at which Alex was adding links to the list, it would be evident that the link list would one day engulf the entire sidebar and take over this blog with its sentient robotic tentacle army.

Hence, this list. This. List.

Anyway, take a look around - you may discover something you like.

Agnes Liew

Alex MOAAAA ;)

Allysa Otakuuu :)

Amanda MOAAAA ;)

Ashley

Audrey Teh

Pei Ying

Shaun Black Zest

Buttcheeks Jo Strikes Again!

Camen the "Undesirable"

Carmen Au

Carolineeeee's

Chen

Chiwahhwahh

Chocoholic Mee Kuan

E-Wei

Ee Von's Fairytales

Erina's

Fina's

Yi Yun

Gary Hefner's

Hasan's Conceptions

Hippo!

Hui Min za Happy

Ivin's

Izzie the Wanderer

Jamie Liew

Jia Yung

Jinnehhhhhhh

Jo-yee

Jordan

Jowy

Juliana!

Kelvin Tay

Kiet Eie

Kristal

Maddie X

Mr Ali

Padawan's Sis

Sammy Sam

Sean Penafort

Set Wern's World

Shaun Tall Guy

Shaunnie Shortfuck

Sheila! :D

Shorty Joanna

Shu Hsien's :)

Shu Ni

Smallsmall Stephanie

Story of A Bird Named Sorrow

Su Ann

Su Hao

Su Yen

Tell Me by Michelle C

The 'Cool' Meng Keat

Rojaks

The Sis

Tiuniasing

Wen Xin

Weng Kee's

Ze-Lyn

Zhen Yu

"We have to talk.."

2009-07-28T22:30:00.001+08:00

Cracked.com's hilarious video on "If Sex Ed Public Service Announcements were realistic".

If Sex Ed PSAs Were Realistic -- powered by Cracked.com

Hee hee =D

Alex out.

I spent 10 Hours of my Sunday. . .

2009-07-26T21:10:00.004+08:00

. . . at Universiti Malaya attending a BM seminar.

Huh, the things I do sometimes...

People who are completely stoned or smashed could hardly conjure up a more hardcore pastime. . . Oh wait.

I'm not generally well known for being of a patient disposition and spending 10 hours doing anything that doesn't involve me kinesthetically is an anathame to my ruby heart.

Still, the eyeball-popping amount of information that I've allowed an amusing Indian man and a cacat-ed Malay woman to rape my mind with is just what I needed to finally beat the fever and flu I been fightin' for two days.

A bit funny... how this body works. No better panacea for it than education. I guess I won't be needing my pills anymore :D

(not.)

So I've beaten the flu and got myself some learning done. A pretty nerdy way to spend a weekend and I'm mighty grateful for it.

But waking up at 7am on a Sunday is a right sin it is. And sinners go to. . .

. . . PATPONG! 8D

Bwahahahahahahah!

"Bottle of Zinfandel, please."
Alex out.

And the yellow fellow turned 10.

2009-07-18T11:09:00.008+08:00

Good mornin', readers. It's a smashing Saturday; the skies are clear (where I am) and there's a Spongebob marathon running on TV. I'm eating my cereal and chugging a glass of PINK strawberry milk while browsing 4chan and DeviantArt. Somewhere near me on the floor yesterday's newspaper. There are two or more pages dedicated to everyone's favourite cartoon icon since Scooby Doo and his Shaggy friend. I'm talkin 'bout SPONGEBOB.

Spongebob is awesome, I tell you :D

4 seasons and a feature-length movie will speak volumes of his ubiquitous appeal. This amusing little innovation of a marine biologist's questing mind has broken down such barriers and entertained so many that even President Obama and Prime Minister Gordon Brown watch him. Throw in a hilariously dim-witted pink starfish of a best friend, a commando squirrel chick, a money-grubbing boss, and a microscopic one-eyed nemesis and you, ladies and gentlemen, have a recipe for superstardom!

Any other reason why Spongebob's such a captivating icon? Why he's so brilliant?

Here's why. BEST. EXPRESSION. EVER.

So, Happy 10th to Spongebob Squarepants and effing hurrays(!) to a decade of yellow goodness :)

* * *

Been having a satisfactory week so far. Here's an interesting thing that happened to me:

Strength levels up. Body fat down.

Ohhh yeahhhh. My strength levels have increased. I didn't realize it 'til Monday when the girls were off at the breast cancer workshop and me and Adam were doing pushup sets. It was pretty awesome to not feel that much fatigue on the 15th set. My pants have been getting a lil' looser too, so I do believe I'm finally losing some belly fat.

Tee-hee :)

* * *

Anyway, I'm gonna be off to Terry's for a haircut then it's off to Bon Odori!
It's high time I met up with Miss Tall&Gorgeous Woan Ni and my dahling Sheila; I can hardly wait.

Tata readers <3

Alex out.

P.S. "Beauty can be found everywhere. Especially in a beast." -A

Version 3 Rollout

2009-07-12T17:48:00.004+08:00

Herro everybody. Look to the skies! The new header is up!

. . . Version 3 to be exact.

Before your eyes brought you to this post, you might have noticed the poll above. Please do vote for what you think this blog should be called - each and every one of my readers has a stake in the direction this blog takes.

I want to ensure you all have the best possible experience reading it.

Being able to remember my URL faster would be nice, wouldn't it? I seem to think so.

On with the post though. Version 3 is going to be the best look of this blog yet even though I don't plan on changing the current template. Minimalism is and always will be the focus of this blog.

Thanks to Jessica and Padawan, I've been able to implement some minor tweaks to the overall colour scheme that will enhance minute aspects of this blog. Immersion is in the details, so you may not notice them yet. Indeed, that's the whole point. Changes which are largely unnoticeable but add to the overall blog environment.

This would also be a good time to say that bigger things are happening in my life right now - things that supersede this blog. Credit for that should go to the delightfully demented overlords at R.AGE. I've taken to Facebook and Twitter as the primary means of delivering information and updates.

BUT!

Even with these addictive machinations, this gleaming packet of HTML you all know as Alex Leong's blog will not be forgotten. Everything I do to it is for it.

Cheers and I love you all :)

Alex out.

Cheer 09: Beating the Horse.

2009-07-10T23:24:00.001+08:00

Anyone up for some moar video footage from CHEER?

Here's a quickie then.

Cheers <3

Alex out.

Piss-poor odds.

2009-07-10T17:53:00.004+08:00

The Government's decision to revert the teaching of Maths and Science to BM... is nothing but a badly timed political gimmick and a unthinking power play.

I think Dr M's blog post sums up the peoples' opinion pretty well. Go take a look and vote(!) at the poll :)

Piss-poor odds for the Govvie team to convince us they're doing the right thing. I almost pity them fools <3

"...almost."
Alex out.

Cheer 09 Day 2

2009-07-09T22:25:00.000+08:00

Jeng-Jeng-Jeng muthafuckas!

The Cheer 09 Day 2 post is a-up-ah!

The only proper way to begin this post is probably by saying this: "If you weren't there, you missed out big time, bub."

I mean, seriously, the ladies and gentlemen of our cheer-leading squads were out and about strutting their stuff and giving us a hell of a SHOW.

In anticipation of that, I got up at 7, freshened up and left the house at 8. Got there a tad later than expected but it was okay given I was there as a spectator first. I did bring my BRATs badge in case though - Mr Yellow might come in handy.

So there I was, walking into the stadium dressed like a bum with the shorts and T-shirt and sneaker getup. Bumped into Ami and spent some time with her; she came to support Muriel. Shaun See came later on that day to support the Cyrens, his school team.

The crowd turned out in major force on Day 2 of Cheer. Shall I give you an idea of how big the crowd was? Shall I really?

No I shan't.

Cos' y'all weren't there so you couldn't possibly comprehend how dynamic and engaged the madding crowd was :P

They were a raw beast of sound. I liked it very much. Blitzerz had a 1,000 strong mob all bedecked in blue and yellow. Ikea much? Yes indeed. Muriel camped next to them with 50o+ supporters and some conductors while the Dynamitez supporter mob numbered roughly 800.

Xavier had a 1,000-ish fangroup as well if my ailing sight doesn't fail me.

Hey hey, anyway, the teams started performing before their fans got out of hand and what a show they put on! No trick was unimproved from the day before, and no detail was left un-sparkled. The end result was a truly awe-inspiring showcase of talent from Malaysia's best cheer-leading squads.

41 swish-swashling performances later,
10,000 crazed cheerleading fans hitting the fever pitch,
6 hours after the event began,

Malaysia received her new Top 5.

Dynamitez in FIFTH PLACE,

Titans in the FOURTH,

Calyx in THIRD place,

Shirtliff (last year's champs) in SECOND,

Aaaand *drum rolls*

Blitzerz in FIRST PLACE.

Gah, Jesus Christ in a jumpsuit! That's bloody well done for 'em! I seriously believed an all-boys team would win this year but on hindsight, these ladies did just fine. . . Fine enough to bag the gold. 8D

A few hundred boxes of Kleenex later, the crowd settled down, some started leaving, and some mini concert started. Jivin'.

I chilled with Sylvia and the X-plodetes 'til they left. Without further reason to hang around (there was this weird Indian girl singing and dancing onstage WTF people were more interested in her super-cun backup dancers ROFL), Alex left the building and went on his way home.

Cheer 09 was over at last.

Title: A brat and a cheerleader.
(:

...And THAT's one of the ways you spend youself a bitchin' sweet weekend, you sweet bitch you!

Legally lah.

"I hate Sunday nights - that's when the doldrums begin and I getta restless."
Alex out.

EDIT: For pics, go to Sandoi's blog, Kelvin Loh's blog, or Google it. There are dozens of posts on Cheer 09 up for reading!

Cheer 09 Day 1

2009-07-07T20:58:00.005+08:00

Bah, I'm feelin' like a right lazy bum right now... but the fact that you're reading this post must mean that at some point I decided I would post about the first day of Cheer 09.

Started the morning at 7am, left the house at 8am and boarded the train. Bumped into Sandra at Masjid Jamek and we boarded the train connecting to Bukit Jalil. The train ride gave me ample time to reflect on just how slow and inadequate our LRT service is. Perhaps the worst part of that thought was the chilling realization that this LRT service is as good as it gets in Malaysia.

"Yep Yep."

Anyway, upon arriving there the BRATs started the day by interviewing the girls as they were warming up. It quickly became apparent as we interviewed them that this angle would benefit a lot more from a video feature, and so we did it. Here is the shimmering diamond-encrusted fruit of our efforts:

Being a member of the press is THE definitive experience for an event such as this, as we had access to the restricted areas AND we had the best seats in the house. This certainly did keep things flowing as they needed to cuz'...

This year, speed was of the essence. We had to update the public over Twitter on EVERYTHING that went on. Live blogging suddenly seems so sluggish compared to the concise elegance of tweeting. The videos we filmed were all wrapped up and edited by the time the day was done. Talk about efficiency, right? And to think we're still amateurs y'know :D

Is dat sum live blogging in a restricted area I seez?

Now, you could be wondering where all the pictures are. Sad to say, I have none to post. All of 'em are with Mark and Sandra, so to Sandra's blog I will direct you. CLICK.

On to the hosts - Jien was great! He took a while to warm up and stuff and it was pretty evident from his less than funny comments at the beginning, but once he got into his groove the man was a rolling stoneeee. Jeremy of Red FM did a wonderful job considering it was his first time =)

In this picture: NOT Jeremy and NOT Jien.

The cheerleaders themselves were amazing. The all-boys teams did great today and had the crowd all pumped up. The all-girls teams were in top form. Can I say top-er? Cos' they have SERIOUSLY stepped their game up, y'all. The stunts were bigger and bolder, and their moves were generally more synchronized and crisp (like fresh ... salad).

'Twas a pleasant surprise to find out that some BRATs were also on the cheer teams. Major props to these fine ladies. A couple of people from Asiaworks MT were also in there somewhere (HI JONATHAN!).

Some other BRATs like Mark and Tristan came at lunch time. Real nice lah, guys.

Hmmm, what else am I missing? Oh yessss... the fans were absolutely bananas on Saturday. The major teams each had a couple hundred supporters (or more). They were loud. They were really loud. By 10am the Blitzerz and Muriel camps had worked up a sweat. Dynamitez had a walking stick of dynamite this time around and he was one helluva sight :D

The performances all went smoothly and I managed to catch up with my lovely ladies in red - the X-plodetes. They didn't make it into the Top Fifteen but they still rocked lah :3

I left the stadium after it all ended with Mark since he was taking the train as well. Got home feeling rather senget but I shrugged it off. One more day, after all~

"It takes 20 minutes to travel 5km in a train. TWENTY MINUTES, muthafucka. My granny can run faster."

"Boom Boom Pow"
Alex out.

EDIT: There ARE some pics lah. Just uploaded.

Cheer 09 Day 1 and 2! A summary-preview-thing.

2009-07-05T22:48:00.004+08:00

Righto, I've just emerged from an emergency life pod strapped to the bottom of my rocketship.

...That rocketship is a wonderful dreamland called CHEER 09 and I was privileged enough to not only be there for both days but I was also there as a BRAT. This means I had virtually unlimited roaming space thanks to Mr Yellow STAR Badge.

Hmhmhmhm :)

Managed to squeeze in some time with my ladies in red and white - the X-plodetes! Yes, that means you too Sylvia! (especially youuuuuu)

I should seriously give you girls a trophy for being such sweethearts and putting in your best efforts. Cos' unlike the other teams, I had a rough picture of how grueling your training was.

All the teams were fantastic, the performances were for the most part brilliant and lively, and man, Santwon and Tai (is that how you spell it?) are possibly the most interesting judges for any competition ever!

But I can tell ya, being there can really suck the mojo out of anyone. Oh yes, even me. I'm like, so shocked, girlfriend. *bimbo-s*

And hence because of that, all you get tonight is a summary/preview of what COULD be a proper blog update. Deal widdit, wimminz.

"I know you know he knows she says. But I. Don't. Care. <3"

Alex out.

Lacedaemon's Trembling Keep

2009-07-03T22:16:00.002+08:00

Foo. The second round of exams for this year are officially over.

:)

I wagged school on Tuesday, Wednesday and today cos' I didn't have papers on Tuesday and Wednesday. Today was just cos' the family had an appointment with the dentist - just a normal checkup and scaling.

There isn't altogether very much to tell y'all about, cept' that I'll be at Cheer 09 tomorrow rooting for my favourite X-plodetes (<3 <3<3) and that I'll be there as a BRAT. Look forward to it like I do! :D

I just set up the Facebook event page for the Surian Prom '09. The first batch of invites are out, the committee has their own group, and I hope you readers will support our endeavor. If all goes well, we might even set up a blog for the prom proper and ta-da, we have the whole smexy deal x)

Right. Time to go off now. Cheers, good men and women.

"Say the word and the world will follow."
Alex out.

Death of the King.

2009-06-26T21:47:00.005+08:00

Once in a while, once in a "very long" while, a living legend passes on.

As of 5.21am today, Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, has passed on.

Yet in death this living legend will ascend and become a true legend. He will inspire even from beyond the grave through his lyrics and his songs.

. . .

I know the Internet is abuzz with the news, so what difference would this humble tribute make? Meh, the fact is... the King of Pop is the talent of the century, perhaps one of the greatest talents of the last millennium even.

He sings, he dances, he composes and writes his songs... did I mention his dancing looks so effortless as if he's not quite touching the ground. It's like the dude's a friggin' elf (eldar, elder, etc etc). And he invents all his own dance moves! This man's on fire!

HOO!
*tries to imitate MJ's vocal hiccup* *FAILS*

I'm currently blogging whilst watching Channel V's Tribute to Michael Jackson. The radio channels have been playing the fella nonstop since 7am. One like me can only predict the media floodgate has only just opened; the video tributes and extensive curriculum vitae features will probably last at least a week.

I love little Michael. I love black Michael.

And oh yeah, Farrah Fawcett and the guy who was The Fly (EDIT: Ed McMahon) passed away as well on this day. Hmm, I wonder if they would've received more media coverage if they'd passed away a week ago? Most plausible, that.

. . .

Ohfarkingbabi /b/'s flooding with threads about Michael Jackson. Virtual cries of "GOODNIGHT SWEET PRINCE" sing across the boards of 4chan. Even venerable IGN has their own feature article on MJ.

Did anyone do that for Ed McMahon? Or Farrah Fawcett?

. . . Nope. Searched, checked, still nuthin'.

Doh! I wanna embed MJ's Thriller video here cos' it's oh-so-entertaining and it's one of his best videos ever! All the Youtube Thriller vids have embedding disabled for some strange reason.

So, CLICKETH HERE FOR FULL 70s CHEESY MOCK-HORROR AWESOMENESS.

And with that, I bid you adieu. Goodbye, Michael. Or should I say, goodnight? :)

"Don't stop til' you get enough."

Alex out.

A Father Can Govern A Hundred Sons....

2009-06-21T21:09:00.004+08:00

. . . but a hundred sons cannot govern a father.

So it's Father's Day today and a lotta people ought to be out having lunch or dinner with their dads. It's a positive stroke of luck that our family doesn't buy into the whole brouhaha this time of year.

I thought I should blog about it anyway though. So here goes.

"Well old man. It's been an interesting trip so far.

I almost wish you could read this; you're on Facebook and all and this blog ain't exactly discreet. Still, I figured I would put down in words what you couldn't know this Father's Day.

You're a right arse. Oh yeah, you are. Wanna know why? I'll tell you. Dad, being a father and owning that responsibility doesn't end at conception. The true measure of a man begins when his child is born. It takes true courage to raise a kid these days, just like it's always been.

Sometimes I wonder if things woulda been different if you and Mom stuck together, but such thoughts were moot. Pointless conjecture that wouldn't change anything or get me anywhere. I wouldn't have turned out the way I am now if it was any other way.

I wouldn't have had it any other way.

But who knows? You had your reasons for cheating, you cheated and so Mom made you leave. That was simple enough for me to understand way back then.

Even so, I think no man should commit to a woman unless he's willing and ready to weather the journey with her. It's difficult to accept what you did to us. Very difficult indeed.

Still I did. But it doesn't mean I'm ready to forgive you for it. Forgiveness is not something a 17-year old can dispense to his 45-year old father so easily. Heh. It's ridiculous; pretty funny even... to see how far we've all come along without you.

"This is a picture of my Dad. Note the resemblance?"

I tried to remember all the things you did for Beth and me and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could recall a lot of fond memories. There were times you quite obviously sidelined us but you still came through often enough for me to keep you as a father figure.

So this Father's Day, I suppose the message of the day is: You're a great Dad, Dad. Just not a very good husband.

Have a nice one. I'll be seeing you.

Alex out.

Playing sum Halo 3 on a 200-foot screen (:

2009-06-21T19:19:00.003+08:00

. . . is what some crazy mofos in Texas did. Ever itching to prove that they're not easily outdone, some fanboys used a 160-by-72 foot (not inches!) screen to play some Xbox 360 games. They used the massive LCD display Texas Cowboys Stadium for this event, which is surely the largest screen ever used for gaming. Boy, I wish we had a screen THAT big over here to hijack.

"Now ah won't need tuh weah dem goggles, ma."

Epic win? Boleh gak x)

"History is whatever man can make it - it's at best, fiction and at worst, propaganda."
Alex out.

POW!

2009-06-19T23:23:00.005+08:00

This week's been unusually busy.

I've had to finish and execute a survey and report for an English Oral test, which was on Thursday;

I've had to redo my entire Moral Kerja Kursus since the old one got itself lost;

I've had to hand in TWO whole Chemistry projects in a single week, which is more than I get in a month;

And I've been going to the gym thrice for about 2 hours a day.

You're bored. Have a picture.

At the National Monument. Have another one.

ala Tugu Negara (:
The rest are on Kah Jun's Facebook. More will be uploaded to my account.

pretty. soon.

Second term exams are a-comin.

I'm as unprepared for this as a unprepared llama with its saddle off in the midst of a Western firefight.

Ooh, the coming weeks are going to be a stretch. I'm expecting no less than a total drain in my self-confidence, followed by a boost in guilt (over not studying).

But what else can be said of these exams? They're utter rubbish: a waste of time and resources, not to mention being a total downer for students.

If the Ministry of Education had their fucking hats on straight, they would adopt the Australian/American model of assessments which produce thinking students instead of our brain-draining hash-slinging exam model.

Still, with half a year left in this shit-stain of a farce of a schooling system, I suppose I'll just be a good little Malaysian boy and finish it off. After all, now that Mr Muhyiddin has so nicely revealed that a 'Pass' in BM is all we need to graduate high school, I barely have to prepare myself for anything.

Maths? Can piss off.

Sejarah? Puh-leese. Loose Romans in Aisle 6.

Moral? Tut-tut, Maimun dahling.

It's really obvious that the only thing you people are interested in doing is to coach us to score As. Not a bad thing, I know. For most of us in private schools, it's what our parents pay so much moolah for. Yet, let's look at it this way. We're in a national system which doesn't reward high school graduates based on merit and allows students to graduate WITHOUT passing English . . . wow, there's not a lotta motivation to aim high. Why couldn't Suria just adopt O-Levels sooner?

*MASSIVE SIGH*

So if I fail, don't blame me. You can't, in fact, blame any of us for failing. I'm just another victim of this insufferable tirade of nonsense our leaders keep throwing at us. My generation is a casualty of ignorance.

Whatever. It doesn't concern me right? Alex Leong has options aplenty. YOU have options aplenty.

I may fail on paper. But I will live on to succeed in real life.

You can too.

The message of today is: Guys and girls, don't get too stressed out over the exam and SPM. It really won't affect your life that much.

"Slither Wither 8D"