Earthquakes are shaky business...

More tsunamis rocked the world. Another magnetude 6 tremor. News broadcasts filled with pictures of dead bodies, rotting bodies...
That is the truth of life. The earth is very unstable. One minute you could be swimming in the ocean, the next you'd be more than slightly dead.
This is a very sensitive topic, which probably involves the views of religion and philosophy, and you'd probably know more from the news than me, so I'll move on to more light-hearted things.

I went to two dentists today. The first was for basic tooth polishing and maintainence, the other was for checking whether I needed braces. Although I have had tooth polishings many times before, I still marvelled at the dental ability to place an incredible number of equipment into my mouth at the same time. There were at least two vacuums, a mirror and a scalpel. The dentist was looking down in the mouth. Really, she was. It's the tooth! Er... I mean, truth.

And I need braces. And an operation. Apparently I have a embedded premolar in my gum. But I still need braces. =( It's gonna hurt...

Well, that's it. Just remember, tsunamis are dangerous since they attack in waves...

It's Boxing Day. Want some Punch?

No, no. Fruit punch. Nah, it's okay. It's a mistake anyone would make.

Today is my niece's first birthday. Actually, it's the second, because the day you were born is your first birthday, but not everyone is as logical as me, so let's just say it's her first birthday so we're in corelation with world international standard.
My cousin held the party at McDonald's, which was a big mistake, because, I feel, half the people he invited have no idea what to eat at McDonald's. Also, sorry if I mention this, but his friends all talked quite loudly. And annoyingly. Loudly.

Oh, I watched the Pirated Version of Kung Fu Hustle today. Cool, huh? Except that people kept walking in front of the camera and it skipped a lot of the first part.
Kung Fu Hustle is... well, I'll give it a three star rating. The plot isn't really that good... I mean, there isn't much of a plot. Just lots of special effects and Kung Fu moves. If you like movies with soppy stroylines, then watch something else. If you like movies like The Matrix, watch this movie.

OK that's it for now. See ya!

It's Finally Christmas.

IT'S CHRISTMAS AT LAST! One of the best holidays of the year, even for non-Christians. It's not so much the presents as it is the feasts. (Wow, did I just type that? I'm really getting too old.)

This year I only got 3 presents so I'm not that happy... oh well... must not complain... at least I got something. Hope you all got better presents than me!

My father still went to tennis today. On Christmas. He seem s very devoted. I think they'll get drunk with eggnog. By the way, has anyone ever tasted eggnog yet? I'm still too young...

It's not like you really feel the Christmas spirit in Singapore. There's no snow, for one thing, and we don't have any chimneys, for another. There's no real fir trees, only the lights, and no fireplaces to hang stockings over. A popular local belief is that Santa has to climb up the rubbish chutes to deliver presents to our apartment blocks.

I can't believe that so many people are home and on the Internet on Christmas. Guess we don't have any toys to play with anymore on Christmas. We're too old. People instist on giving us books.

Oh well... a week left to school reopening... the last week of the holidays... I always hate this time... trying to cram in all the work I haven't done... I still have half my Chinese homework to do...*yikes*

Read this nice Christmas poem I have since two Christmases ago... you may have seen it before, but it's still very funny... and true...

'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house
not a creature was stirring, except father's mouse.
The computer was humming; the icons were hopping,
As father did last-minute Internet shopping.

The stockings were hung next to the modem with care
in the hope that Santa would bring new software.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
With visions of computer games filling their heads.

Dark Forces for Billy, Doom II is for Dan,
Carmen Sandiego for Pamela Ann.
The letters to Santa had been sent out by mom,
To santa@toyshop.northpole.com –

Which now had been re-routed to Washington State
Where Santa's workshop had been moved by Bill Gates.
All the elves and the reindeer had had to ske-daddle
To flashy new quarters in suburban Seattle.

After living a life that was simple and spare,
Santa now finds that he's a new billionaire,
With a shiny red Porsche in place of his sleigh,
And a house on Lake Washington just down the way.

From where Bill has his mansion, and the old fellow preens
In black Gucci boots and red Calvin Klein jeans.
The elves have stock options and desks with a view,
Where they write computer code for Johnny and Sue.

No more dolls or tin soldiers or little toy drums
will be under the tree, only compact disk ROMs
with the Microsoft label. So spin up your drive,
From now on Christmas runs only on Win95.

More rapid than eagles the competitors came,
and Bill whistled, and shouted, and called them by name.
"Now, ADOBE! now, CLARIS! now, INTUIT! too,
Now, APPLE! and NETSCAPE! You’re all of you through,

It's Microsoft's SANTA that the kids can't resist,
It's the ultimate software with a traditional twist -
Recommended by no less than the jolly old elf,
And on the package, a picture of Santa himself.

Get 'em young, keep 'em long, is Microsoft's theme,
And a merger with Santa is a marketer's dream.
To the top of the NASDAQ! To the top of the Dow!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away - wow!"

And mum in her 'kerchief and me in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
The whir and the hum of our satellite platter,

As it turned toward that new Christmas star in the sky,
The SANTALITE owned by the Microsoft guy.
As I sprang from my bed and was turning around,
My computer turned on with a Jingle-Bells sound.

And there on the screen was a smiling Bill Gates
Next to jolly old Santa, two arm-in-arm mates.
And I heard them exclaim in voices so bright,
HAVE A MICROSOFT CHRISTMAS, and TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.

OK. Going to see what other people blog on Christmas...

Update 9:30PM : Just watched Finding Nemo on the Disney Channel. (Shame the way I spend Christmas.) It's a great show, but I'm not going to bore you with the synopsis (because obviously you've watched it already). I noticed that not every one of my friends blogs n Christmas, so that is a small consolation. (It means that everyone should be off the Net and playing with toys - that's good. Or at least, as normal as possible.)

It's almost Christmas!

I'm... dreaming... of a white... Christmas... because it doesn't snow in Singapore.

Sorry I haven't been blogging for a while... been playing Final Fantasy VIII and it ROCKS!

Christmas is tomorrow, so I hope everybody will get what they wished for...
Isn't it great that we get Christmas earlier than the people in the Americas, and are able to call them on the telephone and gloat?

My bro is now officially in ACS(I). Just got registered two days ago. Since he's in the IP programme, he's got a ton of books, including Sec 2 Maths. Wow. We only learned Sec 2 maths in... Sec 2. Or at least, we are going to...
And it's so unfair that he has a wonderful book for Lit. Actually, he has three, so I shouldn't complain much, but he has Haroun and the Sea of Stories. That is one of my favourite books! How can they have Haroun and the Sea of Stories for Lit? It's just not fair. =(

Oh well... Happy Christmas and Merry New Year!

I'm cross. Really cross.

I recently saw a sign saying Merry X'mas. MERRY X'MAS! What is this, an abbriviation sign? Not enough space to even spell out the word Christmas? And what's with the X? I mean, can "christ" really be replaced with "X"? Really, so you're a Xian. What's your name? Oh, Xopher! And your sister is called Xina! How nice! What nice name your parents Xened you with! Dosen't that sound stupid? (If you really have no idea what I'm typing about, try exhcanging the X with "Christ".

Anyway, my cousin came over and showed us how to play Final Fantasy VIII (8 if you can't count Roman). Yes, it's old, but it's all she's got. It's quite fun, but really long-drawn. And I'm not talking about the swords.

Yay! Now I can play a rhythm-and-blues piece by... er... I forgot. But anyway, I can officially play it now, and it sounds great.

Bleargh... 3 hour tuition tomorrow... argh...

Readers, Digest This!

...because today I'm reviewing Reader's Digest's new book, The Reverse Dictionary.

Now, I bet you're wondering, what the heck is a Reverse Dictionary? Well, as the Editors put it, "The Reverse Dictionary is above all a word-finder. Its purpose is to identify the precise word fo an idea that may be in your mind but you cannot express."

This book is fantastic because it has, simply put, everything. Or at least, everything you can think of. Let's say you're writing a detective story. You know that every thief or villian has a specific method of operation: how he breaks into a house, how he usually disposes of a corpse, for instance. But what you cannot remember is what the technical word for it is. So, searching the Reverse Dictionary for the word "method" will give you the answer: Modius Operandi.

It also serves as a vocabulary builder. Say you are still writing that detective story, and one of the characters has a distinguishing characteristic. Maybe a phobia, for example. Under phobia, there is a chart, listing some phobias. Fear of old age is gerascophobia, fear of a name or particular word is onomatophobia, and fear of horses is hippophobia (which is a bit weird).

There are also helpful diagrams. Need to know how to tie a cat's paw knot? What is the pointy part of a brilliant full cut diamond called? What roof shapes are there? Where is the fore topgallant sail on a sailing ship? What does a fleury cross look like? The answers to all these can be found in the Reverse Dictionary.

Simply put, this book rocks! And have yourself, a Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year!

I'm Feeling Palindromic Today...yadot cimordnilap gnileef mi

I'mi feelingnileef palindromicimordnilap todayadot... sees ifi youoy canac decodedoced whatahw I'mi typingnipyt.

Wheehw... I mustsum beb reallyllaer borederob...

Actuallyllautca, I ama reallyllaer borederob... nothingnihton tot dod ata homemoh... thisiht isi probablylbaborp mym firstsrif borederob postsop...

Arghhgra... that's'taht alla theneht... sees yay...

Whose Line is it Anyway? Mine?

Whee! Another OM meeting today! But the best part was: it was a movie party... er... meeting... thingy... sort of.

We watched Whose Line is it Anyway for about half the time we were at Gid's house. I laughed about three-quarters of the time I was there. I think. That's the beauty of laughter. When you laugh so much, you never really keep track of time.

Oh, and I finally met Demel's cousin. She's from Australia and looks more like Demel's brother than him. But she's only 72 hours older than Demel. Or something like that. That's the beauty of laughter. When you laugh so much, you never really keep track of time.

Gid's dog is called Socks. Not a bad name for a cow, but for a dog... er...
(No, seriously, some cows have white "socks" just above their hooves.)

That's basically it today. Nothing much happened. Been a bit boring lately. Or was that yesterday? That's the beauty of laughter. When you laugh so much, you never really keep track of time.

OK... See ya!

I'm feeling Sundayzed...

It's Sunday again...
I'm making up for the lack of blog posts since the last week of November... Man, I'm bored... You'd think I would have something better to do... *sigh*

I've been looking at my friends' blogs recently, and I noticed that they all CENSORED. What? The words behind that censored sign are... CENSORED

Anyway, I think that some people *coughcough* shouldn't blog with MSN-type short-form *coughcough* which makes it difficult to read *coughcough* which is aggravated by the small font size *coughcough*.

Hey! Look! A strepsil! This will help with my coughing...

Anyway, nothing new to report, except that I got my hair cut. And the carpark at Thomson Plaza was unusually full today. Carparks should have a sign over each lot saying "Leaving", and when the people park, they take this small remote, and when they are about to leave, the press the button on the remote, and the sign above their lot light up, showing that they are leaving, so other drivers know that thay can wait for this lot. (Phew, long sentence.)

Oh, there's another OM meeting this Tuesday at Demel's/Gid's house. They're neighbours so it doesn't really matter whose house we go to. We're going to watch "Who's Line is it Anyway?", one of the best shows hosting Drew Carrey (did I spell his name correctly?). Hope Packrat will be there 'cause I still have to give him his birthday present.

Ooh, Demel's cousin will be there too, and she's a girl. Ooh...

OK, that's all for now... See ya when I... er... blog again?

It was Incredible.

Bleargh... Don't you just hate it when people blog about The Incredibles movie and use some incredibly lame pun as their title? And you'd hope that finally... someone, just someone will have a better, less intelligence-insulting title?
Well.. TOO BAD. It's my blog and you can't change any of it. So boos to you.

Anyway, I just watched The Incredibles yesterday and I think {insert blog title here}.
I assume that almost everyone who is reading this has watched The Incredibles already in some way or another so I'm not going to review the plot or give subtle hints or stuff like that.

The Incredibles is your basic normal family of superheroes trying to fit into normal society. It's a great parody of many stereotyped superheroes, including the names, costumes, and physical characteristics. *coughcough* It's action packed, humourous, explosive (I'm talking about the plot; the cinema didn't explode), and all in all a great movie.

Edna Mode rocks! It's great that there is a character with the same name as my nickname! Whee!

"And it's hand-washable too, darling, that's a new feature."

-Edna Mode.

Oh, by the way, aniamted kissing is not all it's cracked up to be.