Bottled in Extreme Clarity

… watching this movie for the umpteenth time… now’s the scene where they gonna get busted by the coach for sneaking out to a house party.

Coach Carter is the dude who made national news in 1999 for benching his entire undefeated basketball team, the Richmond Oilers, for poor academic performance.

“I see a system designed for u to fail.” was the basis for the lockout of his players out of court and into the library. Student athletes were failing because the school, community and families expected them to fail, academically. And because they were expected to fall back on their game.

Another statistic which explains why Carter intervened the way he did: A staggering percentage of students who attended Richmond High end up killed on the streets or in prison.

Watching the Bay Hill game, brought tears to my eyes I could hardly breathe…… it was such a thing of beauty.

One of the other thing i loved about this movie was the song they played at the end…. Hope by Twista featuring Faith Evans.

….X’mas has come and gone… trip to Penang was a disaster.
I’d suspected that if im in close proximity with family for more than 2 days would be detrimental… after more than a few times of that happening… yea, so Im right.

Also have a new watch now. When my beloved big and chunky black Casio had its strap broken, I’d opportunistically stated to sis what I would like.
Imagine my surprise when on X’mas day I unwrapped my present to behold a shiny and glittery lady’s watch.

I almost screamed wit frustration (having been in the pressure boiler all that time did not help-lar).

Jabbing my Casio and the lady watch at my sis… i pointed out, ” Do they look anything the same??? Do i look like a poofter to you??? How do i wear this???”

Ive since exchanged the watch with my other sis.. a more casual looking watch with blue strap, but no night illumination or date or any sense of solidness that Id loved on my Casio.

At least Ive gotten rid of the fragile, silver and all too shiny trinket. BRRRRRRRRR….

Saw Steam boy today… quite a superb show…….
ended up at church …. quite not my plan to do so…so sat outside scribbling notes… but at same time overheard the visiting priests sermon… something along the lines of…

“Go forth!…Live life with passion!… share your lives with your fellow community members! You can enjoy life unto the fullest…as long as you listen to what God says!”

I can just imagine how many different interpretations can come from that last line alone.

Certain events today remind me of my age right now…… I think, ultimately … I am too old, too lazy maybe… and hv lived too long in this skin…to want to be somebody else. A case of stubborness and bad attitude too? Guess it comes with the age.

26th December, 2006

Few days ago, dadda had expressed a concern…
dadda: boo has way too many pressies again…
dadda: think we’re gonna have to stagger it…
cat: pre-xmas, xmas and post x’mas pressies?
dadda: yea, i reckon so
dadda: else she wont appreciate them

Wat a sensible dadda.

Earlier today…
cat: what’s her fave toy?
dadda: god she has too many…
dadda: but she was soo good
cat: oh really?
dadda: she unwrapped each one then played with it then open the next..etc

Dadda reckons also her fave is really the baby. She has her own baby now…with its own potty and all..

GOD WHAT A SIGHT THAT MUST BE!!!!

…stuffed to d gills in geekiness….

We were just lounging in my eldest bro’s newly renovated living room when he suddenly says… there are lots of dvds there…..vwanna watch cartoons???

Yea… he’s big on anime…. everyone in my family seems to be… basil will get extended dvds frm amazon, whereas bon loves all korean serials… the type of cartoons my eldest anne will watch are the ones she has to know about, having two young kids.

So we watched….’Howl’s moving castle’…and of coz I remember the soundtrack that was also used in a certain korean horror movie. Definitely distinctive………..funny to hear it this time in its true setting…as a fantasy anime track.

What’s next for Tomorrow?
Steam Boy, maybe.

…been seated here the whole day….wireless with work on the lappy while watching TV.
It would be good To get more than a few things started…Jan will be busy month. Am glad that I have a few resources that I could dig out, dust off…but they still definitely need more tweaking, and more than a little fine-tuning.

Foresee a blackout for the next few days. Kinda of worried about inertia setting in. We set off to Penang early tomorrow and a few days hiatus is never good for me.

Do have the Dopod with me but left the charger in the office, misplaced charger for the BB too, so wont be able to edit/add/scribble any ideas.

I HAVENT PACKED YET!!!

What I did pack at last……..

DECEMBER 24th, 2006

Arrived in Penang at last…. got lost for a bit looking for loo and food… eventually settled into a small KFC outlet then struck out again to wander aimlessly around the small backroads of Penang.
Its in our blood i think. My dad loves to go on the path least taken (usually to the displeasure of me mom). My bro loves to speed unimpeded on the highways and myself… i will do what it takes to go where i have to go (usually by cab lar).

Now at Gurney Hotel…. the last time we were here, we just missed the tsunami because we had gone out to lunch, and got back wondering why the roads were wet.

An alternative to my current communication modes was the charge the BB via the laptop. It would be nice to get some work done.

Am here courtesy of the free broadband. Kudos, Gurney Hotel.

….with the limited resources and time… which do i sacrifice? Which do i get hissy anal about? Not that I dont want to have both, but………resources are limited. Not that one is less important than the other… just not to the exclusion of all else.

So…………………

Grammar or Fact?

Grammar or fact, grammar or fact, apostrophes or fact, plurals or facts, singulars or fact, verbs or fact, nouns or fact, adjectives or fact, meaning or fact, word arrangement or fact, understanding or fact, comprehension or fact….grammar or fact?

Get my drift?

See? Isnt that enough?

Fact rules. Cos there’s just too much bullshit in the world.

cat: pssst…. hey…..
*He looks at me*
cat: come over here…..*gesturing at computer monitor*…. look at this….
*He walks over. He sees. He makes a detour without missing a beat. He walks away. He also mumbles…“I oredi sick, dont make me sicker.”

Baby cuteness overload? Maybe. Maybe not. She’s already two for goodness’ sake!
The other day was having convo with dadda
me: Her eyes are so big. Do you think they’ll get smaller?
dadda: I hope so
me: Why?
dadda: She catches too damn much attention…..

Boo also waves, gives cute smiles, says helloooooo in posh voice, will wipe her own nose, can eat with a fork and can count till 20 in public place without any prompting.

I want my baby back!!!!!!!!!!!

…i think lack of sleep did not help.Had an eventful night…not helped much by redbull, sambucas and tequilas… met an awfully nice bunch of folks who kept cracking me up with their antics… I had no idea Austrians were so funny.

All at same time, friend did it again. Clash of opinions, clash of tempers, clash of different needs and wants.

What she wants for me, ISNT what I want for me. She has absolutely no idea (or maybe she does) how difficult it is for things and people and situations to move and be EXACTLY the way that i want it. Exactly the way that will suit me. Not her. ME. The situation and way people are is so rare and so extremely hard to come by that I nearly doubled over when she took it off of my hands.
As much as I love her, needless to say i was pissed off. I could tear my hair out.

The unexpected situation that arose last night…didnt help as well….I wasnt ready! Shellshocked as well…. As much as I was pleased about it even though not for the reasons that I would like, I wasnt ready!!! In a few months maybe…. but the day after was too much for my system.

It’s all out of my hands, now.

Deadlines coming soon. Hallelujah.

Azza says:
i got a freakenomics hypothesis on why 3G take up rate is bad in ASEAN… BAD PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Azza says:
singapore is an exception though because of the size

Azza says:
korea and Japan public transport not bad right.. 3G users are high there right.. workers usually take long train rides into the city to work and back home.. so they got time to use these 3G
MY and TH… public transport so bad better to own a car..
so when they drive, how to use 3G?

Azza says:
singapore execption because the journey from home to office is shorter than that of japan and Korea, doesn’t make sense to go online

cat says:
i can almost believe that.

Actually I do.

Malaysia doesnt have the culture for mobile 3G/Internet. I might say there’s still downloading (music/movies) as opposed to streaming where you dont have to look at screen, but maybe Msians are still iffy about payment mechanics… plus if majority of downloading market are youths (as one telco CEO suggests) majority of youths are pre-paid users - are there payment methods for music/movies downloads which will cater to this segment? And by music downloads, I dont mean short ringtones.

On the subject of mobile data usage, SMS texting isnt the same, and there’s hope Personal IM will be interoperable next year, as the 3GSMA announced.

3G in home broadband space? So far, so good. We’ll see how it goes if WiMAX takes off.

… what can i say… its one of the things to look forward to these days.

Being pampered lately too. This morning had gone for a bit of spa treatment courtesy of a vendor…. much as Id love to just doze off to la la land, one hour was hardly enough. The masseur stretching my feet and toes did not help too…. just to dang ticklish there… and went into bouts of giggle snorts quite a few times.

After that spent another hour relaxing in company of execs while waiting for colleague to finish her turn.

Symantec + Juniper versus Nokia? May find out more one day.

Drink bud is almost in chaos at home, i reckon. I know she is packing and re-packing trying to fit everything and gifts for the family while all at same time not exceed the baggage limit too much.

Till she gets back on 5th January next year, I will be mostly left to my own devices.

On the other hand, will be going to Penang for Xmas dinner after all…it may take a weekend and i am not sure if that is good or not. Old uni mates have welcomed visits, but i honestly dont know if im up to it.

Would i be stressing over half-digested stories and half completed articles?