31.10.06

Perseverance is incapacitating

The longer the wait, the bigger the prize.
The bigger the bait, the longer the lies.

I think I'll go home now.

30.10.06

Trivia of Life

The holiday’s over, and I’m back on my desk again. It didn’t go quite as I planned, the holiday, as I missed sleep almost every night. Highlights on a sunny side: Rooney scored a hat-trick (what’s that? Rooney can’t score? Ah, you mean Roonaldo? Yes yes, poor fella); a movie about a stoned, bad-tempered hitman going berserk (Oy!); a book on people (talking about trivia of life!); a blind date with a late karaoke session; a reunion with a bunch of old friends; endless hours of WE, from dusk till dawn; and restless sleeps battered by mosquitoes and weird dreams.

One thing about a holiday, you think of nothing and everything at the same time. My little sister’s wedding's coming up, and I’m very happy for her. What’s with all the jokes and banters about me being left behind? I wasn’t aware that we were in a race. Everything’s beautiful on its own time.

On a grimmer tone, a friend of mine died the other day. No premonitions, no warnings, only goodbyes. It was no more than two weeks ago that I played pool with him. It was a small gathering of friends, a send-off to bid farewell and good luck as he was being assigned to another city. Little we knew the real meaning of the farewell. Actually, I didn’t feel like coming as I was worn out from work and was already on my way home. But some friends insisted that I should come and drop by to meet him.

So I came and met him. We played some pool, and I teasingly asked him about marriage, and he laughed. He said, “Whoever gets to score first will let the other know, ok?” I said ok, we shook hands, hugged, promised to stay in touch, and I took my leave.

Two weeks later, I got the news about his demise. I wanted to cry, couldn’t. I wanted to ask why, didn’t want to. Death is unforgiving and nonnegotiable. Life is frail and trivial. But it is the trivia of life that makes the ride worthwhile. So, I said a quiet prayer for him and wished him everything good that he overlooked in this life. I will miss him. He was a friend, a smoking buddy, and a good person. After all, only the good die young.

Time marches on.

20.10.06

Happy Eid El Fitr!

Last office day before the long holiday of Lebaran! Have a joyous Eid El Fitr, guys..
I am planning to hibernate myself throughout the week..

19.10.06

Champions League Updates

Highlights from the Champions League Matchday 3:

Chelsea 1 - 0 Barcelona (sh*t happens)
Sporting 0 - 1 Bayern (Ollie's still one of the best goalies around, despite what Lehmann thinks)
Bordeaux 0 - 1 Liverpool (the RoboCrouch did it again!)
Steaua 1 - 4 Real Madrid (the only silver lining was that Ruudje became the third player to score 50 goals in the European Champion Clubs' Cup)
Man United 3 - 0 København (Scholes, O'Shea, and Richardson. Go for the title!)
CSKA Moskva 1 - 0 Arsenal (M. Henry, vous avez vraiment besoin de trouver une nouvelle équipe)


17.10.06

The Departed

Time : Tuesday, 17 October 2006 16.30
Venue : Corner of the office, behind piles of papers
Ambiance : A lazy, quiet, and dull afternoon

Pff, so it's 4.30 PM, and I'm the only soul here. Besides the janitor, of course. Office life has been sluggish these days.

So yesterday I went to see "The Departed" with a bunch of friends. As usual, I already had with me a scoop of what the critics had to say about the movie. Some quotes: "Scorsese won't be winning any Oscars for this movie, as it's too hard, too pulpy, and too good. A relentlessly violent, breathtakingly assured piece of mean-streets filmmaking, the film shows the legendary director dropping the bids for industry respectability that have preoccupied him over the past decade and doing what he does best: burrow to the agonized heart of criminality and let the blood and guilt splatter where they may."

Well, at least the critics gave you a fair warning. It was a movie with incessant scenes of heads got blown away here and there. Not a novelty from a Scorsese's, of course. But I was a little irritated with his head fetish, indeed when Wahlberg blew Damon's sorry brain off, I bellowed at the screen: Hey, give us something fresh and shoot the guy in the chest!

I heard that "The Departed" is actually a remake from the Hongkongese "Infernal Affairs". It's not a bad remake, but I hope that this does not signify that Hollywood is running out of original ideas, or worse, losing talents to make them better.

Don't Damn Me

Don't damn me
When I speak a piece of my mind
'Cause silence isn't golden
When I'm holding it inside
'Cause I've been where I have been
An I've seen what I have seen
I put the pen to the paper
'Cause it's all a part of me

Be it a song or casual conversation
To hold my tongue speaks
Of quiet reservations
Your words once heard
They can place you in a faction
My words may disturb
But at least there's a reaction

Sometimes I wanna kill
Sometimes I wanna die
Sometimes I wanna destroy
Sometimes I wanna cry
Sometimes I could get even
Sometimes I could give up
Sometimes I could give
Sometimes I never give a f*ck

It's only for a while
I hope you understand
I never wanted this to happen
Didn't want to be a man
So I hid inside my world
I took what I could find
I cried when I was lonely
I fell down when I was blind

How can I ever satisfy you
An how can I ever make you see
That deep inside we're all somebody
An it don't matter who you wanna be
But now I gotta smile I hope you comprehend
For this man can say it happened
'Cause this child has been condemned
So I stepped into your world
I kicked you in the mind
An I'm the only witness
To the nature of my crime

But look at what we've done
To the innocent and young
Whoa listen to who's talking
'Cause we're not the only ones
The trash collected by the eyes
And dumped into the brain
Said it tears into our conscious thoughts
You tell me who's to blame

I know you don't wanna hear me cryin'
An I know you don't wanna hear me deny
That your satisfaction lies in your illusion
But your delusions are yours and not mine
We take for granted we know the whole story
We judge a book by its cover
And read what we want
Between selected lines

Don't hail me
An don't idolize the ink
Or I've failed in my attentions
Can you find the missing link
Your only validation is living your own life
Vicarious existence is a f*cking waste of time
So I send this song to the offended
I said what I meant and I've never pretended
As so many others do intending just to please
If I damned your point of view
Could you turn the other cheek

(Slash / Lank / Rose)