16 December 2007 12:00 p.m. i had the privilege of listening to a mini-lecture on tea yesterday. i think Mr. Akira Hojo of Hojo Tea saw his chance to deliver it when my mother and i didn't immediately flee to Robinsons after downing a sample of cold-brewed green tea, which is, of course, tea brewed with cold water. this is great as i like tea, but don't like burning my mouth on it because i'm too impatient to wait for it to cool down a little. the cosy outlet at The Gardens has cleverly arranged its merchandise on three shelves. the most affordable products are displayed on the lowest shelf, and the most expensive cast-iron collectors' tea sets are set high above the reach of inquisitve toddlers. not that i've seen a toddler actually walking on its own lately; they all seem to be buckled in to their walkers, soundly asleep and drooling on their designer gear. i am not being bitter. as Mr. Hojo expounded on the handmade and semi-handmade teapots and my mother asked some questions, it occurred to me that the conversational parrying going on might be what is commonly termed "flirting". people might also call it "making conversation" but i might be reading too much in to it. it's hard to feel zen when your house smells like wood smoke. bro19 spent nearly 12 hours (the time increases each time i tell it) playing computer games and now he's a squinty, bloodshot-eyed grunting monster. Dorothy Parker would have been an interesting person to know, but i probably would keep my distance from her. she seems to be the type of person who would stay with you and suggest a stiff drink when you want to fling yourself to the floor in screaming misery. what do i know, she's dead, having died peacefully of old age, and in contrast to her portentuous poems of topping herself. this is what i read when i avoid writing. i watched a behind the scenes thing for the movie Stardust and saw Mr. Neil Gaiman with his audio on (haha). he had a voice like sticky date pudding a la Alan Rickman. this is a good thing, as i have an affection for the sweet, thanks to the neighbourhood steak place that declares "now everyone can eat!". the more you write, the more you find there is to write. the same holds true for cross-referencing. i hope i'm the first person to have thought of this, or at least written it down. i am also happy to have come up with the phrase "this is food that should be eaten in slow motion". unfortunately, the stuffed mushrooms at Italiannies disappointed the second time Enfant Terrible and i had them, although their pizzas are great at evoking contentment. there was an email in my varsity inbox barring all University Malaya students and staff from attending or even watching the election reforms coalition's march/rally/demonstration that will take place today as "it is an illegal gathering". i assume that means we can attend if it was legal (doh). who's going to catch out those who do attend anyway? what's stopping inciters and disturbers (?) of peace from claiming to be from another varsity? can't people just take a stroll in KL anymore? and now, a picture, because i like neon -
you don't have to say it
life is different in books
the merits of a cathode ray tube
staying at home for too long
what is that smell?
... oh
it is i!
disparate
i thought that "moisturiser/lotion" were ubiquitous items, and their definition more than obvious, until i met the po-faced imbeciles who staff Watson's at The Curve. i sneer at the concept of upscale retail. it's probably just me.
does the space doctor get to keep his spacesuit, or will he have to donate it to a "space science" museum?
you know you need to lay off watching food programs when you make eggs in a basket and narrate the process to yourself, admiringly extolling the virtues of the "beautiful" golden yolk and the "gohr-geous" browned bread, "lovingly" slathered with garlic butter that "doesn't take any time at all to make" (of course not, you just open the fridge and there it is).
everyone's watched V for Vendetta, right? i must one of the last people to try making it. it's sort of an open-faced egg sandwich, you know, but i felt really clever cutting out the center from the slice of bread. no, no picture, ate too fast :D
20 October 2007 8:08 p.m.adieu
france had the prettiest hair in the rugby world cup. now it's up to south africa to carry that torch. you go, Mr. Percy Montgomery.
reevaluation
you do not smell like sewer; sewer smell like you.
i'm just saying. if you like that sort of thing, i've added some pictures to the film section. is a Flickr account really all that? adding notes sounds like fun, but i might as well blog it eh.
trainspotter's delight - i watched the universally panned Bats last night and i have to ask if the following scenes were intentional:
1. when the bats were attacking the town, the movie screening at the cinema was Nosferatu, and,
2. when discussing tactics, Lou Diamond Phillips says, "how do we kill 'em... poison?" before taking a juicy bite from a bright red, luscious looking apple.
i may be reading too much in to it. after all, the movie wasn't as ridiculous as i expected, e.g. no baseless snogging (everything was so platonic and sensible!!!), no gratuitious loss of clothes, no broad character caricatures (hurray for the brave but foolish bloke from the CDC).
in fact, the only villain was the scientist who "created" the bats, and most movies have to have a villain, so i can overlook the fact that he was portrayed as a "muahahahah, my children are perfect, they will destroy you all!" and is then predictably destroyed by said children (not a spoiler).
just what is it with "scientists" who create such infamous catastrophes anyway? are there really people who feel so disillusioned and embittered by their lack of or failure to coexist happily with other, less smart people? it's a pretty sad way to perpetuate yourself, as compared to more conventional methods if you ask me, as compared to hindu myths about the creation of the world and all its denizens as we know it by Prajapati and his daughter (and not by making scale models either), and some dude called Agni, who may or may not have been created before Brahma the creator and Rudra the force of malevolence and wildness, who was himself created by the gods to punish Prajapati for his transgressions... and now i have some neurons to untangle. thanks a lot, Enfant Terrible.
i didn't think that Bats was very bad, maybe because i need to watch more movies, maybe because the groan-inducing, pseudo-scientific lines were quickly dispensed with in the the earlier stages in order to make room for the cries of "oh my god!!!" and "we gotta kill these goddamned bats!!!"
still, only n00bs say, "i'm a zoological biologist specialising in the family Chiroptera." more succint individuals would rasp, "i'm Batman," and be done with it.
03 October 2007 3:15 p.m.wavy gravy
Jaroslaw Kukowski has disturbed bro24's delicate mental balance (see thumbnail example below). do surrealist painters ever consider themselves as such? did Dali ever introduce himself with, "call me me Sal. i'm a surrealist!"
no, of course not, they're artists. do artists even call themselves "artists"?
does the image disturb you? it reminds me of Mirrormask, while others feel differently. it can't beat this picture for intensity, though, but it takes some doing to top Christian Bale.
... "top Christian Bale". heheh.27 September 2007 9:16 a.m.
awakening
something i thought was indisputable truth about me has been uncovered as a sad little delusion. my wee bubble of ignorance was burst when i wanted a new pair of running shoes. i met Henry the sales assistant and his ruler of Grim Reality.
when you go to New Balance, they ensure the shoes you get are ideal for your size, foot type and the distance you want to cover. i thought my feet were size 8 (stop laughing in the back!) but Henry's ruler (er...) marked them off at 8.5.
(i've just measured my feet with a ruler and they're nearly 10 inches long!)
Henry disappeared in to the store room and i resigned myself to the fact that i wouldn't be getting the shimmery pink pair of 755's. "6 is the biggest for this one," he'd said. on the bright side, there was a chance that i'd get a shimmery blue pair instead.
"okay, try and see," Henry said. i squeezed my foot in to the shoe he brought out. "wah, your feet very wide ah!"
the size 8.5 shoe was also too short for me. this is crucial in order to avoid feet injuries, but it may also be a method of crushing the self esteem of flat-chested, big-footed hobbit girls. cue Henry rooting through the store room for another shoe.
"you try size 9 and see. this is the widest one."
"really?" i muttered. "i always thought my feet were pretty narrow."
"this is the biggest size for this shoe oredi. if you want bigger you have to try the men's shoe (sic)."
moi?? the men's shoe are UGLY kthxbai.
if i was Cinderella, forget the glass slippers - i'd have punch bowls on my feet.
as it is, the size 9, D-width shimmery blue 755 New Balance are mine. and they're very pretty. they're pretty enough to make me want to wear them more often, which in turn induces me to reason, "i already have them on, i might as well go for a run!"
this gives me the confidence to go to the petrol station in toothpaste-stained pajamas. yes, it was 7 a.m., but it's a start.
