The continuation..

" So defend yourself, you back-stabbing, cheating, money-hungry animal", Mephistopheles bellowed.
" I rest my case", replied Mr. Onuyama calmly.
"What?!! What are you talking about?!! You havn't even said anything!"
"Well, I just did. I said 'I rest my case'"
"But.. but that doesn't make any sense! Defend yourself against the charges!" yelled the furious devil.
Mr Onuyama walked out of the underworld with his arms crossed defiantly. He looked confident enough. He had a right to be. His meteoric rise to fame and fortune were unprecedented. Never before was there a more acclaimed assessment book writer in history. Not that much of history had assessment book writers. But this writer had re-written the storyline of history. And possibly even the future. He had sold the devil the second worst book ever written besides "The Hassle-Free Divorce Proceeding".
Mephistopheles stared blankly at his array of newly printed "Finding love in Algebra: a loving guidebook to elementary mathematics". All 777 million of them.
----

He felt like a defeated protagonist in one of Jeffery Archer’s loosely written fiction. Or is he the antagonist? Oh, what does it matter now? He’d make an easy character for any genre- the stupid kind too. But it doesn’t seem fair at all, to always be given the losing role. What irony it is, when being the voice of the most eloquent doomsayer, brainwave of the conniver; the slightest discontentment of the soul and precipitator of Self’s downfall, when his ultimate goal in life is to set the trap right, it is for others to foil it and gain the glory. His most faithful subordinate, the ghost of regret, comes back to haunt him after doing his rounds.

“What made you think you could trick him, when you have failed in the past?”
“Oh, will you just shut up.”
“You are my maker. Perhaps you now regret creating me.”

Maybe he should just remain passive. Which seems to be the way his copies of “Finding love in Algebra: a loving guidebook to elementary mathematics” is going to be. But desperate times call for desperate measures. Mephistopheles got out his “New King James” version from behind the stacks of useless books. It’s no myth that the evil one knows the Word.

There. So it’s written.

The next day when Mr Onuyama went to the bank, he got news that his cheque had bounced. For in the same way that God owns the cattle of a thousand hills, the devil is quite poor indeed. And “He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.” -1 John 3: 8

And words are all i have, to cut your heart out.

Louise and I are writing a short essay using random words chosen from the dictionary. So she flipped the big book and got the words "rest" and "meteoric". I must now use these words to write a para or 2 and she will continue with the words i randomly chose: "trap" & "doomsayer".

" So defend yourself, you back-stabbing, cheating, money-hungry animal", Mephistopheles bellowed.
" I rest my case", replied Mr. Onuyama calmly.
"What?!! What are you talking about?!! You havn't even said anything!"
"Well, i did. I said 'I rest my case'"
"But.. but that doesn't make any sense! Defend yourself against the charges!" yelled the furious devil.
Mr Onuyama walked out of the underworld with his arms crossed defiantly. He looked confident enough. He had a right to be. His meteoric rise to fame and fortune were unprecedented. Never before was there a more acclaimed assessment book writer in history. Not that much of history had assesment book writers. But this writer had re-written the storyline of history. And possbly even the future. He had sold the devil the second worst book ever written besides "The Hassle-Free Divorce Proceeding".
Mephistopheles stared blankly at his array of newly printed "Finding love in Algebra: a loving guidebook to elementary mathematics". All 777 million of them.

Sorry, but you know that i can only write utter nonsense. All the best dear. Its always easier to start first. HEHEHE.

Point of Information

"Wouldnt it be nice if the world was cadbury" -- No, it wouldn't. Everything will be all gooey and sticky and no one would be able to walk properly to get to anywhere. Anything you touch will melt and stick to every single part of your body. Anyone that remotely likes chocolate will get really sick of it and there wouldn't be any water to drink because all there will be are chocolate fountains. So everyone is dying of the most horrible drying thirst. If people do survive the short term, everyone has diabetes and can only eat more chocolate that will only make the disease worse and increase the suffering. Bleah. What a terrible existence. Wouldn't it be nice if the world were Brussel sprouts!

Just tried Kit Kat's caramel fudge temptations and i must say it still doesn't change my opinion that all these "chocolate hybrids" are just never as good as the original.

Not for the faint hearted

Hey peeps,
To those i promised about the post on female mediocrity. http://thegreatsze.blogspot.com/2007/04/on-female-mediocrity.html
Some excerpts i will paste here. But i think the whole long thing is really worth a read cos quotes always take the writer out of context. In some sense i have always held these kind of views. I said kind of, but not endorse entirely what the writer says. So, pls clarify with me b4 you slag me. Maybe cos we both from Chinese High. MCPs we all are. AHAHA. But read it with an open mind and tell me what you think. The rest of his posts are not really too light-hearted as well if you wondering.

"This is not an exercise in misogyny. Rather, it is a general diatribe against modern society. We - and by this, I mean both men and women - have unconsciously conspired to allow mediocre women to stagnate happily in their mediocrity. I do believe that we are all born mediocre, save for the talented, God-gifted few. All is hard work. Society exerts a positive pressure on men to get good at things, to "deal with it", to yaru (to do with a view to improving). Conversely, however, there is no such expectation on the female in society; the damsel in distress is a stereotype precisely because art imitates life. The woman, the lady, the princess, she is admired for little that she does; she only has to suru (to do, period).

This is not just the fault of the female, though it is arguable that she has let herself down by falling so comfortably into the unchallenging role that society has carved out for her. It is the fault of us all; we prize female beauty to such an extent that all else that she does has no real effect on our judgment of her. It is of course our loss; when an entire gender expects little from its collective self, it is the entire species that suffers."
..."A friend pointed out, during our discussion on this topic, that men and women just perform different roles. Men fix the inanimate (arimasu - non-living things), while women nurture the animated (imasu - living things). But increasingly women have to fulfill neither role. Women are fully entitled to have careers now, in modern society; no one will begrudge a woman who chooses not to have kids. Men, on the other hand, have it thrust upon them to communicate well, to get in touch with their feelings, and yet at the same time fix everything that is mildly technological, to be strong, a bulwark, a pillar of support for the entire family unit. It is no surprise that most men fail in this demanding role.

It is not enough to just say that "Oh, girls are no good with the technical stuff", and "We girls are good at some things, you boys are good at others." What are you good at? Really. What is your demonstration of value? My father, not my mother, used to sew my name into my handkerchiefs when I was a boy. I can cook, poorly, but it is edible and it satisfies me. But what are these mediocre girls good at? And would they do what they are good at on a regular basis, without grumbling? And voluntarily? If I ask a girl to cook for me, will she? If I fix her computer for her, will she bring me a nice steaming bowl of lasagna to me? Or will I simply be laughed away at just having that expectation?"

TAG TEAM IS ONLY FOR WRESTLERS!

Part 1: on the outside
name : Abel
date of birth : The day the world mourned
current status : healthy but irritated
eye color : The eye consists of many colours, pls make your question less ambiguous
hair color : pink with orange swirls
right of left handed : You think you were born right?
zodiac : The king of the beasts is the crab

Part 2: on the inside
my heritage : long
my fear : fear itself
my weakness : shoulders
my perfect pizza : a cheap one

Part 3: yesterday, today & tomorrow
your first thought waking up : why do i have to?
tomorrow : is the 21st of April
your bedtime : is none of anyones business
most missed memory : How can a memory be missed? Its called nostalgic moment or most relived memory. Who came up with this questionnaire anyway, a Martian? Trying to probe us human beings eh??!?!

Part 4: your pick
pepsi or coke : soya bean
mcD or burger king : Burger King, cos Macs makes me lethargic for a day
adidas or nike : Adidas cos i buy soccer boots. And nike's ones just look flashy but is mainly SQWADOOSH!
lipton tea or nestea : teh ping
chocolate or vanila : A dsylexik Martion are we now?
cappuccino or coffee : Cappuccino is classified under coffee DUH!?!?!?

Part 5: do you..
smoke : Smoke out!!
curse : Doing it right now at this utter waste of my time questions.

Part 6: in the past month -- HELLO? LAZY DYSLEXIC MARTIAN! wheres the "have you"?
drank alcohol : Not in its pure form
gone to the mall? : Mall flanders
been on stage : Life is just a stage
eaten sushi : sushi belushi

Part 7: what were you doing
1 minute ago : writing "sushi belushi" DUH!!!!
1 hour ago : doing something more useful with my life
4 1/2 hours ago : doing something more useful with my life
1 month ago : doing something more useful with my life
1 year ago : Having a useful life

Part 8: finish the sentence
i love : finishing this sentence
i feel : feelings
i hate : this
i hide : under The Lord's wings
i miss : Louise
i need : to stop doing this crap

Part 9: Tag 5 people!
1. C.S Lewis
2. David Beckham
3. Rocky the Alsatian Dog
4. My Fairy Godmother
5. Stewie from the Family Guy

Just so you know..

I thought we should maybe try clearing up a few misconceptions we have about what jobs entail.
Most people know what teachers or bus drivers do, but sometimes they have terrible misconceptions about other professions.
For instance, civil engineers dont just build bridges. And their counterparts the chemical engineers dont all design bombs.
Thus i stress! And i am getting rather irritated by this. Not because of people's ignorance but how they can abandon thinking for moments and blurt out this common phrase.
" Oh.. you studying psychology ah? You can read peoples' minds right? Dont read my mind ah!" Do you really think this is likely? If psychologists could read minds wouldnt the world be a really unsafe place? WE are NOT FORTUNE TELLERS!! The only future we can tell is that someone else is going to come and tell us we read minds.

In addition, my gf is a social worker. She gets paid to be one. They do not clean people's backsides as part of the job. Do people actually think this is likely too? Dont any of you have grandparents?

Everyone knows not all lawyers are those that prosecute incredibly interesting criminals ala LAW & ORDER. Next time if you encounter people like these, ask them to ask. "What does that entail?/ Can you please elaborate?" People in professions that are a bit rarer really dont mind shedding some light. Its better than beating around the bush about telepathy.

"Huh? You studying Geography ah? You like rocks so much ah?"

One day

One day when i feel tired and weary of life, feeling hopelessley bored. One day when i cannot remember why i love my wife or why i am working so hard. When i find the kids a chore and the bills are a pain. Remind me. Remind me of this post on Sat 14 April 07. It isn't about me. It's about God.
10% of life is circumstances, 90% of life is how we respond. Life is a struggle that i want to live with discipline and sacrifice. The grass always seems greener on the other side. Good quote. Let me add something. The grass always seems greener on the other side. But when you get there, you realise that the grass on the other side was where you were at in the first place.
One day when i am depressed, down and out, just remind me of this day. And this question. "Why wasn't God pleased with Cain's sacrifice?" Its not stated explicitly in Genesis. But i will know what you mean. And i will understand.

'At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: "Naked i came from my mother's womb, and naked will i depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised."' Job 1:20-21.

Whiny the Pooh Voice.

Was having a discussion with my gf the other night on why in the world is Winnie the Pooh called Pooh? As every inquisitive mind of the 21st century knows, you just have to wikipaedia it. To our astonishment, Winnie is not even the bear's name. Its Edward. I sincerely hope you didnt know that.
Also, why he (I took a long time to reconcile with this fact when i was young) is called "Pooh" is actually revealed in the first ever book of the Bear's appearance, which was in 1926.
The history goes "Milne named the character Winnie-the-Pooh after a toy bear owned by his son, Christopher Robin Milne, who was the basis for the character Christopher Robin...Christopher Milne had named his toy after Winnipeg, a bear which he and his father often saw at London Zoo, and "Pooh," a swan they had met while on holiday. The bear, called "Winnie," was known as a gentle bear who never attacked anyone, and she was much loved for her playfulness. This is exactly what inspired Milne to write about Pooh Bear. Pooh the swan appears as a character in its own right in When We Were Very Young.

In the first chapter of Winnie-the-Pooh, Milne offers this explanation of why Winnie-the-Pooh is often called simply 'Pooh' : "But his arms were so stiff ... they stayed up straight in the air for more than a week, and whenever a fly came and settled on his nose he had to blow it off. And I think - but I am not sure - that that is why he is always called Pooh."

Are you confused already? Before that they claim the bear is called Edward 'Winnie-the-Pooh' Bear. I guess they just had too many favourite names and decided to lump it all into one character. Never really understood why all the characters in the show were so dysfunctional but also un-interesting. Although i know tonnes of girls liked them. I bet you might not also know this -- "Pooh's obsession with honey is based on a completely false premise about bear behavior. While bears are major predators of beehives, they are seeking the brood (larva and pupa). "

Whats Cold and Spiky?

After you cut your hair you can feel 2 kinds of cool-ness.
1. The good looking, confident kind of cool
2. The no hair, i look like a hedgehog kind of cool

Read this very critical paragraph in a book comparing the theories of C.S Lewis and Freud.
"When a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse, he understands his own badness less and less. A moderately bad man knows he is not very good; a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right... Good people know both about good and evil: bad people do not know about either" (C.S Lewis). Lewis says that the more we struggle with our bad impulses, the better we know them. The more we give in to them, the less we understand them. He writes, "Virtue -- even attempted virtue-- brings light, indulgence brings fog". "

After another 3 years my favourite artiste finally has another album. This is usually their norm. During the waiting period, fans like me forget what music is really about. =)We also spend the years trying to figure out what in the world their lyrics mean. Unfortunately, i couldnt find it in the city today. Knowing that Perth is so isolated i think i can wait till i get back to Singapore to buy it. HAHA. http://www.cakemusic.com/ "To me, coming from you; friend is a four-letter word, 'n' is the only part of the word that i heard".

Resurrect the former post

Anyway, for you who are still curious to the T/F questions about myself. Here are the answers. 1-10 are all False and 11-20 are all True. If you disagree, just remember that God loves you. I dont claim to know myself all that well. =).
Q1. My favourite chess player is Vladimir Kramnik. (Wrong- its Morozevich)
Q2. I never owned a dog but would like one.( I owned a dog once)
Q3. My favourite colour is blue. (No fav colour, wearing a lot of jeans doesnt count)
Q4. My favourite animal is the meerkat.(Its the cow)
Q5. When i was young,I was deciding between supporting Spurs or Everton.(It was Spurs or Liverpool; and yes i have heard all the wisecracks about this)
Q6. I own 4 Spurs replica jerseys.(Its only 3)
Q7. I sometimes read the dictionary.(No, i dont, i read the thesaurus, its more interesting)
Q8. My favourite music artiste is Rob Thomas.(Its Cake, female artiste is Aimee Mann)
Q9. I have 2 broken toes due to soccer.(its 3)
Q10. I prefer the cold to the heat. (No real preference, but heat is sometimes enjoyed more)
Q11. My favourite soccer player used to be Stephen Carr. (Yes, he used to play for Spurs)
Q12. My favourite chess set was bought by my gf.(The magnetic one on my table)
Q13. My gf can run a better long distance timing than me.(Sadly, i lose)
Q14. My brother is beginning to support Spurs.(OH YEAH!!Now i have someone to be sad with me)
Q15. I used to travel from Bukit Timah to Yishun just to play soccer.(My friends stayed there)
Q16. I dislike mechanical pencils. (Wood ones anyday)
Q17. I like digestive biscuits.(Yumz. esp with yoghurt)
Q18. My favourite author is Paul Auster.(Read him if you like modern fiction)
Q19. I owned the whole series of the comic strip Citizen Dog.(Super funny! I own a lot of Far Side too)
Q20. I dislocated one of my shoulders from swimming. (Ouch the right one, the left side from BMT low wall)

BullaBunga

Now that script writers have run out of ideas, it appears that some people are taking another stab at making a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. The last one was rather bad i must sadly admit. It was really long ago though and i have thankfully erased the dark sewer shots from my memory. Yes, terribly dark and the turtles looked cumbersome. The new one though is an animated graphics one with no real actors bouncing around in hard shells.
Just wondering if anyone can still remember the tune? I guess the cartoon was so ingrained in me that i still remember quite clearly. I usually cant hold any sort of tune but somehow cartoon tunes stick ya? Most of my generation remembers the tunes of the cartoons Captain Planet and Gummy Bears, just that few admit it.

Back to Turtle POWER!! So you remember the Rat's name?
Splinter! ok that wasnt too hard.. How about the brain in the machine bad guy?

Oh so you did know its Crank... Then how about the rhino and boar bad guys that are really stupid henchmen?

Wow.. you sure you dont own all the toys? You actually knew they are called BeeBop and Rocksteady?

Ok then.. who is the producer of TMNT? MUAHAHAHA... sad to say i really do know the answer.. He happens to be Fred Wolf.

I guess when we were young we really could remember all this useless stuff. But we thought we were cool. Except Raphael's weapon. We primary school kids never undestood what was up with that.

Abel has strange humour

I know close to 15 million other ppl have already watched this video, but i just saw it and it really cracked me up man! hahaha. Pls indulge me if you have already seen it, i dont really bother watching videos on youtube.

STOP HAVING THESE!! ITS TOO HARD

As a conformist, i shall have a T/F guess things about me lame post. Everyones is really hard and i shall be kind and make mine easy. Dont you dare say you are my friend if you fail ok!?!?! MUAHAHAHAH. STRESSED OUT ARE YOU!!?!??!

Q1. My favourite chess player is Vladimir Kramnik.
Q2. I never owned a dog but would like one.
Q3. My favourite colour is blue.
Q4. My favourite animal is the meerkat.
Q5. When i was young,I was deciding between supporting Spurs or Everton.
Q6. I own 4 Spurs replica jerseys.
Q7. I sometimes read the dictionary.
Q8. My favourite music artiste is Rob Thomas.
Q9. I have 2 broken toes due to soccer.
Q10. I prefer the cold to the heat.
Q11. My favourite soccer player used to be Stephen Carr.
Q12. My favourite chess set was bought by my gf.
Q13. My gf can run a better long distance timing than me.
Q14. My brother is beginning to support Spurs.
Q15. I used to travel from Bukit Timah to Yishun just to play soccer.
Q16. I dislike mechanical pencils.
Q17. I like digestive biscuits.
Q18. My favourite author is Paul Auster.
Q19. I owned the whole series of the comic strip Citizen Dog.
Q20. I dislocated one of my shoulders from swimming.

Answers will be out on easter sunday! And i think Louise shouldnt answer first. K dear? I think you sure pass with flying colours la. HAHA. For the rest.. lets see who is really my friend ah.. HAHAHAHAHA.

Hello Mate!

I have recently caught wind of news that Singapore's Minister Mentor (MM) Mr Lee Kuan Yew is arriving in Perth. Apparently he wants to find out why Singaporeans are deciding to migrate to Australia. He might also be giving a few speeches i guess.
Actually i think migration is on the rise because its just more possible now. People have become increasingly exposed to other parts of the world and other ways of living. I mean immigrants coming to Singapore are on the rise too right? Maybe there isnt any reason except for the fact that people see it more as a possibility and an acceptable course of action. This is in contrast to some search for an elusive reason of wanting to leave Singapore or stay in another place.
One thing is for certain though. Migrating to Perth from Singapore is certainly not for the curry puffs. This is an undeniable fact. The curry puffs in Broadway Shopping Centre, 5 mins walk away from the University of Western Australia cost a whopping A$1.70!!!! Talk about a rip off! And they do not even taste as nice as the S$1.00 ones found almost everywhere in Singapore.
So then, what are the other reasons that you need me to refute?