Who's having bad headache

I hate it when an introduction line comes at the last minute. Then I'll just start writing and can't seem to stop till I get that nice ending to complement that intro.

In the process I'll be hanging in front of the PC, getting headaches from staring at the monitor too long and my Princess-Leia-big earphones heats up real hot.

The bane of all writers - my news-writing workshop instructor even call it birth pangs. Yes, getting the introduction line all typed up is really hard to do.

I have to admit there are a number of assignments that are just so bland, so dead, so nothing that even me - the me who has been cheating my way into a career - just could not deliver.

Despite my unforgiveable personal low standard set on quality.

Despite my ego speaking out loud of plucking stories out of thin air.

Despite my hantam-sajalah mantra that has kept me going for eons.

But eventually everything gets written down - long or short, inspiring or demoralising - all comes to a full stop at the end.


Unless I terforgot to put the full stop and simply print then submit la. That one not really my fault one, tis only my kelemahan...

And suddenly I could not remember the lyrics of Lagu Tiga Kupang...

Back to work tips

If you have been on holiday for say a week or more, it'll be hard to leave that cozy pink bed and put on your working shoes. So here are some tips for a great start...

1] Pesan siang-siang to anyone of leisure to watch Drama Bersiri Latin: Belinda, Lo Que Callamos Las Mujeres or Drama Bersiri ASEAN: Malin Kundang for you - if not sesia je you kept on watching those damn soaps for the past five days!

2] Search all your jeans pockets for loose change - kumpul-kumpul banyak tu, can cover commuting fares and lunch money maa

3] Pick up the newspaper just a day before you come back for a chance to figure out esok sebona-bonae berapo haribulan...

4] Mentally, single out the stuff you wanna wear the next day (highly applicable if you have lots of ironing-free materials like I do)

5] Sleep in early or late (whichever gets you to wake up earlier the next morning) so that you have more time than usual to get ready for work at sloth pace - tis less shocking to the system, really

6] Buy a pack of M&Ms to bring back to the office - enjoy it with your colleagues as they feed you with the past week's official and unofficial recaps (your career might depend on this practice of feed-me-feed-you intelligence gathering)

7] Try to arrive a bit earlier than everyone else - enjoy the office at its (silent) best and get reacclimatized (totally optional tho, not applicable if you're still in sloth mode)

The langsing-phone

I quite like the simple, SGH-D520, one of the latest handphones from Samsung - just look at these nice photos I captured using the "slim fit slide up" model...


^ Action shot: Look at this lovely group, Bob, Battrisya the niece flanked by her auntie Helen and next is her uncle Fari...


^ Posed look: The three guys - Lan (now father to three boys) who used to dance asli steps to the latest rock kapak songs, Bob (now fruitarian) who used to be the new-age guy (still is huh) and Fari (now almost Australian PR-holder but shall always be first Malaysian) who used to have bigger hair than this... Sorry didn't frame this nice pix nicely, I was just getting used to the phone then...


^ And here's the phone with Bob on display - tengok muncung dia - he was saying "No! No!" - not to the baby, but to me over my saying that this shot will end up in my blog somehow...

FIFA World Cup™ Final: Closing ceremony

As the 2006 Cup chase ends, let us sing a song to commemorate this vonderful ending... Tak sesia team ni jadi favourite gue since '96 lagi...

Yeahhh, let's sing-sing-song to the tune of Geylang Si Paku Geylang! Geylang si paku geylang, geylang si rama-rama Pulang pergilah pulang, Perancis-lah pulang balik ke Paris... ah * Menang! Itali dah menang! Itali-pun pulang bersama trofi...ek ah!

CAUTION: Repeat * as many times as you like, but blogger cannot be held responsible should you choose to sing loudly in front of:
1] German, Brazil and England supporters
2] sports desk reporters/journalists who earlier predicted that Italians will go back "to clean their scandal-ridden game" even before their clash with Germany took place
3] This particular telco's marketing people who came up with the so-de-very-tak-kena nationwide marketing campaign which tried to leverage on the World Cup hype but featured a number of people who weren't even playing in the FIFA World Cup™ Final instead - like my mate A says, they probably don't even know Giggs is Welsh!

note: Photo of skipper Cannavaro above belongs to http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

And I will let go a chance to date the whole of the Italian football team for a dinner date on a Caribbean beach with Johnny Depp - my crush since the days Freddie first claimed Elm Street his, my love since Faizal Hussein began dating Nasha Aziz...

Of course my love did not disappoint me - he asked me out for breakfast instead. So there I was yesterday morning, 10.30AM sharp, nowhere special just Midvalley's GSC, inside Hall 10, dark and cold the silver screen spewing out beer ads.

And then he arrived, with a gunshot from a watery grave, from the sea onto his resurrected Black Pearl. He is, as he always is, his lovely self.

Not clean - personal hygine is a trifle matter, he says.

However, always in swagger and style.

Not sober - though he wondered why the rum's always gone, when he could not stand straight on his sea-legs he remembered where it all went.

Though savvy and articulate still.

Not afraid - send in an old enemy, a selfish seductress, a betrayed friend even a terror from the deep sea; there's a plan somewhere up his sleeve.

But inevitably and unfortunately, cursed.

And so will you be the moment you walk out of the cinema - you'll be doomed to suffer another year of agonizing wait...

Be nice, tis wise

Oscar Wilde, the author who calls Beauty a form of genius, said this:
"Always forgive your enemies, nothing annoys them so much."

I first saw this quote in NSTP some years ago, and today an email from an old friend came warning me thatI should keep my guards up against Fats. And the quote reverberates.

(Of course, the other quote that echos in my mind was something taken off an A. Samad Said play, which goes like this:

"Kau cantik Pinkie! Kau cantik!"
- Lantai T. Pinkie

It simply explains why pretty people like me usually have a lot to go through that some people will never get to experience - because you are pretty. Haiyo, susah lo jadi cantik. Hehehe!)

This part of the famous Rudyard Kipling poem also comes to mind:

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you
But make allowance for their doubting too,
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise...
- If

Thanks for the warning bro, but I think I'll try slim down the Fats in my own way.

Kenapa ramai gal-gals minat England

Over lunch I heard some interesting theories on why most gals tend to support England, and not even a g-string-male-model drenched team such as Italy could come near:

Theory :
Cause they want to be in the "in crowd" and England is the so-called "in". (Likewise Brazil).

Theory :
Cause they've actually heard of EPL, but no way in hell could they ever guess who plays in Serie A or Bundesliga or even heard of MPPJ or MyTeam.

Theory :
Cause they can check out what the players' wives are wearing, and then tiru la. Hey, Posh isn't Posh for nothing, betul tak?

Theory :
Cause when someone asks who's their favorite player, they can always say the household name "Beckham!" with confidence, no one would dare call their bluff. And if there's a follow-up question, e.g.: Who else do you think plays well? They can say "Rooney!" (Though once I did overhear a gal said "Ronaldinho of course!"). Two players to memorise - good enough lo.

Theory :
Cause when they get together with their boyfriend's best friends' girlfriends and talk about the hipster Rooney's girlfriend was wearing was looking "off at the side", they can claim they're talking ball.

Theory :
Cause their boyfriends support England. (Likewise those whose boyfriends support Brazil)

Theory :
Cause when someone bitch about Beckham or Rooney, they can always say "But they've got a better-half who's tough to handle... Unlike me, me very supportive of my boipren one..." (Which is a real neat trick actually! You go girls!)