I’ve been busy. Very busy. Here’s a pic to either amuse you or make you facepalm. Taken in Selayang from my last visit home.
In case you weren’t one hundred percent sure, the English reads “Every puff take damage your body”.
Yeah.
Having just said it’s a difficult life when you choose to love a place that doesn’t love you back here is an example in the papers why it is so hard:
The Star reports:
GEORGE TOWN: Komtar assemblyman Ng We Aik has lodged a police report against Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail, who allegedly called the Chinese pendatang (immigrants) during a ceramah in Permatang Pauh on Aug 25.
Why don’t we ever just come out straight, call these morons racists and censure them to hell and back? Oh wait, that would involve a government that actually has a spine and is opposed to these xenophobic behaviours.
Unfortunately for you and me:
“I’ll tell him not to do it again. You know during campaigning all sorts of things can come up. I don’t think he meant it. I’ll make sure to tell him not to say it again.” - PM to instruct Bkt Bendera chief not to repeat remark.
P.S. - somewhat unrelated and for those who are still wondering, Malaysia Today is being blocked back home. You can access the site via http://mt.m2day.org/2008/. kthxbai.
My parents called because it’s independence day (and also it was the weekend and they were on their way to Ipoh).
Mom told me hardly anyone back home is flying the flag; as a form of protest she says.
“I’m flying mine,” I said as I looked at my jalur gemilang, draped over shelving units and held down with a textbook in the living room.
“They should make you a datuk.” Came the reply.
I’m not sure if she meant that I was silly for doing it or that I should be commended for being a die hard patriot.
There was a line from Gubra (I think it was Gubra) about how hard it is to love a country that doesn’t love you back. It makes one quite sakit hati, like someone once said. And there’s no satisfactory English translation for that feeling.
The LPGA, according to The New York Times, is requiring its members to be able to speak English by 2009 or possibly face suspension.
Deputy commissioner Libba Galloway reportedly said: “Being a U.S.-based tour, and with the majority of our fan base, pro-am contestants, sponsors and participants being English speaking, we think it is important for our players to effectively communicate in English.”
This decision is, at best, ill-advised and at worst, a un-fucking-believably racist and classless move. It’s one thing to encourage your players to learn a language and it’s a whole other thing to threaten them with suspension for failing to speak the language.
I don’t even watch this sport and now I’ll feel even less inclined to follow it. Anybody else pissed off or is it just me and my saturday-football-induced-fervor for sports?
I lol’ed like hell (and this is why I watch political coverage on a comedy channel)
Former world number ones to square off in Malaysia
But that’s ok. I’ll live with that in hopes that one day I’ll be able to attend the Slams - all four are almost doable in one lifetime.
Hey did I mention while at the Olympics Dad saw Venus Williams play? He was chuffed.
My New York love/hate relationship continues with:
Hate: An NYT article about the challenges faced by the thousands of young people attempting to find their calling in the city every year.
Love: A trailer to New York, I Love You (yes, it’s related to Paris, Je T’aime) which makes my head spin trying to read all the names involved in the ensemble project.
The last time I was this obsessed with wanting to live in a city, I went to school there. So.
Yesterday, around midmorning, while putzing around whining about having a cold I decided I couldn’t live another day if I didn’t have bruschetta. At my new apartment, the kitchen isn’t a closet room and I can actually do stuff without turning around and banging into a wall or stinking up the entire place because I decided to go crazy with the onion and garlic for my flied lice.
So after work I dropped by the grocery store to buy me some tomatoes. I used this recipe and made dinner:
Only thing I tweak is to drizzle reduced balsamic vinegar (er, careful not to burn it, speaking from personal experience) instead of mixing in the vinegar straight. Makes it super yummy sweet. I love balsamic vinegar + olive oil + bread.
I’d probably be satisfied with fresh, warm breadsticks with olive oil and a cheap vinegar.
I am trying to avoid Walmart (and Kmart and Target and just about every other grocery place) for the next couple weeks. But I found myself having to make a run for neccessities, so I had to brave the hordes of freshman and their parents taking over Bloomington. And in there in one of the food aisles I overheard:
Father: You could get milk and keep it in the fridge you know?
Incoming Freshman: *mumbling something unintelligible*
Surely, surely I had missed something, the beginning of the conversation perhaps. Regardless, that kept me amused the whole time while dodging trolleys.
but this article in The Star today: PM quietly takes public transport to experience commuters’ problems has to be the biggest fucking waste-of-paper propaganda ever written. If it’s so quiet, why is there a Bernama cameraman to take photos? Why not just hold a press conference afterwards? And there’s nothing quiet about your bright red batik shirt, sir.
* Avril Lavigne supposed to have concert on August 29th in KL but some crackerjack lowlifes made noise: “the concert did not reflect the Merdeka spirit and was indecent” and sure enough, our government has nothing better to do — like say, run the country efficiently — so they waste time and taxpayers money “consulting” each other about whether or not this concert is going to happen:
[The faxed statement] added that City Hall was awaiting feedback from various agencies such as the police, Central Committee for Filming and Performance by Foreign Artiste (Puspal) and Arts, Culture and National Heritage Department (Kekwa) before deciding.
Yeap. City Hall’s decision is dictated by a bunch of other asinine sounding organisations that clearly exists for no reason other than to house the sycophants.
Thank you, Malaysia, for once again successfully shouldering me with the humiliation borne of the goblok’ness of the ruling few.
until then, I’m drowning in lesson planning anxiety to the n-th degree on top of still really hating the early mornings. The one - and only - upshot is the later evenings to do the ‘other’ things three days out of the week. Things like… being a slacker, play video games, ponder on the mysteries of the mysterious mini pie crusts, weigh the benefits of joining the tennis clinic and read.
Oh, to be sure reading is part of work. I have to read. But thankfully none of the books have orotund words like “meta”, “taxonomy” or… “orotund”.
Stressing. I’m always doing that. It’s an impressive feat, to always be able to find something to stress about.
This has been my emo post of the week. Fatuitous programming shall resume in a few.
The Half Blood Prince release date will be delayed until July 2009, an additional 8 months wait for fans from the originally scheduled date of November 21, 2008.
The BBC report claims it might be because of The Dark Knight’s success this summer and has this quote: “Warner Bros doesn’t need anything else this year,” agrees Helen O’Hara of Empire magazine. “Next year is going to be much tougher though.”
Huh.
10:03 am EDT - The medal ceremony. And that’s my flag up there. I’m still proud. Chong Wei looked like he could cry. Burdened with the knowledge that the whole country went “Aiyooo” and knowing that he could’ve definitely done better, I suppose that’s normal. Anyway.
9:46 am EDT - um, so randomly.. the mascots came out and one of them fell… and the rest started to kick him. no idea if it’s part of the act but i’m laughing my ass off here. Then they had the volunteers come pick him back up. Oh.. comic relief.
9:41 am EDT - Lin Dan wins. 21-12, 21-8. Thanks for playing. Lin Dan salutes the crowd and… throws his shoes to adoring fans. yea, thats rite, i said shoes.
9:39 am EDT - Chong Wei’s slumped shoulders tells it all at 19-6.
9:36 am EDT - at 18-4, you’d need a deal with the devil to come back. this is just humiliating.
9:32 am EDT - WTF. That shot looked in!!! We need instant replay in badminton! 13-3 now.
9:31 am EDT - 11-2 now. Service to Chong Wei. He needs to keep pushing.
9:28 am EDT - The optimism, scant to begin with, has faded considerably…
9:20 am EDT - Lin Dan wins the first set 21-12. Chong Wei sat back too long, shoulda made a move earlier.
9:18 am EDT - I’m just going to start calling Lin Dan, ‘Lindsey’… ok? (which is a whole lot better than Chou Dan…
9:10 am EDT - 11-5 to Lin Dan now. Everytime Chong Wei has gone to the backcourt, he goes long. Draft, perhaps?
9:04 am EDT - neither player are playing an aggressive game. perhaps it can even be called cautious. But at 6-1 to Lin Dan, Chong Wei needs to keep pace. Doubt he can claw back from a huge deficit if that happens.
9:00 am EDT - oh, pardon me. It’s “LIN DAN! JIA YOU! LIN DAN! JIA YOU!”
8:56 am EDT - the players walk in and you can already hear the “JIA YOU! JIA YOU!” Die man.
8:52 am EDT - alright, I’m up. the medal ceremony for the mixed doubles is still happening. on TV, two channels are running summer olympic programming but neither will feature badminton. but of course.
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