Berry White has a best voice!

I was looking for a cd that I had misplaced and came across a "Berry White" cd that I had bought some years ago at Petaling Street. Yes, I know it's a typo! I know, I know... it's Barry White. But how many others do?


I agree with Sara, our standard of English has taken a nose-dive and people don't read enough. I am so glad our parents always emphasized the importance of reading and instilled in us the love of books. Although I didn't know it was World Book Day or whatever, I do know that it's important to get kids to start reading at an early age.


While our English isn't perfect, we do strive to make our blog at least understandable. We would hate for our blog to read like bad subtitles of pirated dvds. Whenever we watch movies, I think we end up laughing at the literal translations of the subtitles than the movie itself. Hehehe, and of course pirated cds, like Mr White, have some of their songs spelled incorrectly in the track listings, etc...it's hilarious, almost embarrassing too.


PS: And if you didn't already know it, it's Barry White has a good voice (even if it's not necessarily true, well you're smart enough to know it's just an example...I hope.)

Time-out!

Do you ever go through phases where you don't feel like seeing anybody you know? Yes, I'm talking about your closest friends, your pals, your chums. I'm going through something like that right now. Don't get me wrong. I love my friends to death and cannot live without them but sometimes, just sometimes, I would like to be left alone. Allow me to elaborate further.


I have wonderful friends, most of whom I met during my first year of college. We have tons of fun together, we understand each other's jokes, love the same type of music and movies and most importantly, we love each other. Did I mention we were a group of 9 guys and 2 girls? Here lies the problem. Weekend after weekend of smoking and drinking, 11 birthdays a year (which means more smoking and drinking) and hours and hours of snooker and mamak sessions for 6 years has finally taken its toll on me. I've become exhausted and therefore need a time-out from my friends every now and then.


I have a weakness for my friends, though. Everytime I'm tempted to say no to a trip to the pub or snooker centre or wherever it is we're going, I end up going anyway out of guilt. This time, however, I'm determined. One of my closest buds is celebrating his 25th birthday at a pub next week and I'm not in the mood to go. I deserve some alone time. I think my lungs and liver need a much deserved break too.

World Book Day

It's World Book Day today so I thought it appropriate to talk about, what else, books! I love books. LOVE them. I love how easily I'm captivated and transported to another world from the first word on the first page. I love how, amidst all the craziness in the world today, I can retreat to a quiet place and curl up with a good book to escape the real world for a make-believe one even if for just a little while.


I've been reading since I was a little kid. I loved books by Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl and Judy Blume (and let's not forget those goddamn Sweet Valley High, Sweet Dreams and Babysitters' Club books) when I was in primary school but soon worked my way up to books by Christopher Pike (much thanks to Tira for the first one I read!), R.L. Stine and (gasp!) those goddamn Mills & Boons romance novels. Thankfully, my choice of books has improved with age (I hope) so you'd most probably find serious fiction, autobiographies/ biographies or true life stories, chick lit. and the occasional mystery/crime novel on my nightstand nowadays.


As people around the world read more with each passing year, you'd think that more Malaysians would have jumped on the bandwagon and started reading too right? Wrong. According to a recent survey, the average Malaysian reads only two books a year. Pretty depressing, don't you think? What's even more depressing is that two books a year is actually a vast improvement from the results of a survey taken in 1982. Back then, the average Malaysian read an equivalent of two newspaper pages a year. So it took us 22 years to advance from two pages of the newspaper to 2 books a year. No wonder the level of spoken and written English in Malaysia is so horrific!


Well, I guess it would be unfair for me to comment and criticize so freely since not everyone can afford to buy books. Furthermore, there are no decent libraries around, those rent-a-book places suck to high heavens and book clubs are practically non-existent in Malaysia. But I bet if everyone spent their money more wisely instead of spending it on the "Latte Factor" (anything that is unnecessary and easy to give up), they could be owning and reading more books!


Well, I've been digressing a bit there since I am supposed to be writing about books and not the reading habits of Malaysians :P So anyway...


Since today is World Book Day and I happen to love books so much, I would like to dedicate my whole section on the right to books - the one I've just started reading today, my recommendations and those that I look forward to reading in the near future. So check 'em out and have a great time reading!

Facing the Issues

Face the Issue

These "Face the Issue" animations/ads are definitely worth a visit. They address serious issues such as bulimia, drugs, self-esteem, etc...Many people suffer, some silently. All too often I think people keep masks on, pretend to be "ok." They seem fine to us, but deep inside they're dying.


I hope this website and the ads reach out to these people. And in turn, they will seek help to find their true selves again.


Also on the "Face the Issue" website are message boards where recovery stories are posted.

Ooooo... while we're on the subject of crushes, I would like to divulge some of my own. First off, let it be known that I have a tremendous weakness for rocker dudes and guys with long hair or a wicked sense of humour. They needn't look hunky (in fact some of them on my list can be considered fugly) but I do think certain guys need to possess that extra something to be able to carry off flowing tresses or be really, really funny. So here they are in no particular order: Jack Black, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Ben Stiller, Eric Schweig in The Last of the Mohicans, Will Ferrell, William H. Macy, Dave Grohl of The Foo Fighters, Adam Sandler, Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace, Owen & Luke Wilson, Giovanni Ribisi, Nate Berkus and Conan O' Brien! Oh, and not forgetting M, who is a friend of a friend and is the epitome of everything I want in a guy :D


I think having crushes is fun... it makes your imagination work overtime by fantasizing (because let's face it, what are the odds of Takeshi having a crush back on me?) and it's just nice to act a little crazy and go ga-ga over somebody unattainable. Well, unless it's M, because I definitely want him to be attainable... to me!!!! See how crazy I'm getting? :P


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My vote goes to LaToya London in American Idol. I think Fantasia (and maybe George) are the only people to provide some competition for her but it's LaToya London for me all the way!!!

Crushes

I am XX years old (let's say above 21, not yet 30) and sigh, I have the weirdest crushes. They may not be Brad Pitt or anyone with a six-pack, but somehow they've got me drooling and wishing I could be visible in their eyes. Don't get me wrong. I would go out with Brad Pitt, Orlando Bloom, Hugh Jackson in a heatbeat! But there's just something extra that makes "crushes" crushes. It's weird how crushes work. They're not anyone I would probably end up with in real-life but it's an option sure worth exploring and "a-dreaming".


In my own words, I define a crush as someone whom I admire. Someone I wish I could go out with or someone I think is the perfect human being, for me anyway (but not necessarily).


I have liked a lot of people but I haven't had many crushes! This might come to a surprise to many (including my sis) but I've had major crushes on:


1) David Copperfield - damn that magic and those mysterious eyes! oooh, levitate my baby.....


2) Quentin Tarantino - Kill Me


3) Simon Cowell - are those tight black tees yummy or what? And not to mention that cold hard honesty...triple yum.


4) This old guy at church - old, but sophisticated, nice, etc....sigh...


5) Clay Aiken - a good heart, a good voice, a good personality....sigh x 2


Yeah okie, so I am watching American Idol right now ( I hope Fantasia Barrino wins by the way), and it's affected some of my crush choices. But really, these guys got me goin'.....

Also,
6) Adrien Brody - I wished I were Halle Berry


7) Kevin Bacon - He's smokin'!!!!!!!!!


8) Colin Firth, Aidan Quinn, Michael Vartan


9) Andre 3000


10) Michael Wong


Oh well, life goes on.:)

If you're an avid fan of soccer or David Beckham, you would have most certainly heard or read about the two women who have recently come forward, saying they once had an affair with the soccer star. And as luck would have it, one of them happens to be a Malaysian-born model. It seems the minute someone who is remotely famous is Malaysian-born, that's all we see splashed in the newspapers. But I digress. I don't know if any of these stories are true but I'm secretly hoping they're not. While I'm no fan of either Posh or Becks, it's nice to see two celebrities who have been married for a few years still so in love with each other while all the other unions sour so prematurely in Celebrity Land. But if the rumours do turn out to be true, I'm pretty sure that would spell the end of the golden British couple pretty soon.


Sometimes I wonder how and why so many celebrity marriages go kaput so quickly. Sure, hectic lifestyles, pressures of work and constant temptations could be blamed but then there are couples aplenty who manage to overcome all these obstacles and stay married for decades! Just look at Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. They've been married for more than 45 years! Then again in some marriages, time contributes absolutely nothing towards the stability of marriage. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, for example, decided to call it quits after more than 10 years of marriage!


I guess sometimes it gets a little scary when we hear of so many celebrity marriages breaking up. It makes me think that if couples like Tom and Nicole (and quite possibly Becks and Posh in the near future), who had everything (including what many thought was a solid marriage) could split so easily, what chances do we normal people have of having successful relationships?


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I saw Love Actually two days ago and I absolutely loved it! I thought it was a really sweet movie and I also liked the fact that not all the stories had happy endings. The only story I didn't quite enjoy was the Liam Neeson one with his son. We all wished we had a dad that cool but I thought it was a little farfetched when he told his son to run through airport security just to tell the girl he loved her. I have to agree with my sister... Colin Firth and the Karl guy in the movie are such hotties!!!!