all fair in love and war?

We’re all sinners.

In one way or the other, we all sin.
Some more than others.

You can say, I indulge in a bit of sin every now and then.
Yes, amigos.
I watched it.
I loved it.
Every second.

To see something you’ve read and imagined in your mind appear exactly as you pictured it, on the big screen, is a unique feeling.

One-man armies.
Thugs.
Nazis.
Hookers.
More hookers. [hookers on screen = flesh on screen…]
Guns.
Blood.
Gore.
Comic book frames.
Mickey rourke.
More mickey rourke.

Yeah that sums up sin city.
go watch it.

so begins a new chapter.
26thJuly2005.
I ‘matriculate’, and officially become a part of the ‘NUS family’.
Right.

Business Administration.
A good course.
Or so im told.
Already, I feel the pressures that entail being a university student.
Namely, the bidding system, and the lack of guidance with regards to it.
Seriously, im as lost as a fat guy at the gym.
The ‘how to use’ guide available online is as useful to me as a cheongsam.
If it’s a sign of things to come, then im in for a helluva ride in NUS.

Seriously, is it just me, or it the office of admissions utterly hopeless.
Having done my medical examination at Alexandra Hospital, I find myself having to bring along the medical documents and presenting them to the authorities during matriculation.
But should I bring the x-ray film along?

With this in mind, I called up the office of admissions:

Me : hi, blah blah, should I bring along the x-ray film[which, by the way, is huge]Retard : x-ray film?you enter medicine faculty?
Me : no, biz ad, blah blah.
Retard : ohhhh why you nevaah say??
Me : I did. Never mind. Should I bring it?
Retard : ohhh. Just bring lor. No harm. Bye. *click*

Yes. Thanks a lot genius.
Had I asked a passing sparrow or crow, I probably would’ve gotten a more useful response.
No harm.
Yeah its not like im bringing a gun.
How can there ever be any harm?
Did I ask “hey will I endanger the fate of the world I bring this nefarious x-ray film, which clearly identifies me as a walking time-bomb?”
No.
Kill.

speakin of bombs, theres been a lot going on in the world with the bombings and all.

Take this for example.
Country A declares war on Country B.
assume that both countries are both Western powers, populated, predominantly, by Caucasians.
Fair enough.
Bombs are detonated without discretion, across the plains of both countries.
Thousands of soldiers, and civilians, die.
One country surrenders.
War is over.
Life goes on.
throughout, the word 'terrorism' doesnt pop up, not even once.
Such is the tale of war.

Now, bring yourself back to present day.
The US, and most of its ‘allies’, ie England, etc, have declared “war on terrorism.”
WAR.
Not “a small military exercise”.
Not “negotiations”.
War.

Afghanistan, then Iraq.
Who knows where next.
Some say its all in the name of oil.
And so on.
Isn’t it the right of the country being attacked, ie country B, to retaliate?
what really irks me is the whole “terrorism” façade.
War is war.
Why is it that the US is not attacking Iraq, but ‘liberating’ it, whereas whenever the Iraqi people retaliate, they are ‘fanatical terrorists”?
The victims are the people of both countries.
But there is no sign of the US changing its foreign policies.
It’s all a matter of words.
A matter of words.
You say potatoe, I say potahtoh.
Similarly, you say “sick terrorist,” I say “stoic defender of his country”.

Im a completely rational person, not a ‘blind fanatic’ in any way.
Im not a babbling, incoherent lunatic.
However, there is one thing I simply cannot comprehend, nor fathom.
That is labeling retaliation in wartime, as terrorism.

Terrorism - the calculated use of violence (or threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear.

Doesn’t the definition ring true for the US soldiers as well?
Ok.
Hear me out here before branding me a “flagrant sympathizer”.
If war has been declared on your country, how would you react?
Fight.
Right?
Come on.
Even in Singapore, we’re taught to “fight our country”.
Its drilled into our heads, especially during national service.
Fight for your country.
Don’t run away, ever.
Fight.
Assuming youre an impoverished citizen of Afghanistan, or say, iraq.
You cant afford a rocket launcher.
You cant afford a machine gun.
Hell, all you got is a pocket knife.
Yet you must fight.
You think to yourself, “if the enemy can bomb my home incessantly, without any discretion, then I have every right to reply, in kind”.
And so you go on and do it.

“US forces kill 18 afghanistanis at a wedding. Incorrect intel blamed for mix-up.”

These are every day occurrences in countries where the war is being waged.
Honestly, do you know about the other side of the story?
Why would a perfectly successful young man blow himself up?

Im not condoning suicide bombings.
In an ideal world, there would be no suicide bombings.
Hell, there’d be no war.
But we live in a mess.
Im trying to rationalize the whole mess this world is in.

Today’s youth are supposed to be ‘open-minded’, and politically conscious.
You cant be very politically conscious, if youre always being fed only one side of the story, by the media.
Im just trying to let you in on the other side of the story.
Because every coin has two sides.
The US penny, and the Iraqi dinar.
They both have 2 sides.

What was the point of that rant?
Its just a little eye-opener, for those whose gut instinct is to go “hey those bloody terrorists blew up another place. Kill them, theyre so inhuman”

Personally, I feel that this battle cant be won in the battlefields.
The US, and its allies, are far too powerful militarily.

The battle has to take place on the conference tables.
Where intellects can battle out a suitable end to what may escalate into WW3.
Hopefully, they can battle it out, without any bloodshed.

Yeah that’s it.
Of course, its much easier for the youth to sit back and watch a movie, than discuss such serious issues.
Your pick.

See you on the other side.

much lovin, much lovin, to the gf and my mates.

Im out.

feels just like it should

Bangladesh.
What pops into your mind when you see the word “Bangladesh”?
A sweaty construction worker?
No a sweaty construction worker doesn’t literally enter your head through your rather large ear, navigate your brain, and end up in your mind, rather lost.
I meant the image of a sweaty construction worker pops into your head.
And if you aren’t from Singapore, Bangladesh = poverty.
In all honesty, poverty is rampant and very prevalent in the country.
As is utter contempt for the law, coupled with flagrant corruption.

What really gets under my skin, apart from the thriving mosquito population, is the fact that the rich are just so…opulent.
There is no other word that can aptly encapsulate their ridiculous and redundant displays of wealth.
While hungry children die on the streets, the elite class of Bangladesh frivolously throws away their money on such necessities as…

- 2 levels of underground carparks for “party guests”
- 2 swimming pools, complete with a huge family portrait etched into the surface of each pool.[what are you, a polar bear?]
- a stretch hummer [seriously…do you think youre 50cent?uhhh]
- a mayback [$2million…thats like….$1million more than $1million…]
- unlimited amounts of alcohol.[why don’t you just change your name to jack Daniel, retard]
- 3 PS2 sets, because its “inconvenient to change discs”
- 9 sets of very expensive football boots, for “the different types of ground”…[dude..its either hard or soft…seriously]

that’s just scratching the surface.

Honestly, if the elite wanted to help the impoverished, and I mean really help, and not just be seen at ‘charity gigs’…then they could make some sort of difference.

But till that day, Bangladesh will be stuck in the vicious cycle of poverty.

Since my sad excuse for a digital camera decided to commit suicide on me[he didn’t like the fact that I used him to photograph wong n bromeo in action…], I had to use my phone to snap a few pictures[if you can call ‘em that].

Ignore me in my unadulterated glory in this pic.
Instead, focus your attention on the guy on my right.
I know its tough to do so, but try.
I kid.
Hes the ‘driver’, working for one of my friends, a friend who was nice enough to lend me his car (one of 8 cars) for a while.
Anyways, try and guess the driver’s age.
Seriously.
Come on.
30-ish?40-ish?
Wrong my friend.
Hes all of 21.
Yes I kid you not.
Sigh….the wonders of a beard.
I know a certain wong pk and jeevan ‘im always right’ singh should grow one…maybe then they can get into the fabled club momo…

Next we have a lovely lexus, belonging to the same dude.
Nice car.
All the windows are tinted.
Hes got it all nice and modified, with some hydraulic system set up, and huge speakers.
When I sat in his ride, I thought, “hell I gotta get me one of these.”
So he drove, and turned up his enhanced stereo system.
I braced myself to stylishly bob my head to the rhythm of the latest hip-hop/rap music.
Instead, what blared out was…
the latest backstreet boys single.
Yes.
‘incomplete’.
Someone should have just killed me there and then.

Heres a picture of the standard policeman of Dhaka.
They’ve been voted the most corrupt police force in the galaxy, second only to the klingons.

Heres the first webcam to ever have been made.
Yes.
The prototype.

i found it while on the lookout for deadly killer-weasels.
no thats way off.
I found it at my grandfather’s house.
One of my cousins installed it.
Its like…how antique…
Lag?
This webcam puts the lag in…gulag.
Or something.

Dvds.
One of the things I love about Dhaka.
The amazing availability of any dvd you can think of, for 1/50^th the price.
I kid you not.
How recent are these titles?!
Thank you super-cd-pirates, wherever you may be craftily hidden.
From the bottom of my miserly heart, thank you.

Did I mention its perennially raining in Bangladesh?
Check out the random flooded road.
Theres an interesting theory about the people of Bangladesh.
Apparently, since theyre so used to the calming noise of the rain, and the sleep-inducing sound of gushing flood-water, they love to sleep.
Thus theyre lazy, and ended up poor.[convenient no?]
Or something.
I wasn’t listening, I was thinking about hedgehogs, for some strange reason.
And armadilloes.

Ah.
The calm after the flood.
This picture embodies the serenity that one can find, if you just look hard enough.
[I sound like one of those artists at an art exhibition, explaining his work…”the next piece illustrates my total lack of talent with a paint brush. thank you, thank you”]
This random pond is smack next to the commercial district.
Lovely.

Back where I belong.
To be honest, I missed my Singapore a lot.
My friends, my family(the mother n sister were at home), the sights and sounds, and the cuisine, of Singapore.
I have been here since I was a (not-so)tiny tot of 5months.
But I missed nothing more than …
Yep you guessed it.
The girlfriend.
Even though we managed to chat on the phone a bit, and msn here n there[stupid dialup modem.kill], I really did miss her physically, as well emotionally.
and in any other way possible.
Being apart was painful.
And I hated every second of it.
Thankfully, things are back to the way they should be.

So im back.
After my little journey to my birthplace.
On the one hand, I end up appreciating the good and comfortable life I have in Singapore.
But on the other hand, I have enormous amounts of sympathy for the poor of Bangladesh.
Honestly, if you could just see the extent of poverty, and how it has crippled the country, you would be as affected as I am.
But theres no point in me just talking it.
I’ll try n find some way I can help.

In other news :

Lee unit re-unite!
TRA \m/ pryde!
Loadsa love to friends and family.
And the gf of course.

Im out.

messrs spielberg and cruise, you should get new jobs.

yet another template change.

After blinding several million people with a bad case of incorrect colour-contrasting, I was moved to change the layout of the blog.
Add to that the fact that when viewed on explorer, the tagboard appeared somewhere between mars and Pluto.

After tinkering here and there, ive come to realize something…
To put it quite frankly, im just not very good with this whole page-designing thing.
Sure, I can come up with basic designs.
Real basic.
like...equivalent to a 3-yea r old's attempts at calculus.

What I cant do is make a professional-looking page, with instances of creativity here and there.
I just don’t have it in me.
Apologies for my shortcomings in that area.

In other news, whats been happening with me?
Well, first off, good ole fitty lies injured in a workshop, once again.
This time it wasn’t my fault, I swear.
It was my mom.

She was driving along the expressway when she was hit from behind by a speeding manjan.
He mustve been rushin home to catch a Chinese serial.
These Chinese serials are like..
the bane of society.
Theyre all the same.
And each serial has like 2198210 episodes, each one as sad and melodramatic as the previous one.
Kinda like the serials on zee tv.

Anyways, the car looks pretty bad.
There was a chance we were gonna have to scrap it.
Seriously, look at it:

Poor ole fitty.
Seriously, maybe i shouldn’t have named it fitty.
i think if I named it Peabo Bryson, or Kenny g, it wouldn’t be involved in any accidents.

Oh yeah, I recently watched :
The war of the worlds.*cue stupid dramatic music, a la channel 5*

To be honest, it was one of the worst movies I have ever watched.
Honestly, I was hoping against hope, that tom cruise’s screen daughter, Hollywood wunderkind dakota fanning, would just die.

I was overjoyed when his son appeared to die.
But, as with all steven spielberg movies, no main characters can really, ever, die.
I mean, that would just be sooo … wrong.
It would be sending the wrong message out to the youth, wouldn’t it?
A person dying.
Banish the thought.
People don’t really die when theyre ZAPPED BY ALIENS.
They just end up in Disneyland, right mr spielberg.
So somehow, the punk of a son managed to survive a million aliens, and a wall of fire on an unprotected meadow.
Yes.
Maybe the son was an alien.
His mannerisms were like one.
hell, maybe he was batman.
He randomly appears and greets tom cruise at the end.
How improbable.
i could have sworn he said, "take me to your leader."

As for the aliens, ive seen scarier tamley women at clubs.
Seriously, the aliens looked harmless.
Kinda like teletubbies on crack.
And they were utterly stupid.
Personally, I feel they were leftover props from ET.

There was this scene where cruise and daughter (all she does is a high-pitch scream.very annoying) are hiding out in a basement, and a tentacle from the ship, with a ‘seeing’ eye on it, wriggles into the basement to look for humans.
And the humans just play hide and seek with the tentacle.
You’d think that if aliens were “planning this conquest for a million years”, they would have the brains to include motion sensors in their ship’s scavenging tools.
But nooooooooooooooooooooo.
Whatever.

the death of the aliens is just as abrupt.
They just randomly begin dying off.
Apparently, they were killed off by bacteria and the environment.
Once again, I reiterate.
If an alien race really had been planning an invasion for a million years, you would think that they would take THESE CRUCIAL DETAILS into account.
No, I guess they were too busy taking into account other details….like the location of the nearest GAP stores.
Pfffft.
I mean come on, mr spielberg.
Seriously.

I know you only took a few weeks to make the movie, but usually, for a movie to be ANY good, it requires an ENDING of some sorts.
you know, something to tie up the millon loose ends.

All-powerful, all-conquering aliens, don’t just randomly die off, just like that.
I mean come on.

Yeah, hey lets get morgan freeman to give an authoritative, deep voiceover.
He says something like…
”humans have earned the right to live”.
He might as well have said, “hey don’t question the ending. im morgan freeman and I can sound real authoritative. Ooh look at me. So thus, you wont question why the ending was just so crappy.thanks for the cash inflow though.”

I give the movie….0.001 / 100000000000000000000000.
And that 0.001 is for tim robbins, who was killed for no reason by tom cruise, and not an alien.hey, maybe tom cruise is an alien. being a hardcore scientologist and all.he has like, 3 basic facial expressions.
the "im so worried about the future of my daughter" look, where he frowns incessantly.
the "im trying to be charming and boyish" look, where he flashes a toothy grin and makes corny jokes.
and the "damn.i divorced nicole kidman and married a 12-yr old chick by the name of katie holmes(who incidentally, was the only bad thing in batman begins)?!what was i thinking!" look, where he stammers, coughs, and makes a high-pitch pig-like squeal.
ok i aint too sure bout the last one.
nonetheless,he looks a bit spaced out.
ah, whatever.

Some of you may say, hey arzish, you didn’t understand the "inner beauty" of the movie.
Well, you guys are the same people who probably feel that angelina jolie’s relationship with brad pitt is the most important event to illuminate your existence.
Take a hike.

I await sin city eagerly.
And the lords of dogtown.
And the march of the penguins.
What I do regret was having been mildly excited about watching the war of the worlds.
What a waste of time.
Shouldve been titled,
“the war of spielberg on your common sense, and dakota fanning on your eardrums.”

I love system of a down’s new album.
It rocks.
Get it if you can.
Seriously.

What else has been up?
Hmm.
Nothing actually.
Been spending time with some friends.
And the girlfriend.
Loads and loads of time with the gf.
Just the way I like it.
*kiss*

everythin else is cool.
Nus beckons.

and for the time being, so does my ps2.
See y’all.
Im out.