Happy Beginnings, Happy Endings

On France and Other Travels

2012-02-09T11:37:00.000+08:00

Love the intelligent discussion more than the blog post itself. Myself I would like to share some of my experiences. I'm not British or North American, for that matter.

The French way of life is definitely distinctive and worth getting to know and appreciate, but personally, what makes me feel much better as a traveller is for the native people to understand and respect the Tourists as well, something more noticeable in many other countries I have been to. Not hating on any country for that, but a warm welcome always draws me to a place so much more.

It was my first trip to Europe, and on the plane I was given different seats from my family (two seats back). So when we touched down in Paris I asked a French middle-aged couple politely in English to let me pass through. I did not get to explain I wanted to attend to my young son, because the lady immediately cut in and said something like "Do you have the keys to the airplane door? Do you? If not, sit down." She then proceeded to converse with her husband in french and give me the famous dirty glance French stare-down. I think they were annoyed I did not 'Bonjour' them, or maybe airplane fatigue. The man (who was big-sized) stuck his body across the aisle so as to further prevent me from passing them. I was really offended. I remember I thought to myself, "Wow, French hospitality even before I step onto French land proper!" I wanted to explain I needed to get to my family, but their French-speaking ears wouldn't have any of that English coming out of my mouth. Excuse me when I say I wanted to punch them, it was my first experience in Europe and not a good one at all. Now, I regret letting that couple spoil my first day in France.

The other thing is that the Parisians were always in some sort of stare-frown expression on the street. It was imposing, actually. But I was ready to look past that. An old lady at a shoe shop said something in French like, "Don't sit here! It's for people trying on shoes!" We vacated the seat for her thinking she needed it, but she just walked off and cussed. I mean, customer service is not exactly what they pride themselves on.

Another thing funny was this man who was managing those pay-by-token 5-minute back massage machines in the shopping centres. He was walking up and down in a huff and when we got near to have a curious closer look at the machine, he chased away our potential business. What's the point of having machines there if you're not going to let anyone use or even see them. He literally stands there and dusts and mops the sides of the machine for hours. We found it funny because it's just a machine, not a very stressful job, yet he is acting like he is Sarkozy's bodyguard! Again, this shows how the French take so much pride in what they do, whatever job it is. It is a lifestyle, definitely.

I went to Dijon and Mont-St Michel too, which were expectedly less hostile. I can only wish I stayed long enough (only 4 days) in France (Paris for that matter) to change my opinion of them because up to now I still cringe at the thought of The City of Dreams/Romance taglines my local newspaper always deems as Paris. Having read many blogs and articles on this, I now can't wait to go back and rediscover Paris in its "more polite(?)" side. I hope I will get to change my opinions of the place.

Interestingly, I found Barcelona much more lively and hospitable. It could be the nature of the Spanish, who, if I may generalise, are more warm at heart- when giving directions, I found the Spanish always did it with a smile and didn't mind conversing fully in English. We even approached a jogger on his running route to ask for directions, he immediately stopped and marked them out for us, while still panting! I felt so bad. They are also not afraid of starting a conversation, "Where are you from?" being the most common and genuine starter that I have received.

Or maybe, after all this I have said, it may just boil down to perception. I went to Spain 1 year after the France trip, with lowered expectations and a jaded mindset, always believing the people of the region are cold and unwelcoming. Of course, I was nicely surprised on my 2nd trip in Barca. I do remember my fair share of rude people in Spain which, though less than in France, are in no way less rude. A common interesting point I experienced is they get offended when you do not speak Spanish/French/their language, they pretend not to understand your clear articulate English and brush off helping you with a shrug of their shoulders and an "I told you so" lip purse. Yet this was only a very minority in Spain.

No props for guessing which visit I liked more, but my opinions are ever-changing and I do actually want to go back to places I did not like previously, and to set the record straight and reevaluate Parisians for who they really are.

Now, 3 years have passed. The things you learn as you grow older. Thank you for the article.

http://chezlouloufrance.blogspot.com/2011/05/why-are-french-so-rude.html

2011-08-06T13:11:00.002+08:00

I'd like to think that I'm some formidable badass cross between Ravenclaw and Slytherin, but reality is that I most probably am too soft-hearted and protective, which would place me in the Ravenclaw to Hufflepuff range instead. I can say quite confidently that I belong to Ravenclaw though. I would probably not be a good Gryffindor as I do not profess to be that noble or brave.

Amazing Race

2011-06-30T18:15:00.004+08:00

I have an amazing race dream route.

Leg 1: Philadelphia, USA - Tikal, Guatemala [10 teams left]

Leg 2: Tikal, Guatemala - Caracas, Venezuela [9 teams left]

This would be a history (Philly) and culture (Mayan culture) themed route. Teams might have to drive 4 hours from Guatemala city to the ruins in Tikal and perform cultural tasks. I also wanted the race to cover South America, but not too much, so Venezuela was chosen.

Leg 3: Caracas, Venezuela - Libreville, Gabon [NEL]

Leg 4: Gabon (Estuaire, Atlantic Equatorial Coastal Ecoforest regions) [8 teams left]

Gabon was given two legs as it was the only African country visited. The tasks and destination would be particularly nature-oriented; Gabon has the largest percentage of nature reserves by total land area, in the region.

Leg 5: Libreville, Gabon - Helsinki, Finland [NEL]

Leg 6: Finland (Rovaniemi) [7 teams left]

Helsinki is chosen as this leg's obligatory modern European city. Also, I felt we needed some cold here. In the additional leg, racers visit Rovaniemi, the capital of Finnish Lapland. I just can't get enough of the orgasmic arctic circle leg in Season 17.

Leg 7: Helsinki, Finland - Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia [6 teams left]

Again, change in environment from modern city to sandy desert dunes and rolling plains. Fulfils my Genghis Khan Silk Road fantasy. I like it a lot.

Leg 8: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia - Kathmandu, Nepal [NEL]

Leg 9: Nepal (Pokhara and Annapurna mountain range) [5 teams left]

New country. Also, to visit the mountain range of the Everest in a full leg would be a nice respite from the Andes and Swiss alps that we have seen in previous seasons.

Leg 10: Kathmandu, Nepal - Singapore, Singapore [4 teams left]

After the majesty of untouched wilderness, we need a last big modern city destination before End City. (Sorry beautiful beaches of Indonesia!) It was a toss-up between Singapore and Wellington, New Zealand, but I decided to choose Singapore due to its multiculturalism and availability of flights. In previous visits, the culture of this city was not emphasised enough, especially in Season 16 where it was overshadowed by the fast-forward and u-turn drama all in one leg. Another problem I anticipate would be that the final 4 can be easily identified in the little island. But one can dream.

Leg 11: Singapore, Singapore - Suva, Fiji [3 teams left for finals]

I've said umpteenth times that we NEED a south pacific nation as a final elimination stop in West to East routes. There is quiet, island culture, what's not to love? Also, as it is more secluded, this will be able to hide racers' identity better.

Leg 12: Suva, Fiji - Denver, Colorado

Denver as End City just to be away from the West-Coast-city in-your-face that plague the final leg. Also ties in nicely with the fact that many destinations in this race are different and off the beaten track.

New locales: Guatemala, Venezuela, Gabon, Nepal, Fiji, Denver and Philly

Old locales: Finland, Mongolia, Singapore (all were only used once or twice in the race)

Other locations that NEED to happen:

Europe & Americas;

Greece is really beautiful and a good break from stock European locations Italy, France, Germany, but not likely due to financial crisis.

Turkey is really affordable, I have no idea why they are not going there!

Greenland & Antarctic - would be fun but I'm not desperate over it. Too expensive.

Yugoslavian bloc + Ukraine, Lat/Lith - needs to happen seriously.

Canada - neglected

Asia & Oceania;

Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines - strictly the inner parts only, big cities overdone

Indonesia - but my dream came true already :) why oh why did it take so long though?

Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan - totally my Silk Road fantasy

South India please - they've done north and east, so please do Chennai or Kerala (again!) or something

China - overdone but it's so big it never gets old if you visit different cities each season. New awesome cities: Hainan, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Harbin, Chengdu, Nanning, Guiyang, Wuhan, Hefei, Huangshan mountains etc... the list could go on

Bhutan & Tibet - if they can get in Bhutan

Papua New Guinea and South Pacific islands - new scenery

Tasmania

Thanks for reading guys, I put a lot of creativity into it, let me know what you think.

2011-05-02T14:06:00.002+08:00

Kent and Vyxsin as usual self-destructed on their way to the pit stop. Usually I would cheer for them to be out, but it sucks for any team to be eliminated because of silly mistakes. Also, they were bullied by practically everyone. The black guys were obviously tight with the girls and zev and justin, and even mallory was kinda laughing at them for taking a taxi.I would have loved to see them last till brazil and get eliminated in fourth. flight and easy should go and I was so pissed that zev and justin were saved by the goth's stupidity. Indeed, I have learnt from the goths and zev & justin that one mistake can kill your whole game.

This was such a great episode with the drama, good tasks and spectacular location. It's no wonder the Race always comes back to Switzerland.

Zev & justin have won too many legs and are way too cocky, flight time and big easy have just scraped past by help from others, gallory are rich and don't need the money, kisha and jen are the most likable and deserving to win the million, but if they win it will be anticlimactic with back-to-back first female teams winning from seasons 17 and 18, so I don't know who to cheer for!

Vyxsin, I love you and you ran a great race, but when you said you were happy to leave with the best teammate, I shat my pants in horror. Vyxsin should race with Vicki (from last season). Power women unite!!!

Survivor

2011-04-16T14:30:00.002+08:00

Watched (and Ranked):

1. #17 Gabon

A very unique season with interesting characters and gameplay. Just the right amount of drama and twists with a neat series of blindsides, backstabbings and unpredictability. Also brought in one of my favourite players, Sugar. A worthy winner (but not the most strategic) and cool underdog stories in Ken, Crystal and Susie.

A veritable encyclopedia of the different Survivor strategems, including: a) a player who voted tactifully and constantly lied, b) a player who voted emotionally and felt that "the good guys should win in the end", and c) a "paragon" player, good at challenges, who tricked voters with fake immunity idols.

Highlights:

- the location, which made for great new challenges

- first season filmed in HD

- Randy and Sugar bitchfest with Corrinne trying to join in but failing

- Crystal sucking at all challenges despite being an Olympic gold medalist

2. #16 Micronesia

Blindsides made for great TV. One of the few seasons where pre-merge was interesting as well as post-merge. The women's alliance held strong over the incredibly stupid men. Strategy was in full form by this season, and everyone (except 2 or 3) stepped up to be a player. However, this is not my top spot because there was not much to the characters, storylines and root-worthy players other than the awesome tribal councils.

Highlights:

- beautiful location

- cirie getting screwed by the final 2 twist

- ozzy's blindside

- erik giving up the immunity necklace

- tracy and natalie as great schemers for fans

3. #7 Pearl Islands

If you are looking for characters and drama, this would be the season. We had great heroes and villains and everyone else had a personality. I knew everyone's names by episode 2 because that was how they stood out. It had good plot twists and strategy as well as pretty solid gameplay. I love it for the Pirate theme that this season strictly adhered to: tribes going shopping at a fishing village, treasure maps, rupert being the fisherman, the pirate music. I also pretty liked the outcast twist if not for the fact that one of the outcasts got so damn far in the game which wasn't fun any more. It would have been great if the outcasts were all gone by the final 4. The fact that people who got voted out once came back and went all the way to the finals was simply damning. Nevertheless, it was a good season.

Highlights:

- Morgan nearly becoming the first Ulong, before Ulong

- Savage getting screwed by the outcasts

- Rupert owning camp life and challenges before being betrayed by his close allies (including the damned outcasts which he made friends with)

- Fairplay just being a douche and avoiding early votes, then grinning

- Sandra getting loud

- It was a character-driven season while not deviating from good old strategy

4. #20 Heroes vs Villains

The strategy was getting old but the drama held. Mostly, my favourite players Stephenie, Sugar, Cirie and Tom went early. There were really great moments but I didn't really like this season.

Highlights:

- Boston Rob rebounding from his physical collapse, and pretty much carrying the Villains tribe on his shoulders.

- "Plan Voodoo" backfiring on Cirie when she went up against another top player, Tom

- Russell feuding with Boston Rob, including such highlights as Russell unapologetically looking for the hidden immunity idol despite the taboo against it, Russell thwarting Rob's "Plan Voodoo" by tricking his top ally Tyson into eliminating himself, Russell casually suggesting to Rob that they vote out the two people sitting with them, and a final showdown wherein Russell successfully corrupted Jerri and Coach against Rob.

- Sanda standing up to Russell and plotting against him; poisoning him against Coach and trying to stage a coup.

- J.T. tragically smuggling a hidden immunity idol (packaged in a written letter) to the last person he should ever entrust an idol to, Russell, based on the Heroes' misconception of an all-female Villains alliance! That was good.

- Parvati giving away two idols to Sandra and Jerri to keep the Villains intact and blindsiding J.T.

- Amanda and Danielle catfighting for possession of a game-changing clue to the next hidden immunity idol while Colby ignored them. Colby later gave Danielle (a villain) the clue on a silver platter, claiming heroically that she found it so she had the right to keep it. Colby killed his tribe there and then.

- Rupert faking a hidden immunity idol by hiding a rock in his pants. Brilliant way to save himself, and I'm surprised that no one ever thought of that before.

5. #21 Nicaragua

A very weak season. There was pathetic strategy, and no one was in it to win it. The few decent players were either underedited or voted off early (Yve, Marty, Brenda). I lamented how alliances were badly formed, immunity idols were inconsequential, and the medallion twist was lame.

The winner bumbled his way to the final six and went on an immunity streak. Boring. Rationale for winning? "It would be pretty cool to have a million dollars. I could do lots of cool stuff. That's cool." The season reminded me of Fiji, where one or two people stood out (Yau-man!) and the rest were just forgettable. Naonka's nonsense and Purple Kelly's anonymity, finally resulting in them quitting - at the same tribal council! That just disrespected the game and they were the worst survivors ever.

Highlights:

- Yve looking gorgeous at 40.

- Young vs Old tribes, which I thought was a good idea but the old tribe was falling apart and not strategising. Sadly they probably won't do young vs old again.

- Brenda and Sash who were the only ones forming a decent alliance and strategy thinking that they are king and queen of the show. Just because no one else is playing the game doesn't make you the best player. What's that saying? In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.

- Marty being a good player then getting cocky and screwing up.

- Anonymous useless people making it far. Record too many this season! Chase, Dan, Naonka, Kelly S, Benry.

- A water wheel spit-gulp challenge (most creative challenge by far)

Would like to watch

#1 Borneo

#2 Outback

#6 Amazon

#8 All-Stars

#10 Palau

#11 Guatemala

#13 Cook Islands

#15 China

#19 Samoa

nat&kat

2010-10-18T22:40:00.001+08:00

http://survivorsucks.yuku.com/topic/73855/t/NAT-KAT-TOPGODDESSES-MD-lt-3-ICE-QUEENS---ARCTIC-CIRCLE-.html

At Cold Storage...

2010-09-28T19:54:00.001+08:00

This is what I saw at Cold Storage Valley Point after school today Tues Sept 28..
My new tagline :)
http://www.linuskoh.com/2009/11/12/choosy-soulmates/
If you think you're choosy, we must be soulmates.

Sloppy freakshow babies! Somewhere in the English countryside in a stately manner home Madonna is weeping!

2010-09-12T17:15:00.002+08:00

http://www.entertonement.com/clips/bdxmwccwqs--Glee-Sue-Madonna-Is-Weeping

http://twistdmentality.livejournal.com/67370.html
http://twistdmentality.livejournal.com/ best picspams ever

Chemistry

2010-09-01T16:02:00.000+08:00

http://liakatas.org/chemblog/

TOK and EE

2010-08-29T19:50:00.001+08:00

http://ibtokspot.blogspot.com
http://microbiologyprojects.blogspot.com/2008/10/determination-of-bacteriocin-activity.html
http://www.instantshift.com/2008/10/05/21-most-used-fonts-by-professional-designers/

Hitching a ride from Catherine Feeny

2010-08-23T12:04:00.001+08:00

Erin exiled in Mongolia!
http://www.mtv.com/videos/exiled-ep-10-erin/1598340/playlist.jhtml

Catherine Feeny and other CGPLS
http://cutegirlsplayinglovesongs.com/?p=701

Singapore in the 1960-70s

2010-07-24T21:52:00.001+08:00

http://timesofmylife.wordpress.com/

Dear Laokokok,

Thank you for this priceless treasure trove of memories of past Singapore. I chanced upon your blog when searching for the past gasholder in kallang riverside park. Seems you did an article on it and practically everything else in that time period! Your articles are all so interesting, and your pictures and investigative notes are very thorough and poignant. Not only have you helped your generation relive their younger days, you have enlightened the younger generation on their past and allowed them to develop a greater appreciation and understanding of their history! Coming from a 16-year old (Me), it is definitely a passage back in time.

You have helped me recall some things my parents told me as a child about their own childhood; such as the 1960s bus tickets, the five stones games, their old houses, and the early form of ERP…etc. Some things, they don’t even remember already given their age, so they can only tell me half the story. But you cannot imagine how elated I am when I see all their tales come alive again on your blog, complete with pictorial and first hand evidence that all these events once happened before right here in Singapore.

I never studied History, nor liked it. But I am truly touched by what you are doing. Remember the chinese saying “A person who does not know his past is like a tree without roots”? Thanks for helping me understand this colorful period of our nation’s development. Sometimes I wish I was born in my parents’ time period – wonder how different life would be…definitely something that would get me thinking.

Please continue feeding us with nuggets of the past!

2010-06-12T00:26:00.003+08:00

polo ish

http://www.natnatvip.org/search/label/水球王子%20Polo%20Boys

GTA Saved Games Download Site

http://www.thegtaplace.com/downloads/c15-gta-vice-city-save-games

first ionisation energy - impt read for chem

http://www.chemguide.co.uk/atoms/properties/ies.html

post6/6

2010-06-11T23:57:00.002+08:00

http://www.helium.com/items/1463301-best-comebacks-for-insults

http://www.helium.com/items/635496-best-comebacks-for-insults

http://www.thejokeyard.com/ ~ Jokes online

http://www.pixlr.com/ ~ Free online photo editor

http://www.testq.com/content/sporcle_games_1 ~ Can you list all 50 states?

http://www.ipersonic.com/love/DI.html ~ The Dreamy Idealist

http://www.tube2tone.com/ ~ Youtube to ringtone

What's Good For You!!!

http://health.ninemsn.com.au/articleindex.aspx?sectionid=10274&sectionname=whatsgoodforyou

http://www.lifestylechannel.com.au/shows/show.asp?id=353&tab=episodes

Who wants nice wallpapers?

2010-06-11T23:14:00.002+08:00

http://www.searchslate.com/

http://www.a6.com/?r=f

http://www.studiotwentyeight.com/wallpapers.htm

and http://www.downloads.nl/local/en/

2010-06-11T23:07:00.002+08:00

Meaningful lyrics and meaningful pictures

http://breatheme--lyrics.xanga.com/

Christian Bale is totally the long lost cousin of Kermit the Frog.

http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/27350111.html#cutid1

2010-06-11T21:51:00.002+08:00

http://www.4shared.com/dir/8285560/35051b71/karaoke.html

http://www.funnyplace.org/

http://www.vpl.ca/ccg/Geography.html - Chinese-Canadians

http://www.kids-in-mind.com/ - Movie ratings that actually work

http://www.calendarsthatwork.com/calendar.php?calendarId=monthLSf1 - Calendar printouts

http://www.zedge.net/ringtones/ QUIRKY RINGTONE FILES

http://coverlandia.blogspot.com/

http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookPS.html - Photosynthesis!

http://www.fastplants.org/index.php - WELCOME TO FAST PLANTS®

To know a plant, grow a plant!

http://belindazlq.blog.163.com/profile/ Zheng Lao Shi

2010-06-11T21:10:00.002+08:00

http://www.midomi.com/

Search for Music Using Your Voice by Singing or Humming

http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/01/when-your-apple-ipod-hangs-without.html

When Your Apple iPod Hangs Without Reason!

http://www.abstractfonts.com/

Free fonts

http://www.gazzump.com/

Download Youtube Videos

http://www.mediaconverter.org/

http://www.squidoo.com/sarcastic-tees

Funny Sarcastic Quotes

http://nicerecipes.wordpress.com/

Nostalgic Recipes from Nice

http://images.google.com.sg/imglanding?q=sea%20otter&imgurl=http://www.birdsasart.com/Sea-Otter-older-individual-_L8X0087-Konuji-Island,-Kodiak-AK.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.birdsasart.com/bn207.htm&usg=__Uct7Z6A7h5g8swHSFvuRskDaHNk=&h=411&w=650&sz=59&hl=en&sig2=Zkasu1pal52OCkxkvj31mA&um=1&tbnid=p3skhuA175SNXM:&tbnh=87&tbnw=137&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsea%2Botter%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1C1GGLS_en-USSG297SG305%26sa%3DN%26start%3D60%26um%3D1&ei=FIaRSqbCDZDq7AOy4IHiCg&ndsp=20&rlz=1C1GGLS_en-USSG297SG305&sa=N&start=60&um=1

SEA OTTER :)

Moonlight Resonance is over!

2010-02-07T19:18:00.000+08:00

Just watched the ending. Excellent show, even know there are some unrealistic themes. TVB always has a way of giving a happy ending even when the plot goes into deep cut-throat tension.

My favourite scene was when Hung argued with her daughter and that slap was even better than the "glasses off, Hor Ma" slap! It was very realistic and kinda sad to see all her lackeys betraying her one by one - first Ga Mei then Yi Po then now her Sum-Lui.

You can see how she loses it after slapping her daughter and tries to make everyone believe that she still has one person on her side - Mama. Since dead men don't talk, she knows that she can twist whatever Mama says into helping her but sadly no one believes. In fact, Mama's "last words" to her are actually her own evil thoughts and desires; she wants Cho and Hor to break up, as well as Tsau and Ho. Eventually when she cried and yelled out "Mhm moi ham!!!" (i shall not cry) you can see how she has lost her own endgame. I like how we got to see the real Hung, it was like peeling an onion, we were seeing all her hypocritical masks being pulled off layer by layer until her very core - a vulnerable vengeful woman.

Excellent portrayal.

http://paint-pops.net/episode-summaries/moonlight-resonance/moonlight-resonance-episode-40-summary.php#more-1655

Moonlight Resonance

2010-01-31T19:17:00.003+08:00

I have been a great fan of MR & HOG, currently I have watched MR up to episode 33. I used to like MR more, but now I just find it more and more confusing with the addition of so many characters, maybe HOG is better. Nevertheless, the drama in Moonlight is excellent and Michelle Yim as the villain is good enough to keep me watching. As of Ep33.

I'm glad they finally got on track and Yan Hung is finally the real villain. There have been so many 小人 (small bad guy) in this show, such as Ka-mei, Yan tse, Ah Kung, Hung's ex husband and Sa Yi (who thankfully has changed for the better). I'm excited that Yan Hung is finally accumulating her empire and sides have emerged in the Kam household. Previously it used to be unclear.

On one side we would have Hor, Ka, Ho, Yuet, Hing, Chung, Gong gong etc,

On another side we would have Hung, Kung, Kung's Ma, and the company.

Jo ba, Kam Lo Tai, Tsau/Sum Lui, Sa-yi, Ka-mei would always be undecided and hopping in between sides.

It's quite unrealistic that peace can still reign when a family has been torn apart like this.

Fortunately, boundaries are clearer now. Joba, KLT, Sayi have joined "Hor", and Ka-mei, Tsau have joined "Hung". Although if I were to be picky, it's hard to see when they switch boundaries, because characters are often on on-off relationships with each other, an example would be Gong Gong, who threw his shoe at Jo Ba in anger, and yet next episode they are having fun dining at Hor Ma's. Another example is how KamLoTai hates Hor ma's guts all along, but suddenly after she nearly dies she is on Hor Ma's side and turns viciously against Hung. Can an old woman (or any body ftm) change so quickly overnight??? This gives audience a very confused perception and ultimately leads us to wonder if this is just to build up the drama and lead us round in circles.

Realism apart, this drama is worth a good watch. While I am glad that the draggy irrelevant bits and pieces of petty scheming and love triangles are evidently coming to an end as they reach the grand climax (Hung Yi's endgame), it keeps the drama alive. At least now audience are given something definite to HATE about - Yan Hung. She is now the mastermind.

I still have so many questions. Isn't Jo Ba the cause of all this? Why would Hung backstab her own 'sis' Hor Ma? Why did Hung still choose to be a Third Party when her own husband Keung left her for another Third Part mistress? Is Sayi good or bad? But it's ok, look over all this, after all its a show. Let us all sit back and watch as Hung Yi attempts a massive company overhaul and Jo, Hor and the children race to stop her from getting the upperhand. 7 more episodes, there's sure to be much less wishy-washy and much more REAL drama.

PS: Love the slaps.

http://asianfanatics.net/forum/topic/452686-tvb-moonlight-resonance-%26%2323478;%26%2322909;%26%2326376;%26%2322291;-airing-july-2008/page__st__640__gopid__6542377&#entry6542377

My Sister's Keeper

2009-11-02T17:59:00.002+08:00

First of all, I read the book and it was so beautiful, so touching, so riveting, then came the ending which really f***ed me over. *** SPOILER ALERT - IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE BOOK, DO NOT LOOK BEYOND HERE *** To refresh our memory, at the end, after Anna wins the lawsuit and everything, she dies in an abrupt car accident. Instead, Kate survives with Anna's kidney and lives a seemingly normal life and the tables are turned. I hated this ending because of 2 reasons: 1) It spoils the initial read and anticipation of the plot. Sure, it might be a surprising, creative twist as Anna, the sister who should not die, dies. But this is a sad and wicked turn of events, and most importantly a bit unbelievable and laughable that after so much fighting for medical emancipation, she could just die off like that. It is as if we have read the story thus far to see a happy (or if not at least a credible ending like if Kate dies) ending, and then Boomz - our protagonist dies? Also I believe it is entirely unnecesary twist, and comes across as more of the author's lame attempt to pump up the tragic factor of the story. Well Jodie, you win. Wouldn't it be better if Anna decided on her own free will to donate the kidney to Kate, and they both lived happily ever after? Or maybe Kate dies, the family moves on and learns riveting lessons about life, and Anna is freed but Kate remains forever in her heart. I believe that these 2 endings could be used and still have the same heartwarming effect that the story has on readers. Just imagine: In the epilogue, Kate narrates the aftermath of Anna's death and brings the story to a tearful end. WHAT IF they switch roles, Anna narrates Kate's death? I imagined that many times and the emotional effect, in my opinion, is just as touching. Hence I say that Anna's death is unnecessary - many other successful endings could be considered and put to the same good use (as seen in the Movie's alternate ending) 2) It also is rather unrealistic on how an individual (Anna) could suffer so much in her life of pain. It almost mocks the natural order of how things work and destiny. Jodi Picoult sends out a gloomy message that Anna is forever Kate's noble "keeper" right from her birth till the day she dies in the accident. It is evident that Anna leads quite a sad life as seen in many other parts of the book, especially the poetic extracts Jodi includes in the book, whereby Anna and Kate are compared as fire and water respectively, and they cannot exist together, and one will cause the other's death eventually - these are all forebodings that one of them will die at the end; the shocker is that many expect sick, bedridden kate to die, but it is anna instead. To the author, why kill off your star character after she has just guided us through the whole lawsuit avalanche? Why not kill off Kate? Not that I hate Kate and want her dead, but it's just that it's so unbelievably ludicrous that the healthy person dies and yet the person they have been fighting for and just about to let go - lives. Perhaps Jodi wants us to understand the ironies of life and how unpredictable it is, and that is a true moral I live by... I have learnt to accept this ending already, as a series of most unfortunate but ultimately true-to-heart events. But deep in a corner of my heart, there is a sense of emptiness and loss that brings me back to when I just finished the book and asked myself one question: "What meaning can we then make out of Anna's life?" Perhaps it's just part of Jodi's further intricacies and higher level musings, and I appreciate that. I was just wondering if any other people feel the same, or otherwise? Please share your rationale, I am especially interested to know from the people who actually like such an ending. Thanks P.S: you know, usually when there is a movie adaptation of a book, it cannot be compared to the book. But I am safely going to say that the movie's ending sure beats the book's hands down. It's much more logical, believable and yet has the same emotional effect. Why complicate matters when the subject of medical emancipation is already so complex in the novel? I am happy for kate, but Jodi also did not state clearly if she is free of her API disease now. As i see it, she only went for a kidney transplant, nowhere in the novel was there any literary or scientific evidence that receiving anna's kidney immediately meant that Kate was cured and healthy. For Good. need to clear that up too

I know the Singapore Lift Auntie!

2009-09-10T22:09:00.000+08:00

The link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlDqDFWW5rs
http://www.filecabi.net/video/beltsinga.html
The lady in the video lives in my estate. The problem is I actually sympathise with her although she is portrayed as a mad villain attacking a layman and his child in the video. This is because the video taker, whose identity I am 99.999% sure, is a well-known enemy of hers in the estate (name shall not be disclosed), and is equally a roguish person and probably provoked her first, AND i can tell you he is a total ass who hid behind the guard and took the video, then reedited the first part to make it look as if the problem was caused by the dog without a leash when the true roots of this incident is actually due to a personal feud with her. She is known as hot-tempered, but I guess it is also a lot on the guy's part that caused her to just go crazy.

Roar!

And other nasty aunties!
http://allwickedlife.blogspot.com/2007/06/nasty-aunties.html

Mixpod

2009-07-10T21:51:00.001+08:00

If anyone wants a good music player on their blog, you should check out www.mixpod.com for a nice player with an iPod skin!

This blog needs Parental Control???

2009-07-06T11:40:00.002+08:00

http://www.parentalcontrolbar.org/

Get Obsessed With Ali!

2009-06-28T18:53:00.001+08:00

Another new treat!

http://www.getobsessedwithali.com/

Why don't I have a true religion?

2009-06-18T02:12:00.002+08:00

Well, read this excerpt from a book I read called Eldest:

From Eldest Pg 543 – 544

Oromis: “We give credence only to that which we can prove exists. Since we cannot find evidence that gods, miracles and other supernatural things are real, we do not trouble ourselves about them. If that were to change, if God were to reveal himself to us, then we would accept the new information and revise our position.

Q: It seems a cold world without something... more.

A: On the contrary, it is a better world. A place where we are responsible for our own actions, where we can be kind to one another because we want to and because it is the right thing to do instead of being frightened into behaving by the threat of divine punishment. I won't tell you what to believe. It is far better to be taught to think critically and then be allowed to make your own decisions than to have someone else's notions thrust upon you.

Saphira: Only do not ignore reality in order to comfort yourself, for once you do, you make it easy for others to deceive you.

Now do you understand? "Oh if there is a God out there, please forgive me for not submitting to you; for it would be against my own conscience to cry your name out of fear of divine punishment should I do otherwise, instead of proclaiming your sovereignty because I truly mean it. It does not happen that way."

Teletubbies

2009-06-17T00:15:00.001+08:00

If you are like me and dislike teletubbies, here's a stress reliever.

http://www.owensworld.com/flashgames/play-199.htm Teletubbies kill Flash Game

Bored?

2009-06-12T01:29:00.001+08:00

Check out this cool website

ok not really http://beautifulagony.com/public/main.php it obscene

Bored? Play Deal or no deal Live @ http://dealornodeal.mediacorptv.sg/game.htm now!

An urgent matter

2009-06-12T01:28:00.002+08:00

I never really imagined how bad the sex trafficking in Eastern Europe was until I watched this video. Watch it, and help to spread the awareness.

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/flash_point/001moldova/

I guess I'm growing up, along with the world...

Insightful Commentary

2009-05-01T18:37:00.000+08:00

argh shouldnt be doin this... must be studying

http://www.film.com/features/story/miss-tennessee-crowned-usa-live/13922914

watch this guys weird commentary of miss usa 2007

Check this out!

2008-12-10T00:04:00.003+08:00

Check this out!

http://villageofjoy.com/50-strange-buildings-of-the-world/

Many cool weird houses, including this one...

and many more! This whole website is pretty cool! Like a dignified version of funnyjunk.com!

P.S. You can see Part 2 here:

http://villageofjoy.com/50-strange-buildings-of-the-world-part-ii/

Our dear Esplanade made it right into the 50th mark :)

Admin stuff

2008-11-25T16:19:00.000+08:00

Admin check:

check transcript & true

Mad Marmalade http://www.planetmadtv.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1201

FilmingCarrie (1976) Pier Avenue Junior High School - 1645 Valley Drive, Hermosa Beach, CA, USA San Fernando, CA, USA Santa Paula, CA, USA

Obama & Personal Stuff

2008-11-25T16:00:00.003+08:00

Obama N Stuff

I was surfing on Youtube yesterday and found a rather interesting comment. As you all know, I am not going Pro-Obama in this presidential campaign. Not that I upport McCain, but I think he is just less of an idiot than Obama is. I could go on & on about this, but I think I will just sum it up:

Many people support Obama only because of his alleged promise of hope. Nothing more. He just depends on his charisma. Go to your school. Ask the peeps who they support. 99% say Obama. Ask them again to name two policies he has made. 1% can answer you. 98.5% don't know what to say. The other 0.5% just starts going on about his charisma, his black promise, his hope all over again.

His policies are just as skimpy as Bush's and McCain's. So he won, ok, surprise surprise. But why do i see people crying and screaming themselves crazy in joy? Is it that worth celebrating? Has he just appeared before you crucified on the cross like Jesus Christ? America, you are degrading yourself. Eat that. ok?

I guess we should go back to the quote that sums it all up. Yes...

"I find it amazing that people are still spewing this hope bullshit like a broken mantra, I don't know if anyone has noticed but hope does not get anything done. Obama is an idiot on a level that Bush could not even hope to reach, Obama had to call Clinton and ask what the economic crisis was because he didn't understand it. All I can say is its refreshing to see someone who is not bending over and sucking Obama's cock."

WaltzoftheDead (from Youtube) is the genius behind this, ahem, comment. Wherever you are, i salute you, because you have said whatever i have wanted to say in the most appropriate manner, albeit with some vulgarities and suggestive imagery.

So yeah, that's it for Obama and America! :)

91.3

2008-11-25T15:47:00.002+08:00

913, get it?

Well Well well what can i say? My fate with radio 91.3 FM is... well, good!

29 Oct 08 - Won CD of the Week - Metro Station - with funbag

3 Nov 08 - Won but did not qualify (already won in past 30days) -->> this one got me pissed off for quite a while, b/c they were giving away Natasha's CD and Boyzone... and I SO wanted Natasha's pktful of Sunshine! :( -> and to make matters worse, they actually gave BOTH cds to the next girl who won. lucky, eh.

14 Nov 08 - After the lesson learnt with using my own identity to vote on Hot30 and getting a slap (literally) in the face, I've been using my mum's hp to take part in promotions. This week for P!nk, but no win so far.. well, opportunity knocks once, sometimes twice (as u have seen) but not thrice right? :( Well apparently no, b/c today I used my mum's hp to qualify for movie tickets to Four Christmases trying my luck again... and I won!! woohoo! I can't believe I'm so lucky ;) Thanks JJ

UPDATE@@@@@@@@@@@ friday night 14/11

WOOHOO! cant believe it! right after i posted the 14 Nov stuff, they called and gave me the CD of the night by P!nk! is my address rigged or something in the polls? that means technically they drew me 4 times already in the first 2 weeks i knew the station! omg. and some people don't even get one chance! right, Martin? :P

but unfortunately, with the win of the CD, i can't have four pairs of movie premium tickets to Four Christmases and see SISSY SPACEK, my fave actress, who also starred in CARRIE if u remember. well, tha munnot be greedy!

http://www.radio913.com/ go there now. lol

Baby Names

2008-11-25T15:29:00.002+08:00

Baby Names

I was thinking of cool names for babies today, being my random self again. So anyway, this is what I thought were cool baby names I might tell people next time :)

1) Juno

This is some cool unisex name! Remember Juno from the film of the same title? Yes the one who got knocked up...

that is such a fake tummy!

The girl's name Juno is of Latin origin, and its meaning is "queen of heaven". Roman mythology: Juno was the protector of women and ofmarriage; hence June is known as the bridal month. In modern times, "Junoesque" is used for tall women with curvy figures. Now, Juno can be used for both girls and boys.

2) Addison

Basically son of Adam... lol

a rather lad-dish name, i must say

3) Aiden

Meaning: Fiery

Origin: Celtic/Gaelic

Gender: Mostly Male, but now unisex

I wouldn't recommend this for girls... have read that many girls are teased as tomboys because of it! However, personally i feel that, if you are a girl with a fiery temperament, why not?

Aiden is a name of strength, fire, something that is hard to defeat.

- Common nicknames: alien, AIDS

4) Emory

Meaning: Leader

Origin: German

this is pretty unique huh!

5) Ike

Ike! from the name Isaac. With Hebrew origin. Hurricane Ike eh!

This sounds like a rebel name, but full of personality.

It's apparently quite famous as well (Ike Barinholtz [see below], Ike Turner, Ike Taylor)

6) Baron?

no i just think i got bored. its too scary. maybe a last name?

Need help finding? http://www.name-meanings.com/search.php

Bye-hi.

MADtv

2008-11-25T15:01:00.006+08:00

MADtv

First of all today, I'm very sad that MADtv is closing down after 14 whole seasons of fun! Well, It is sad, but necessary. Any series will get boring after 10 over seasons no matter how funny it is. (Just look at the Simpsons). What is regrettable is how late they announced this. They should have discontinued the series at 2002-3. In my opinion, when Stephnie Weir left, the series spiralled downhill. Even Michael McDonald & Bobby Lee could not hold it up then. Now the series is right at the flopline and they decide to discontinue it only now... that's just embarrasing. They should follow Friends and leave a good mark in the fans, instead of letting it disintegrate slowly and break all our hearts *sniff sniff* (psst but it owns SNL big time!)

Well, now I guess we just have to remember the good sketches aplenty!

Cheers to:

7) Antonia (Nicole Sullivan)

6) The Vancome Lady (Nicole Sullivan)

5) Dot (Stephnie Weir)

4) Lida & Melina (Nicole Sullivan & Debra Wilson)

3) Miss Swan (Alex Borstein)

2) Lorraine (Mo Collins)

1)) Stuart Larkin (Michael McDonald)

oh thats my favourite picture if you got it flaunt it ahaha

MADtv I love you big time. Forever.
KISSES, will miss u ;(

The Great Kookie Is Backkkk

2008-11-25T14:39:00.004+08:00

The Great Kookie Is Backkk

Ok I suddenly have lots to say, so I'm back after a 1year-plus hiatus :)

I will try to revive this blog, so this is what I will plan to do next:

1) More posts

to keep this blog updated, i need to post more (obviously ya)... no one will probably need it, but i need to keep track of my life after all. I may even post notes that I have made of my studies! How interesting, right??? gaahahah

2) New Tagboard

After so long I kinda forgot how to access my tagboard... i guess I'll make a new one soon. Lookout for it :D http://www.tag-board.com/

3) Other notes

I am currently on FACEBOOK! yayyyy.... but anyway, please check out my facebook profile for more info on me. Over here, it's just blogging and recording my thoughts. Link: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1244740521

Also check out my youtube page, i really love youtube as well - esp the madtv sketches!

http://www.youtube.com/user/Gurizin

This blog is officially revived as of 25th November 2008. (i hope)

Blog Yearly Update

2007-03-15T21:26:00.000+08:00

It is already March 2007. My blog is still functioning well. I feel good about it.

2006-08-15T17:45:00.000+08:00

These are some stuff I like:

http://www.00fun.com/junglehowdy004.shtml Jungle Smooch Ecard

http://www.00fun.com/dailyfortcookie381.shtml Fortune Cookie Ecard

http://www.scholastic.com/harrypotter/challenge/ Firefox addons

The Click Five

2006-07-29T14:30:00.000+08:00

Sean introduced me to click five and i actually found it quite nice! He likes Catch Your Wave. The tune is rather catchy but I found the video nicer. In terms of audio, Friday Night is the best. I was shocked when Sean told me it was about that thing on the bed.

My life has been up and down recently. I always get scolded by trs and can't concentrate, but it has been fun!

July 1st

2006-07-01T13:56:00.000+08:00

Wow! Haven't blogged for so long! But I suddenly feel like coming back. Today couldn't be more embarrasing! My bus card expired, I acted stupid in tuition, OMG!

Yesterday was my first NPCC Training this term and it really bores. Sounds dumb, rite? Not for you to read, this is my personal diary with all my day records :P...

carrie

2006-05-03T18:49:00.000+08:00

Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOVZIUElaMc

**********NEW UPDATE!!! WATCH THIS!!! 27/6/06 tHIS IS A CLEAN VID, NO DIRTYPILLOWS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7T3yfdNPBM&search=CARRIE%20KING

Banning of rude and boring websites

2006-01-09T23:27:00.001+08:00

Recently I came across a TERRIBLE website. It criticises nearly everything on earth, from kid's drawings to Cameron Diaz's reality show. If you dare to visit it, you can see how evil it is. It contain's a lot of vulgarities, so if you are mummy's goodie goodie please don't. Here is some information about the author, from Wikipedia.

About Maddox
George Ouzounian, born in 1978 in Salt Lake City Utah, is the creator of the website The Best Page in the Universe. He is of Armenian descent, and has a younger brother. He took the pseudonym from an old cartoon called "Madox 01".

Education
He grew up in Woods Cross, Utah, attending Woods Cross High School, and later the University of Utah with Mathematics as his major. In addition to English, he also speaks Armenian fluently and is currently learning Mandarin Chinese. In the future, he would like to work in Bermuda, Hong Kong or Thailand, and eventually work toward another degree or a masters.
He is familiar with several programming languages, including: Informix 4GL/SQL, Perl, C/C++, sed/awk, Unix shell (korn, bourne, bash), Pascal and PHP.

Career and work
Despite his professed hatred toward it, he currently lives in Utah, and until 2004, was a programmer for a telemarketing company working from 40 to 55 hours a week.
Ouzounian's primary focus began with his very popular website which now also serves as a launching pad for his various other projects. On August 11, 2004, he announced the production of a comic, although nothing has yet been published. On February 22, 2005, he announced that he was writing a book, to be published in June 2006 by Kensington Books. On October 18, 2005, he revealed through his mailing list that the book will be titled The Alphabet of Manliness, and will be approximately 150 pages long.
On June 17, 2005, he invited videogame programmers to "make a game that doesn't suck." Ouzounian posted a flash video (which originated as a YTMND) on his website depicting what the game might include. The video shows, among other things, a pirate running over elderly people and children, attacking zombies, kicking a dog over a fence, using beef jerky to heal himself, a lesbian scene, and an exploding dinosaur. As stated on his website, he wants a game "where the main character murders feminists with his giant boner, lesbian centaurs get their backs broken with sledge hammers, elderly people get body slammed into cactuses, and emo dumbasses get prostate examinations with the business end of my shoe."

Interests
Ouzounian has discussed his musical preferences in several interviews. On his website, he has mentioned few artists which he listens to. In terms of the discussion of music on his website, he prominently discusses/lists music he dislikes. Throughout the site, however, he hints about liking the band Pantera. In addition, during an interview, Maddox mentioned his favorite musician to be Towa Tei "because the third hand is just badass". He also lists Dmitri Shostakovich as one of his favorite composers. He has also stated that Steven Wright is his favorite comedian.

The website
The site originated from a text document he wrote listing 50 things that made him angry. He gave the list to several people on EFnet's #coders. The response was positive, and he started the controversial website in 1997.
As the title suggests, the website proclaims itself to be "The Best Page In The Universe", a name stemming from Yahoo! policy to not include in their search engine any page that claims to be the best of anything. In protest, Maddox claimed the site to be the best in the universe and named it accordingly. The format could be considered that of a weblog, although Maddox himself disagrees with the characterization.
The page is headed with a Che Guevara-like image of the author, wearing an eye patch and a skull and cross bones on his beret. Maddox uses this image as a parody of a revolutionary icon, and does not proclaim himself to be a socialist or communist. However, he often proclaims himself to be a pirate, and draws himself as such in his articles.
The website's layout is simple and minimalised in order to save on bandwidth costs as well as to protest against flashy websites with little content. It uses large text in light colors on a black background instead of the more widespread black text on a white background. As Maddox explains in his FAQ, black text on a white background is like staring at a lightbulb. All the code on the site is written by hand in vi, since "anything else is for failures."
Maddox also has an online store which sells merchandise such as stickers and t-shirts with controversial messages such as "For every animal you don't eat, I'm going to eat three" and "Littering kicks ass."
News is also posted at infrequent intervals. The pieces range from major things such as the announcements of Maddox's book, comic, and illustrators, to smaller things such as responding to people's requests.

Articles
The articles as a whole have slowly evolved throughout the years. Early articles (around 1998 or so) were short and posted frequently (every week or so). As updates became more sparse (Maddox said, "Since I'm no longer writing that book, updates should be more regular now." ), the articles have become much longer in length. Newer articles also include media such as sound clips and add-on pages to enhance his point. Some recent articles have also been translated, such as the Sideways article.
Maddox often adds images in his articles to illustrate a point. Controversial drawings on his website include cows eating his nuts, hippies being killed, elderly people being fired into the sun, and similar images intended to shock the viewer. Maddox claims that he draws most of the controversial pictures himself using Microsoft Paint and occasionally Adobe Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, and other graphics manipulation software.
Updates to his site have become so infrequent due to his other projects that their non-appearance has become an on-going joke. He recently launched a competition for people to send him cartoons about himself or his website, most of which are attacks on his largely adolescent male fanbase who continually harass him via e-mail for new articles. Entries so far include a depiction of Maddox leaping out of a computer monitor and smashing two fans' faces together, and a cartoon of one boy who checks the site for new content only to find a cartoon of a boy checking the site, who finds only a cartoon of a boy checking the site, et cetera.

April Fool's Days
On April 1, 2004, the site was changed around as part of an April Fool's joke. The title of the page was changed to "One of the Better Pages in the Universe", and the new image showed the author superimposed on Mr. Clean. The caption was changed to "this page is about my opinions. if you disagree, you have a right to your opinion and I can respect that." The background of the page changed from black to white. He made a new series of articles parodying the posts that have come to represent the majority of blogs.
Many visitors thought that the joke was legitimate, that Maddox had either "turned into a hippy", his site had been hacked or someone accessed his computer while he was away. Maddox says that he received over 2000 emails over the April Fool's joke. In response, he authored a retort on his site, saying that he had lost all respect for people who visit his site due to their inability to realize a joke when they see one: "I seriously contemplated taking down my site and just posting links to animal porn for you retards." On April 1, 2005, the site was changed again, this time as a parody of a Terri Schiavo support blog. It was made to resemble a poorly designed Xanga page, with satirical comments by fake users, and a photo of Ashley Olsen as a user picture - a micro-rant in itself, as a comment similar in content to the 'normal' Maddox had been posted.

Hidden pages
Maddox's website is also known to contain several "hidden pages," found only by fans typing in random URLs. These pages are often unfinished works, or first drafts of articles that were moved around. There is a list of known "hidden pages" available at The Best Fan Page in the Universe

Internet popularity
The website is notorious for its profane manner of satirizing anyone and everyone whom its author deems unworthy. Even Maddox's fans from time to time become the object of his egotistical rants. Sometimes his rants are about society itself, but often he talks about recent items of interest, such as the Grand Theft Auto Hot Coffee mod, and the films Revenge Of The Sith and Sideways. His articles are often quoted as a voice of satire or truth.
The popularity of the website is attributable to many things. He writes anti-establishment, non-partisan diatribes, dissociating with any party or philosophy. For example, he calls both Republicans and Democrats "dirty bastards", and tires of being labeled a liberal or conservative . On the website itself, the page is simple, with large font on a black background, and has no ads or popups at all, a rarity in a place where both are the norm on high-traffic websites.
Both his rants on society and recent events and his website as a whole have made it an enormous hit. On August 18, 2003, he said that "The Best Page" receives more visitors than McDonald's, Pepsi, and other large corporations, even though he has spent nothing on advertising or promotion. On March 18, 2005, the site reached its 100,000,000th hit, and has many people visiting the site at any given time.
The large following that Maddox commands has led to some major Internet backlashes. In March 2005, Maddox slammed Orbitz.com for "selling me an impossible itinerary," causing rifts in the online travel booking industry. The article and backlash against Orbitz prompted many online travel corporations to offer solutions and customer service lines to rectify mistakes in itineraries. In other incidents, merely posting a link has led to his fans flooding the link: the Mothers Against Maddox petition was flooded after Maddox posted it; likewise, when a radio DJ stole from his Cameron Diaz rant, Maddox reported that the radio station got flooded with thousands of visitors, callers and people emailing them to call them on the plagiarism.
Maddox is also an Internet celebrity. In a response to an email that accused him of "hid[ing] behind [his] computer," he boasted, "I get recognized in public all the time, don't you think that if I was afraid that I wouldn't post my badass pirate picture on the internet for millions to see?"

Criticism
He is accused on his hatemail pages of not actually arguing the points the detractors make, but simply distracting the reader with visual aids and insulting the detractor; however his defenders would argue that this is intentional, and the main criticism he is making of his detractors is that they care.
Maddox is also frequently criticized for not updating frequently. He has responded to this criticism by posting a news update titled Foreplay on May 24, 2004, and a special request on February 12, 2005. Small updates are sometimes posted on the front page: an update on August 22, 2005 tells visitors, "Updates coming soon, I have work, get off my nuts."
Due to the nature of his rants, some of his fans occasionally come to criticize him for attacking their favorite thing. He calls these people his "biggest ex-fan" and says he has received "one email like this per week about every single one of my posts since 1998."

Blocking
Due to the controversial content, both countries and some internet filtering products have banned his website. On January 8, 2004, the United Arab Emirates was the first country to ban his website. On September 11, 2005, the site was banned in both Saudi Arabia and Qatar. On September 13, 2004. Other countries where he is banned include Myanmar. Maddox wrote the Websense article in which he described being filtered and banned on several services, such as Websense, Lexmark, and the Department of Defense.

Politics
Certain message boards have had heated discussions about Maddox and the political power he might wield with the seemingly large number of young followers that he can influence. A recent outburst was shown when a MAM (Mothers against Maddox) poll was opened; immediately, thousands and thousands of pro-Maddox readers started posting rather vulgar comments on the poll, entirely destroying it.
It is estimated that at least a million people or more read Maddox's site regularly; even if a fraction of those people agreed with Maddox's political ideas, he could affect political elections. Some have even suggested that, if he was to run for office, he could gain a significant following, either due to serious or satirical voters. Maddox himself has championed a Regressive party platform and notes on his page counter that he cannot run for president until 2016.

Mothers Against Maddox
Beth Robbins, a mother, formed Mothers Against Maddox. Her slogan was, "Help us Fight and Finally Shut Down the Most Hateful site on the Internet." She also created a petition to get the site shut down. When Maddox wrote about it in his Websense article and posted a link to the original Geocities site, Mothers Against Maddox was inundated with visitors and repeatedly exceeded its bandwidth limit, so Maddox hosted a mirror. The Internet petition Robbins set up was ridiculed because it is unregulated; people can sign numerous times, and on PetitionOnline, signs cannot be removed or edited. After Maddox posted the petition link, the MAM petition shot up to the Top 10 Active Petitions, with Maddox fans flooding the petition and posting extremely vulgar comments. The petition was eventually deactivated.
A popular theory is that Maddox himself created Mothers Against Maddox. No evidence has shown this to be true. Supporters of this theory claim that some of Maddox's writing style is apparent in some of the pages, and that the site contains links to MAVAV.org, a hoax page set up to mock parents in favor of video game censorship. This theory is based on the assumption that Maddox mirrored the website to thebestpageintheuniverse.com, an alias to "The Best Page in the Universe", to prevent the real site from going down due to lack of bandwidth. The real page has sometimes been spotted working when its bandwidth wasn't clogged up. Additionally, some people have also emailed Beth Robbins and received replies.

Something Awful
Maddox has a long-standing feud with Something Awful webmaster Richard Kyanka and many of the site's thousands of forum members. After a falling-out with the site's administrators, Maddox berated Something Awful as being too capitalist (since it costs $9.99 to register on their message boards). Detractors point out that Maddox sells merchandise from his website. Unlike Something Awful, Maddox does not require payment to use any part of his site. Maddox states on his online store that "You're not doing me a favor by buying this stuff. I'm doing you a favor by selling it."
Maddox registered a Something Awful forums account, and posted two contributions in a thread dedicated to turning Windows backgrounds into video games. He then responded to criticism about his articles in another thread, as well as criticising Something Awful in return and attracting negative attention from the administrators. He later posted a thread containing a link to a parody of the Something Awful front page, and was then banned.
Something Awful has struck back against Maddox a few times, ridiculing his alleged elitism and his style of writing.

Imitations
During the nine years that it has been online, "The Best Page in the Universe" has gained a significant cult following and has spawned many imitation pages. Generally, these "knock-off" websites can be placed in one of three different categories:
Parodies which publically assert Maddox has influenced their website; many of these even proudly imitate Maddox's style of writing, artwork, logos, and trademark colour scheme.
Satire websites which claim their writing has not been affected by Maddox.
Thieving websites which copy the exact content of articles written by Maddox.

><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>
Mothers Against Maddox.
Actually, many ppl including me believe that the creator of THIS page is also Maddox. That guy's a loony. Free advertisements eh Maddox? No, it's defame idiot.

Anyway, I'm just copying the links if you want quick proof:

Here, he tries to fool kids into believing that suicide is the "right thing" to do.
Here, he promotes child abuse.
Here, he insults "unfit" people and makes them seem like they're inferior to others.
Here and here, he promotes hate against women while using stereotypical insults.
Here, he promotes the killing of whales.
Here, he makes fun of a group of people just because he doesn't agree with their life choice.
Here, he tries to offend young kids by insulting their art; he promotes killing animals, while insulting vegetarians.
Here, he promotes littering.
Here, he insults children and promotes child abuse.
Here, he promotes violence.
Here, he attacks feminism.
Here, he promotes violence against the elderly.
Here, he attacks environmentalist groups and our world.

Does anyone know how to start a petition? We can go against Ozounian.
Be sure to tell me on the tagboard!

2005-12-17T14:04:00.000+08:00

Wallace and Grommit opens on my birthday! I'm going to watch it with my family!

2005-12-13T19:58:00.001+08:00

Quick tip of the day: -Kiss Me- means -Sack Ngoh- in Cantonese!

2005-12-13T19:47:00.000+08:00

I am veh tired, but at least I can blog. Today I practically tracked Singapore whole! I went across the island's bowling alleys and tennis courts according to coach request. Go there to interview and battle others. Tiring but fun. YAY! Now there is a mad woman getting on my nerves and staining her name on the tagboard. In fact, my second MAID has the same name as that mad hag. My blog I'm still upgrading.
Oh yes, when I went to watch Chicken Little yesterday, I felt they talked br-o-k-k-ken engrish. It sounds so un-sophisticated. There will be a new catalogue by the 18th. So long!

2005-12-11T14:15:00.000+08:00

Book of the week
FLY BY NIGHT
Frances Hardinge

The troubles of an orphaned girl Mosca, who treks across the country to get to her ideal place with the help of a highwayman, who tries to shirk her off but to no avail. She meets the queen who seeks her help in defeating dangerous rebels, and she realises that, in her journey, life is difficult.

Movie of the week
AEON FLUX

Trained asassin Aeon is ordered to kill, and as she journeys along she discovers the world's greatest secrets. Nice action. Played by Theron. Much better than Chicken Little.

2005-12-01T23:31:00.001+08:00

Recently someone tampered with my blog, I think it has something to do with my time machi- erm, secret. Anyway, the person didn't really do a good job. Because there are still some things that are not right. Its a blessing in disguise though, if it was ready, my whole computer would have been gone- for good. Anyway, that someone must be quite shocked (like how Violet Beauregarde felt after raking WillyWonka's full-course chewing gum- I don't wanna describe how she swelled up) .

Now, let's move on:
Do you know that sex is healthy?
What could be as powerful as this?

Well, THIS!

Of course not this one, it's illegal:

HeeHee...phone pictures, courtesy of Ms Wendy Cheng.

And this, courtesy of ME...

So, what do you think this is?
Shh...don't tell me yet...I can see that grin!
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30 people were tested and these were the results:
91%= condom
3%= cock
6%= none of the above
Correct answer is fire extinguisher!!!!
6% is non-corrupted, so little, disappointment!

How to classify yourself:
6%= pure angel
91%= sick in the mind but don't dare to admit
3%= proud to be sick (as in the case of Richard Ng)

Which category u fall in? HAHA!

2005-12-01T22:53:00.000+08:00

OK. I'm back. Here I am sucking on a mouse tail, trying to think of something to do. Dad calls this navigating thingy a mouse. He says every device has one. To eat way the junk. But that day I went into his room- his has a mouse, but it has no tail. I wonder I wonder. So, anyway, this entire device is made out of 5 parts. There's a transparent sort of light source which I can see thorugh now. Then, below, on the floor, some kind of big buzzing bee. It looks like the brain of the whole system. Also got 1 small baby bee. Chuck wood shavings in, then it will buzz. If not, X(. And last but not least, this wonderful thing I'm typing on. No quills, no ink, just press the button and the letter engraved will come out. Are there little animals inside? I just visited some sites, the bedrooms in the computer look so comfy. I wish I had those fluffy ones. I hate that stone pillow and mattress. Luckily, this thing appeared when I was hunting for wild boar. Must be a gift from Mr Flintstones! By tomorrow, I must figure out how to send him a THANK-YOU ecard!!! I really love this present. I used the baby bee wood shaving device to get them out on wood. I wanted to paste them on the wall but just found out I am out of possum blood. Meanwhile, I will carry on playing around with this wonderful device!!! Oh, wait...don't go, Mr Machine! Why is this disappearing!!! I'm not done yet!!!!!!!

2005-11-24T17:47:00.000+08:00

I am whopping happy about my PSLE!!!

2005-11-21T15:28:00.002+08:00

Book 6
- The Half-Blood PrinceVerified InformationRelease Date: July 16, 2005
The following is a list of facts that we know about book six, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

From JKRowling.com:
- The link between Chamber of Secrets and Half-Blood Prince relates to a discovery Harry made in 'Chamber' that foreshadows something that he finds out in 'Prince'.
- Tom Riddle is not the Half Blood Prince (he is Voldemort).
- Arthur Weasley is not the Minister of Magic.
- Crucial information in The Half-Blood Prince was originally planned to be placed in Chamber of Secrets, the second book.
- The HBP (half-blood prince) is not Harry or Voldemort.
- There will not be two chapters in book six titled "Lupin's Papers" and "The Lovegoods in Court."
- An excerpt from HBP: "He looked rather like an old lion. There were streaks of grey in his mane of tawny hair and his bushy eyebrows; he had keen yellowish eyes behind a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles and a certain rangy, loping grace even though he walked with a slight limp."
- More characters will die in book six.
- Three chapter titles from the Half-Blood Prince: "Spinners End" (Chap. 2), "Draco's Detour" (Chap. 6), and "Felix Felicis" (Chap. 14)
- Neville and Luna will not date.
- Harry's shortened stay at the Dursley's (see below) will not result from another court case - rather, he will be leaving for "a much pleasanter reason."
-The new Gryffindor Beaters will be completely new finds of the new Captain's.

From August 2004 Edinburgh Book Festival:
- Grawp will become more controllable in the sixth book.
- There will be a new character called McClaggan.
- We will see a bit more of Rita Skeeter.
- Petunia Dursley is not a Squib, as she is a muggle, but there is more to Petunia than what meets the eye; we will find out what that is.
- Life gets "quite tough" for most of the characters, especially Harry.
- We will see more of Blaise Zabini, who was recently confirmed as male.
- Dudley Dursley is not the Half Blood Prince.
- Professor Lockhart will not appear in future books.

From March 2004 World Book Day Chat:
- We'll find out more about Peter Pettigrew and what happened to him.
- Harry will tell his nearest and dearest about the prophecy when he's ready.
- The wizarding world is really at war again, and Harry has to master his own feelings to make himself useful.
- Muggles are noticing more and more odd happenings now that Voldemort has returned.
- We will find out more about the circumstances of Voldemort's birth.
- Tonks and Moaning Myrtle will be back.
- Harry won't stay with the Dursleys all summer; in fact, he will have his shortest stay yet.
- We'll see more of Narcissa Malfoy.
- Hermione and Draco will not date (duh...)
- We'll find out more about the relationship between Snape and Sirius in their Hogwarts days.
- Harry won't get back together with Cho Chang.
- Winky will never be in the same state she was prior to the events of Goblet of Fire.
- We will find out more about Grawp, the giant (Hagrid's half-brother).
- There will be a new Minister of Magic.

Tip

2005-11-17T14:45:00.000+08:00

>Quick Tip for the Day<
Did you know that -ME- in cantonese is pronounced as -NGOH- ???

2005-11-16T19:05:00.000+08:00

Ahh...amazing Taiwan. Hey peeps, I've got some pictures here!

Take-off from Singapore

Landing in Taiwan

Taipei 101 (Day)

Taipei 101 (Night)

Random

Random

Random

Lover's Bridge- Fisherman's Wharf

A Taiwan Street

A Taiwan Paddy Field

A Taiwan Temple

A Restaurant built entirely from Junk

Ahh.......I have FINALLY finished. This piece of work is my 3rd effort. The stupid system rejected my first 2 tries.

2005-11-16T13:19:00.000+08:00

Korea was, I have to say, quite boring. Of course except for the snow lar. My old Olympus film was frozen so I could not use it. But it's still very scenic. Just like what Madam Zahara said.
Her favourite dramas: Yuck...they give me the sentimental creeps.

2005-11-15T14:33:00.000+08:00

Today I played soccer. The whole class played. Rougher than I thought. AND i saw Chalatan's blog...why so pink?? Zi yang did a bad job man...or was that testing??
Anyway where did his blog go to? No more address!! Awaiting replies on the tagboard :) I'll blog again soon.
Oh, and happy birthday Cheryl. Please update your blog.

The idiot's gone, well for now

2005-11-14T21:10:00.000+08:00

Ahh...finally shook off Sophia Ng. Is my new blogskin and address nice? After you know this blog don't EVER tell anyone...or die trying.

2005-11-13T18:58:00.000+08:00

BooHoo!!!!! Sophia Ng copied my blogskin!!!!!!!! I'll rip your bloody guts out, you *******************!!!!!

2005-11-08T15:11:00.000+08:00

Today we went to the sports hall to watch inter school games. Basketball we came in 2nd (yay!), soccer ok lah, captain's ball sigh, what a disgrace!!!(last) The GEP too nerdy, so lost every match -lol-. Juz kidding.Everyone said >bass-kitt-bawl...< loudly to imitate Huang Lao Shi (the china basketball teacher who like to action).
Then we went vinto the movement gym. There was some kind of spongey dirt sofa there and we jumped in. Then we found saliva there. Yuck! Think it was Leonard's. So most of them went back to soccer. Sir played too, although not that well.
I really wish school can stop now. Yes, there are the advantages - like meeting up with friends and playing sports and watching movies - but there are also disadvantages - I always come home tired and dirty, and also I see my enemies - AND overall the cons outweigh the pros.
But what can a student do??? *sob*

2005-11-07T21:44:00.000+08:00

I found out that Sean Ng is already preparing for Sec1 leh!!! Since i have so much free time, might as well follow him...everyone better ketchup.But better not be too nerd, luckily i still swim and squash around. Squash 1st, Tennis 2nd, Badminton 3rd.

2005-10-24T21:09:00.000+08:00

Just returned from Taiwan. Went on the midnite flite. 2moro still got school eh. I think i can only sleep 5hours. 2moro they're planning some Barker Rd talk. Maybe i should go? ok lar. i'll go. See what -nice- things they got.
I'll miss holidaying. My trip to Genting cancelled. They say they'll book yet another trip, but more ex. Sigh, No Action Talk Only. As to when it will really happen, 天晓得！

Orh, i feel sick.

2005-10-16T12:37:00.000+08:00

Vewy. Sean, if you could just excuse me for Monday.