I swore I was going to put up something

maybe snippets on AUG

but in the end


I CANT BE STUFFED! :(


This blog isnt dead, it's just incapped for now.




Exams are coming, Gold Coast is a thing of the past, and she's already taken.

What else is there to mourn about

Damn the Womens team didnt fare as well as the mens.

A quick post

So its nearly a month since I last blogged.

During that time, I have :

--Reached up to fucking Week 5 in uni. Oh shit, week 5? Its already over, by Monday it'd be week 6. That means 1/2 the semester is already over. Oh noes!

--Decided that I might not do summer after all. Which means I'll get to go to Taiwan. At the same time I bid my fantasy of having 3 subjects in my last semester good bye.

--Did lots and lots of kendo.


Speaking of kendo, theres about 1 more month till the AUG. And I sprained my wrist last week, which means I wont be able to train. Or will I......

mmmkay, gotta make my econs notes. My internet addiction IS my biggest toxic asset.

Tick tock

If you could turn back time,

what would you do?

how far back would you go?

and what would you change

I had something to say, but then it left.

You told me we couldnt clap with 1 hand.

I beg your pardon?

You silly hypocrite.

We just cant have everything we want.

Classy

(Taken from http://www.flickr.com/photos/33975439@N07/3164229690/ )

Yes, I would like my home to come with that.
Just look at the wooden floorboard, makes me want to fumikomi on them.

Return of the Chasers

Face it, they're back.

First episode of the new season starts tomorrow at 9 on ABC.

Watch it!

間合い

"Maai (間合い ?), translating simply to "interval", is a Japanese martial arts term referring to the space between two opponents in combat. It is a complex concept, incorporating not just the distance between opponents, but also the time it will take to cross the distance, angle and rhythm of attack. It is specifically the exact position from which one opponent can strike the other, after factoring in the above elements. For example, a faster opponent's maai is farther away than a slower opponent. It is ideal for one opponent to maintain maai while preventing the other from doing so.[1]"


Ok, so maybe refering from wikipedia might not be the best source. But in a nutshell, thats maai.

*Photo above dictates fighting from somewhere between itsoku itto no maai, and chikama.

I'm going to have to really pay attention to my maai if I'm going to avoid giving the opponent free points, as well as convert openings into effective ippons.
To do so would require good footwork.

But I feel so heavy these days.

:(

Mind Set

20th Anniversary Tournament
Otsuka Memorial Taikai (Not attending)
Victorian Kendo Championships
Australian University Games



and possibly Mumeishi 3s.


I need to get myself into my shiai groove.
Ippon mindset.
Focus focus focus.

And handle my studies at the same time ( which arent going nicely).

Ippon
ippon

SHOUBU ARI!



Her face is like the blackhole. Even light cant escape her.

Fatigue

Ugh, its so hard to stay awake and write coherent sentences when you're feeling sleepy.

And by coherent sentences, I'm talking about a VERY VERY formal letter.
:(


Got up at 6am today, with 5 hours of sleep. Its now 1am the following day.
*oh wait that didnt make sense*

Yawn.

A rarity really...

You know those songs that come along, and sweep you off your feet the moment it starts playing?

Even if you've never heard it before?

This is one of those rare ones.
It has everything great that modern rock songs lack.

Its just so pumped with WIN.

I mean even the lyrics are great, and there's a SAX. SAX SOLO

SAX SOLO = WIN

I'm actually grunting in pain

Sneaky Sound System. One of the few groups I actually catch myself unconciously singing their songs.

Except it doesnt sound like Im singing. Sounds more like I'm having a bad tummy bug or something.

To the people who know me well : It may stun you, but I'm actually considering buying their 2nd album. The songs aren't too bad, and I get to support them :)

*No, I wont be buying Pendulum's album, because they're ran from Australia and gone to the UK instead. :(

So Malaysia? When are you going to produce a group thats actually good. And by that I mean more then just a one-hit wonder.

* The next time you see me dancing or swaying in public with my headphones on, I might just be listening to SSS.

Its eating me Inside

The Spiderman is always hungry!!

I have no idea why... but I've been listening to the Cure all day.

:\



*I actually like their gothy feel.

Exuses

Malaysian National Service.





2 things you might not know.








1. I got drafted for NS back in 07. But since then I've been defering :)


2. I have a wrist injury. Not exactly sure what it is, but its been suspected that its a torn/injured ligament. Or something. Maybe swelling putting pretty on my nerves.








Eitherway, I suddenly wonder if I could use this injury to chicken away from NS for good. :D














Think about it, I wont be able to survive 3 months of "hard" physical such as climbing monkey bars

(Nationalistic Propaganda : Brave Youth Commando group undergoing hardcore training to defend the Glorious Nation of Malaysia from the evil Singaporeans who obviously outdo us at everything )

My wrist wont be able to take the pressure.

:D

What a lame excuse. lol

Not happy

Dear calves, please dont get sore so quickly so the lungs may get the chance to burn a little.

Its no fun if you stop running because your legs are tired.

Yours Sincerely,

Unhappy Brain.

*If anyone knows a good way to stretch the Tibialis anterior, tell me. I find the usual calf stretch useless. :\

A slap back to reality.

Guess everything doesnt turn out the way you expected it to.

Still Im thrilled.

:D




heee, havent felt this way for awhile. Its just silly.

Kamae of the Fire

Shodai at last years AJKC. Photo from http://www.kendo-world.com/articles.php?article%5Bid%5D=62. (to think it was Swot Vac, and I was waiting anxiously for the result to come out. )

I've been wondering if more exposure to Jodan would help be gauge the maai better.

Yes? No?

Well then again its hard enough to come across someone who uses Jodan seeing how Alvin just got out of a 6 month kendo holiday. And he doesnt train with us that often.

:(

*Farewell Alex, take care and train hard!*

Melbourne Legal

Know how in Boston Legal, at the end of every episode Danny and Alan drink brandy and smoke cigars at the balcone overlooking the night view.

Its been a year since I moved into Blue Tower, and since then, I've probably only had 3 occassions where I had friends over and we just sat at the balconey and drink (tea or beer) while looking at the night.

Yesterday was one occassion.

Pretty wicked actually, cause it was raining pretty lightly. Ean and I testing out our cheap beer which we got from Aldi. (Personally I found it a little too bitter for my preference while Ean thought it was good for the price). Accompanied by the cool rain breeze and my sisters freshly baked tarts, it was pretty awesome.

And finally, I've gotten my hands on some badly wanted files.

I finally can listen to Pendulum when I want to.

And frankly speaking, they're actually pretty good!

So yes, it good fun. Should do it more.

Fuck off

I dont give a shit if you've lost your camera

your thumb drive
your pencil box
your virginity.

I dont care if you're selling textbooks
or asking for a tute swap
or asking for a wife swap


I dont give a damn if you're just some plain retard sitting in your parents basement and in dire need for human contact.

Please dont fucking spam my uni email you pricks.....

And it makes me wonder....

Ean just passed me his copy of Stairway to Heaven by the London Symphony Orchestra

I am so getting a Led Zepplin Poster!!
POSTER SALE HERE I COME!

*my mum walks in and asks why am I listening to music from her generation. Lol*

I fear the great pain!

Ive been plagued by this pain in my right wrist.

It somehow just limits my wrist flexibility. I suspect kendo might be making the injury greater.

Had it somewhat checked out in December. Doctor reckons I either have some inflammation there, or a torn/injured tendon.

Eitherway I refused to be treated since I was already under medication.
AND NOW IT HATH RETURN.



Maybe buying a wrist cast will help...
Oh well, at least its my right wrist and not my left. :)

Flicker flicker flicker

I suddenly thought of you while walking down the stairs.

:\
Do try to stay out of my thoughts at times
Its just killing me that I didnt get to see you today.

I have no idea whats the name of the 3rd musketeer as well.

Slumdog Millionaire.

Predictable storyline at the end.
Dodgy acting since its not fully in Hindi.


BUT IT DOES HAVE DANCING AT THE END.

I give it a 8/10.
And usually Im mean, but I did find the story engaging for most of the film. Except the end where it was typical.

not too bad, watch if it the oppertunity presents itself.

Thats a 33.3333% success rate....

(Photo by xvikingx (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7762281@N08/). Frankly, it was taken without permission :( )

Now, I know Im not shodan yet, and hence its illegal for me to do tsuki during shiai. However, seeing how during a normal practice session, I can only land 1/3 slow morote tsukis, its come to my attention that I need to put more lovin' on this technique.

Now for a moment of silence as my walls mourn for I shall be poking them pretty frequently from now on.

I FAIL

Not only I've failed to achieve H1 for my Linear Algebra.

Despite it being watered down, and having studied for 1 subject for a whole month.

I've also lost my charm (if I had any) when it comes to talking to pretty girls.

FAIL
:(

I shall bully myself tomorrow at training. Good night.

(And when I say bully, its probably going to involve throwing myself over and over at the opponent and not get broken)

PS: Just FYI even though you wouldnt know what I'm talking about. On Wednesday night, I had a pleasant training session. One of the more memorable ones in a while. During keiko I faced off Richard, Hiro, Ben, Russell, Eddy, and Kevin.C. Since it was a combination of junior-senior-junior sequence, I was able to somewhat fight with better spirits when fighting a senior while focusing on less tiring issues when fighting a junior. When I got to fight Kevin, I noticed he was pushing in for a men cut everytime. Strong spirit and all.

You could tell he was very tired, but he just kept up with it. Kiai-men-taiatari/zanshin, all the while maintaining the same level of aggression. It was just awesome. Along that point I decided to go all out as well. By the end of kirikaeshi I was pretty wasted, but felt the job was well done.

I really hope to be able to get myself to perform at that level

Someone once told me


" You dont have to dress up to feel good"


I beg to differ dear.
I felt awesome today.

Possibly because of what I wore.

The Rainbow Ejaculation

( Appearantly theres this dude called DJ Rainbow Ejaculation who's been around waaay before I came up with this title. Nevertheless I still thought I'd use this pic. Not that I have anything to do with him apart from the fact that this blog title is all about music)

I wanna go off and waste an hour of my life by challenging 3 AI controlled armies on hard in Generals and smash them, so I'll make this quick.

Ehem, here goes.

" There was a time when I listened to things, like pop, and bubblegum pop. The days when I didnt have any musical direction and merely followed my sister. I hate to admit it, but I listened to things like Westlife, Backstreet Boys and *shudder* Britney Spear.

:(

Sad days indeed..

The for a certain amount of time, I fell in love for the first time and neglected music. From there I experience for the first time the meaning of studying. Yes, I was a true nerd back then, and teachers pet as well. During that time I didnt listen to the radio at all.

Then when I was 12, I first heard of Linkin Park..... I thought they were too loud.

It wasnt till I was 15 when I started listening to music again. Probably was while staying at my friends place in Singapore ( to attend the haxzor LOTR convention, the only one in SEA) where I listened to Blink 182 and it caught my imagination. I remember staying awake for hours one night because the lyrics of " I Miss You" were stuck in my head.

That was a musical revival year for me, I really got keen with bands like Linkin Park and Green Day. Pretty funny how 3 years ago I shunned Linkin Park because I thought " In the End" was too "loud".

Small kid thoughts.

Then when I was 16, I began embracing punk music more. It probably also made some changes to me, I became more rebellious and stopped being the prick I was as a prefect. At 17, I began to start to care less about rules and all. 17 was a pretty awesome year, I began to listen to Hendrix, GnR, Sum 41, Nirvana. Yes, my choice of bands were pretty shit, but I started to stretch beyond my previous limits. Pretty awesome days.

(I still remember the time when my friend was stunned to find out that Hendrix was black.)

At 17 I came to Australia, and started moving in a different direction. The reign of loud angry music ended, and I started listening to more alternative rock. I had a better taste for softer slower rock instead of the fast loud stuff I used to listen to. Nevertheless, I still had a thing for angry music, Rammstein in particular.

But its here for the first time that I moved away from Rock. Viet introduced me to Daft Punk, before that I only knew them from "One More Time" which was played on Cartoon Network with the video from Interstellar 5555. For once I moved beyond rock, and into the world of house, techno and electronica.

Its funny how current day me listens to so much House. Personally I believe that my musical sense has changed alot. Bob Marley is totally awesome, and I dont really mind listening to the same beat over and over.

And Sneaky Sound System is just fabulous. :)

Speak up, I cant hear you

My right speaker just recently died.

Not quite died, the cable feeding it from the laptop has something wrong with it. Probably a snapped wire within, hence only my left speaker is getting feed while the right just plays static.

As a result, most of my songs have their guitar riffs omited.

No guitar riffs.

Its like... looking at psychedelic art in black and white.

Its ridiculous...

can you imagine it? All I hear is the bass, and the drum beat.

No guitar.

Do you have any idea how bad Free Bird sounds without the riffs? Its like 5 minutes of silence.

ITS AN OFFENCE TO HENDRIX!

------------>

*Interestingly I happen to have this poster pinned up in my bedroom. Beside a calender (that my mum got for me) that has kittens all over it.

STUDY

Matrix Transform

To think I'll run into a comic strip related to my course.

This is so weird.

Step forwards.

They always say big things begin with a step forwards. They say that progress can not be made without that first step.



It makes sense now.

Seme (攻め, せめ?, "attack", "offense") is a Japanese martial arts term for a kind of psychological pressure. The seme is the one inflicting something on to the uke. It is also an attitude meant to disrupt the opponents sense of confidence and resolution, prior to an attack.
The term is mostly used in kendo. (Wikipedia)

Its pretty interesting to take a step closer to the opponent and see how they react. And hopefully fumble and create a window of oppertunity.


However at times, seme can be daunting. You know that by taking that small step forwards (or big step for greater effect and pressure), you're exposing yourself to be within the range/maai of the opponents cut. I think whats really important is you have to be willing to move yourself out of your comfort zone if you really want to achieve anything.


Should you fail, try again.

Should you succeed, make good use of that progress, continue on with zanshin.




*Damn, I should have eaten breakfast , I think Im going crazy.

Valentines

Roses are red;

Violets are blue;

All my bases

Are belong to you

Seriously, if I ever met a girl who understood it at first glance, I'd probably hesitate less to date her.

Somewhere along the edge of that bell curve is the girl for me.

*Everything above comes from xkcd, proud creator of wetriffs.com (not work safe)*

Overtaken

Green comes from blue.


Sometimes I wish I had CStar or something :\

Baseball!

So I was talking to a friend.



"Hey man, where are you up to now with your girlfriend"



" Ummm.... 2nd base?"



*For those have no clue, I've provided a map, not of my creation of course. And it contains loads of rubbish inside.

Sigh, he's up to second base.

I've never even been on the pitchers mound before. This is super sad :(

Oh wait, I've never been into the stadium before, let alone understand baseball.

I think Im gonna run off and cry in a corner, farewell.

[T]c,b vs Mammoth tanks and Ion Cannons.

And so I was there trying to grasp the concept of linear transformations involving ..... weird stuff...


when this tune came buzzing into my head.

And now it just expands and I'm getting a whole range of tunes.
Where do they come from you ask me?




Why Command and Conquer 1 (1995). Good ol days.
Did I mention CnC1 was my first and only original game bought. Until Orange Box in the end of 2007.

Thats 10 years of getting my games from the "aunty" store in Atria.
Loyal customer.

Frogrus: Charlie, you look quite down with your big fat eyes and your big fat frown. The world doesn't have to be so grey. Charlie, when your life's a mess, When you're feeling blue, always in distress, I know what can wash that sad away. All you have to do is...Put a banana in your ear!
Charlie: A banana in my ear?
Frogrus: Put a ripe banana right into your favourite ear! It's true.
Charlie: Says who?
Frogrus: So true. Once it's in your gloom will disappear. The bad in the world is hard to hear, When in your ear a banana cheers, So go and put a banana in your ear!
Frogrus and Bananas: Put a banana in your ear!
Charlie: I'd rather keep my ear clear.
Frogrus and Bananas: You'll ne'er be happy if you live your life in fear. It's true.
Charlie: Says you.
Frogrus and Bananas: So true. When it's in the skies are bright and clear. Oh every day of every year. The sun shines bright on this big blue sphere. So go and put a banana-
Frogrus: -in your earrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
(Frogrus disappeared in flames)
Charlie: Oh, of course, he burst into flames.

Lawyers

Q: The tooth fairy, an honest lawyer and an expensive dishonest lawyer are in the same room. There is $500 in cash on a table in the room. When they leave the money is gone. Who took it?

A: Since there is no such thing as the tooth fairy or an honest lawyer, the answer is obvious.






Q: How do you greet a judge with an IQ of 50?

A: Good morning, your honour.


That doesnt stop Boston Legal from being kickass.

Samurai..... Aerobics?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samurai_Aerobics

Its just somewhere between plain sad. And downright funny.


Awesome, shodan in 2 years.
Thats just really great !

Embrace with your heart the bullet that craves for it.

Poetry
Opinions

and Globalization.



what a stunningly bitter aftertaste.

What seperates a medium from being used as an expression of anger and frustration to a completely different thing.

Seriously, as much as I respect your beliefs and needs.

I do not enjoy the thought of being blown up merely because I am not 100% on your side.
It just makes choosing the lesser between 2 "evils" alot more easier.


So while you're at it, feel free to shoot some school teachers along the way because they're not from the same region as you.

Have a nice day.

Critical Threshold

It maxed at around 42 degrees today.

I checked my laptop, normally if I pushed it with a night full of gaming, it'll be somewhere around 79degrees internally.


Today all I did was turn it on for 10 minutes and played Generals for a while.
Before I turned it off, I checked.

It was 90 degrees.
I blame the weather...



On the other hand, it will remain at 40+ for the whole week.
I pity those tennis players.




**Speaking of which I just realised Nadal is a leftie. Yay!

You know its Chinese New Year when...

Forecast for Wednesday
Sunny. Winds northwesterly averaging up to 35 km/h.


City Sunny. Min 21 Max 41

Maximum Fire Danger: Extreme
UV Alert from 9:40 am to 5:20 pm, UV Index predicted to reach 10 [Very High]
Even Mt Dandenong is like 36 degrees.



And just when I thought as a kid that Penang was hot during CNY.
Hehehe, looks like no fireworks over the next few days...

Makes me wonder how the tennis players are gonna play.

Mr Brightside

Coming out of my cage
And I've been doing just fine
Gotta gotta be down
Because I want it all
It started out with a kiss
How did it end up like this?
It was only a kiss
It was only a kiss
Now I'm falling asleep
And she's calling a cab
While he's having a smoke
And she's taking the drag
Now they're going to bed
And my stomach is sick
And it's all in my head
But she's touching his chest now
He takes off her dress now
Let me go
And I just can't look
It's killing me
And taking control
Jealousy
Turning saints into the sea
Turning through sick lullaby
Joking on your alibi
But it's just the price I pay
Destiny is calling me
Open up my eager eyes
I'm Mr. Brightside
(repeat)

I first heard it like back in 04. Thats when I was in Form 3. It was a pretty rough year for me, and so during that time I placed utmost priority on angry loud music ( Linkin Park in particular). It wasnt until the 2nd week of my holiday back in Malaysia where I decided to TV surf one late night instead of game whore on the laptop. Thats when I flicked to MTV and saw them playing the video for Mr Brightside.

Its pretty funnny how back in form 4 and 5, I knew this guy who absolutely worshipped The Killers. In his witty opinion he thought they were the best band (available at the time). Well I thought he was a nut. In my opinion, The Killers were at most just a decent band, but not something I'll run out and download their album the moment it comes out*

*For your information I havent done that to date.

The first time the band actually caught my attention was in the Winter of 07. When I was sad alone and cold for the first time in my life. For once I had an empty (and pretty dirty apartment) all to myself. Void of family (except for my mums annoying daily calls) and void of any form of intimacy (still am now).

Thats when I first hearing about the infamous Prosh Week. Oh yes, Prosh Week. I wont explain more since if you're reading this blog, you'd probably have heard about it from me. Anyway, so I visited their website on myspace.

And the only song that was listed and kept on playing on a reloop was

I mean, if you take the title literally, "When You were Young" and think about uni being your last time being a youth instead of a white/blue collar adult.

Anyway back to Mr Brightside. I watched the video on MTV and suddenly everything falls into place. It makes so much sense now, over the past 2 years.

This song probably earns my "Most Overlistened to Song on My Ipod".

*Partially also because I kinda like their style, though the current album hasnt impressed me too much.

A New Start

Tomorrow shall be my first kendo training for 2009.

After over a month of no training, I'm hoping I wont suck too badly.

Lets see if all that suburi training pays off :)

Word of the day...

不動心

Speaking of calculations

I suddenly remember my birthday last year.

I went for econs lecture, then spent the rest of the day in the library studying.

Somehow the memory of me doing integration strikes pretty soundingly.

So there you go, Year 2008 birthday spent alone and lonely (and sad) in the Bailleu :(
Should have bought myself a beer...


BUT NO FEAR!
This year it falls on a Wednesday...
Which means birthday kirikaeshi!

*training begins next week. Not as excited as last year, but relieved nevertheless.


**and yes, this is my first kendo related post in over a month (maybe 2). And definately the first for 2009

Jeffrey + Maths = Bad news to trees.

Thats right.

In my quest for crunching numbers, I have consumed a total of ...

141 pages of paper for calculations.

here's a few limitation + criteria + assumptions

1. I am only counting the pages that I used in my 2 spirax books.
2. Each page is A4 in size.
3. Seeing how I have the habit of squeezing lots of calculations into a single page, the true value of pages used for a different person could be up to x2 of what I used.
4. I use an approximation of 4 columns per page.
5. I am only considering calculus 1+2 calculations. Calculations from Econs, Engineering and Chemistry are not included.
6. I am assuming that ALL my calculations were done in my note books when in reality I used plent of A4 papers as well.
7. I assume non of my pages have gotten torn out of the book.

So far this year I have used : 4 pages.
Long way to go....

New Year Resolution

I want to be the biggest baddest evil capitalist out there.
So evil that all shall seem good compared to me.