Sunday, August 24, 2008

Awwwwww



While we were singing this, Wedy said, "you gotta sing this with a Beijing accent". HUahahahha. Singing with an accent is terribly hard, a gargantuan task of an epic proportion requiring chikuen-like skills (chikun if you read this, it's a compliment hahaha).

It's kind of sad really, that the Olympics is over. (Especially how it ends, with USA beating Spain in the basketball final. Apparently the Redeem team -don't you just want to cringe with the corniness of it?- has got some skills that match Lebron James' ego. I'd like to point out that the STAR of the match was NOT, and never had been Lebron James but Kobe Bryant and his ego isn't even half as big as Lebron's)

So I'm going to miss waking up to watch all those matches tomorrow.

Oh yea marathon runners almost always impress me. And for some reason, Kenyans make really good long-distance runners. It's almost as though they were born with wheels instead of feet. 45 km long in 2 hours. Holly cow; that's speed averaging at about 21km/hour. The man's a machine.

And I guess throughout the whole affair, what keeps me glued the entire time was the Asian pride. Sure, I find China men unhygienic road spit-ter and the banning of spitting on the street amusing but it really wasn't about them. It was about an ASIAN country delivering something that might just be the best Olympics ever.

That the era where western superpowers dominate the sporting arena may just be over. China won 51 golds the last time I checked, well ahead of USA. And lord does THAT please me.

Not because I'm a racist or nationalist. But because I'm asian.

I'd also like to comment on the idiots who protested and threatened to extinguish the Olympics flame and to boycott the game before. Keep politics as politics, what has sports got to do with it? Losers.

Grinning Goat at 8/24/2008 10:51:00 PM pontificated

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{buzzz out}

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Go to heaven for the climate, to hell for company

Denny Crane: Tell me the truth. Wouldn't you hate it if people thought you were gay?
Alan Shore: Well, I'd hate the idea of being perceived as deceitful or dishonest. As for sexual orientation, I... Women are much less guarded around gay men, Denny. You could endear yourself as a bit of a Trojan horse before surprising them with your...Trojan.
Denny Crane: I never thought of that. This could be an advantage. Thank you, Alan.
Alan Shore: Can you believe the DA tried to exploit us for being flamingos?
Denny Crane: Ach, ridiculous! Thank God he didn't find out we like to dress up as the Lennon Sisters.
Alan Shore: He actually tried to shame us for our sleepovers.
Denny Crane: Bigot! Oh, those homosexuals can't stand the thought of legitimate male bonding.
Alan Shore: Where's the tolerance?
Denny Crane: Mmm. Oh, did you hear? Shirley went up against Bethany?
Alan Shore: No.
Denny Crane: Uh, huh. Hmm. God, it's been so long since I've had sex with a dwarf!
Alan Shore: Me, too. Me, too.
Denny Crane: It's the little things, Alan.
::
Denny Crane: You think I've lived the evil life? I womanize, I drink, break the law. Now, to be mistaken for a...a.... well, you get to be my age, you worry about the afterlife; where you're heading. You ever think about those things?
Alan Shore: Sometimes. Then I remember what Mark Twain said. "You go to heaven for the climate, but to hell for the company" So, no matter what, in the end—
Denny Crane: We'll be together.
Alan Shore: Indeed.
Denny Crane: Soulmates in hell. I love it. (Raises his scotch glass to salute Alan Shore) I bet they have dwarves in hell.
Alan Shore: How can they not?
Denny Crane: Suddenly, I'm less afraid of death.
Alan Shore: There you go.


You go to heaven for the climate and to hell for company. How so very true.

Grinning Goat at 8/23/2008 03:49:00 AM pontificated

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{buzzz out}

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Hilarious

Dex and I were playing just now when this guy who saw the both of us having the same game ID suddenly got it into his head that we were the GMs.

He was enthusiastically shouting, OMG OMG are you the GM?
So I said yes. Partly because I think he was pulling my leg and I wanted to play along and partly because if he wasn't then it'd be fun.

It turns out, the guy REALLY believed that Dex and I were the GM. After I shot him he said wow so I said GMs have their own practise room, don't you know? and he said yes he knows that (when I was there thinking, how COULD HE??)

He was silent for a while, and then he said, "I have a question"

So, what is it?
The shot 2 of JD and nak, they look alike, except that for nak the ball is bigger and darker, more grey
and your question is?
Are they the same?


I really wanted to laugh then. So I told him another lie

The guy who developed JD and nak is the same, I'll have to ask him.

and then Dex had to spoil things by saying he's lazy so he's letting his parents do the cooking. I thought this is gonna make the guy discover our lie because what the hell, GMs have parents that cook for them?! But oh no, this guy's faith in our lie was tremendous, instead of thinking us incredulous he became even more amused. This of course encouraged me to continue with my lies. Because it's so fun. Huahahaha.


Gheybot (dex: ross, I gotta go soon
Gheybot (me): dinner?
Gheybot (dex): yeah
Hunter: I always thought GMs are robots
Gheybot (me): of course not

Hunter: is there a way to report hackers? I see them all the time
Gheybot (me): yes there is (this is not a lie by the way, I try to stick to the truth as best I can. The best lies are those that are almost like the truth). You can screen shot them as proof
Hunter: oh okay

(then I think he finally started thinking about it and realised that it didn't quite make sense god bless his soul LOL)

Hunter: but how do you know if people are hacking just from a screen shot?
Gheybot (me): it depends on what kind of hacks it is. For a gold hack, a screen shot will be proof enough. What kind of hacks are you talking about?
HUnter: the kind that makes people shoot all the time (delay hack)
Gheybot (me): in that case you can just report it to us and we will investigate. If he hacks then we will suspend his account.

Hunter (to me, after Dex left): so which one are you?
Gheybot: what do you mean?
Hunter: just now there were two of you
Gheybot: yes
Hunter: can there be 3 of you?
Gheybot: yes
Hunter: woww

(the guy clearly is so clueless about multiple login)

Hunter: Is there going to be a new bot? phoenix?
Gheybot: (I really have no ideaaa) do you want one?
Hunter: yes
Gheybot: it's under development

Then there was a girl from Indiana who complained that bugles are encouraging people to behave badly and she asked, do you want parents to see that this is the kind of game their kids play?

I have to say, that for all that's worth these kids aren't dumb. In fact, they're very smart.

So I said, we needed the money that comes from bugles for development
She replied, there are other ways to make money, why must it be through bugles which encourages bad behavior?

Me: you can mute the bugle
Indiana girl: I know we can mute the bugle but that's besides the point.

Me: we are continuously trying to ban profanity but it's proven to be difficult because once we ban some words, people are simply coming up with alternatives to the word. The key is not to stop bugle but to find ways to ban vulgarities more effectively. Do you have any suggestions?

Indiana girl: you can put in moderators
Me: you're suggesting that we make players moderators? That's going to be problematic, how are we going to ensure that these moderators don't abuse their power?
Indiana girl: you give these moderators limited power and then you have super moderators with more power to supervise the moderators

(this kid is trying to convert gb into some sort of corporation with its own pecking order and hierarchy)

Gosh I'm so tired now. Maybe I'll post something up tomorrow.

Grinning Goat at 8/19/2008 02:26:00 AM pontificated

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{buzzz out}

Monday, August 18, 2008

O,o

Denny: I love you shirley
Shirley: Denny, if you really love me you'd want me to be happy, even if it's not with you
Denny: I don't love you that much

Grinning Goat at 8/18/2008 02:20:00 PM pontificated

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{buzzz out}

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Boohoo?

News flash:

Ian Thorpe who is now in Beijing has said that it will be "impossible" for Michael Phelps to win eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics.

As he arrived in Beijing, Thorpe was quoted as saying, "I have said before that I don't think he can do the eight, and still believe that,". "Mind you, if there is any person on the planet who is capable, it is him. It's sad, but I just don't think it will happen."

Well, I think Thorpe here is just experiencing a case of a sour grape. And a bit of megalomania maybe. Just because he can't get 8 golds in a single olympic games, doesn't mean others can't (especially if Speedo has offered others 1 million dollars for it).

Fact of the matter is:

In summer Olympics 2000, Thorpe clinched 3 golds in 400m freestyle, 4x100m and 4x200m, freestyle relay; all on world record time. Back then Phelps was still a 15-year old teenager who finished fifth in 200m butterfly.

In summer Olympics 2004, Thorpe won let's see- 2 golds in 400m and 200m freestyle and nopeee not on world record (and anyway he was by then officially a fallen world record holder because o and behold, his world record has been beaten by Phelps in 2007. Thorpe's 1:44.06 sounds wayyyyyyyy slower than Phelps' 1:42.96)

Oh and in Athens 2004, Phelps entered 8 events and won a whopping 6 gold medals (100m and 200m butterfly, 200m and 400m individual medley, 4x100m medley relay and 4x200m freestyle relay; 2 of which on world record time and 3 on olympic record time). I don't know about you fellas but besides 6, 2 is starting to look a little small to me.

In Beijing summer olympics 2008, Phelps won his 8 golds (6 in the same events he won in 2004 plus 200m freestyle and 4x100 freestyle relay; 7 events on world record time and 1 on olympic record time). And hereee comeeeeee US$1 million dollarssssssss.

I'm going to do an event by event break down over here, just to see who the world's record holder is and when.

200m freestyle
Thorpe broke WR in Fukuoka 2001 with 1:44.06
Phelps broke Thorpe's record with 1:42.96 in 2008

400m freestyle
Thorpe holds the WR at 3:40.08 right up to 2002. Nobody breaks that since but hey Phelps doesn't enter the 400m freestyle, so you'll never know.

100m butterfly
Phelps held WR at 51.47 in 2003
Crocker beat Phelps with 50.98, also in 2003. Crocker holds up his WR right up to 2005 with 50.40. Phelps doesn't break another WR in 2008 Olympics but he defeated Crocker. So don't say he wins because Crocker isn't competing.

200m butterfly
Phelps holds WR at 1:52.03. Basically the WR was held by him since 2001, it's just that in 2007 he breaks another record with his personal best. Let's backtrack right down to 1986, was both Ians in the list? Nopeee, not Thorpe or Crocker, not as far as the eyes can see.

400m individual medley
Phelps first broke WR in 2002 with his 4:11.09. He continuously beats his own record right up to 2008 with 4:03.84 (that's shedding almost 7 seconds off!)

200m individual medley
Phelps broke WR with a timing of 1:54.94 in 2003 then he again consistently beats his own record so that WR now in 2008 stands at a staggering 1:54.23

Bottom line is it ain't fair to say that Phelps wins because THORPE isn't entering. For one thing, Thorpe's world record for 200m freestyle has been broken by Phelps. For another, Thorpe isn't even competing and has never competed in the Olympics for 100m and 200m BUTTERFLY. The same can be said about the individual medleys, they aren't Thorpe's 'thing' which basically revolves around lets see...freestyle and no other style.

Jesus, that's like saying Peirsol wins the 100m backstroke because Phelps isn't there. Or that Hansen wins the 100m breaststroke because Phelps isn't there. Or that Hoff wins the woman's 200m freestyle because Phelps isn't there because he's a man.

So even if Thorpe is participating in Beijing 2008, he's probably going to compete in 200m and 400m freestyle and while he may beat Phelps at the 200m (although unlikely since Phelps manages to beat Crocker which holds a WR faster than Thorpe), the presence of Thorpe alone won't challenge Phelps' standing by much because Lord the man isn't even gonna compete in butterfly and individual medley, which is where Phelps got most of his medals from. Sureeee, Thorpe may win the 400m freestyle but Phelps isn't even entering that event so how is Thorpe's absence going to affect Phelps' probability in getting a gold in the event he's not entering?

It just infuriates me to hear it being casually mentioned that Phelps is winning because Thorpe isn't there. Well, then in all fairness I can say the same about Thorpe's earlier gold medals. He got em because Phelps hasn't entered yet. Touche.

Grinning Goat at 8/17/2008 10:52:00 PM pontificated

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{buzzz out}

Big blonde and beautiful



Bring on that pecan pie!
Pour some sugar
On it sugar
Don't be shy.

And scoop me up
A mess of that
Chocolate swirl.
Don't be stingy
I'm a growing girl.

I offer -
Big love,
With no apology
How can I deny the world
The most of me?

I am not afraid to throw my weight around
Pound by pound by pound!

Because I'm
Big, blonde and beautiful.
Face the fact -
Its simply irrefutable!
No-one wants a meal
That only offers the least
When girl, we're serving up
The whole damn feast!

Slice me off a piece of that
Hog head cheese!
Take a look inside
My book of recipes.
Now don't you sniff around
For something fluffy and light.
We need a man who brings
A man-sized appetite!

I'll use a
Pinch of sugar
And a dash of spice!
I'll let you lick the spoon
Because it tastes so nice!

We'll keep it in the oven
Til it's good and hot
And keep on stirring
Til it hits the spot!

Because I'm
Big, blond and beautiful
There is nothing 'bout us
That's unsuitable.

Why sit in the bleachers?
Timid and afraid
When Edna -
You look like a whole parade

They say that -
White is hot
And thin is in -
Well that's just cruel
Cause ladies -
Big is back
And as for black
It's beautiful!

All shapes and sizes
Follow me!
Who wants a twig
When you can climb the whole tree?

Grinning Goat at 8/17/2008 12:25:00 AM pontificated

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{buzzz out}

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Mr Usain Bolt

Is the new world record holder for 100m track!

in a stunning 9.69s.

And as Jose put it, "the Jamaicans run like it's nothing for them"

Tyson Gay is out HAHAHHHHHH nothing pleases me more.

Check out this song, Big girls don't cry (and NOT by Fergie, but by a group much more talented - the Four seasons of 1962)



Grinning Goat at 8/16/2008 11:26:00 PM pontificated

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{buzzz out}

Friday, August 15, 2008

The Phelps obsession

Wedgie: I don't think he (Phelps) is handsome leh. Beauty lies in the eyes of the goat
R: huahahaha. You're a bad shepherd

Grinning Goat at 8/15/2008 02:09:00 PM pontificated

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{buzzz out}

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

THE FASTEST MAN ON EARTH







MICHAEL PHELPS.

The fastest man on earth.

Handsome as a devil. Fast as a lightning. Lean as a horse.

At the hospital while I was waiting, I was watching Phelps on the pool. 200m Butterfly and 4x200m freestyle relay. He broke the world record for both. Well it made me scream with INDIGNATION. The US won because, AND ONLY BECAUSE they've got Phelps on their team. The man gave almost HALF A LAP of team advantage. It's almost criminal that they won.

It's really really amazing seeing him on water. What he did on the pool, it's STUFF OF LEGEND. He breaks world record on EVERY SINGLE EVENT HE'S IN.

That was his FIFTH gold in Beijing Olympics (and his ELEVENTH Olympic Golds if you count Athens). He's participating in 8 events this Olympics and so far five golds for five events. Three more and the man will make history with a new world record for the most gold obtained in a single olympic (originally 7 gold by Mark Spitz).

THis is something I will live to tell my grandchildren. That I watched the fastest man on earth in August 2008 in the pool. STUFF OF LEGEND.

Grinning Goat at 8/13/2008 11:04:00 PM pontificated

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{buzzz out}

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

The justice system

It's amazing what entertainment nowadays do to education. I'm not talking about stupid shows like SCRUB of course.

Anyway there was this discussion about our legal system. Most countries appoint a judge to sentence a criminal. The thought provoking issue that was raised was why a judge? yes he may be partial and objective but why not let the victim mete out the sentence?

If I steal your toy, what would a judge know about the value of that toy to you? YOU, on the other hand would know exactly what it means to YOU. So why not let YOU sentence me? What if I kill your son instead? Wouldn't YOU want to decide the kind of punishment that should be inflicted on me?

I guess men are bound by ethics and so our legal system is designed with the understanding that the desire for revenge can be a pretty strong sentiment which may not necessarily be RIGHT morally. Couple that with further understanding that men DO regret most of the things they do in fits of anger. What if, in your blind rage you sentence me to die after I kill your son and years later you actually REGRET killing me? It would all have been too late then- I would've died. With a judge, it's unlikely that he'll feel remorse because well, the whole business isn't personal to him to begin with.

While our justice system may seem fair, are we really sure that it isn't just our way to evade remorse after possibly convicting a person guilty of a crime done to us with the harshest punishment possible? (Don't tell me that after I kill your son it's going to be BENEATH you to kill me. You would have killed to kill me.) Or conversely, to evade the regret that's going to come years down the road when I kill another of your offspring after you decided that it WAS beneath you to kill me and you let me go scott-free in my first offense?

Who am I kidding? it IS for those very reasons that we need a judge to decide the sentence. We need to let somebody else do the dirty work for us because we DO want to punish (either to deter other people or as a way to compensate our loss) and we want to do it without feeling GUILTY. Which is more important in the end, the freedom to determine the best way to compensate a loss that is understood and agonized only by us? or to exact revenge without the burden of guilt?

In meting out punishments, we shouldn't be personal. Not only because in our great morality jacket we think it FAIR, but also because if we are directly responsible in causing harm to redress a harm done to us then we wouldn't be any different from the very people that cause us harm. And if we're no different from them then what rights have we to inflict punishments?

I think our legal system allows for a more compassionate and civilized approach in determining a penalty for a wrongdoing. It favors second chances to eternal damnation. It recognizes human weakness as what it is; a weakness that has some hope of being rectified given time.

Tell me to come up with these kinds of arguments in an academic essay and I'd fumble. Who says parents should ban their kids from watching tv? I say let them. Tv is an education. Doncha know?

Grinning Goat at 8/12/2008 12:12:00 AM pontificated

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{buzzz out}

Monday, August 11, 2008

GODSPEED

R:who did you think I was?
Buika: some indian woman
R: when you so casually and CRUELLY declared my call the 'wrong number' (until I actually almost believed it) and rudely slammed the phone down and refused to pick up the next THREE CALLS
R: WHATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
Buika: huh
R: you mean I actually sounded like an INDIAN WOMAN??????
Buika: yeah, cos u talked so fast, so i thought it was a prank call and didn't wanna pick it up
R: OMG an indian woman

I can live with an indian woman's voice/accent I guess. I've been thought to be a philippino before. What's one more race to be put under my wing, eh? I'm bleeding VERSATILE that's what I am.

Grinning Goat at 8/11/2008 11:31:00 PM pontificated

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{buzzz out}

The wonders of REMOTE ASSISTANCE

The neighbour's kid came over to play again today. My bones were all weary of course because gosh didn't he ever get tired. But it feels like having a little brother all over again.

This entry is dedicated to the INGENUITY of remote assistance Windows XP offers. It's a little like using HACKS for a good purpose. Normally you called the hotline, got answered by a cranky person on the other end. You told him your problem, then he suggested some things to do and when you do them and it doesn't work, he's going to INSIST that it's supposed to work and that the only reason it doesn't is because you do something wrong, like not following his orders PRECISELY or you doing stupid things like MISSPELLING the password or worse yet, the user ID.

And the longer you stay on the line and the longer the problem persists, the CRANKIER the person on the other line gets and naturally the crankier YOU become because you're not at all happy that he's being cranky at you when you're clearly the one with the problem.

Remote assistance allows him to do it HIMSELF. SOOOOOO when it DOESN'T WORK... well he can hardly be caught for not following his own orders can he? In fact, when it doesn't work initially, I'M PLEASED because then it means that when I call I really REQUIRE ASSISTANCE and that it isn't just because I am too stupid to solve things for myself.

Simply put, if the problem stumps even the IT EXPERT, who am I -MERE MORTAL- to tackle it myself? It's only NATURAL, hell even EXPECTED that this problem would have me beleaguered.

Remote assistance puts IT experts in OUR shoes. And there's nothing like letting them do it for themselves, to let them handle our problem HEADS ON. Certainly better than blindly following instructions that don't work that end up pissing you and them simultaneously. And when they try their tricks and fail, you get none of the blame. In fact, all you get is mostly SILENCE. Silence that's almost tinged with embarrassment because it takes them ages to solve the problem, being the IT experts that they are.

When the problem was fixed finally, I asked him what the problem was (because I saw him doing a lot of tricks and ALL of them looked the SAME to my amateurish eye and I saw no reason why one worked and the other did not) andddddddd he just HAD TO come up with stupid reasons like ohhh usually the problems are people misspelling the password or stuff like that.

Aiyoooooo if THAT was really the problem I'm pretty sure that I didn't need to call you laaa.

Grinning Goat at 8/11/2008 10:48:00 PM pontificated

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{buzzz out}

Thursday, August 07, 2008

The key

Alan: you get punished for being honest
Denny: of course you do. The key to any good relationship is lying
Alan: hmm
Denny: Women count on us to lie to them, how else can they convince themselves that they still look young if we don't help?

Grinning Goat at 8/07/2008 12:09:00 AM pontificated

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{buzzz out}

Wednesday, August 06, 2008

One of those days

Somebody died today. On my way to my student's house, as I was climbing up the slope I passed by this house with a white tent outside. And there were a lot of people. Mourners, really. Except that they were eating peanuts.

I've always thought that there is something wrong with mourners eating peanuts. Of course, the relatives of the dearly departed must provide some sort of a refreshment to the guests and surely peanuts are better than cakes (which obviously would be too celebratory -too festive- for the occasion).

The problem with guests eating peanuts is that it looks wrong. I place peanuts in the same category as popcorn and nachos; they are stuff we chew mindlessly as we feast our eyes on mundane, worldly affairs such as actors being shot to death on the big screen. And these people, they didn't look sad at all. Not saying that they have to of course, but at least have the decency to look serene. Anyway what are they looking so cheery for, there is a dead body inside for heaven's sake.

I do understand the comfort the peanuts give though. The last time I went to a funeral wake, it was for a classmate of mine. It wasn't the kind that shatter
me; not to make light of someone's death but to me,it was more of a case of oh tomorrow I won't see this person again. It wasn't her absence that shocked me as much as it was the reminder that all of us were mere mortals including the people I love.
I wasn't the peanut eater though, it was my physics teacher (who was well, what's a politically correct term for a midget? small people). He was there munching and for some odd reason the sight of him munching was comforting.

After I got back, my dad and I went cycling to see our old flat.

We used to live on the ninth floor. I was really curious as to how the place looks like now. So he rang the bell. And the owner was at home apparently because he opened the door shortly after and started frowning. He forgot who we are. So my dad reminded our former tenant of who we are and as a cover for our visit, invented the story of how we were looking for a place to rent/buy. We were invited in and chatted for a bit. Gosh the man was so boring even my dad couldn't make him sound interesting.

The place still had the same marble dinner table set (whose chair my brother dropped and cracked before; I think the man never did find out about that). Hell, the curtain was even the same. But he's got a better couch now. Black leather.

On our way out we passed by the other unit. One of the neighbors there noticed my dad and commented that we looked familiar (which says a lot about our former tenant's less than excellent memory). She invited us in through her kitchen door. My dad took a look at her fridge, admired it for a while and told her that she had a fine-looking fridge. Quatro cooling system, doncha know? So I stood there appreciating her fridge as my dad continued praising it and the lady nodded along.

I had to try not to laugh. That fridge was the same one we have. There's nothing like praising your own impeccable taste by praising other people's fridge. Huahahahaha.

I may have given you the impression that this lady is a show off but no, she's far from it; she's pretty humble really and seems like such a nice woman and host. We shouldn't have wasted our time talking to the boring man.

Oh and I gb with Jose the mexicant today and made him lose a lot of times huahaha. So I quit. Until firepower comes along. The firepower that's too busy with sf nowadays.

Grinning Goat at 8/06/2008 12:18:00 AM pontificated

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{buzzz out}

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Singfest

Singfest was as I heard, worth every penny (or more specifically, worth "every 100 bucks you can ever earn". So I was told).

So I was looking at the pictures.

R: is that jason mraz with the goatee?
CK: where got goateee? you're cross eyed lah like this

A pity really. Because if it WAS a goatee, he'd look really charming.

::

Actually. It WAS a goatee that I saw, it's just that it wasn't Jason Mraz. So I guess I'm still cross eyed?

Grinning Goat at 8/05/2008 01:34:00 AM pontificated

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{buzzz out}

Monday, August 04, 2008

The Voice of Conscience

Alan Shore exploited Jerry's Asperger Syndrome to undermine his confidence in court, to win a litigation. He told Jerry that he cautioned him before to get out of the field because "this field requires its participants to do ugly things"; and that He- Alan- is very accomplished in his field.

That is neither a threat nor a boast. Alan is a very accomplished lawyer and part of the reason why is because he can do ugly things when he has to.

Which side would you rather err on?

Would you do terrible things- things your sense of morality normally would refrain you from doing- to advance your own end?

Or would you be a perfectly upright person who gets exploited in the end?

A poor saint, or a rich bastard?

Would you rather be bitter because while you're being tough, shrewd, insidious and mercenary- all the ideals you aspire to- you are also thoroughly rotten or be bitter because while you're adhering to that voice of conscience and hanging on precariously to that shred of moral fibre, everyone else has clearly abandoned them and you are losing big time in the game?

Are you being stupid then? Will the knowledge that you've befriended St.Peter who may hold the key to your afterlife gate- if there's any- afford you some comfort? Of course it will, but the question is will it be enough?

One advice I got was: don't cheat but don't get cheated.
The problem is, to avoid getting cheated, you need to know how to cheat.

Jerry got cheated by Alan, and in getting cheated he learnt that in order to win, he's got to come up with tricks of his own; tricks that are not necessarily altruistic in intention. Dirty tricks, with sordid affairs ringing at the back of your head, almost.

For a poor saint who wants to get rich, he needs to pick up the way of the bastardly. And by getting 'rich' here I didn't mean strictly getting monetary rewards, I meant worldly accomplishment without moral strings attached (it's just that the word 'rich' is associated so closely to malice and avarice that the nuance of the word alone seems so in context in this case)

To be bastardly, he ought to start silencing the voice of conscience. Or he'd be one stumbling block short of his goal.
I know that for anybody to say this, it marks the beginning of moral degradation of the highest order. It really is ironic how sometimes the steep climb to reach a new intellectual height actually brings moral decadence along with it.

One would hope that as men get smarter, they would become more charitable.

One would hope.

And I guess moral degradation will become somewhat complete the moment someone wakes up one day with his moral compass totally re-aligned (is that rather like saying the tall boy is tall because he's tall?). What I meant to say is, we can argue so much only if we agree on a baseline. On the matter of deciding the shades of gray, we have to at least agree on what constitutes black and what constitutes white. To call someone a cheater, we have to at least agree on the rules of the game.

And when the voice of conscience is silenced, that's when the rules cease to exist. You will be playing a totally different ball game.

Grinning Goat at 8/04/2008 08:40:00 PM pontificated

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{buzzz out}

Sunday, August 03, 2008

And so it goes

My silence is my self defense. And so it goes, and so it goes



The original video's embedding is disabled but that's okay. This one by the King's singers is a pretty good rendition of the original.

Grinning Goat at 8/03/2008 09:27:00 PM pontificated

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{buzzz out}

Saturday, August 02, 2008

The breeze and the backpack
The hoes and the crowd

We went cycling today. It reminds me of the good old days. What's lacking is the sand, the beach, the fishermen and the disorder. That's the enemy of all things good I'd suppose: boredom. If people are too nice, places too tidy, ruler too straight, they become boring. We need a little bit of a disorderliness. We like routines but we like variations in our routines.

That's why we get routines; we get winter every year and yet to keep us from getting bored we get 4 different seasons. Each one repeating once every year. That's what Screwtape in Screwtape letter said anyway.

We passed by this place that was nicely done up with a mildly elevated stage, a plastic roof, a drum set and an amplifier and decided to drop by. A performance designed to create a hullabaloo to whisk off the ghost or so I was told, and none too gently if you listened to the singer.

The atmosphere, it was almost like we were in an old (albeit under-budgeted)traditional chinese wedding. They were playing old chinese and cantonese songs. Hell, there were even lecherous-looking old men to compliment the occasion. For some reason there were a lot of people watching. Made me wonder if they really found the entire show interesting or if they were just there for an entirely more mundane reason: that it was cheap entertainment.

There was a female singer draped in a gold mini skirt too. That'd explain the lecherous-looking old people bit. The show was called Great Wind. I find it amusing; I'm sure the chinese version of the name(which looked a tad bit longer) would sound altogether more poetic and less cheesy.

Speaking about cheesiness, I was reminded of this show I used to watch back in the 80s called Little House on the Prairie. A friend asked me, so what's it about? and I told her well, a house up on the prairie. What I remembered most was my fondness for their wooden house, they were always worrying about it catching fire.

And good Lord almighty, I incorrectly recalled that the one who played the dad was David Hasselhoff. Michael Landon must have flipped on his grave because the similarity ends with the curly hair. Well, at least Landon didn't go around parading his wrinkly ass as some kind of a heroic coast guard all the chicks dig.

I went to watch the show again since it was up on youtube, even if it was just to admire the wooden house. Maybe it was the poor resolution or the slowness of the pace ; I couldn't get passed the part where some guy rode on a chariot.

Anyway I sidetracked. Eventually, the cigarette fumes were proven to be too strong for us, or maybe it was the bad costume, or even the lecherous-looking men that made us leave shortly after.

I went back with a 10-kilo sack of rice on my back (this is one of our more adventurous trip with 2 milk gallons and soy milk cartons and a dozen other oranges) and I'm telling you, God designs your arse to carry your weight with it on a bike but not more. Or maybe it was the other way around, maybe men design the seat on a bike with efficiency (and perhaps very fleshy, well fat-cushioned and small arse) in mind, not comfort because lord, didn't it get sore.

I'm not sure why I'm telling you this. I think it wasn't so much the interest in the plot as it was a penchant for story telling. In fact, I haven't written stories in a while. And not even those kinds that will get published, but I'm still keeping an eye out for a publisher who'd be gullible enough to.

Grinning Goat at 8/02/2008 10:17:00 PM pontificated

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{buzzz out}

Louis Armstrong on when the saints go marching in

This may be in black and white but it's SHEER CLASS.


Grinning Goat at 8/02/2008 05:13:00 PM pontificated

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{buzzz out}

The nutcrackers

Black woman: (to the receptionist) I'm not leaving until I meet my lawyer
Paul Lewiston: what seems to be the matter?
Black woman: this little thing here won't take my business because I'm black, that's what's goin on
Paul Lewiston: I'm sure that's not the case
Black woman: what do you know, were you here?
Denise Bauer: what's going on?
Receptionist: (in hushed tones, to Denise and Paul) evidently her husband was struck and killed by lightning, she wants to sue God
Paul Lewiston: ahh
Black woman: you're talkin about me, don't think I don't know you're talkin about me

Grinning Goat at 8/02/2008 04:10:00 PM pontificated

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{buzzz out}

Friday, August 01, 2008

Infatuation

Alan Shore is HOT.

Grinning Goat at 8/01/2008 04:56:00 PM pontificated

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{buzzz out}