Kissing Your Arms

I will kiss your arms, when it's time. No, that time isn't now, nor is it in the very near future. It will be unexpected. It will be unplanned. Yet when it happens, it will make sense. You will know not a more perfect moment was made for this.

Hovering Under The Bridge

I'm in London right now enjoying my half-term, hence the lack of updates the past week. Yes, if I still had quota on my 3G, I would've certainly updated more often. But as it turns out, I don't.

So Friday was the last day of school. Well, of lessons anyway for us the Upper Sixth, most of which will be off to University, or having a gap year.

The last day was certainly a very good laugh. Lunch was just hilarious. We as Upper Sixth decided to make lunch a fancy dress party. Just like that. The theme was Prep school, and this was meant to symbolise us coming full circle, back to the youthful adolescent childhood and early teenagehood when most of us first stepped into Shrewsbury School.

Of course this resulted in some very wacky lunch-time fashion. A few guys came in wearing really tight, really short school shorts. Ties were either worn very, very long, or very very short. Some wore colourful caps, some wore trousers that only came to their knees. Of course this doesn't sound very impressive read on a blog, but believe me, when about 200 sixth formers walk around KH (our cafeteria) wearing tight trousers and the third formers' clothes, it's all very surreal. I wore a tweed jacket, a bright blue shirt with red horizontal and vertical stripes, trousers that came to my knee, and striped socks that had yellow stars. Not surprisingly, the teachers were too amused to be angry.

My last lesson was English, and though we did some typically hard work with Doc Law, someone brought champagne to bring the final lesson to an end.

The Leavers Dinner for the house was good. Speeches and jokes were made. Food was good. And the company was brilliant. Then the few who was left at the house decided to spend the remainder of the waking night lying around amd sitting on the house pitch, in darkness under the starless sky.

I have a feeling I will miss this school.

Signing out

Over and out

Twins In The Tropics

Last night was incredible. If you're remotely interested in football at all, then you would've known that United won the Champions League final against Chelsea.

It's really a different experience when you're watching the final with real Mancunians and Londoners. Of course in Brunei the passion is still there. But when you support Manchester United and you're from Manchester, there's that enhanced feeling of local pride and passion. That showed last night. I'm a United fan, but I don't really show it. I'd rather admit I am an Inter fan, which I am. And I would be chuffed if Lampard decided to go to Inter.

Anyways, we found this amusing bit in Milton's 'Paradise Lost,':

'The Spartan twins / Up the tropic Crab'

It's priceless.

Signing out

Over and out

Simplifying Absent Concepts

So... I have been practically absent from the online world for a couple of days now. And considering I have a lot of free time on my hands right now (even though exams are looming ever closer), that's very unusual.

I have used up my Three mobile broadband quota for the month, which is quite impressive, I think, considering it was the 19th. Just under 2 weeks to go. Aah. Damn it. That means no MSN, no Skype for the next two weeks. Not having MSN doesn't really bother me though, since out of 200 contacts, I only really chat with 5 of them. Skype has been invaluable, since I've been using it to call Pill, ever since my phone contract got barred again. Aah. If you haven't noticed, I'm in a financial muddle right now. But not to worry. I'll sort it out. Somehow.

Half term is coming. But before that, it'll be the Leavers Dinner first for Severn Hill. It's gonna be such a ruckus. At least I hope it is. Last year was.

I need to start studying. Soon.

Champions' League final tonight. That's not gonna help me do my English essay, which is due tomorrow.

Signing out

Over and out

Wordless Silence

The wordless silence brings about an intense questioning of unmentioned pretenses
One thoughtless action in the midst of silent intentions
This isn't the part where we're supposed to fall
It's not, now we are falling against the grain
Nothing makes sense anymore in this senseless, mocking world
A cheerless smile embedded into your cheerless lips
Hopeless distaste of the injustice of one's silence
Twisted tongues with escapist tendencies conjure silent thoughts
And again wordless silence brings about cheerless songs


Crimson blood stains the air with virulent violence
Whispers of vengeance dominate the conscious
While the unconscious lie in blissful ignorance
Silence is in itself inevitably wordless
Yet this time more comes through than meaningless sentences
The power of wordlessness cannot be underestimated
High hopes dashed by uncertain consequences
Callousness of the individual wrecks the vital constituents
And again wordless silence brings about false pretenses

Vicious Vindaloo

Today's been a truly brilliant day. Imagine this. I was sleeping, waiting for my only lesson of the day. All this while in my humiliating state of just wearing boxers and my whole room in a complete state of mess. This is only one small part of my room. I have saved you the agony and pain of seeing the full scale of the total chaotic nature of my humble abode:



So yes, you can stop imagining me in my boxers now, you pervert. There I was, dreaming about something to do with... I can't remember. For all I know it could have been something about the Invisible Pink Unicorn or The Flying Spaghetti Monster. And suddenly I heard two knocks on the door. This being a boys' boarding house, knocking is almost non-existent, and privacy is as elusive as Elmo's penis, I was surprised that someone actually bothered to knock on the door. And who should it be but Pill all the way from Oxford opening the door. I was surprised to say the least, though I didn't think I showed the full enormous scale of my shock. I mean, Oxford is at least (and this is if you're very lucky) 2 hours by train, and 3,456 years by foot. I wouldn't expect her to make the day trip. This isn't even the first time she did it. She came for my 20th birthday (with a few other people, thanks guys :D) to surprise me. And this was when we weren't yet together.

Back to the story. Sorry if you're already bored. Haha. Skip this blog if you're not into reading the daily lives of people. I know I'm not. Heh.

Seeing as she was there, I reluctantly showered so that I didn't smell of sleepy sweat and stale saliva. And I had a lesson soon. But hey, the FSM might have favoured me that day, as I got a PR (private reading - or as we like call it, private recreation) for Chemistry. Realising what a gem this was, me, Pill and Geo decided to go to town.

And it all went from there. Had lunch at Ask with Farah and Adri. Then some quality private time with Pill. Then Pill went back on the 7.22pm train. And so went for a meal at The Curry House:




I have never had anything spicier (possibly) than the Veggie Vindaloo I had then. Mubin, Farah, Adri and Chiao got a taste of it, and most of them almost cried. I think the Curry House must have made a really tidy profit because we were ordering Coke every 3 minutes or so.

To end this probably very tedious and boring read, I would just like to say... Happy birthday Adri!

Signing out

Over and out

P.S. I'm sorry. I'll make up for this very dull update on my life with a (hopefully) more entertaining one tomorrow.

Alice In Practice

This is possibly my favourite scene in a TV show ever. No other scene even comes close. This is from the Channel 4 TV show, Skins, which is a teenage drama. And what I mean by drama is real drama combined with the comically absurd. It's really good.

This scene is of Sid (the guy with the Beanie) breaking down in the middle of the club. Earlier that morning, he found his dad dead on the couch, probably of a heart attack caused by his excessive smoking. Sid goes to school normally trying to numb himself from the pain, and tells only Tony, the other guy in this video. Tony brings him to the club to try and escape for a bit, and in the middle of Crystal Castle's Alice Practice, Sid is overwhelmed by the sadness and breaks down in front of Tony. If you've seen the whole show, it is one of the most touching scenes you'll ever see.

Great song too. Crystal Castle with 'Alice Practice.' This song has been stuck in my head since I heard it on Skins, which was months ago.

Signing out

Over and out

Categorisation Deviation

If you have been reading my Multiply blog since it started, then the posts below would seem familiar. I wrote these a few years back, probably when I was in Form 4 or Form 3. It was around the same time I started listening to Funeral For A Friend, and it was 'emo' before 'emo' even got big. Now emo is just... Shit. Some of the 'emo' bands I heard back then must've changed ways because they don't sound emo anymore. I think they are embarassed at being given the same tag as My Chemical Romance. I kow I would be.

The thing is, the term 'emo' itself has changed meaning over the years. Emo was actually a sub-genre of hardcore punk. Early emo was also labelled as emotive hardcore (emocore) and melodic hardcore. Emo was an attempt to escape or deviate from straight-edge hardcore, presenting a more melodic alternative to the rawness of metallic hardcore.

The more famous bands that are actually emo aren't usually considered by the mainstream as emo at all. Consider Dashboard Confessional and Jimmy Eat World. They are both emo, or more accurately, indie emo. Even Weezer is considered emo to an extent. Of course Jimmy Eat World is losing its emo influences now, as the term emo has been abused by the industry to promote new bands to a young audience that craves a new and trendy version of emo.

To define 'emo' music is now very hard as there are really so many variations of emo bands, that sometimes have nothing in common. Lostprophets and My Chemical Romance have little in common. Yet both of them are regularly labelled as emo. Dashboard Confessional and Taking Back Sunday are hardly similar, yet both are considered emo.

Basically the term emo is now nothing more than a term to describe a certain stereotype of a group of people dressed in tight jeans and with fringes onto one side. Depression and self-injury is associated with this stereotype, though self-proclaimed emos claim that this is merely a generalisation. I don't disagree with that.

I'm really not sure why I started talking about emo. At first this was just going to be a friendly entry about the things I've written over the years. Haha. One of my favourite bands, Coheed & Cambria, has ridiculously been given the label 'emo,' which is an insult in itself. If they were to be categorised, the only label even close enough to describe them is Progressive Metal. A lot of bands that have been given the label 'emo' shun such categorisation.

Signing out

Over and out

Standby

A thousand words won't interest me
If they're not from your luscious lips
A million smiles won't cheer me
If you're not the one who's giving

If ever a heart can be broken
It'd be mine when you finally leave
Echoes of your name in my head
Won't stop even for a moment's brief

You'll never know how I feel
This face hides it too well
Just a song to the anonymous
This heart has fallen in love with

Left and right but I can't find you
I wonder where you are all the time
Your words could calm a storm in me
Inside this ever melancholic mind

You'll never know how I feel
This face hides it too well
Just a song to the anonymous
This heart has fallen in love with

Will you ever know how deep?
This bittersweet feeling that's bottled up inside

You'll never know how I feel
This face hides it too damn well
Just a song to the anonymous
This heart has fallen in love with

Trigger Happy

The lonely state of being delirious
The humour in death of another friend
Inside the heart bleeds with anger
A disaster of a different magnitude
For all I care

The fruitless yield of states perilous
The crucifixion of another unnamed enemy
Alongside the miseries of being silent
A disaster of a different attitude
For all we care

Is this all we care for?
Tied in
Will all this fade away?
Fade away
With the yesterdays of tomorrow

Overshadowing
The guilt of simple terror
The adrenaline
Takes away everything
Forgetting

A reoffender standing in the middle
They won't learn their lessons anymore
Abide to the anger phenomenon
A disaster in a different latitude
For all you care

Is this all we care for?
Tied in
Will all this fade away?
Fade away
With the yesterdays of tomorrow

Overshadowing
The guilt of simple terror
The adrenaline
Takes away everything
Forgetting

This sacrifice won't mean a thing
To anyone anywhere
This sacrifice won't mean a thing
To me and to you

Overshadowing
The guilt of simple terror
The adrenaline
Takes away everything
Forgetting

One Minute Of Awkward Silence

Apparitions of you
The hauntings of yesterday
A ghost that asks for silence
The proud enemy of another generation
Brings me to this photograph of tragedies

Bindings hearts they
The masterplan of death
A crest of blinding luminence
The thirty-three reasons for creation
Take me away from the parodies

Unclear
The contrast between tomorrow and yesterday
The cold freezing wind
Makes this all the harder
The things you might have said

The righteous thief
A cruel irony hurts today
A harder nut to crack now
The middle of the end of neverendings
The deafening sound of sad melodies

Unclear
The contrast between tomorrow and yesterday
The cold freezing wind
Makes this all the harder
The things you might have said

The cold freezing wind would just kill me
If I stepped outside
Would it just kill me
Your heartbreak of the year

Unclear
The contrast between tomorrow and yesterday
The cold freezing wind
Makes this all the harder
The things you might have said

Night Of A Thousand Pains

A night everlasting
The final moments of bittersweetness
The truth is ever painful
It always is
When it's all about the last night out
The last is always the best and the worst

Walking along the streets of old
Under the mourning moonlight
A conversation that tells all
Under the sadness of night

I see that look in your eyes
It's this year's most painful heartache
Reflecting the days gone by
Always come back
When it's the tears that you give out
The clear crystals of sadness are the worst

Walking along the streets of old
Under the mourning moonlight
A conversation that tells all
Under the sadness of night

The burning desire
To have this back again
Caught left behind

Walking along the streets of old
Under the mourning moonlight
A conversation that tells all
Under the sadness of night
Under the scene of a starless sky

Hold On To The Pain

The drained minds of yesteryear
The return of the paranoia of tomorrow
Mercy is not a word to be spoken
The transfiguration of another mistake
The blame game is anything but over

Hold on to the pains of yesterday
You know how it feels like
Hold on to the pain of yesterday
We all want to feel it now

The deranged thoughts of the future
The photograph of a thousand deaths
Compassion is not a word to be spoken
The inspiration of a long-forgotten lesson
The endless shame is anything but over

The enduring propagandas of the past
The rebirth of the world's forced silence
Sanity is not a word to be spoken
The resolution that's bound to fail
The persisting anger is anything but over

Hold on to the pains of yesterday
You know how it feels like
Hold on to the pain of yesterday
We all want to feel it now

The solidarity that's no longer there
The words that should have been said
The days that are just full of pain


Hold on to the pains of yesterday
You know how it feels like
Hold on to the pain of yesterday
We all want to feel it now

The Parting

We've been through much together
This is one of those times
Magnified by the years in question
Departing, I hold back these tears
Tonight I cry but I do not mourn

Because this isn't the end
The interlude of such magnitude
This is not the last time
Divided by the imaginary latitudes

I know that we'll meet again
And on that day we'll rejoice
And for that day I'll wait for you

We've promised not to ever forget
This was always gonna hurt
Mystified by the consequence in turn
In parting, I utter out these phrases
Tonight I cry but I do not mourn

Because this isn't the end
The interlude of such magnitude
This is not the last time
Divided by the imaginary latitudes

I know that we'll meet again
And on that day we'll rejoice
And for that day I'll wait for you

A Tuesday Full Of Promises

The momentum of this failed intimacy
The heavy hearts and silenced mouths
A morning set for mourning
We're all broken inside this unnamed chaos
All black and white

The pivotal moments of our dying lives
The fallen minds and contoured backgrounds
A canvas set for blood
We're all violent inside our subconscious
All black and red

The torment
Eternally
Little do we know
The magnitude
The pain
The torture

The flawless nature of an imperfection
The late farewells and senseless sacrifices
A heart set for breaking
We're all dying inside our selfish minds
All black and blue

The torment
It brings us
Eternally
Closer
Little do we know
And closer
The magnitude

Musing Musicality

I promised about a month ago to re-do a list I did sometime last year (3rd March, to be exact. Haha). This is my top ten albums I bought since that post:

[1] Gallows – Orchestra Of Wolves [10/10]
[2] Coheed & Cambria – No World For Tomorrow [9.5/10]
[3] Serj Tankian – Elect The Dead [9/10]
[4] Jack Johnson – Sleep Through The Static [9/10]
[5] Enter Shikari – Take To The Skies [9/10]
[6] Foo Fighters – Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace [8.5/10]
[7] Jimmy Eat World – Chase This Light [8/10]
[8] Josh Ritter – The Historical Conquests Of Josh Ritter [8/10]
[9] Angels & Airwaves – I-Empire [8/10]
[10] Fu Manchu – We Must Obey [8/10]


One of the best albums to have come out in 2007. Punk is not dead.

These are my top twenty songs for the past few weeks (note: some might be old songs, but who cares, hey? Good music is still good music, no matter how old it is)

[1] Sublime – What I’ve Got
[2] Jack Johnson – If I Had Eyes
[3] Flight Of The Conchords – Albi The Racist Dragon
[4] Matisyahu – Time Of Your Song
[5] Alexisonfire – Drunks, Lovers, Sinners, Saints
[6] The Moldy Peaches – Anyone Else But You
[7] Slipknot – Vermillion, Pt. 2
[8] Gallows – Come Friendly Bombs
[9] Enter Shikari – Anything Can Happen In The Next Half Hour…
[10] Gavin DeGraw – I Don’t Wanna Be
[11] The Kooks - Seaside
[12] Kimya Dawson – So Nice So Smart
[13] Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly – Glass Houses
[14] Turisas - Rasputin
[15] Jimmy Eat World – Always Be
[16] Kings Of Leon – Joe’s Head
[17] Gym Class Heroes – Under The Bridge (Red Hot Chili Peppers cover)
[18] Placebo – Because I Want You
[19] Massive Attack - Teardrop
[20] Busta Rhymes – We Made It (Featuring Linkin Park)



Absolutely sublime

My top ten bands:

[1] Gallows
[2] Enter Shikari
[3] Coheed & Cambria
[4] Alexisonfire
[5] Daft Punk
[6] Sublime
[7] Jimmy Eat World
[8] Bloc Party
[9] Rage Against The Machine
[10] Placebo


The new sound of Trance Core (Enter Shikari)

The worst eight bands(couldn't think of another two). And I have to emphasise, this is my opinion. Haha. And oh, this is pretty much the same ten I had last year. Bar a few minor changes
[1] My Chemical Romance
[2] Fall Out Boy
[3] Simple Plan
[4] Limp Bizkit
[5] Papa Roach
[6] Panic! At The Disco
[7] Fightstar
[8] Evanescence


Overrated, over the top and overachiever

Artists that I hated (-ish) and now like:
[1] Bowling For Soup
[2] Avenged Sevenfold
[3] Jamie T.
[4] The Fratellis
[5] Our Lady Peace


Thw wordsmith, Jamie T.


Not the girl we used to know and like

Bands that I liked and now hate/dislike (pretty much unchanged, except [5]):
[1] My Chemical Romance
[2] Good Charlotte
[3] Fall Out Boy
[4] Evanescence
[5] Avril Lavigne










Not actually any good

Most overrated band (again, almost unchanged):
[1] My Chemical Romance
[2] Fall Out Boy
[3] Panic! At The Disco
[4] Simple Plan
[5] Good Charlotte



Progressive metal at its best

Most underrated band:
[1] Coheed & Cambria
[2] Placebo
[3] NoFX
[4] Sublime
[5] (+44)








Still don't know what the deal is

I (still) can’t understand the hype about:
[1] Klaxons
[2] Muse
[3] My Chemical Romance
[4] Simple Plan
[5] Avril Lavigne






Pioneers of punk. Without them, music won't be as we know it now.

I’ve re-discovered:
[1] The Clash
[2] AC/DC
[3] The Ramones
[4] Metallica
[5] Bob Marley & The Wailers




Asian bands that I do like:
[1] Lo (Malaysia)
[2] Love Me Butch (Malaysia)
[3] Sheila On 7 (Indonesia)
[4] Airholes (Brunei)
[5] [H8] (Brunei)

And Asian bands that I don’t:
[1] Padi (Indonesia)
[2] Flop Poppy (Malaysia)
[3] Dygta (Indonesia)
[4] Ada Band (Indonesia)
[5] Radja (Indonesia)



Pop (or anything outside rock, really) stars I can stand (and like, in some cases)
[1] Eminem
[2] Daft Punk
[3] Plan B
[4] The Streets
[5] Moby

And those I can’t stand (and again, unchanged. Haha)
[1] 50 Cent
[2] Britney Spears
[3] Pussycat Dolls
[4] Hilary Duff
[5] Paris Hilton

The most annoying songs:
[1] Rihanna – Umbrella (Featuring Jay-Z)
[2] Ne-Yo – So Sick
[3] High School Musical – All In This Together
[4] Clint Mansell – Requiem For A Dream
[5] Simple Plan – Shut Up



Get these covers:
[1] New Found Glory – Iris (The Goo Goo Dolls)
[2] Cartel – Wonderwall (Oasis)
[3] Gym Class Heroes – Under The Bridge (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
[4] Natasha Bedingfield – Somewhere Only We Know (Keane)
[5] Turisas – Rasputin (Boney M.)

Educations In Separation

I guess I've already said it a few times how I don't believe in exams. How I don't think exams are the proper calibrating tool to recognise intelligence. And reading Zayn's blog about made me think that I should take a deeper look into it in my blog.

Obviously, I still don't believe in it. Nothing's changed about that. So basically here instead of dropping a line on a blog about school, I'll write an entry specifically about exams.

First of all, I don't believe in exams not out of spite. I'm not being whiney about it. It's not the immature hate that people have for exams. It's a sincere disbelief and lack of trust of exams as a means of properly cultivating intellectual discussions, promoting academic excellence and a reliable system of intelligent calibration.

There a few points to make to support this view of exams as a negative and counter-productive tool for education:

- Like in the British education system, and in the Brunei education system, school life and the education in it is aimed very narrowly at trying to pass exams to go on to the next level, whether it to be the next grade, university or well-earning job. The main focus is to get the sufficient grades to have a better career. This isn't really a bad thing, but that is the bonus of education, not the main point of it. Education is a means of improving society by stimulating intellectual discussion about issues that concern society. It is also a means of educating oneself to prepare for the real life, for practical things. Not just facts and numbers.

- The amount of work to be done to prepare for exams are enormous. All for one paper that can determine what your next step will be. It does not take into account anomalies, the inconsistency of candidates. It does not take into account that one day can make a difference between an A-grade (or 1st) and B-grade (2nd). Illness, depression, state of mind. All can change in a few hours. By using a coursework-oriented course, such inconsistencies can be evened out over the space of a few weeks or months.

- The amount of fact-memorising is ridiculous. As one person pointed out, even professionals refer to books. Professionals. Then why do students, out of all people, have to remember obscure facts, numbers and names that in the course of their actual career can be easily referred to by using a book?

- The system is easily abused through fact-regurgitating. A person that can remember things very, very well might benefit from such a flawed system. Yet an intelligent person who has trouble remembering stuff might be crippled by such a system's dependency on fact-regurgitation.

There is a reason why sometimes I feel revision is a waste of time.

Signing out

Over and out

When Nothing Comes To Mind

You know what.

I think I'm not as outspoken as I used to be on my blog. And it kinda bugs the hell out of me.

I remember the ill-advised rants about vegetarianism (I'm a vegetarian). I remember expressing my view about gay rights. And I remember cursing the racists for their elitism. Okay, sure, none of my opinions have changed. Yet I have not found anything like that to talk about.

I did rant about forwarded e-mails, but c'mon, that's something trivial.

I guess a part of me has mellowed down. Maybe it's because of Pill. Or maybe that anger has disappeared out of disappointment, knowing that sometimes certain things you can't change through an entry. And maybe it's because I don't like to repeat myself, and I've run out of issues to discuss.

This is one about homosexuality, and this one is about vegetarianism.

I think having a blog is more than just being a way to update people on how you are doing. I guess that's obvious to most people. But yet, many don't take advantage of that fact. I use mine to let people read my stories, to entertain even. Okay, I do admit sometimes my blog is terribly dull. C'mon, I've got my down days, where I don't have anything to write except my dull, unexciting day.

I'm thinking I will put a section on the side for all my stories, where I'll put links to them. I think that will be awesome. I might just do that now.

Signing out

Over and out

EDIT:

I've done it. I've linked to all my stories and other stuff, on the side, in a section called Written To Be Read. Read this one first: The Finer Story Of True Love. I sent it to the.. I can't even remember what the society is called now. Oh, the Sidney Carton society in school which focuses on writing short stories. They let me in, so I'm thinking it must worth something. Hahaha.

Tell me what you think, if you're bothered. And if you have the time, and I know most of you do (Hahaha), read the others.

Imperfections In Perfection

Pill, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I was unfaithful, and I'm sorry. I was being stupid. I didn't know what I was doing. It was rash. It was thoughtless.

This other person doesn't mean a thing to me. Not one.

If you don't wanna be hurt, look away now:



Haha. Got you there.

Signing out

Over and out

P.S. The bottle of Stella is not mine. It's his, if you're wondering :P

The Shrewsbury Shoe

The couple in question:


There's something wrong with Blogger. Mine at least. The posting time is several hours behind. Which is kinda annoying. I'm not sure how to fix it. Someone tell me. Please.

Anyways, yesterday we, in a (almost) vain attempt to surprise Adri, got surprised ourselves. Here's the lowdown. Okay. We were supposed to meat at the bazaar near Starbucks, and me and Farah was supposed to sneak up on Adri, but we couldn't find where they were. Being the stealthy sneaking sneaks we are, we tried to find him amidst all the people and the tents.

Thinking he was in Starbucks, we sneaked towards the overpriced coffee haven. But here's the funny part. Adri and the others were sitting on a bench watching us sneaking to Starbucks. All the way. So we ended up being surprised by them.

The meal at Pizza Express was good. The Padano pizza was amazing. I don't usually like onions, but the onions on the pizza were... Haha. It was sweet, and went really well with the goat's cheese. I do love goat's cheese.

Then we went to the Quarry for the Shrewsbury Regatta. Seriously, there must've been hundreds of boats there. We watched the Second VIII cruise this one boat by a few lengths. And I don't mean to brag, but our school is absolutely amazing at rowing. Our 1st and 2nd VIII both won their categories in the nationals (yes, all of England). Our 2nd VIII is better than many 1st VIIIs from other schools.

And oh, the 1st VIII beat Queen College, Oxford yesterday, I think. I'm pretty sure thst's worth mentioning.

The Bruneian Shrewsbury Posse very much getting into the action at the Shrewsbury Regatta:


Signing out

Over and out

Hurricanes In Simplistic Grains

Aah shit. I'm way too tired to update this blog tonight. Here's a picture.

Signing out

Over and out

Faces In-Between Spaces

I'm quite content with my life at the moment. Sure, I'm in a disgusting amount of debt. Sure, I probably won't get to my first choice Uni. And I'm as hell sure that this has been the most hard-working term I've ever had in my life. But despite all that - and to an extent partly because all that - I'm happy with how my life is now.

At least every three weeks I have something (or someone - Pill, that is. Haha) to look forward to. I'm having fun in school. This house, my housemates has been great to me. I like living in England. The freedom, the variety. The many things and places I can do and go to.

Not that my life is all sunshine though. Even this English summer is bound to be spoilt by the infamous English summer rain. And it was last night. Bloody thunderstorm.


But as it is right now, I'm as hell sure I'm content and happy with what I've got.

Signing out

Over and out

Good Intentions In Good Times

It's been a good couple of days, really, of school. Not too much work. Did well in my mocks. Had an impromptu barbecue, had a meal at Cromwell's. Good stuff.




On Wednesday, Lowco had the idea of having an Upper Sixth barbecue on the house pitch, seeing as it was a beautiful, sunny afternoon devoid of rain, cold and little ice things that crash onto your head called hail. We already had the grill, and a monstrous George Foreman grill at that, courtesy of Mike, and all we needed was the food. Me, Clive and Geo just happened to want to go to town that afternoon, so we ended up with the burden of having to buy the food and possibly facing the wrath of a dozen hungry sixth-formers if our choice of food was shit.





When Geo left town to go back to school for rowing - which isn't technically a sport, it's a form of physical and mental torture - it was just me & Clive to do all the shopping. With about £20 between us, we bought a massive amount of food. We found a place that sold 20 burgers for £1. It was amazing. We ended up in the end buying more than we needed. We could have possibly fed a small African nation for two weeks:

24 beef burgers
32 sausages
8 turkey burgers
6 vegetarian sausages (especially for moi. Hahaha)
8 cornettos
10 fruit splits
16 cheese slices
16 hot dog rolls
24 burger buns
and some other stuff I can't remember

All this for less than £20. We were quite pleased with ourselves. Heh.



The barbecue itself was a good laugh. Lying on the grass, eating burgers and sausages, playing frisbee. It was a good old-fashoined barbecue. Of course the only bad thing was the housemaster, Vicars, wasn't too happy because we didn't tell him beforehand.



It might be the stress of having to deal with a newborn baby. I'm not sure. I am yet to see this little Jack Francis Hugh Vicars. I think that is his full name. And the English claim we have long names. Their middle names are unnecessary. They have names like William Patrick Edward Nicholas Ian Shelly Hunter. Who in their right mind would give their child six first names? Then they try to cover it up with initials and nicknames. Willy P.E.N.I.S. Hunter.

Yesterday evening's meal at Cromwells was really good. Of course seeing as I am a vegetarian, I didn't have much choice in terms of food. Hahaha. But it was still all good anyway. The waffles were amazing, and the ice cream. Oh, the waffles. I want more waffles with butterscotch on it. The walk back to school was such a good laugh. One of the most unexpected things happened, but I'm not gonna talk about it here. Hahaha.

Good times.

Signing out

This Is When The First Came

Yes, exactly. This is the first one. On this particular blog.

Well, I'll make this cross with Multiply. It'll be easier, I guess.

Signing out

Over and out

Wistful Pillow Fights

So it's Wednesday. So it's a bit late for an update on how my weekend was. So this. So that.

Well, my weekend was brilliant. Spent with Pill, again. Thorpe Park was amazing. There's some really good rollercoasters that will blow your mind.



There's one called Stealth, that starts from a standstill to 80mph in under 2 seconds, and before you realise how fast you're going the rollercoaster suddenly goes up just over 200 feet and then you plummet back down. It's ridiculously fast and intense.



There's another called Colossus, and suggested by the name, is absolutely immense. You're basically just rolling around a loop every split second. I think it's got the world record for most inversions, as they say it. Which says something.



Nemesis Inferno is a bigger, badder version of Nemesis in Alton Towers. It's absolutely intense. Too bad we couldn't take our shoes off for the ride. It would've felt amazing if we could feel the wind crashing on our feet as they dangle under the coaster.



Me & Pill got absolutely soaked after riding Tidal Wave. Apparently 3 tonnes of water were forced into the air as the boat hits the bottom. It explains a lot. This is much, much better than the Waterfall in Jerudong Park. Waterfall has nothing on Tidal Wave. Tidal Wave really feels like you're being attacked by a waterfall. I had to take off my shirt and just wear my jacket with nothing inside. The water was so cold.



The shittiest ride was X:/No Way Out. It's supposed to be a backwards in-the-dark rollercoaster. Great on paper, but in practice, it was shit. It stopped every 20 seconds, which stopped the flow of adrenaline. And the loops were non-existent. I think in terms of in-the-dark rollercoasters, Disneyland's Aerosmith Rock 'N Roll was way better, even though it wasn't backwards.

Thorpe Park is amazing. Me & Pill have already bought the tickets for next time, and guess what, this time it's only £10 each. And it's open, so we can go anytime we want. When they said Thorpe Park is the thrill capital of England, they weren't being funny.

By the way, I got myself a new monitor. And a wireless desktop.



Sorry you can't see the wireless keyboard. You can still see my laptop, which basically has become just a PCU really. It's where I plug all my USB and stuff, and switch it on. I don't even have to have the lid open anymore. Except of course when I switch it on or use the webcam.

Yes, I think the monitor is amazing. Acer X222W it is. Yes, tech-jargon. Who wants that. All I need to know was that it's only £150, 22 inches, and is amazing for working (yes, I do work) and watching films.

I know I spend a lot of money. But most of the time I never regret my money-spending, wasting ways. This is one of those times. And the Thorpe Park trip wasn't bad either.

Signing out

Over and out

Parallelograms (Part One)

It is night. The darkness takes over the sky, stars hiding behind the blanket of night. Not a single twinkling wonder is out tonight. Only the lonely moon sees over this quiet darkness, shimmering unwillingly to light the way for the nocturnal beings of the city to carry on with their sleepless lives.

Amidst the sleeplessness one soul wanders along an unnamed street, its existence insignificant and irrelevant to the city. The street is littered with rubbish. The neglected path is that one soul’s route of choice for his lightless way home.

In his hand, he has a piece of yellow paper, neatly folded into a simple parallelogram. Quite why it has to be a parallelogram, he has no idea himself. It just is. He has stopped questioning why. It’s one of those things he knows that the reason it is what it is, is just because it simply is. It is just simply a parallelogram. That is its reason for existing.

He knows this path he has chosen is no ordinary path. There is a reason why it is neglected, why it is unnamed. Every night he takes this route, and every night he is reminded why it is not ordinary. So far as he knows, no one else goes through here, and he is not surprised. Things lurk in the shadows. Horrible things. Memories and nightmares of the past lurk like serpents preying on helpless little mice, ready to consume whole any that go astray. Tonight will be no different, and he will be ready for anything that tries to lead him away from his way home.

Now it starts.

******

“You lazy piece of shit! You’ll never amount to anything, you fucking piece of fuck!”

His cheek still hurts from the slap the Dad had just given him. The Mom sits on the dining table, counting eggs. Her smile is scathing, even degrading. For each count of three, she throws one egg towards him. So far none has managed to hit him. He does not budge from his chair. The Dad is giving the Speech, and he knows that any kind of movement will be considered disrespectful. He knows better than to disrespect the Speech. The Dad made sure he knows that very well with the countless bruises the Dad has given him in the past for interrupting the Speech.

“Why can’t you be like your dear old Dad? You know what your dear old Dad has achieved? A lot. That’s something you will never know for yourself. You and your useless junkie friends.”

******

Distorted memories haunt him. Though he knows the path has severely distorted his memories, the feeling is still the same. The unimaginable feeling of loneliness. The painful rejection. The physical humiliation. Though the details are inaccurate, the truth is the overall feeling is what matters. He knows this feeling, one of years gone by, pains forgotten, miserable loneliness in spiteful dejection.

Yet those memories were days of yesteryear. He just has to focus on the parallelogram in his hand, and he'll get through this. It's simple, it's plain. It's nothing more than a parallelogram. Yet it isn't just simply a parallelogram.

It's not long till he gets home. He'll get through this. He has to.

[End Of Part One]

Three Pesky Little Pomegranates

So yes. After exactly 2,343 years, 42 days, 12 hours and 35 minutes, the indecisive Warwick has actually done something I never thought they would do. Make a decision on my application. Of course I practically made the decision myself when I decided not to do the online interview they gave me.

Ah, yes. The irony. I was actually scared they were gonna accept me. Really, like I would've been properly gutted if they said "Okay, we want you here. The online interview? No matter. That was just a delaying tactic anyway. We couldn't decide between you and this Russian guy who speaks no English. In the end 4 out of 5 of the committe decided we want you."

Obviously that didn't and wouldn't have happened.

I'm seriously relieved that decided to finally reject me after toying with my oh-so-fragile emotions. Urm... Hahaha.

So that leaves me with three offers. I've made my mind up three years... I mean three months ago. UCL is Firm. York is Insurance. And Royal Holloway, I shall mark you as Declined. As I clicked on the 'Submit Reply' button, I scrambled freneticly to check whether I hadn't mistakenly botched it up. If I did, it would've been too late, but no, I didn't.

So that's UCAS over and done with. Bub bye A-Level world. Oh wait, we've still got four weeks of it. Shit. And oh, damn exams. Pesky little things exams are. One of the few inconvenient inevitabilities in this world along with death and taxes.

So.

So.

And so.

Signing out

Over and out