Ketchup revisit

In case you were wondering why ketchup - it is because my housemates are convinced that in their absence I will eat nothing but bread and ketchup. My response is "pooey". However, I admit - they cook reasonably well =)

Catch-up / Ketchup

Well, it has been an absolute drag - housemates have gone back to Colombo, and there is nothing like having an house to yourself to remind you that why friends and family are important - I guess the fact that they are away during the holiday season makes it worse =( However, they will be back soon - but since I am on leave I have like a lot of time to myself!

Nothing much to report - December was a slow month - probably the draggiest month at work since a long time. The highlight was spending the day with the kids from Metta school - we tagged along to Sentosa and I think both adults and children had good fun. We went to the 4D cinema - and gosh! it was awsome - you have to have to check it out if you are in Sentosa! Then we proceeded to the Underwater World - that does not excite me too much but it was nice to see the dudes in the tanks feeding the fish. Being the morbid and sadistic person that I am, I kept wondering if one of the sharks decided to break the coveted rule of "do not bite the hand that feeds you"... The dolphin show was also nothing special - it was my second time in less than half-a-year so it explains why it did not feel "special".

Of course, given the extensive time that I have, I spent a lot of it watching movies. Two notable flicks were Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Trainspotting. I think I had watched them when I was too young and was unable to appreciate them fully. Now I do. By far, now I understand, why they are so highly rated - they deserve to be in the Top 10 of all time. Enough said?

Also, some of my Sri Lankan bohra mates were down from Colombo. Still the same old really - nothing has changed. Still loud. Still uncivilized. And still funny - most of it is corny and usually noise but you cannot help and laugh with/at them =P

One bad flick I watched was "The Game of their Lives" - a true story about the 1950's American team beating the English team 1-0 in a remote part of Brazil in the World Cup football. Now, I can respect that it was a big deal especially since the American's were HUGE underdogs - so much so that "bets" were not open for the game. However, the movie was a terrible failure - for instance, there was only the three of us in the cinema. If that was not enough to hint that the choice was horribly wrong probably rested all doubts - I mean, I am unable to take inspiration since it was basically a bunch of almost-dysfunctional dudes - barring a couple - taking on an awsome English side. The truth - is that they got lucky. They had a good goal keeper and he saved like a million shots with the bar (goal bars) featured in another million saves - geesh! and overall, I would have been watching Happy Feet. (That is sarcastic - sorry, for those people who actually liked Happy Feet)

Another piss-off was the PS2 controllers - I managed to break an analog stick in each of them - I have no freaking idea how. So now I cannot play most of the games - at least not well. So I went on this gaming marathon playing Far Cry Instincts - typically, I am stuck at this stage where I am looking for the "Red Highlight" - I mean, I appreciate you wanting me to be intelligent in this gameplay but making it obscure in the middle of a fucking jungle is not my idea of relaxation. Then I tried God of War - fantastic gameplay and the graphics compared, especially to Far Cry are just top notch; then guess what - another dead-end - no matter what I do I cannot kill this Hyrda (the fourth dragon who had two mini-hydra's which I massacred) ; dang after trying for like an hour where his health kept miraculously replenished. Then some dude (thank you!) mentioned online that if this happens, I might have a malfunctioning copy. And I get my stuff from JB - you know the not so original stuff - which means there is a good chance that it is =) Well, I gotta get my controllers fixed so I can get the copy changed as well.

Well, that is it - gotta get some shut-eye =)

Merry Christmas =) and Happy Birthday Mom - miss you and love you loads =)

Almost bored

OK - so work has slowed down since the start of December. I have a couple of things that I am doing but there is not the rush of October and November - but that is OK 'cos my current rotation is bound to be testing in terms of effort so I think this is the calm before the storm.

Everything has been on a high since the last time I updated - work is doing alright but I need to ensure I have a few different things to ensure that it keeps me busy and things interesting. With the end of D&D, there seems to be less need for me to be moving around or booming at someone on the phone. That was fun.

In terms of entertainment - I have loads of content to watch - I have managed to watch the latest episodes in terms of Prison Break (213), House (310), Desperate Housewives (310) and Lost (309). I also religiously watch the CSI on AXN Supreme Sunday - 9 p.m. to 12 Midnight. Also, I have got the latest episodes but there is a lot in between that I have missed; amazing the amount of creativity and kudos to Jerry Bruckheimer. I also watched the latest Bond flick - Casino Royale. Apart from the sorta lame bluff scene in the poker thingy and the seemingly stretched love making towards the end (or maybe I felt overly uncomfortable since I was not watching it with a chick =P), the movie, and more importantly, Craig Daniel, delivered. Some jobless guys had set-up this site. How jobless are these people, really? And yes - the name of the website should give an indication that what is going to follow is likely to be weak - the website itself sucks.

Also, I watched Dejavu - the science is weak but I can hardly recall Denzel Washington delivering a weak performance. So yes, it is definitely watchable once. I have just started watching Lord of War - just seeing Nicolas Cage (cast as Yuri Orlov) reminded me why he will always be rated by me as being a quality actor - and in the 20 mins or so that I have watched, the wit in the lines has been fantastic! Here is a sample, courtesy of IMDB.com

Yuri Orlov: The first and most important rule of gun-running is: Never get shot with your own merchandise.

Andre Baptiste Jr.: Can you bring me the gun of Rambo?
Yuri Orlov: Part One, Two, or Three?
Andre Baptiste Jr.: I've only seen Part One.

Yuri Orlov: They say, "Evil prevails when good men fail to act." What they ought to say is, "Evil prevails."

Yuri Orlov: Back then, I didn't sell to Osama Bin Laden. Not because of moral reasons, but because he was always bouncing checks.

Yuri Orlov: I had a flair for languages. But I soon discovered that what talks best is dollars, dinars, drachmas, rubles, rupees and pounds fucking sterling.

Yuri Orlov: Where there's a will, there's a weapon.

Also, in Casino Royale, one line stuck to me (and No, it is not "James. James Bond")

Steven Obanno: Do you believe in God, Mr. Le Chiffre?
Le Chiffre: No. I believe in a reasonable rate of return.

Well, apart from the movie front, I seem to be making more of an effort to meet up with friends. Also, planning to get parents down in the first quarter. Planning to pay the loans - hopefully, it will be one partial payment and then monthly installments for about 24 months and I should be done. Also, trying to evaluate if an investment in a PDA is necessary - personally, the best time since I do not have access to email at work and well, Singapore is now wireless - and very soon, it will be covering a lot more scope.

What else is new?

One thing I am trying to work on is punctuality and trying to look at the importance of timeliness. At work, it becomes more important since ones own tardiness might result in a snowball effect that screws a lot of other people over. The sooner I can fix this and the more concious I become, the better off I will be - personally and professionally.

Of course, keeping an eye on news in the political front, Iraq and Sri Lanka is now in the middle of civil war; with the Democrats taking the senate and the house, there is bound to be a change in the US foreign policy and President Bush will be having to make some really tough decisions. Rumsfield is done and Rice is probably going to be jobless soon - personally felt that they resulted in more harm than good.

Oh! And I walked the whole Marathon - finished 2%. From the bottom, of course. However, I did finish it and I have a medal and very soon, a certificate of completion. I felt good after the marathon. In fact, I thought that I was really fit for finishing it and not needing medical attention. Of course, this was short lived since when Monday came, so did the aches. Sufferred for three days but now I seem to be OK :)

Oh! And I bought this cool ipod accessory. The radio remote is a cool thing but unfortunately, it does not pick the radio signal too well - I mist make sure that I try the other earphone before putting this down as one of my stupid investments. Also, I bought this griffin accessory to pimp my earphones result in them being more comfy in my ear.

I am listening to John Mayer's - Slow Dancing in a Burning Room - brilliant.

Long post. I have said too much.