Tagged again *sigh*

Haven't been tagged by anyone for a while and what did I get when I visit The Dude's blog? I have been tagged! Aaaaaaarrgh!

Well, here goes.

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night?
Ryan Seacrest with his "Dresses" jokes during American Idol Ladies Top-10 night.

2. What were you doing at 0800?
Having noodles and Nescafe black with two Equal tablets for breakfast.

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?
Looking through American Express' reward points redemption catalogue. I will be able to redeem that 42" LCD TV in the year 3008.

4. What happened to you in 2006?
I am getting old. I could not recall a darn thing from 2006. I couldn't even remember what I ate last Friday.

5. What was the last thing you said out loud?
"What the fark you call this? You call this work? My son can work better than you!"

6. How many beverages did you have today?
Nescafe black and a Pepsi at KFC. A Mr. Brown Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee at home.

7. What color is your hairbrush?
For obvious reason, I don't have one.

8. What was the last thing you paid for?
RM 14.75 for my KFC lunch.

9. Where were you last night?
At home.

10. What color is your front door?
Mistral blue.

11. Where do you keep your change?
My coin pocket in my pants.

12. What’s the weather like today?
Warm and humid. I was hoping for a meteorite to hit.

13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor?
Chocolate rum.

14. What excites you?
Anything Mac/Apple. Lingerie. Liverpool matches.

15. Do you want to cut your hair?
In about a week.

16. Are you over the age of 25?
Yes, I am 44. I will be 45 in 16 days' time.

17. Do you talk a lot?
I used to, but then I got cynical so nowadays I listen more.

18. Do you watch the O.C.?
WTF's that?

No?

Like I said, WTF--- oh never mind.

19. Do you know anyone named Steven?
Steven.... oh yes. In 1981 in Bangsar. Weird guy. I wonder where he is now.

20. Do you make up your own words?
Nope.

21. Are you a jealous person?
Once, when a guy tried to hit on MrsW before we got married. I could have tore out his heart and ate it raw.

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’.
The first thing that came to mind is Rkaru cos his last name starts with 'A'.

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’
Again, Rkaru, cos his middle name starts with 'K'.

24. Who’s the first person on your received call list?
My daughter. She called from camp today.

25. What does the last text message you received say?
"Chuck Yaeger I know. The rest have to see face, then I know. Pity about Chuck though. He can sing but lacks charisma." from Rkaru.

26. Do you chew on your straw?
Nope.

27. Do you have curly hair?
My hair migrated south a longgggg time ago.

28. Where’s the next place you’re going to?
A coffee shop to listen to my informer about news of an impending Ewok rebellion.

29.Who’s the rudest person in your life?
Every single god damned driver that drive on the emergency lane while I am stuck in the morning traffic jam. I hope they all die soon.

30. What was the last thing you ate?
Two Colonel burgers. One Cheesy Wedges. One regular coleslaw.

31. Will you get married in the future?
Mrs Wombat : You just try.

32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks?
Happy Feet. Honest!

33. Is there anyone you like right now?
Yes.

34. When was the last time you did the dishes?
I don't do dishes. I got married and also have a daughter for a reason.

35. Are you currently depressed?
Yes, because my candidate for the state assembly seat of Gum Gum withdrew from the general election at the last minute. He claimed he does not have his father's blessings to run. I say check his lifestyle for drastic changes over the next 6 months. Now I don't even have a chance to vote. Traitor!

36. Did you cry today?
No. I haven't cry since that day in October 1996.

37. Why did you answer and post this?
I haven't done a tagged posting for a long time.

38. Tag 5 people who would do this survey
1- dSaint
2- Doc
3- OrangUtan
4- Kay Kastum
5- Rkaru

American Idol : Ladies Top-10

Last night was the turn of the ladies to show their stuff on American Idol Top-10.

Honestly the last 12 of this season's female singers did not impress me much but after last night, I have found two or three to cheer for.

First up is the Irish rock chick, Carly Smithson. From the day she auditioned for A-Idol, I knew she can sing. Rumour has it that Carly has actually signed for a major label before and recorded an album which bombed. She's very good with songs by Heart, and last night's "Crazy For You" was very good. Problem is she cannot go on relying on Heart to pull her through. I wonder how she will do when the theme is disco.

Next is Brooke White. Earlier I said she looked like a Julia Roberts wannabe but last night she chose the perfect song to sing : Carly Simon's "You're So Vain". It suited her voice and Simon probably think the song is about him too.


Finally there's Ramiele Malubay. MrsW perked up her ears when she heard Ramiele said something in Tagalog. She asked me if Ramiele is Filipino. I said well she looks like one, sounds like one, so must be one. Ramiele sang Thelma Houston "Don't Leave Me This Way". Not bad, but she could have bettered it with more movement and more oomph in her voice. It is a song that deserves to be sing out loud. I heard Anita Sarawak sang it in the 1970s, and man, did she make it funky. I would like to believe she sang it better than Thelma Houston.


As with a lot of Filipina ladies, Ramiele has a very good voice. The only thing she needs now is to make sure she choose the right song week after week.

There you have it, my three ladies to cheer for this season plus Michael Johns and David Archuleta for the guys.


Now who screwed up big time last night? Amanda Overmyer. If there's one song you don't ever sing on A-Idol, it's Kansas' "Carry On Wayward Son". Yes it is a 70s rock song but it has too much instrumental breaks. Not a song to win votes. Kansas' "Play The Game Tonight" or "Crossfire" would have suited Amanda better, but too bad they were 80s songs.

American Idol - Season 7

Yes, American Idol is back, and is in its seventh season.

This season's finalists appear to be the most talented bunch by far, and there're no jokes like Shanjaya et. al. of seasons' past.

Last night was the men's Top-10 (70s Night) and already I have found my pet hates and potential talents to root for.

For talent, first up is Michael Johns. When this guy sang Bohemian Rhapsody during Hollywood week, my ears perked up and I said "I think I have found Constantin Murales No.2". Michael has a good voice, and his performance of "Light My Fire" last week showed he has the right stuff. However he can be weak in song selection as in last night's "Go your own way", a Fleetwood Mac classic. The vocal did not suit him. He later commented that he has always wanted to sing a Fleetwood Mac song on live TV, that's why he sang that.


Hasn't everyone learnt by now that at this stage of the competition you don't go and sing songs that you've always wanted to sing or your grandmother wanted you to sing, because you can get voted out if you end up screwing the song. You don't hear me sing Unchained Melody in karaokes, even though I have always wanted to sing it in public. If Michael is more careful with his song choices, he will go far.

Next, my Shanjaya for this season : Danny Noriega. I have developed a dislike for him because of what he did last week when he sang Elvis' "Jail House Rock" and Simon Cowell panned him as grotesque. He talked back like a smart-alec which is a no-no on this show, no matter how wrong one may think Simon's comments may be. Anyway, his Elvis performance is badddd and last night's "Superstar" was no better. He killed himself by trying too hard with all the vibrato effects and forgot to sing naturally.


And Danny has a very irritating obnoxious expression, which can turn a lot of people off. His talent is so so, so I expect him to last maybe a week more. My buddy Rkaru said it best in an sms : "Danny will be real popular in any prison." Go figure.

A rocker, David Cook, who played the guitar last night, sang Free's "All right now" and was quite good really, until he cut Simon off during Simon's comments by saying something that it is not Simon's vote that he needed but the viewers'. When I heard this I told the missus "This guy is dead. He should not have said that, and especially not by cutting the judge off mid sentence."


Yes, David Cook may not need Simon's vote, but Simon can weaken one's prospects by a few well placed scathing remarks. For David's information, no A-Idol contestant has ever went to the Finale by pissing Simon Cowell off and by being extremely smart-alec and obnoxious. Not a single one.

Which brings us to David Archuleta.

My bro Rkaru saw his performance during the live show earlier and sms-ed me to say that this is not to be missed. When David came on, and sang John Lennon's "Imagine", my jaw dropped onto the floor. This kid is only 17, man, and his voice defies belief! HE IS GOOD.


The judges went gaga, including Simon. David Archuleta will go very very far this season, and I dare even predict the Finale.

Best of all, David is neither smart-alec nor obnoxious, and has humility by the truck loads.

Points to ponder

Okay, Chinese New Year is officially over. I put on 5 kilograms over 2 weeks, and now I need to lose 15 kilos in order to go down to 90 kilograms, and that is still 10 kilos over my ideal weight of 80 kgs.

It's good to see Liverpool came back from the humiliation inflicted on them by Barnsley in the FA Cup and went on to thrash Inter Milan 2-0, so the return leg in Milan will be almost a formality.

It is also good to see Fernando Torres score his first ever hat trick for Liverpool against Middlesbrough at Anfield. This guy HAS the talent, period. He has pace, he can outrun defenders and most off all, he keeps his head whenever he has the ball. It is almost a given that whenever Torres gets the ball, I can feel something beautiful may happen.

My cardiologist took me off Frusemide (a diuretic) last week so now I am officially not a drug cheat at sports. For the uninitiated, diuretics are often used to flush steroids from one's body to avoid detection and also to lose weight fast. It induces one to urinate often.

The General Election is here again. Those who know me well will know where I stand in the scheme of things. I don't hope for drastic changes. I just want the powers that be to lose the ability to treat this country's constitution like a piece of toilet paper.

Come 9th March 2008, we will know if this wish of mine will be a reality.

Lingam's Devil Curry

Came across this skit on YouTube recently. It's one of the better ones I have seen so far. Turn up your volume.

Fairy Tale

I first saw the music video Michael Wong's "Fairy Tale" on the tour bus during our trip to Guilin, China. During that time I have no idea who's the singer, nor do I know the song title. I just know that the music and the lyrics are very good and the music video is a tear-jerker.

The song and video's plot is basically a boy meets girl, girl helps boy to write a song, girl diagnosed with terminal illness, boy performs this song at a concert while girl lay dying in hospital, girl listens to song live through a cellphone, girl dies. Corny, but I like it just the same.

Somehow this month I heard a snippet of this song on satellite TV and I asked my daughter who sang that and she looked at me with the expression that I must be the last person on planet Earth not to know.

Anyway, here's the music video and its translated lyrics in English. Even if you do not understand Mandarin, it's worth a listen.

"Fairy Tale" - Michael Wong

I’ve forgotten how long it has been
since I’ve never again…
listened to you telling your beloved fairytale
I’ve thought for a long time
I start to panic
have I done something wrong?

You said to me full of tears
Inside the fairytale are all lies
I can’t possibly be your prince
Maybe you can ever understand
ever after you said “I love you”
The stars in my sky has lightened up

I’m willing to be
that angel you love inside the fairytale
Spread up my hands
become the wings to protect you
You must believe…
believe that we can be like that in the fairytale
prosperity and happiness is the ending

You said to me full of tears
Inside the fairytale are all lies
I can’t possibly be your prince
Maybe you can ever understand
ever after you said “I love you”
The stars in my sky has lightened up

I’m willing to be
that angel you love inside the fairytale
Spread up my hands
become the wings to protect you
You must believe…
believe that we can be like that in the fairytale
prosperity and happiness is the ending

I want to be
that angel you love inside the fairytale
Spread up my hands
become the wings to protect you
You must believe…
believe that we can be like that in the fairytale
prosperity and happiness is the ending

I will be
that angel you love inside the fairytale
Spread up my hands
become the wings to protect you
You must believe…
believe that we can be like that in the fairytale
prosperity and happiness is the ending

Let’s write our ending together

Sheer heart attack

It was the English FA Cup Fourth Round tie.

In the red corner is Liverpool, currently at fifth place in the English Premier League. In the blue corner is Havant & Waterlooville, a non-league team consisting of part-time players such as school caretakers, plumbers and gas engineers, 122 places and six divisions beneath Liverpool in the world of English soccer.

The match will be played at Liverpool's home ground Anfield. Everyone predicted a whitewash/bloodbath/nuclear-annihilation. What can go wrong?

None, unless Liverpool's manager Mr. Rafa "I have a case of the clevers again" Benetez then proceed to take out the back bone of the Liverpool team by leaving Torres-Gerrard-Carragher on the substitutes bench. When I saw the team list before the match I already have a bad case of the jitters. This is baddddddd karma, I told my pal Rkaru by text message, and I even said that if Liverpool ever loses this match because Rafa fielded a badly selected team, I swear I will support Manchester United from now on.



True enough, Havant scored in the 9th minute and I was busy picking up my jaw off the floor. An incomprehensible clearance by Liverpool's newly signed center back Skrtel resulted in a Havant corner and that resulted in a goal. Havant's 6000 supporters went wild.

Lucas equalized for Liverpool later and I breathed a sigh of relief, but not for long. Again Reds defenses sprung a leak and Havant scored again to lead 2-1 from a deflection off Skrtel. By now I was yelling for this guy to be taken off the field!

By the end of the first half the score is tied 2-2 after Benayoun realised that he has to start earning his salary by playing proper football for once.


In the second half, Liverpool started playing like proper footballers and not a bunch of school kids. I guess Rafa really gave their butts a real chewing during the half time talk. The match ended 5-2 in Reds' favour. The introduction of Gerrard in the 85th minute resulted in the fifth goal scored by Crouch. Gerrard should have came on much earlier.

A 5-2 scoreline is no big deal. In fact it was an embarrassment. I expected 12-0. It was fortunate that H&W has not mastered the art of parking the bus (i.e. defend your goal with 11 men after leading the match) otherwise Liverpool would have been out of the FA Cup.

Look, if you are H&W, you know you are going to lose the match anyway, so your game plan would be to attack, attack, attack. Get one or two goals in so that at least the H&W player can someday tell his grandchildren that he once scored a goal at Fortress Anfield. That's all they want to do. Score against Liverpool. It was supposed to be Liverpool's job not to let this happen because every H&W goal will be an embarrassment. Somehow Rafa missed the plot, and caused me a lot of grief for more than 50 minutes.


Havant & Waterlooville, I salute you for daring to dream.

'It looks like me, and the voice sounds like me..."

A certain prominent person who answered that way recently when questioned during a certain governmental inquiry into a certain video clip of a certain telephone call reminded me of what Eminem once rapped:

And there's a million of us just like me
who cuss like me; who just don't give a f**k like me
who dress like me; walk, talk and act like me
and just might be the next best thing but not quite me!

'Cause I'm Slim Shady, yes I'm the real Shady
All you other Slim Shadys are just imitating
So won't the real Slim Shady please stand up,
please stand up, please stand up?

The thing is, this prominent person made Slim Shady believable!

Liverpool, you are a pain to watch.

EPL : Middlesbrough 1 - Liverpool 1.


I think this is the moment of this EPL season that I am quite sure that the championship title dream for Liverpool finally went up in smoke, unless three meteors strike the stadiums of Arsenal, MU and Chelsea simultaneously. This is also the first time in my history of watching EPL matches that I really wanted to throw the TV remote against the TV screen. This is also the first time that I wish Rafael Benetez will get sacked.

Why oh why oh why did he persisted in fielding Voronin in his starting eleven? This sack of potato was losing possession of the ball all night that he made Momo Sisoko look classy. It was that bad. And he was the reason I wanted to throw the remote at the TV. Steven Gerrard shaking his head while walking off the pitch at half time summed up my disgust at the team's pathetic performance.

I won't even go into Rafa rotation policy anymore. He is treating his players like poofs that cannot play 2 matches in a week lest they drop dead.

Gone were the days when Liverpool plays a match and I will enjoy watching them, win or lose. Now they have degenerated into a team that is painful to watch, through no fault of the players but because of a manager that's having an extreme case of the clevers. Having my teeth drilled without anesthetic is more fun.

I will even settle for Jose Le Mouth nowadays.

The inconsiderate #$%^&*@s are back

There are those who remembered my rant "It can only happened in Lahad Datu" from December 2005 about inconsiderate drivers who jumped queues near my housing area.

Guess what? They are back after 2 years hibernation.

It is now December 2007, it is the school holidays. Yet this stretch of road still suffers from a massive jam every day starting from 7am until 8 or 9am. It now takes 40 minutes to travel 500 meters, and my 10 minute drive to the office now becomes a 50 minute crawl.

As usual these inconsiderate jerks took the side road on the left to escape queuing on the main road. When they reach the junction shown in the photo they expect cars jammed on the main road (which hardly moved at all due to these jerks' inconsiderate behavior) to actually give way to them so that they can rejoin the main road. The most remarkable thing is the cars on the main road actually let them get away with it, and suffer in silence!

Too bad if one has a sick passenger needing urgent medical attention at the hospital located only 5 minutes drive away. Must be nice and give way to these jerks first. Your passenger died? Tough luck.

After my initial rant in 2005, the Road Transport Department (JPJ) did station their officers at that junction to stop this farce. It worked, and for two years all is well, and everyone get to work and school on time.

I shudder to think what will happen on 3rd January 2008 when school starts, and the traffic flow doubles.

Hey JPJ people! Get to work!