30 June 2008

More Leaves for Bookworms (June 08)

Managed to read two novels in June, both Dragonlance, volume 1 and 2 of The Raistlin Chronicles.

Enough said.


What lar! That alone is enough to mark them as must read mar! What do you mean it's just me?

Oh well. =P

Volume 1 of the chronicles is titled The Soulforge, written by Margaret Weis.


image source

The story of the Majere twins when they were young were told in this novel. About young Caramon and Raistlin running about Solace fighting imagined foes, and their half sister Kitiara plotting and eventually leaving town to seek her own future.

It covers a wide span of time, from when the twins were little kids, to how they met some of the Heroes of the Lance, to the passing of their mother, up to when the companions seperated at the end of The Meetings Sextet and ended with Raistlin taking his test.

Raistlin's test was described in details, as well as his adventure to exposed the fake God that nearly got him killed.

Superb writing from Margaret, as usual.



Volume 2 of the Raistlin Chronicles is called Brothers in Arms, by Margaret Weis and Don Perrin.


image source

This novel picks up the story after Raistlin's test in the Tower of High Sorcery. It entrails the time when the twin's picked up their experiences working as a team. How they were trained and obtained their skills working as mercenaries.

The twin's half sister Kitiara's path towards the darkness was told, as well as the tale of a rogue red dragon that disobeyed the Dark Queen. It also touched on things to come futher down the time line.

Here's an excerpt that I like from Brothers in Arms:

"Everything happens for a reason. Your brain may not know the reason. Your brain may never figure it out. But your heart knows. Your heart always knows."

Both these novels let us delve deeper into the enigma that is Raistlin, they let us understand him more through the encounters he went through. I highly recommend them to Dragonlance readers who just can't get enough of Raistlin.


Now reading: Rainbow Six by Tom Clancy
Contemplating: reread The Chronicles of Narnia so I can ridicule the movie version

28 June 2008

Skillz

A friend told me the reason why his blog has more readers and almost all his entries received many comments is simply because he has skill.

In other words, I have no skill.

Oh well...

Want to learn mad blogging skillz!

26 June 2008

虫言鸟语

此篇专为 虹虹 鸿鸿而写。

路是人走出来的。

字也是人造出来的。

当某与某虫写些令人“毛鬼唱起来”(即是起鸡皮啦)的东西时,真是叫人受不了!

不过我知道鸟人的用意的,他也不过是要激我显出我不让他盗用的‘极品’罢了。

好啦好啦,看在 每天都有美眉来找你让我们的眼睛轻松下 你的名字够阴性的份上,我就公开这‘极品’啦。

我先警告你们,这个新字可是很强的哦!
虹 + 鸿 = …





“虫工鸟”

此字全属虚构,但也版权所有,如有雷同,真是见鬼太巧合了!

23 June 2008

Welcome to the Club

Yeoh the Evil laptop owner, the Boogie Master*, the Ultraman Cosmos, the Super Engineer with extensive engineering experience™ (e³), et cetera et cetera, has become a father as of Saturday, 21nd June 2008.

Congratulations!

Well done Mrs Yeoh, we all know you did all the hard work giving birth to your lovely daughter while Yeoh fainted at first sight of blood. =)

Welcome to parenthood, bye bye to private time and sleep! Muahahahaha!!

If you need a hand in coming up with baby name, I know a few creative minds. Do note that I shall bear no responsibility whatsoever for the ruining of your baby's life if you took up the offer and consult said loonies.

=P


* I did not invent any of these nicknames, Yeoh came up with them himself and I shall post the proof to this particular nickname when I dig through my instant messages archive.

Stay tuned.

EDIT: can't find the IM chat log, bummer. =(

It's Against the Law to be Fat!

Seriously it is.

In Japan.

If one is between 40 to 70 of age, and has a waistline of more than 33.5 inches, then the Japanese government requires said person to be on diet and get fit, or else one will get a hefty fine.

I kid you not.

I heard this from MyFM on my way to work this morning, and later in the day I read it in newspaper. Go look it up if you don't trust me (why oh why?!?! I am honest and trustworthy and goody goody and...).

This Japanese law doesn't apply to me since I have always been a chi liao bee (waste rice) but if you are er... "big-boned" and like to spend your mature years in Japan, it's time to start losing the spare tyre. =)

Or just go the other extreme and become a sumo wrestler. =P

22 June 2008

Vocabulary Lesson with CK (June 08)

Spud noun

A spud is a gardening tool similar to a narrow spade, used for cutting the roots of weeds, et cetera.

Of course if it only has that meaning, it would not be in my vocabulary lesson.

=P

A spud is also a...


image source

Wait, there's more!

The following conversation was how I came to know the word spud. It's a conversation that happened a few years ago when I was still in England, between my (then) girl friend and a female friend of ours, a British lady younger than us, married.

The ladies were talking about men, I was present but they simply ignored me and chatted as if I wasn't there.

"Some are gorgeous, some are great fun, but when it comes to getting married and settling down, it's still the plain, honest, nerdy, bookwormy type that's more secure."

"Yea, the spuds like Tim and CK."

(Oi! I am standing beside you ladies!)

So there, I am a spud.

Er... yay? =\

16 June 2008

I See Dead People

"I see dead people... in the mirror"

That's what I put on my Live Messenger personal note today.

It caused a few of my friends who were kay po concerned to inquire what supernatural encounter I had been through.

It's nothing like that lar!

I am sick today, the note is meant to describe my zombie like reflection I saw in the mirror this morning.

Sorry to have caused undue excitement, I blame my six sick sense of humour.

I know I know, lame attempt at joke. Nothing to see here, move along now.

15 June 2008

I, father

This is my first Father's Day as a father.

I spent most of the day in bed with that empty space underneath my skull filled with mucus and that secretion that comes out of the nose when we have a runny nose, whatever it's called.

Good thing we went out yesterday to celebrate Father's Day at one of father's favorite Japanese restaurants, else all he would get would be my hand made "wantons" (dumplings).

As for Hsiang, he said many variations of "aa", different pitches, tones and volumes.

Not specifically to me, and nothing that sounds like papa.

Yes, he loves me too... >.<

I will go back to my bed now.

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers.

10 June 2008

That Thingy Beside the URL

I am a simpleton simple person.

Simple person derives happiness from simple thing.

Like my favicon (favourite icon) finally showing up.


that's me icon, yes sir it is!

When that website was fresh and new, I looked up the html for the favicon, searched high and low for a graphical software that can produce the .ico file. I tried and tried, and then tried some more. Yet despite following the html to the letter, my favicon refused to work.

Disappointed, I gave up. That was six years ago.

Either Internet Explorer 7 had an update, or more likely Lycos Tripod had an upgrade in the past few days, for my favicon suddenly appeared!

Wah lau, magic!

Me is happy. =)

06 June 2008

Remembrance

You were in my thoughts all day today
it's a sombre day
Late yesterday night I started thinking of you
without prompting, without reason
It has been two years since you left us
your departure broke me, changed me
I know you are in a better place now
smiling down on us, guiding your younger sibling
Hsiang has been a good boy today
was it your doing?
I just want you to know that
we would have loved you with all our hearts

05 June 2008

Model Extraordinaire

After making me pose for her in a previous outing, she had the chance to return the favour in a more recent outing.

May I present to you, model extraordinaire*, Miss LL Ong!

like, totally the same...ish

Besides looking at the wrong direction, hands a bit off, not wearing as sexily, different hair style... you can easily hardly tell the difference!

Full mark for her sportsmanship (sportswomanship?) in agreeing to pose and allowing me to share this wonderful photo on the blog.

You da star, gal! You da star!


* as in software simulation that kind of model