into the void

i decided to delete the post of nigel pic because i realize that he is an utter asshole.

I KNOW what i did to him was wrong. and I KNOW what i did annoyed him alot. But it's not as if what i did was UNFORGIVABLE. I did not fucking kill his family. i did not burn down his house. i did not backstab him or ruin his reputation. I did not sell him out, i did not rat on him, i did not do him any fucking harm. And YET after five fucking months, he cannot CANNOT find the heart to fucking forgive me and not even have the fucking curtesy to reply my message with even one fucking word.

Guys like that are BETTER OFF DEAD.

fuck u nigel. fuck u and the whole lot.

you've been one fucking big dissapointment that only led me to believe that i should not fucking trust anyone because underneath every nice guy is an asshole and underneath every nice girl is a bitch.

fuck you.

So says michelle!!!!

Anyway.... OKKKKKK.... i think i AM abit crazy....

So.... I've found out that the two things that can get me out of bed and off my lazy ass to travel miles and miles to nowhereville, America, is either a BAND or...... MANGA!!!!


So last weekend, I took a 4-hour bus trip down to New York JUST to go check if Kinokuniya had Shounen Sunday for sale.. CAUSE I CANNOT EVEN WAIT FOR THE KEKKAISHI TAKOUBON TO BE RELEASED EVERY FEW MONTHS!!!!

Much to my delight, Kinokuniya New York had 4 copies there!!!!!! Well, unfortunately, they weren't all in series... it was just Vol 24, 26, 27 and 28. But I bought them anyway!!!

I was glad though that i got those issues cause Vol. 24 had the Tokine/Yoshimori reunion chapter that i wanted so much to read!!!!!!!!!!! AND THAT CHAPTER WAS AWESOME!!! SO SWEET!!! >_<

So, there i took a whole day's journey (really it takes like at least 5 1/2 to get from home to new york, then another 5 1/2 hours from new york to him) But i did it anyway!! just to go get manga at Kinokuniya!!!

THAT was the furthest I've ever gone just for 2 hour shopping!!!


Small Town, Anywhere, USA = Shit Town, USA!!!!

OKKKKKK.... so you know that time i went to was it Medford, MA for that TBS show??? Basically it was the first Massachusetts small town i've been to and it was shite there! Public transportation was non-existant, communter rail came ever 1 1/2 hours, and even TAXIS took 45 minutes to get to you after you've called them.

So today AGAIN, i was kinda reluctant to go to this really good selection Japanese bookstore. It was located in Waltham... Waltham, actually, it's not too far from Boston... Probably maybe 20 mins drive or maybe like 10 - 15 miles off boston. It was actually REALLY near (like ok, from Bukit Bintang to maybe Bukit Kiara not even that far).

BUTTTTTTT... it took me TWO hours to even get to the stupid city itself. FIRST today stupid subway on the orange line is disabled for upgrades. So had to take the shuttle bus. After the shuttle bus got us to the station, I had to take the green line to Copley instead because the stupid Orange line again wasn't running from Haymarket to Downtown Crossing, so i couldn't get to back bay.
I hate the green line trans too cause they are DAMN SHORT! and ALWAYS PACKED. hate it.

And get me, i left the house an HOUR ago, and i wasn't even IN TOWN yet! wtf!

Anyway, so took the packed like sardines train to Copley and had to walk from Copley to Back Bay. No biggie.

I actually wanted to turn around at that point, but i said, oh well, lets go anyway!

So took the commuter rail from Back Bay to Newtonville...

Got out of Newtownville and i actually found the intersection where i was suppose to take the bus. I went into dunkin donuts right there to enquire to see if the bus stopped there. It did.

When i got out of the store, DAMN! I saw a bus on the OTHER side of the road passing me by and i was like SHITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!

So i ran across the street but alas! it was too late! the bus had left!!!

So i waited there and i KNEW being a small town, the bus was gonna take forever to come again. But then again, i also noticed the bus was number 553... and I was suppose to take the 554 bus... but i thought i saw the sign on the bus that showed the destination i was going to... So i waited.

And then it started raining again.

Just then, 15 minutes later, I saw a bus coming down on THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD (where i had originally waited).. and i was like SHITTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!

and i saw the bus number indicating "554"

and i was DAMNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!

so i ran across BACK to the OTHER side of the road but ALAS! I was too late AGAIN!!!

So i thought to myself "hmmmmm... maybe 553 is the number coming back from the destination and 554 is going towards the desination."

So i decided to just stick there by the side of the road i ORIGINALLY waited.

it was now 1:30... I left the house at 11:15 and i was still NOT EVEN HALFWAY through my journey.

THEN JUST THEN! 10 minutes later... LO AND BEHOLD... I saw BUS NUMBER 554 ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD!! and i was like WTF?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT AGAIN!!

And SUREEEEEEEEEEE ENOUGH!!!

I MISSED THE DAMN BUS CAUSE THE LIGHTS WERE GREEN AND I COULDN'T CROSS!! SO THE BUS SPED AWAY!

wtffffffffff

so... at that point i just stood there... And i thought i better asked someone for directions... I was also hoping that maybe the person i asked the directions from would be kind enough to actually give me a ride there instead! HA!

So anyway, so i asked a couple of fellas who were passing by, but they had no idea which direction Waltham was at either!! No luck at that!

JUST THEN.... i saw this guy walk pass me... And then i just recognized that he looked so familliar and i try to remember where i've seen him before and then LO AND BEHOLD! it occured to me, I actually saw him on the subway once a couple of weeks ago... It was actually weird, cause that day, I was gonna meet Elaine Teh at Allston TO BUY MY MANGA after work... But I couldn't leave work early cause Dragon was late coming back to the office.... But Shelley came instead but we also got held up cause a friend of hers actually showed up at the office unexpectedly and they ended up talkign till we missed the train... So Shelley offered to drive me to the last station on the greenline instead... and it was there on that train that day that i saw this guy cause he was standing next to me...

So i was like WELL WHAT DO YOU KNOW! who'd have thought a random stranger you saw on a train you never take and you actually happen to see the fella again!

So anyway... I waited for the damn bus and i didn't know what to do anymore...

Just then the guy walked pass me again, to get his food, so being Elaine, I asked him if he knew the directions to Waltham.

I was in luck! he actually stays in Watertown and waltham was just the city after that...

So he figured out for me which direction I should be taking the bus (THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD).... THen he actually offered me a ride to Watertown so he could leave me by Watertown square that had lots of busses there!

So yeah, what do you know! So i got the ride after all...

Anyway... in the end he dropped me off at the square which was cool cause i also saw the place where i was suppose to take the bus HOME... At the square, i gave up looking for the stupid bus and took a cab instead coz Watertown was closer too to Waltham, so it wouldn't cost too much for a cab.

So in the end, i DID get to buy the manga that i want hahahahaha.... THOUGH it wasn't the chapter i wanted but still!! at least i got the copies!!!

And then i took a cab back to the square and ended up taking a whole different bus back to Boston cause it seems that there's actually quite a few direct bus from Boston to Watertown!


So anyway, this i conclude that stupid Small Town, USA are Shit Town public transportation, USA... Not just Massachusetts i'm sure.. I bet you the West is even WAYYYYYYYYYY worse, cause all the town are so big and spread out there!! Like that one time i went to Temecula to see Hung but THAT IS A WHOLE DIFFERENT LONGGGGGGG AND MISADVENTURE STORY!!!!

These commercials first lauched soon after Mac unveiled Intel chips Macs. Seems like they still wanna remind people that though Macs and some PCs might run on the same Intel chips, Mac is still vastly superior.... I THINK!

some of these commercials are quite nice though... :) ABIT insulting to PC though haha.

sweetketastrophe: WHEN U COME HERE WE GO TO MILITARY BASE!!! Husbands are available there like water is near the ocean




priceless....

Over the past 3 years here, there were some ads i've seen that were damn hillarious. I really loved them!! Some ads were plain stupid, of course, but here's a few i really liked...

MOST OF THEM are for GEICO car insurance though, but damn! they're good!


I love this one!!!! THE BEST!



I really liked this ad!!! But you have to know like Verizon ads to get some of the jokes in this ad.. The guy who keeps saying "Can you hear me now?" is like the Verizon guy who goes around everywhere with his cellphone going "Can you hear me now? Good!" (to show that Verizon has coverage everywhere). I really liked the spoof of that!


MORE GEICO!








Anyway, there are more but i can't find a place that has them... But these are some.. enjoy :)

ohhhhh the moment of truth arrived........ KIKYOU ACTUALLY DIES!!!!! apa??? NANI?!!! geezzz... just when i was begining to like her!!!!

dangggg but her parting scene with Inuyasha was really sweet!!!! HE REALLY STILL LOVES HER VERY MUCH!!! AND SHE LOVES HIM ALOT TOO!!!!! so sweet!!! so sad while she got to live again, they could never spend time together because of Naraku!!!! shiteeeee!!!!

sigh...

wooo!

sooooo... in one week i finished all of Black Cat anime and manga too! huhuhuhu... Sorry to all the fans who actually waited to patiently each week for them... Kinda unfair that now the anime and manga is done, u can just download the whole thing and finish it off within days.

So here's the lowdown of it... and what i thought about both the anime and manga :)


WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

So it's about this rutheless killer, Train (aka BLACK CAT aka Number XIII):



the best assasin gunman ever who works for this secret organization Chronos, who one day met this girl, Saya:



and was tranformed into this:



carefree stray-cat-like guy, through the power of love..... (NOT!)

So he pairs up with these two:



Sven and Eve (a biomachine) and they travel around as SWEEPERS... basically bounty hunters who capture criminals without killing them.

And of course, there wouldn't be a story if there wasn't a bad guy, CREED



who has this rather, yucky yaoi-ish obsession with Train, and an evil ambition to be god to rule this earth under his cruel reign forever.

WHAT ABOUT IT?

Actually, I was introduced to this Black Cat manga awhile ago... Maybe like 2 years ago cause Mandy said that i would probably like it if i liked Kenshin. I did read some but I didn't really get too far... in fact just the first few chapters.
Then the other day, I decided to check out the Anime instead. Cause well, it's much easier to watch 26 episodes than to read 185 chapters!!!

And i must say, I REALLY enjoyed the Anime!! In fact, this is like one of those rare series I thought the Anime was done REALLY REALLY well!

The animation was superb. The visuals were incredibly stunning.


DAMN! Train was really really well animated!! The scenes where he is in his assasin mode was very well drawn to convey the intensity in his eyes and the heat of the fight.

ANDDDD most of all, one of the biggest points (besides the superb visuals) was the use of associating MUSIC with imageries. Damn well done!

here's a video that captures alot of the essence of the elements that was really superbly done in this anime... please watch!





Through this amazingly well done use of music and imageries, the whole Saya and Train relationship, was very very well presented in the Anime, much better than the manga.


the first time Train meets Saya...

All the scenes with Saya and Train (especially the rooftop scenes) were very well done. An air of misty dream, as if an etheral meeting of a lonely soul who finds a sparkle of freedom in a carefree soul. Very well done.

And the use of Saya singing the song Konoyo no Uta when they first meet and using that song whenever they see each other on the rooftop at night underneath the moonlight as well as the use of BOTH the song and fireworks was incredibly well done (you just have to watch it!!)



So damn well done that it drives a bullet through your heart everytime you hear that song in subsequent episodes after Episode 7.


THE MANGA/THE ANIME - TRAIN AND SAYA

Well i watched the Anime first and I loved it but, truth be told, i read the manga only because I REALLY wanted more of Train's and Saya's relationship!!! There was just tooooooo little too short in the anime! Not to say taht the anime cut out ALOT of stuff haha... But lets jsut say their relationship was abruptly terminated before it could bloom into something even more beautiful.

And i suppose i read the manga because i really wanted to see more scenes of them together.

However, as i said, the parts in the anime that showed Train and Saya's moments together were so well made that it really captured a much more beautiful essense between them than the manga did. Although, the manga did have more scenes of the both of them (sorta), and they actually knew each other for like 3 months in the manga as oppose to a few days in the anime. But i still felt that the scenes with Train and Saya were just so well done in the Anime that captured it so well already...

Train and Saya Scenes.

I was actually gonna think that the Anime was better than the manga, halfway through reading it...

However, i was REALLY VERY satisfied with the way Saya's role in Train's life was made much more significant in the manga (towards the ending chapters), that i felt the anime neglected.

In the anime, basically, Saya changed Train's life by causing him to allow himself to embrace the nature in him for a carefree life than to continue to work as an assasin for the Chronos. They brought her up a couple of times by making her the catalyst also to Train's anger and rage towards Creed.

The manga, in the middle, i suppose was not as strong in delivering this message (Well, taking into account the manga is WAYYY longer than the anime). Since the EVENT of SAYA in the anime was so well done, there was just no way for the manga to have had the same impact for THAT EVENT . In that way, the manga was also weaker. Weaker in showing Train's and Saya's past together.

HOWEVER, the manga totally kicked ass when it came to Saya's role during the final battle with between Train and Creed. Not only was it Saya's strength and guidance that helped Train defeat Creed, but i really loved it when Train says to Creed, "Saya lives on in me."

That was just really really really great to see her role in his life and to know that she will always be a part of Train, even if she's physically there or not...

Awesome!

wuahahaha...

dats my 2 cents :)

DAMN BUT THEY COULD HAVE BEEN SUCH A CUTE COUPLE YOOOO!!!!

THESE ARE SPOILERS. DON'T READ TILL YOU'VE WATCHED THE ANIME/MANGA. OR IF YOU DON'T PLAN TO WATCH IT ANYWAY!

well i put this here cause i have to say it. i was really really sad Saya died. I mean what the hell... The thought that Train will always be alone, you know. I mean, he has Sven and Eve, but they're not what Saya was to him. I'm not sure even if Saya lived if they would have been together or not, probably not soon, cause Saya and him has a wandering spirit and they wouldn't have been tied down to anyone, not even to each other...

Having said that, it was really really sweet that last scene where Saya died for her to confess to Train that she was planning on moving and that she had met alot of people and gone to alot of places in her life, but he was the only one she considered a friend. That was totally sweet and awesome BUT HELLLLLLL she dies right after that!! WTF!!!

So in a sense, i really hate it cause... even if Train has Even and Sven, we all know inside his heart, there will always be a part of him that perhaps, he would only reveal to Saya, and Saya's GONE YOU KNOW GONE!!!!!

It was very comforting to know that Train believes that Saya lives on in him and I think that's the best thought we can hold onto, is that even though they can never be together in this lifetime, all that she has said to him, done for him and done to him, will be part of her legacy in him, and through that, she does live on in him... That as long as he is free, that will always be that part that Saya has imparted to him that would remain in him....

Sigh... still sad though, when he says that "my role is done" in the end....... I hope he doesn't think that Saya has left him!!!!

So... well, i'm going back home on Oct 17th.

Well.

i suppose. this is it.

this is the end.


of course... i've more to say abt it... but i suppose, i can't.

robbie said to me that, he admired me for the courage i have to come here and to make a life here knowing that one day it was all gonna come to an end...

u know.... the thing is that...

i never thought it would end.

I suppose, i did.... I just didn't think... I just never really thought about it. There was always another tomorrow, another chance, another tour, another show.

but this is it.

This is it. No more Soma, no more Troubadour, no more rides on the shitty metro to shows. no more walks at Universal City Walk, no more 405 or the 101 (some might say this is a good thing!), no more of the LA skyline, no more Santa Monica Blvd, or Sunset, or Hollywood and Highland. No more hikes up Doheney Dr., no more In-and-Out meals. No more walks down the Santa Monica pier, no more more drives down the freeways. No more of the sights and people and places and life... you know... there.

I miss California tremendously. I miss the familiarity. I miss the friends. I miss the places. I miss the life... And i will always, always miss being able to call LA.... home.

this is shite.

sigh.

i don't think i had ever cried as much as i did the other day. i think i still want to cry. and when i leave i know i will. and when i am back in Malaysia, please, DO NOT ever ask me about America, unless i want to talk about it... Supression? YOU BET.



onto nicer things.... ONE THING to look forward to in the Fall and HOPEFULLY, some sub group will pick up: KEKKAISHI WILL BE ANIMATED!!!!!!!!!!!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

THIS IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I must say.... i don't really like the animated looks of Yoshimori and Tokine though!!!! They don't look like the manga version!! Also, Tokine looks SOOOOO young!! what the heck! She looks Yoshimori's age here!! that's NOT how it's suppose to be!!!
Sigh.... I HOPE the anime will turn out good!

i keep having this song, The Gin War, play in my head... and the image that it keeps inspiring is just me sitting in Robbie's car and we're driving through the Arizona desert with the sunset blazing across the goldening landscape. and it's just us and silence and music playing on the radio and the sound of wind through the rolled down window.

in many ways... i don't think i'll EVER find someone like robbie is in my life. It's not just a friend you share the same love for music with, or the someone who loves doing what you love too... I have friends like that like Michelle or Luis or the whole California concert crew. but somehow, somehow, i just feel that robbie's a little different from that--

i suppose, he'll be the only one whom i can communicate solely through random lyrics, and he'd know exactly what i mean and exactly which song, which band, i stole the lines from. If i were to write a book or a story and made allusions and obscure references to songs, i think and i believe that he'd be the only one who'd be able to catch and understand those allusions and know exactly where the reference came from. and you know, to me in my heart... that's really special. that finally, someone actually understands those stupid lil reference and allusions i make!

you're just one and only, robbie... i suppose i doubt i'll ever find someone else like you who'd be like you in my life :)

here's to hoping maybe we could drive through those parched Arizona landscapes listening to Gin War come October or whenever life will allow us that chance.... That'd be really nice, don't you think? :)


p.s..... there were NO songs illusions in this post ;) at least not consciously!

woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!

longgggggggggggggg absence once again from the blog hahahah...

Here's a music video of Spitz - Hotaru (Firefly) :)

Needless to say, i am addicted to this song! I think it's a really lovely song, very haunting yet beautiful!

ENJOY!

British vote Oasis album best of all


"Definitely Maybe," the debut album by Oasis, has beaten the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" in a British vote for the greatest album of all time, organizers said Thursday.

The Beatles also took third place with "Revolver" and had three other albums in the Top 100 in the vote staged by British Hit Singles & Albums, an annual publication, and NME.com.

The vote was announced in last year's edition of British Hit Singles & Albums, said editor David Roberts. Anyone could vote for as many as 10 albums, in rank order, and probably 95 percent of the 40,000 votes came from Britain, he said.

The biggest surprise, in Roberts' view, was The Libertines' debut album, "Up the Bracket," at No. 15 � a strong showing he attributed to singer Pete Doherty's well-publicized involvement with supermodel Kate Moss and his arrests for alleged drug use.

Other albums on the list include U2's "The Joshua Tree" (No. 11), Michael Jackson's "Thriller" (No. 35), the Rolling Stones' "Exile on Main Street," (No. 42), The White Stripes' "Elephant" (No. 59), Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run" (No. 84) and the Eagles' "Hotel California" (No. 100).

The top 10:

1. "Definitely Maybe," Oasis.

2. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," The Beatles.

3. "Revolver," The Beatles.

4. "OK Computer," Radiohead.

5. "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?" Oasis.

6. "Nevermind," Nirvana.

7. "The Stone Roses," The Stone Roses.

8. "Dark Side of the Moon," Pink Floyd.

9. "The Queen Is Dead," The Smiths.

10. "The Bends," Radiohead.


That damn Noel Gallagher really made it.

Haha what can i say but i'm actually really happy to hear this news. haha. To see that Oasis, perhaps, a decade since britpop, did finally become "bigger than the Beatles" ..... NOT!.... well, in the NME poll they did anyway ;)

I love Oasis, perhaps i still do, and the reason why i am happy is because of all the things i read about Noel and Liam and Oasis and what they were before and the dreams they aspired towards and the bands who were their inspiration, their idols, their giants.

I don't think Oasis will ever become bigger than the beatles. DUH. The name Gallagher will never carry the weight of LENNON or McCARTNEY. And you know, Oasis never had the British invasion and impact on the world like the beatles did.

But it's really great to see their name here now on a list, together with the people the once looked up to and now they have become "legends" like them. They're now the same entity as the beatles, the stone roses, the smith, dude and radiohead! to these younger brit kids u know...

Anyway... It's an NME poll, it's great to see Oasis, STONE ROSES! (WOOOOO!!!), part of that list. ANd i think it's very amazing for Oasis to be there on the top of the list, with the likes of all the giants they once stood upon: Beatles, Stone Roses, the Smiths... what can i say but "wow" what a feeling it must be indeed!

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

michelle got her friend Kevin to agree to marry me for $2000. haha.

hmm...

u know the scary part is that, i'm actually considering it.

I mean... it's a STRAIGHT, DIRECT, and CLEAR path to an American citizenship man, c'mon! AN AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP! who cares about love and marriage and all that stuff! we're talking about citizenship here! No INS hassle, immigration, Visas, I-20s, F1, H1B, I-11, and all that shit forms and documents u need worry about!

Seriously, i suppose, if i hadn't been indoctrinated my whole life about the sancitity of marriage, i'll be taking the next flight out to California to marry the dude hahaha. ;)