In other news… I met Hell’s Kitchen for the first time last night when we went to catch the Brazil VS Turkey Semifinals at Bernie’s along Upper Changi Road North. Of course, with my kind of luck at outings, we ended up at the Bark Café, because I misjudged the distance between bus stops. Long story. Pretty nice to meet someone you’ve only spoke to online, in this day and age of pretense.

Anyway, he introduced me to Dream Theater and I feel rather embarrassed that I haven’t heard of a band this big before. Which just goes to show that despite my angst towards bubble-gum pop lovers, I haven’t really come to appreciate the other side of the glass wall. Nonetheless, he did me a huge favour by giving me a “demo” album of sorts, consisting of eleven songs from the band, and all I can say is… it rocks.

Pull me under Pull me under
Pull me under I’m not afraid
All that I feel is honor and spite
All I can do is to set it right

Had to break up this post in two. Check out my results from the tests below. Thanks to zeroverge.com for the introduction.

Which Hacker Are You? Find out @ She’s Crafty

It’s Buffy Day! With Personality Tests courtesy of She’s Crafty

Which Buffy Guy Are You? Find out @ She’s Crafty

Which Buffy Bad Guy Are You? Find out @ She’s Crafty

Which Action Star Are You? Find out @ She’s Crafty

Who’s Your Movie Sidekick? Find out @ She’s Crafty

Now how cool is that? My good guy personality is a werewolf, my bad guy personality’s a kick-ass bloodsucker, I’m a Vampire anti-hero, and my sidekick’s no stranger to werewolves! Problem is, She’s Crafty quizzes tend to be inclined towards the female half of the world’s population, which is find by me, since the ones for guys rule!

A new breed of attraction

For the longest time, shoulder-length hair on a petite, asian-looking girl wearing dark-rimmed glasses was the template for girls I found attractive. Celebrity-wise, the closest I got was Neve Campbell, though she seldom wore glasses. Neve was elegant, and curvy, and her hair never seemed to lose their perfect gloss. Several others on my list include Tia Carrere, Ming-Na and Joan Chen.

Dreams from an Earlier Era

Recently, though, I’ve found my attractions leaning towards a newer breed of females. Perhaps it’s more of the roles they act in, or the image they lean towards. Or maybe it’s just the look. You decide. Clockwise from top left, Alyson Hannigan, Emily Bergl, Linda Cardellini and Julianne Nicholson.

My New Attractions

There… now that visitors have eight beautiful actresses to feast on… I can afford to hold off on updating this blog for a while. Speaking of updating, will people who want to see an update on my webpage please email me here.

Live life, drink Turkish coffee

Probably the most exciting part of last weekend’s activities was trying my first cup of Turkish coffee at a rather well-knowned outdoor (read: no air-con) restaurant along Arab Street. I’ve never really been a fan of the caffeinated drink, preferring Sprite over Coca-Cola, and people who know me know that I usually order tea. However, that afternoon did make me stop and think (my phrase for this week) about how a drink can make you feel special.

I ordered the grilled quail (which essentially was a tinier chicken covered with a lightly tobascoed sauce), and the friend who brought me there suggested I try the Turkish coffee. Naturally, I was skeptical at first, because no coffee had ever managed to hook me since 1999. Nevertheless, in deference to my friend, who had obviously been around the island a lot more than I have, I agreed to try the drink the size of an espresso shot.

The little pot that it was served in, known as an ibrik or cezves depending on the locality, was the quaintest little thing I’d ever seen. The drink inside of it, as I learnt later, was neither quaint nor little. Turkish coffee is brewed with finely grounded beans, even finer than espresso powder. It also contains spices such as chicory and coriander, which really really gives it a very un-coffeelike taste. However, that little pint kept me on a high (did I mention it’s really sweet too? Not sinfully sweet, just sweet) for the rest of the day, which did get pretty depressing because of a cute girl… *heh*

So for you coffee lovers, and for you who want something new on your tastebuds… try Turkish coffee.

Blogging and what it does to real-life friendships

Recently, I’ve found myself telling my long-time best friend to simply “read my blog” if he wanted any updates on my rather boring life. This is also the one who is adamant against blogging, because he feels that it strains real-life friendships. Guess I proved him right.

The problem with blogging on a regular basis, the blog writer tends to be rather unwilling to recount everything he mentions in the blog to another person. For the longest time, my response to “How are you?” was “Read my blog”. This naturally pissed the hell out of my best friend, who really genuinely wanted to know how I felt. And I guess I owe him an apology, because in his words, “that’s what friends are for – to be interested in each others’ lives”.

That’s not to say that all my real-life friendships are screwy right now. Many friends and acquaintances, people whom I don’t really talk seriously too, and people who mutually are uninterested in the sordid details of life, these relationships are still unchanged, perhaps because they couldn’t get any simpler, I imagine. This has taught me an important lesson on life, though: your real friends are those who are interested in what you have to say about your life, and who would rather hear it from you then read a public diary.

Su desu ne.

Christine

I watched the film version of Stephen King’s thriller, Christine, last Friday, and one thing struck me very deeply.

No, it’s not how Alexandra Paul (Lt. Holden from Baywatch) looked really good when she was younger.

It was the transition of the lead character Arnie Cunningham (played by Keith Gordon) from 80′s styled geekboy (black plastic rimmed glasses and all) to obsessive goth with a unusally short temper. All of a sudden, a good kid rebels against his parents, even physically wrapping his fingers around his father’s neck, threatening to strangle when he doesn’t get his way. For some reason that just reminds me of myself.

It’s been a while since I’ve actually felt comfortable with my family. I’ve always convinced myself that my family, though filled with good intentions, never did know what was best for me. I constantly tell myself that it’s because they don’t respect my space, my privacy or the things I love, appreciate and enjoy. But now, seeing an extreme form of the teenage angst I’ve been putting myself through, I’ve been scared stiff.

Arnie Cunningham’s obsession with Christine, a 1958 Plymouth Fury, results in him disrespecting his parents, ignoring his best friend, and making his girlfriend really upset. If all this wasn’t bad enough, he eventually gets himself killed while trying to eliminate all “opposition”. Which just goes to prove, that there’s nothing healthy about obsession.

Darn.

Do you believe in love?

So asks the recent episode (“Playing with Matches”, Episode 8 Season 5) of Ally Mcbeal shown on Mediacorp TV’s Channel 5. It’s the one with the Mariah Carey (as Ms. Candie Cunship) cameo.

Anyway, to make the long story short, the episode was essentially about appreciating the person inside and not simply writing the person off if he (or she in this case) looked unattractive.

(SHORT NOTE: I’m writing the next part on Friday the 14th, so my train of thought may have shifted somewhat)

I believe in love. I’ve always believed in love. Perhaps, and I’m not just spouting clichés here, being a Christian, and believing that “God is Love” (1 John 4:8) does help to alleviate any pain I might have suffered from getting ‘rejected’ by people I’ve found attractive. The irony is that I’ve never stopped loving people. I consider my ability to only see the good in people as a gift, rather than a curse.