8

eight.

it's the lucky number? at least us chinese think so. it comes as no suprise then that my absolutely favourite band in the world, dream theater, decided to pay homage to the number of eight by putting out their eighth studio release aptly named octavarium. there also happened to be just eight tracks on that album. coincidence?


an octave has eight notes in it, itself an infinite cycle merely repeating endlessly by transcending to the next level with the same notes; even though billiard in its most common manisfestation, namely the eight ball version, is played with fifteen balls, the most important ball (also placed in the centre of the rack) of all is the eight ball; hence the facination with the magic eight ball as a way of telling the future; the appearance of eight apparitions to macbeth; the inclusion of the number eight in 4 8 15 16 23 42 , ring any bells?

if you look at it in the classical sense, the form of the number eight takes on the shape of a knot - the knot of infinity. the infinitely fun memories, the infinitely painful losses, and the infinite possibilities of things to come. infinity awaits:

eight.


+listening to: i walk beside you by dream theater

» Read the Full Post of " 8 "...

9

nine.

it is an ephemeral number. remember the time when we used to have nine proud planets in our humble solar system?


a cat has nine lives; in middle earth there were nine rings of power given to man; jesus healed ten people suffering from leprosy, and nine didn't even bother to thank him; beethoven left this world after he finished composing his ninth symphony; nine justices sit on the US supreme court that oversees the sacred judiciary process.

nine is a number laced with esoteric traits, seemingly letting itself be linked to coincidences as if by a twist of fate, and it is also one nearer to the end:

nine.


+listening to: who did you think i was by john mayer trio

» Read the Full Post of " 9 "...

10

ten.

it's a profound number. it's also the title for one of my favourite albums by a brilliant, brilliant band called pearl jam.


you and i both have ten fingers on our hands; when people first sent the culminations of all that we had been into space, they started the countdown at ten; whenever people decide to demolish something, they also happen to begin their count at ten; the most common number system used today is based on the number ten and it takes ten lunar months to bring a baby from conception into this world.

ten is a higher octave of the number one and signifies an end of an important cycle in which a change in circumstances will soon be forthcoming. so ten, then, is the beginning of the end, an end which i dread as much as i am looking forward to.

so be it, here it goes:

ten.


+listening to: when you got a good friend by robert johnson

» Read the Full Post of " 10 "...

rant

this is a rant for the lack of a better word. so let's get it over and done with.

i feel burnt out after some work in the day and some pool and a couple of beers in the evening. and i wake up every morning (for this week) feeling like a homeless bum.

something is amiss, i just don't know what.

» Read the Full Post of " rant "...

meet the new boss, same as the old boss

today marks the beginning of 9 days of pure torture as i get a taste of what it's like to go to work every single day of the week. and on top of that i get the bonus of having a "boss" that i really, really loathe with a passion.


here's absconded future reporting, from sunny serangoon, singapore:

pet peeve no.1
being stuck in a train like a can of sardines at rush hour in the morning - highly toxic gaseous mixture of over-perfumed people and sweaty douches pose serious health risks.

pet peeve no.2
changing to the north-east line at outram park station - i'd rather get stabbed in the eye with a pencil, period.

pet peeve no.3
staying awake on red bull - i swear this stuff will kill me some day.

pet peeve no.4
unresponsive subject - after days of painstaking tutoring, subject (student) still dumb as a nut, possessing the brain capacity of a snail, with memory worse than a sloth.

pet peeve no.5
having to see subject every day for the next 8 days - i'm doing it for pure materialistic reasons and nothing else. oddly enough it feels like charity work. subject doesn't deserve my energy.


that's all from absconded future. until next time.


+listening to: won't get fooled again by the who

» Read the Full Post of " meet the new boss, same as the old boss "...

one last time

oh where, oh where, can my baby be?
the lord took her away from me.
she's gone to heaven, so i've got to be good.
so i can see my baby when i leave this world.

when i woke up the rain was pourin down.
there were people standin all around.
something warm flowing through my eyes.
but somehow i found my baby that night.

+listening to: last kiss by pearl jam

» Read the Full Post of " one last time "...

i found it!

i found it, i found it! after days of hunting around, and helplessly asking people who mostly didn't have a clue about what i was talking about, i chanced upon what i have been looking for at suntec today. will go down there again and get it done tomorrow and hopefully i could collect them next week. fingers crossed that they'll look good when they come out.

presents-shopping progress hasn't been that good. only got some stupid toys for the kids today and they cost a bomb. kids nowadays are so pampered. hopefully i will have time to look for a present for mom again.

tomorrow is the supposed "farewell" dinner for me. i feel kinda embarrassed to be honest. it's weird, having to say goodbye so early because i probably won't see some people again for a long time.

and also, yuxiang is having his knee surgery tomorrow. hope it goes smoothly. will pay him a surprise visit after lunch at the hospital (okay it's pre-planned and he probably knows about it).

it's 2am and i'm still cultivating my own nonsense. still awake, i continue to move along...


+listening to: i can't help falling in love by pearl jam

» Read the Full Post of " i found it! "...

the world grinds on

north korea will soon be taken off united states' terror list:
score 1 for the yanks, nil for kim jong-il

the US supreme court overturned a ban on handguns in washington d.c.:
score 1 for the gun-loving rednecks, nil for rest

how ironic then that while the united states has finally succeeded in getting one of the "axis of evil" to give up its nuclear program, it hasn't come to terms with the interpretation of its own constitution regarding the right to bear arms.


a lot of times, things happen that don't make any sense at all. and then there are other times that our prayers seem to be answered. i don't get the most heavily armed nation in the world and its obsessions with guns. on one hand they seem to advocate justice and equality for all throughout our civilized world while on the other hand propagating its ideals and expanding its interests by all means necessary, including violence.

and once in a while when the clear and present call to arms does come knocking in genuine situations such as the occurrence of some of the most atrocious crimes against humanity in recent history, the world's only superpower had repeatedly turned into the benevolent creature who rather pressed for passive diplomacy instead. the images of rwanda, darfur,burma... need i say more?

don't get me wrong, i'm not against america per se. but the headlines piss me off sometimes. it's the notion that in the land of the free, people can do as they please as long as they deem the acts justifiable. even with the explicit separation of powers, where the three estates of the executive, legislative and judiciary branches are designed to create checks and balances, events can be allowed occur that defy all common sense.

and so we're left with the fourth estate: the press. thank god that the freedom of press is still guranteed under the constitution. or... is it? in this day and age journalists seem to have a penchant for turning a blind eye (or at least a partially blind eye) to the moral compass that is supposed to guide them in reporting on the most pressing and relevent issues with the utmost integrity. ethics then have at times played second fiddle to fame, ratings and profits while newspapers reported on stories that would be guranteed to sell.

darwin might have come up with the theory of gentic evolution, but what he didn't forsee is the invisible but certain de-volution of morals. what will become of us in a million years? call me cynical, or a hypocrite or whatever you like. i'm just another brick in the wall of this ongoing de-volution.


+listening to: bombay vindaloo by dream theater

» Read the Full Post of " the world grinds on "...