Windows XP users pls always "Allow Blocked Content" whenever you see a pop up window restricting active content when this page is loaded because if not you won't see the navigation menu and many other stuff that aren't really dangerous nor may cause a meltdown to your computer's security. Well, not by my website anyway.

Heard of Gmail? It is by invitation only and I have plenty to give. If you want a gmail email account, simply email me at funnlim AT gmail.com (replace AT with @ and no space) together with your valid email address and I'll send you the invitation. Remember, must be valid email address because the details on how to set up an account is in that email sent to that very address.

March 31, 2006

Around The World With 8 Days : Tripping With Shaun Chen 
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Thanks to Pearl for allerting me of this excellent article cum promo of Shaun Chen and a great big thanks to Wuchang for scanning them. I thought with Pearl's scanner down, I may never see these gorgeous pictures! Finally some really great pictures of Shaun ... I am just soooooo happy that I am now soooo emotional...

For one, interesting article. Of course he said the wrong thing; that quote about Jessica Alba. But I do like his quotes about his relationship with Michelle Chia whom I feel is really good for him and it is a great thing they're together. She certainly lift his mood and his career is again starting and seems to be zooming into great heights. Hopefully great enough for me to finally get to see some of his new series here in Malaysia. Anyway I must comment on his new looks. Wow! Wow! Wow! No longer pudgy looking, especially that sweater pic, he actually look slimmer, well toned, and I think he must have worked out! The hair suits him, makes him look younger rather than his usual older looking self and I must say, being a spokesman for Crocodile is a great thing; he now has a definitive old time classic style. Great pictures!

Pearl, Wuchang, what will I do without my Shaun Chen news alert and in times of emergency, a friend helping a friend in need is truly a friend indeed...please forgive me for my blabbering, very emotional right now.

So very happy for this talented man. I am happy he survived the past and I am just so very happy that he has got a good sensible woman in his life to probably knock his head when he says something wrong. Good for him!




Now I hope Crocodile or whoever just dress him in professional modern suits. Remember Changing Lanes (Yi Xin Ren) anyone?

You will find these pictures and more articles in the Shaun Chen Board.

Cosmoderm : Invisible Fix? 
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Re my post here and someone ermm named Anonymous, thanks for the tip. But I have been shopping at Watsons but never saw any other Cosmoderm products called Invisible Fix. Which Watsons shop is this? Is it in KL? Is it two bottles (night and day)? How much is it?

Anonymous, please answer my questions. I am in desperate need for my Invisible Fix aka Invisible Peel!!

AI 5 : 10 to 9 + Results 
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Tonight's theme was 21st century songs, all songs between 2000 to 2006. Some sang modern tunes that you will always hear on the radion but some sang songs frankly I have never heard before. But tonight's show is marked by mostly mediocre performances thanks to the horrible band and also by one rather 360 degrees turn of change of attitude; Chris Daughtry is no longer loved. I'll explain further.

Best performance I must say was Elliott Yamin. His voice was truly grogeous but alas, his image consultant should be fired. His dancing was horrible, he has very little stage presence but boy, this man has got the most beautiful voice. He sang, can't remember the name of the song but it is a popular tune sang very well by the original singer. There was a slight change of arrangement, it was horrible but Elliott rose above bad arrangement to make the song his own.

Bucky did me proud. He sang a very flirty'ish song by Tim McGraw and I was told Bucky sang better than the original singer. Bucky looked cool tonight with his cowboy hat, nice shirt and I think cowboy boots. He couldn't dance but he did some fancy footwork and totally impressed me. He is still improving on his stage work but definitely tonight he gave it something extra. His singing was fine, he tends to oversing a song but his diction was really poor. For a moment I thought he forgot the lyrics since he mumbled. The band was horrible, almost made him look and sound bad.

Unsurprisingly, Mr Simon "Chris you're an original" Cowell didn't like it although Randy who dissed almost everyone tonight liked Bucky. I pity Bucky but nope, he won't go just yet. NO WAY!

Taylor did me proud to be called his fan. He explained what is Soul Patrol (his fans call themselved Soul Patrol and they exist even before he joined AI). I must say, Taylor did something to his hair. He looked so handsome! I mean it! And his dressing made him look so much younger. I really like his look tonight. Anyway he sang a song called Trouble released in 2004. He amazes me by choosing songs I have never heard and sang them his own style. This was no different. It was a bit flirtatious in sound. He just stood there and sang without the dancing and I would say it was one of his best performances. This man can sing ANYTHING from ANY ERA. But I admit he wasn't the best tonight. Elliott upped him on that one in terms of voice quality but after listening to his song again, I must say one of Taylor's best performances. Again in retrospect, great song. What people fail to understand a song with only 2 or 3 words are ultimately more difficult to sing than a song with a variety of words.

GOODIES
Download Taylor Hicks' Trouble
[URL : http://media.point2e.com/idol_th_trouble.mp3] - taken from Gray Charles

Download original version of Trouble by Ray LaMontagne
[URL : http://media.point2e.com/idol_ori_trouble.mp3]
- Who is this singer? He has been around and I only knew of his existence thanks to Taylor. And I must say the original version is really excellent too, different style but both as great. If you're curious how he looks like, click HERE

Ace sang, of all songs Drops Of Jupiter. What a famous song, so well sung by the original singer, why try this? Why not love songs in the likes of Michael Learns To Rock? Ace would ace that (every pun intended). It was awful, painful, horrible and badly sung. But he will stay since he ended the song with that killer stare. Urghhh...

Paris, I pity her. She sang ok, but she took on Beyonce's song and she even strut her stuff like Beyonce. Mandisa sang some song I can't remember and she was screaming, SCREAMING and Simon called them over indulgent. I totally agree. Paris did badly, like a bad impression of Beyonce and not very appropriate. Mandisa just screamed and screamed. But she looked nice.

Katharine on the other hand didn't over indulge but she sang a song by Christina Aguilera. Bad choice but the judges liked her. I hated it. I thought even Christina didn't sing this bad (I am not an Aguilera fan by the way) BUT Katharine totally screwed the song. Her presence was boring. She is pretty, she has a beautiful voice, she can sing but she just bores me. Why didn't she choose Norah Jones' song? It would be perfect for her.

Lisa did badly, the worst in fact by singing a song by of all people, rock chick and former idol winner, Kelly Clarkson. Kelly must be happy Lisa sang it badly, so bad it hurts. No sense of rock, no sense of rhythm. I think Lisa has overstayed her welcome. And she looked horrible with those blue eye shadow.

Kellie sang a country song which has the worst title and it was an unchallenging song. I agree with the judges of all the songs she could have chosen she chose one that was ultimately something about suds in soaps. She should have asked Taylor for advice; which song to pick.

Now the best for last, best as in most dramatic. Again, the lightnings and guess what? ROCK again, this time Creed's song. Luckily for us, Daughtry sang it in his own bad, bad for us also because his own original voice was uninteresting. He kept screaming to the song, again and again most of it wasn't singing. Horrible performance but thanks to the lightning, this man has got style. With the same lightning, Bucky's dancing could have been great too. What is best though is before he performed, he was interviewed and Ryan said that last week he sang Walk The Line in the style of Live and Daughtry immediately said ya ya Live one of his favourite bands, blah blah blah. I was like "Oh My GOD! That's so like mending a broken pot (I am sure you know what it means in Cantonese)!!!". So fake. And guess what? None of the judges liked his performance but Simon truly rubbed in the salt by saying Daughtry must now venture beyond rock, that it is not doing him any good to stick just to rock because Daughtry will eventually fail since this is American Idol, he said. Yeah Simon, just last week I remember you called him an original, uncompromising, know his roots, stick to his style, blah blah blah and now he's repetetive? 360 degrees turn man! Clearly someone in AI reads the blogs! So is Daughtry out of favour? Was Simon pissed that he didn't recognise Live's version? Did Daughtry took all the credit for the new arrangement to the song Walk The Line? Well my guess is as good as yours but with the special lightning and all, I guess he is still a frontrunner, until and unless someone caught him in the act again and Simon changes his tune. I would have expected him to take someone's style tonight since it is 2000-2006 songs, all right up his alley. I just hope they do a Nat King Cole night, he would surely die. I call Daughtry Mr Ciplak. You know as in Cetak Rompak. Anyway at least he sang his own way tonight, boring but at least himself.

That is why I love Bucky, bad diction or not because he was always himself. Elliott I am beginning to love because he sang it his own way and Taylor, always his own style, always the Taylor Hicks way of singing. Whether these 3 wins the AI or not does not matter. I am sure they have got music executives lining up to sign them on and I could imagine at least 2 of them at the Grammys singing away. But Elliott and Bucky seriously need some professional guidance as to looks and stage performance. Taylor should adopt tonight's looks as he looked great and he should dance less and sing more.

So who I think will be out?

I hope Ace Young but feeling is either first choice Lisa or Bucky (I HOPE NOT!!! HE ALWAYS SURVIVES BUT HE IS ALWAYS IN DANGER).

AMERICA, SAVE BUCKY! SAVE ELLIOTT! SAVE TAYLOR! Taylor I am not worried. Elliott a bit worried. SO VOTE VOTE VOTE FOR THESE 3 because they are true originals and AI is all about talent, performances and originality. Looks can be improved on.

RESULTS
Shocking really, that America loves Bucky! I was so scared for him when Ace, Lisa were pronounced as bottom 2 and he and Katharine were the only 2 left back and I though die lar Bucky, die lar but Katharine was in the bottom 3!! And guess what? Audience booed!! What? WHAT? So you all want Bucky to go home issit?! Oh please, she was horrible last night! Anyway, Lisa got kicked out as predicted. Good. Next Ace hopefully.

The Newsies Personality Quiz 
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I am aware there is this "how much are you alike celebrity" test out there which I saw I think in Sehseh's website. I am still trying to find a decent picture to scan so that hopefully Quzsimodo won't come up high on the list.

Anyway I found this Which Newsie Are You kinda test and questions were fun but considering there are like more than 10 Newsies character, I could have been anything. But well, this was my results ...

I am Jack! But people call me Cowboy. I'm the leader of the Upper East Side newsies and the strike leader. I look out for every newsie and make sure they're taken care of, and that's why they respect me. My friends are very loyal to me, and trust what I say, even though I sometimes improve the truth a little, but what great newsie doesn't? I'm in love with Sarah, Davey's sister. But even with all this "glory," I dream of escaping to Santa Fe. Which Newsie are you?...Quiz by Dara.

Interesting. Should I be flattered? Or should I frown since this character did betray his friends (for good reasons) in the movie? Hmmm...

Take the test even if you haven't seen the movie and do tell me the results!

Why? Why do we take such silly tests? Why oh why?

Oh do you know that until now no one knows the name of his baby daughter who just turned one? Or is it less than one? Anyway strange isn't it? Is he so not news worthy no one bothers to even find out the name or he is so good at hiding the name that no one could? But rumours had it it could be Luca. I am fascinated by this because hard to believe it is such a well guarded secret and I am sure Luca mean something wonderful in whatever language BUT in Malay it sounds like LUKA (hurt). Some other sources say his daughter's name is Emmeline which in my opinion is a lovelier name. What is even more amazing is still no photo of her! Maybe Michael Jackson should call Christian Bale and just ask .."Ermm how did you do it?" and this question in retrospect could mean ..

1. how it could be such a well guarded secret and that I am sure Michael can't really follow since his children has already been so recognised with that head scarf on ... poor children ..

2. OR it could mean Michael was asking about the reproduction system and the likes in which case I doubt Christian Bale could answer that because frankly, all the answers in the world could not have helped Michael's wife (if any) conceive naturally.

Will I be sued for this? Hmmmmm...

Special effects for your special blog! 
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I have been looking for a free program where I can make those classy Flash website like that of Jet Li's movie, Fearless' official website. Alas, no such good thing BUT I finally found something akin to that, a web blog that has that flip of pages effect and for free too! It's called Flipblog and the parent technology, Flipviewer is something you must see. I have issues with Flipblog which is not without its flaws like inability to post long messages in one page, the cover you can't put a title in it and it doesn't have the feel of the magazine like layout like in Flipviewer. BUT it is cool nonetheless and since it is free I can't complain. Once I figured out how to tweak it a bit, I plan to use it for my The Storytellers. It would be so cool to like "flip" the pages eh?

Anyway my wish for Flipblog is as follows:-

1. can put title on the cover
2. can categorise it into pages/dates/entries
3. can have the option of last post first or first post last kinda thing
4. better yet someone come up with the flipblog for stories posting, that would be awesome!

Anyway do check them out! And if you're bored with Blogger, then maybe you want to have some special effect like Flipblog which comes also in HTML version so as not to alienate those with grandpa type browsers and computers.

Anyway I love my new EXCERPTS thingy but the problem is having to retype my favourite passages. No new reviews coming except for some movie reviews but left my diskette at my office.

The Last Breakthrough is coming to ASTRO.

I am still annoyed with that war series which I shall not name because really honestly speaking, I forgot the title right now!! What is happeneing to me?!?!

I saw BAFTA Award last night and the speech by LOrd David Putnam made me cry because it was so touching. Stephen Fry was a bit long winded and went overboard with his praises of certain stars but well, a bit of "poh satay" doesn't hurt. I absolutely love Ang Lee's speech who was witty, humble and gracious. He attended ALL awards show from what I could observe. Bad news was the director of Pride And Prejudice won best new director or something. I almost choke. He ruined P&P.

THe best speech apart from the sentimental and humble ones were Jake Gyllenhaal's for his best supporting actor. I swear he's looking better and better each time I saw him on TV. He couldn't believe his good fortune he won and his happiness and disbelieving disposition was rather infectious. Cute guy. I swear though when he stood up from his place and he was sitting behind that ultra boring Heath Ledger who married an equally sullen looking wife (like what's wrong with them?! Got gold also won't smile type and absolutely no sense of humour. Jake to his credit took all jokes in stride). He stood up, walked one step forward and bent down and for a moment I thought Heath Ledger was looking up and almost about to kiss Jake on his lips!!! I swear! Then he suddenly like smarten up and just pat Jake on his shoulder or something as Jake walked along. I swear! Heath was like ready to kiss Jake on the lips!!

Other than that it was an uneventful BUT very intimate awards show. At least their movie intros were way better than the Oscars.

Shaun Chen article in 8 Days 
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Pearl just mentioned in the Shout Box that this week's 8 Days (Singapore's entertaiment magazine) has a 4 page article about Shaun Chen and it must be in English. Usually she will scan and email them to me BUT her scanner broke down!! Anyone has this 8 Days issue? If so can you scan them and email them to me at funnlim@gmail.com please?

ANYONE? Pearl, fixing your scanner? Don't throw away the article just yet please!

HELPPPP!

EXCERPTS : Life of Pi by Yann Martel 
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The is an ongojng series which I call EXCERPTS where I retype some of my favourite chapters in my favourite books to share with you all as well as sharing my comments on the books with you. You may find the link to this book in COMMENTS & OPINIONS > EXCEPRTS. All books recommended in EXCERPTS can be found in all major bookshops in paperback. If you have read this book before and enjoyed it just as I did, do drop me a note using Post A Comment. It is nice to know we're in the same Book Fan Club, so to speak.

Life Of Pi [Buy It!]
by Yann Martel [Published in 2001]

BOOK COVER INTRO
Pi Patel, a God-loving boy and the son of a zookeeper, has a fervent love of stories and practices not only his native Hinduism, but also Christianity and Islam. When Pi is sixteen, his family and their zoo animals emigrate from India to North America abroad a Japanese cargo ship. Alas, the ship sinks - and Pi finds himself in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi. Can Pi and the tiger find their way to land? Can Pi's fear, knowledge, and cunning keep him alive until they do?

MY COMMENTS
Life Of Pi is an interesting, moving and at times disturbing story which has an ending that can be second guessed. It depend entirely on your faith in Pi's story about his survival at sea. It is not an easy read because it is slow but with slowness comes the deeper understanding of the characters which in this book, essentially 2. I have tried to read it a second time but realised it is far too difficult to read it again. But the first time reading had a profound effect on me. The style of writing was beyond description, intimate and yet entertaining in its own slow way. The story itself is intriguing and I am sure the BOOK COVER INTRO is more than enough to interest you. Whilst I enjoyed immensely his interaction with Richard Parker, the following excerpt is my most favourite from the book and is definitely one of the funniest I have ever read. It applies to our understanding of the 3 major religion even today and whilst it may sound offensive, I thought the writer captured the essence of the religions and Pi's answer as to why he wants to become a practising Muslim, Hindu AND a Christian is what unites all religion. I hope you enjoyed the excerpt.

THE EXCERPT

Chapter 23

After the "Hellos" and the "Good days", there was an awkward silence. The priest broke it when he said, with pride in his voice, "Piscine is a good Christian boy. I hope to see him join our choir soon."

My parents, the pandit and the imam looked surprised.

"You must be mistaken. He's a good Muslim boy. He comes without fail to Friday prayer, his knowledge of the Holy Qur'an is coming along nicely. So said the imam.

My parents, the priest and the pandit looked incredulous.

The pandit spoke. "You're both wrong. He's a good Hindu boy. I see him all the time at the temple coming for darshan and performing puja".

My parents, the imam and the priest looked astounded.

"There is no mistake," said the priest. "I know this boy. He is Piscine Molitor Patel and he's a Christian".

"I know him too, and I tell you he's a Muslim," asserted the imam.

"Nonsense!" cried the pandit. "Piscine was born a Hindu, lives and Hindu and will die a Hindu!"

The three wise men stared at each other, breathless and disbelieving.

Lord, avert their eyes from me, I whispered in my soul.

All eyes fell upon me.

"Piscine, can this be true?" asked the imam earnestly. "Hindus and Christians are idolaters. They have many gods".

"And Muslims have many wives," responded the pandit.

The priest looked askance at both of them. "Piscine," he nearly whispered, "there is salvation only in Jesus".

"Balderdash! Christians know nothing about religion," said the pandit.

"They strayed long ago from God's path", said the imam.

"Where's God in your religion?" snapped the priest/ "You don't have a single miracle to show for it. What kind of religion is that, without miracles?"

"It isn't a circus with dead people jumping out of tombs all the time, that's what! We Muslims stick to the essential miracle of existence. Birds flying, rain falling, crops growing - these are miracles enough for us."

"Feathers and rain are all nice, but we like to know that God is truly with us."

"Is that so? Well, a whole lot of good it did God to be with you - you tried to kill him! You banged him to a cross with great big nails. Is that a civilised way to treat a prophet? The prophet Muhammad - peace be upon him - brought us the word of God without any undignified nonsense and died at a ripe ole age."

"The word of God? To that illiterate merchant of yours in the middle of the desert? Those were drooling epileptic fits brought on by the swaying of his camel, not divine revelation. That, or the sun frying his brains!"

"If the Prophet -p.b.u.h-were alive, he would have choice words for you." replied the imam, with narrowed eyes.

"Well, he's not! Christ is alive, while you p.b.u.h. is dead, dead, dead!"

The pandit interrupted them quietly. In Tamil he said , "The real question is, why is Piscine dallying with these foreign religions?"

The eyes of the priest and the imam properly poped out of their heads. They were both native Tamils.

"God is universal" spluttered the priest.

The imam nodded strong approval. "There is only one God".

"And with their one god Muslims are always causing troubles and provoking riots. The proof of how bad Islam is, is how uncivilized Muslims are," pronounced the pandit.

"Says the slave-driver of the caste system," huffed the imam. "Hindus enslave people and worship dressed-up dolls."

"They are called golden calf lovers. They kneel before cows," the priest chimed in.

"While the Christians kneel before a white man! They are the flunkies of a foreign god. They are the nightmare of all non-white people."

"And they eat pigs and are cannibals," added the imam for good measure.

"What it comes down to," the priest put out with cool rage, "is whether Piscine wants real religion - or myths from a cartoon strip."

"God - or idols, "intoned the imam gravely.

"Our gods - or colonial gods," hissed the pandit.

It was hard to tell whose face was more inflamed. It looked as if they may come to blows.

Father raised his hands . "Gentlemen, gentlemen, please!" he interjected. "I would like to remind you there is freedom of practice in this country."

Three apoplectic faces turned to him.

"Yes, practice - singular!". the wise men screamed in unison. Three index fingers, like punctuation marks, jumped to attention in the air to emphasize their point.

They were not pleased at the unintended choral effect of the spontaneous unity of their gestures. Their fingers came down quickly, and they sighed and groaned each on his own. Father and Mother stared on, at a loss for words.

The pandit spoke first. "Mr Patel, Piscine's piety is admirable. In these troubled times it's good to see a boy so keen on God. We all agree on that." The imam and the priest nodded. "But he can't be a Hindu, a Christian and a Muslim. It's impossible. He must choose."

"I don't think it is a crime, but I supposed you're right," Father replied.

The three murmured agreement and looked heavenward, as did Father, whence they felt the decision must come. Mother looked at me. A silence fell heavily on my shoulders.

"Hmmm, Piscine?" Mother nudged me. "How do you feel about the question?"

"Bapu Gandhi said "All religions are true." I just want to love God," I blurted out, and looked down, red in the face.

My embarassment was contagious. No one said anything. It happened we were not far fromn the statue of Gandhi on the esplanade. Stick in hand, impish smile on his lips, a twinkle in his eyes, the Mahatma walked. I fancy that he heard our conversation, but that he paid even greater attention to my heart. Father cleared his throat and said in a half-voice, "I supposed that's what we're all trying to do - love God".

I thought it very funny that he should say that, he who hadn't stepped into a temple with a serious itent since I had had the faulty memory. But it seemed to do the trick. You can't reprimand a boy for wanting to love God. The three wise men pulled away with stiff, grudging smiles on their faces.

TO EDD VEDDER 
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Re your request in THIS POST. I can't find the MP3 version of Chris Daughtry's Walk The Line but I found the clip, converted it into WMV format and hopefully you can see them. The clip is a bit jerky and out of sync but you can hear the song. All in the zip file below which also have the Live version. I must say, hearing both together just convinced me; however best you can sing, you're only a cover singer if you simply copy and follow. Why no one feels the same way? Why no one spotted this at all? Exact copy! WHy Live's fans never speak up? Why plagarism is suddenly so celebrated and approved of and is seen as something new, never compromising one's style? WHY???

DOWNLOAD THE ZIP FILE [5.48MB]
URL : http://media.point2e.com/idol_walktheline.zip

Original clip at youtube.com if you can't stand the out of sync and jerky video.

AI 5 : 11 to 10 + Results 
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Tonight's team was 50's songs, guided by the maestro and a very generous teacher, Barry Manilow. Many years many have laughed at Barry Manilow and his jingles but tonight he proved he is such a gifted composer, musician and probably the best music teacher one can have. He gave useful suggestions, changed the score a bit and as a results all 11 gave competent to excellent performances. You can actually hear the difference compared to Stevie Wonder night.

I won't say who is the best though I have my favourite.

For example, Taylor Hicks who gave a much better performance last week (you must download that Living In The City song sung by him, forget abt the video, just listen to his voice and wow!) but that doesn't mean he was bad tonight. No sir! He was amazing, vocally NOT the best but he gave a very energetic and unique performance that on Taylor Hicks can give and no other. Simon dissed his performance but I bet Simon will eat his words when he listens to the song again later tonight. Randy was right about one thing; this song by Buddy Holly only had a few chords to it so Randy thought it was a limited song choice. But Taylor successfully gave the song such an energetic and soulful interpretation and considering it is only a few chords for a song, I would rate his performance as first class. I can't wait for him to do a Beatles song. What a performance.

Mandisa was great, gave a sexy performance, Paris was cute, great and on pitch with the song Fever but for whatever I said about Kellie Pickler, she gave an amazing performance tonight. Barry was so on point when he said the song was about a very sad desperate woman and she was singing like she was so happy! She took his advice and gave a stellar performance.

Elliott Yamin gave a great performance tonight. You're all right; he has the best voice but he can really buck up on the performance aspect. Again Barry said Elliott should concentrate less on singing the song but more on telling the story of the song. And guess what? He did!

Bucky did me proud with his Buddy Holly song, Oh Boy. Very rock, very Bucky-ish but somehow Simon dissed him. Well guess what? He compared Bucky to now the resident rocker of this show, Chris Daughtry and I hated that comparison. Well if Bucky had the lights and the special effects given to Chris, probably Oh Boy would have been a greater performance than it was.

Chris sang Johnny Cash's song, I Walk The Line rock style. Surprise? Only you're surprised. Can he sing any other than rock? Barry met him once and said he was original but dear Barry, give him 30's music he will still sing it in rock. And I doubt Barry heard any other latest versions. The judges said they're proud of the fact that he never strayed from rock, he was true to himself, he stuck by his rock roots. If I remember correctly, they dissed John Steven for sticking by his big band roots! Is this double standard or what? Poor Bucky. He's the true rock original whilst Daughtry of course had to stick to his roots because he knew no other. My sister who knew the song well said Chris sang out of tune in the beginning and yes I agree. I am just so fed up by everybody is kissing Chris' a**. They really want to compensate for the fact that Bo Bice, the original rock star of American Idol didn't win last year when he should have won? I felt it was so unfair to Bucky. And the worst is saying he dared to take a classic and change it! Scroll down below and you will find a link to an updated version of this song and guess what? Awfully familiar if you ask me!

Katharine was great too but I feel so disconnected to her. Didn't feel her in the song. I find her boring.

One guy surprised me. Kevin Covais actually gave a very good performance tonight with When I Fall In Love. Barry told him to not belt the song but caress it and Kevin took his advice and gave his best performance tonight and I must admit, I loved it! An amazing vocal performance, I'd only wish he had better costume on. Stop making him look like a geek please!!

Ace Young wasn't the worse but I feel he has reached his vocal limits. He can't improve but he won't get kicked out because even 7 year olds love him so he will stay but definitely not based on merits. Whilst I can argue Chris was unoriginal and very limited, at least Chris can sing but Ace is getting worse and worse. Last week was his worst but this week he paled in comparison to many others.

But the worst tonight was Lisa. Poor girl. She's cute, and she reminds me of Jasmine Trias who was amongst the audience tonight, pretty as ever.

BUT she could not transport that cuteness into a very energetic song tonight. I thought she was truly horrendous but last week was worse.

So my guess who will be kicked out?

First choice is Lisa


Second choice not because I wanted him to go but because America tends to listen to Simon, Bucky BUT I hope not because he deserves to stay and grow

Secret wish is for Ace Young to go but he will stay.

Final wish is for Chris Daughtry to leave but he wasn't so bad so he will stay. Kevin can stay because he did well.

Now let me go download Taylor Hick's performance tonight. Take away the silly dancing and the visuals before you, just listen to his voice, you must agree with me; Taylor Hicks is the TRUE original of AI.

GOODIES & ERMM BAD NEWS
Thanks to Gray Charles, I downloaded the version that Chris Daughtry sang and my god! Can this man be anymore less original?? What a shame!! By the way the band was Live, not that I know them.

Updates - review 
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Judicial immunity 
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This opinion of mine is with regards to statements made by lawyers and judges in their capacity as lawyers and judges in a court room.

Recently a very high ranking judge in his capacity as a judge sitting in a court room said some very defamatory remarks of certain individuals who are indirectly involved in a case. Such remarks were unheard of since our judges aren't exactly very gung ho before. I welcome such remarks because it shows they have went through every piece of evidence and came up with a fair judgment although the persons claimed to be defamed said the judge was out of line.

In Malaysia, whatever the judges say in his capacity as a judge in a court room is covered by immunity, meaning he can't be sued, arrested, etc. This is more so when the case is still ongoing. The logic is simple and I shall explain later.

However lately there were reports by various sectors of community which wrote that judges should not be given unquestionable immunity and this particular judge should have been punished somewhat. What I find amazing is the observations by this judge was not taken seriously by the relevant authorities to check into what the judge obviously hinted at; corruption and favouring croonies that resulted in an innocent company puched out of business and into heavy debt. As much as one should doubt his statement, the authorities should investigate because I doubt this judge and with 2 others sitting in the same court room would make baseless allegations.

Now the community, from laymen to doctors to teachers to every other people other than lawyers who disapproved of the broad immunity given to judges now said in clear voice that why should a judge be given such broad immunity? It went as far as one rather silly article by perhaps a not so bright layman who wrote then such immunity should be given to doctors and teachers in cases of negligence.

Now in clear cut negligence case a judge should be accountable. But I believe whatever said in the court room stays in the court room.

One such example is this; one girl or guy complained to the Anti Corruption Agency about a cop receving bribes. The cop sued the girl back for making defamatory remarks. Imagine you're that girl. If you don't retract your statement you will be sued. If you retract, you may deemed to be a liar when you believe what you did was right. Suing others who reported against you, especially those having power and authority is probably what you all will call a case of intimidation. It is not quite different from issuing a direct threat. Poor girl. Of course you will feel well the police may be innocent. But to sue this girl whilst his case was ongoing gives people a perception that perhaps he was dishonest as well. The police could well sue the girl after the investigation was over and he was innocent of all charges.

Now back to this judge. You see my point? A lawyer should be afforded the same immunity too for whatever said in a court room for a very simple reason. We are in a profession where we must not be cowed down by threats and we must fight a case without fear nor favour. You may think defaming someone in a court room may not be you idea of justice, but so is saying something offensive, then got sued whilst case ongoing or case is over but the statement was never proven to be wrong, just so as to force the lawyer or judge to abandon the case. This is not my idea of justice.

If you're unhappy with what the judge said, complain to the right department. Of course one may think no way the judge will be punished but sometimes justice prevails. Not happy with the conduct of the lawyer? Complain him to the Bar Council. The rules of conduct governs that exactly; conduct. Words said are not generally covered in my opinion because we must not be threatened by every piece of lawsuit so as to hamper our fight in a particular case.

Why not same immunity for doctors you ask in cases of negligence? Imagine you as a doctor diagnosed a patient with having cancer without looking at the records properly, patient kills himself and do you think you action was not negligent? I do not know the standard applied in investigations amongst doctors but for a doctor to be successfully sued in a court, the test is not merely, negligence but GROSS NEGLIGENCE meaning whatever you did was so wrong, dude you're screwed.

What about teachers? Do what they say or do affects a student or parent so much so that immunity must be given? I believe immunity is given in some sense, like kinship amongst those of the same profession.

Lawyers are not given blanket immunity but we make do with what we have. Imagine being threatened with lawsuits everyday with regards to what this lawyer does in a case short of fraud and gross neglience? How then can this lawyer function as a lawyer in a court? Nowadays I got complaints by people who weren't happy with the way the case is conducted, and complaints are threatened to be made to the Bar Council. Am I cowed down by these threats? No because I know my actions were justifiable.

I am sure the judge felt the same way. This is why immunity for judges in a court room and for lawyers too is so important. We must be fearless. If our immunity for statements made are not given such immunity, I am afraid no judges will dare to voice an opinion and no cases can be solved and no judgments can be made. The legal profession and our judges are not elected by the people so therefore we are not accountable to the people. We are accountable to the very notion of justice and fairness and the robes we wear and the motto of our profession, always invariably refers to fighting cases without fear nor favour. Being officers of the court, we are accountable to the court but not to every individual who feels they have been defamed. If the case is done, judgment passed and indeed no accountability on this individual, then this individual has every right to pursue a case against the errant judge or lawyer only in so far that there was gross negligence on the part of this errant judge and lawyer.

If this individual in the case mentioned above is innocent, he should urge the ACA to investigate the claims of the judge, prove to be without fault and then do what he must to restore his good name.

There is a rule in equity which says that whoever pursues a matter must also come with clean hands meaning they must not have agenda as well and also the law must be used as a shield and not as a sword.

This is why I feel immunity for those in the legal profession for everything they do in connection with a case and in a court room and for statements made in relation to that case must be uphold. I also believe such is not a blanket immunity if and only if gross negligence can be proven. As such complaints must be made to relevant bodies and not to sue this individual in a court of law because that is an indirect threat. All complaints made to governing bodies are what I call fair game. You're subject to the rules of the body you're a member of.

MALAYSIA (MEMANG) BOLEH!! 
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Ahhh I watched the Badminton Team repeat just now and whilst I know Malaysia won the gold but I didn't know who actually won and who lost. The new 21 point system is exciting but rendered the service by each side rather useless and just a matter of who starts the ball rolling. I was confused at first why the points moved so fast and why there was 21 points but well the new system is better than the last one where I think the games were more and the points fewer.

Anyway Lee Chong Wei definitely deserved his superstar status as commented by the English commentators. He was technically and physically superior to his opponent although he looked too thin.

The mix double lost but well we lost because the other side was better.

But this starving looking girl, Wong Mew Choo whose 3 sets went into overdrive with the much experience and much better seeded English player. But she won by sheer endurance although technically both made major mistakes. I joked that perhaps she is only allowed to eat if she wins because really she looked so thin and frail.

What a proud moment for Malaysia. I hope we win gold for the singles and doubles event. By the way our winning may also due to the fact that Indonesia is not in the Commonwealth so lucky us. But the way we played in this event, I really do believe we can beat the Indonesians. Such spirit, such tenacity. Anyway there were Chinese and Indonesians in this event who became Singaporeans, English, etc. My few complaints are ...

1. we are too obliging. The English looked like they were going to kick our arse by really staring at us whilst we simply played on

2. we hardly made any sound, in fact so very silent, only some expressions came from Koo Kien Keat who reminded me of the cocky and very confident Cheah Soon Kit.

3. how come our costume is so darn ugly? Tiger issit or sponsored by Maybank? Why can't we ask like what's his name, Zang Toi to design a nice one? What about Jimmy Choo for sportswear? We really need to upgrade our image to look good as well as play good.

4. How come all the members of our Badminton team uses the same hair dye colour? Sponsored by Loreal perhaps?

5. How come only the men are a bit flamboyant with earrings and stuff? Why the women looked rather dowdy and way too thin?

But Lee Chong Wei was such a master of his game. You should have watched him play, such technique in tricking his opponent. Brilliant play.

Read more of this great news HERE, HERE and especially THIS ARTICLE.

MALAYSIA, this time MEMANG BOLEH!! What an exciting game.

Oh by the way I was rather surprised the line up was 100% Chinese. The Australians might have thought "Hmmm when did China join the Commonwealth?"! But well the best players were all there that night so I am glad at least in some aspect Malaysian government and associations places MERIT above all else.

Well, Point2e.com salutes ...


Lee Chong Wei for being technically superior above all others


Wong Mew Choo for fighting to the last point and never giving up and almost killing half of the Malaysians with the anxiety of "winning or not?"

I can't find any medal winners' pictures of our Malaysian team which is rather pathetic. I want to salute all of them but where are the pictures? Cues must be taken from Torino Winter Olympics and the way they organised the events and their website. And even our local newspaper did not carry the news in front page or even posted more pictures. English football seems to dominate the headlines when such an exciting win was primarily ignored. A whole booklet should have been printed on this first time win from England who has won since...since from what I could see from the websites, SINCE 1978 for 6 YEARS STRAIGHT!!. What a pity!

And who would have guessed we upped the aunties and all to win gold for Lawn Bowl? Whilst it is quite upsetting that Nicol David crashed out in Squash, well you win some and sometimes you lose some. Still very proud of her for winning World No. 1 title.

New review & Terence Yin angry, Daniel Wu even angrier! 
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A Conquerer's Story & Shades Of Truth 
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AI 5 : 12 to 11 + results 
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What an amazing night tonight was. Top 12 all singing and only 11 will go on. I must first say I am so impressed with Ryan Seacrest who was such a comforting figure. What a great host.

Well who did well and who did not? To be fair, tonight was Stevie Wonder night and truth be told, his songs are like Elton John's songs; definitely very difficult to sing and worse still, all contestants sounded not that great except for 3 or 4. Let's start with the great ones.

I was so worried for Taylor Hicks but MAN! This man pulled it off! He sang the song his own style, strut around the stage with great style and did some weird dancing. Simon said he looked like a drunken dad singing at a wedding party. Now we may think's that an insult but imagine that scene; that would mean only fun performance and Simon said with a difference; he could sing! He makes me love that song! Best performance because uniquely his.

Bucky managed to make Stevie Wonder song sound rock and great rock if you ask me. But I am afraid the audience may not like him because somehow, I just got this feeling he's not very well liked. This competition has 2 rockers, and Bucky is really the only original one. What an amazing performance.

Elliott Yamin didn't do too well and the fault lies with the song, not with his technique. His voice was flawless though and very soothing.

Mandisa, Katharine and Paris totally did very well in this competition and I thought they were unique.

The girl the judges liked very much was Lisa and Melissa. The former was cute but she was boring. I was wondering when she was ending the song. Melissa had sore throat and went off key several times. She forgot the lyrics! And when I heard her sing Lately, I thought the song was so familiar and then I remembered; John Stevens sang that song and guess what? John did it a million times better. Melissa butchered that song. She was horrible but the judges loved her. The judges were rather lenient tonight.

Kevin Covais frankly was bad but like Randy said, he was entertaining. I mean who would have thought he would sing Part Time Lover? I hated his singing but between him and Ace Young, I want Ace Young to go.

Ace Young was truly absolutely uninspiring and horrible. He was I can't describe the word except to say please get him out of this competition!

Chris Daughtry sang the rock version of Stevie Wonder song which was reportedly sang by Red Hot Chillie Peppers. You want to know the truth? How come he could have his song rearranged like rock and Bucky had to sing rock using his voice only? Why the double standard? I believe Chris sang like Red Hot Chillie Peppers though I have never heard that song. I am beginning to think he is quite simply a copycat. Bucky deserves more recognition because he truly sang the song his own style.

But the worst of the night was the most cutest and bubbly one that I find it hard to see her go. Kellie was flat, toneless and the song went on and on and on and I almost fell asleep.

So my prediction? My hope is to see either Ace Young, Kevin Covais, Melissa or Chris Daughtry to go but people love Ace, Kevin is frankly cute tonight because he sang a song nobody thought he would sing (I was laughing AT him rather than WITH him but that's still entertainment value), Melissa seems likeable although I hate someone who forgets the lyrics and said it so and Daughtry was a copycat. But I have a feeling, it would be either

Kelly Pickler
Deserving to get kicked out but she's so likeable, so sorry to see her go

OR

Bucky
Based on merit alone, no way BUT I just have this dreaded feeling

OR

Melissa
She was horrible because I kept thinking about John Steven's version of Lately but she may stay since viewers may be a bit deaf tonight

OR

Ace
Highly unlikely but still hoping

My first choice will be Kellie.

Oh man, Taylor Hicks rocks!!

RESULTS
Totally unexpected but well well well I kinda predicted it! The last 3 were Ace (people booed, I cheered but well Kevin survived), Melissa and Lisa (surprise! surprise!). For a moment I thought there goes Bucky but hey! He survived and I was like so happy! Guess who got kicked out? Of course not Ace. Looks count, a lot. Certainly not Lisa, since cuteness counts too! So like I predicted, it was Melissa. I suspect it may be because ...

Au Yeung clears up riddle poser 
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I was reading the Star Newspaper (page N27) yesterday and there was this article which I am reproducing below:-

Kuala Lumpur : He is a famous face in Cantonese drama series, always playing the good guy's role.

But Hong Kong television artiste Bobby Au Yeung suddenly found himself cast as a baddie after Chinese newpapers here and the Hong Kong media reported that he made a China Press reporter cry.

Yesterday, Au Yeung attended a press conference held by MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Michael Chong to clarify what had transpired between him and reporter Sam Sai Peng.

The problem is said to have started on Saturday when Sam approached Au Yeung for a message for her newspaper's 60th anniversary.

Au Yeung said he was trying ti lighten the mood by "posing an IQ test" to Sam. When he asked her how would a mute person buy a comb, the journalist felt insulted and walked off.

Sam insisted that she had felt humiliated, as everyone in the room had laughed when she was asked to answer the riddle, but she shook hands with Au Yueng after the press conference.

4 questions;

1. Why is Michael Chong handling this insanely stupid menial stuff when he had more important things to do?This man is overworked as it is!

2. Was the riddle insulting or did she felt humiliated because she thought people laughed at her instead of the possible answer of the riddle or perhaps Bobby dared to be THAT cheeky?

3. I believe Bobby was being cheeky and not really sarcastic. The picture showing him shaking hands with the reported looking rather happy whilst the reporter looked ok. Was the handshake genuine?

4. Was the riddle a sexual one or really just a good old riddle?

Anyone knows of this rather insanely stupid news? I can only say this; have a thicker skin when approaching big stars to do something, especially someone like Bobby who is rather famous for his wit I guess and also the fact that he may play good approachable guys but I believe in reality he is not that approachable.

I had to laugh reading this article. Small thing like this feel humiliated; how then to approach the big guns?

NEWSIES : Ain't it a fine life? 
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That is the title of one of the catchy tune from the movie that really bombed years ago but getting a revival through DVD sales and very dedicated fans, NEWSIES starring a very young Christian Bale (see also this awesome website, and if you don't know who he is, he's the new Batman) and some other actors whom I recognise but can't name. Why is it a fine life? Let me tell you something unbelievable.

Ok, maybe not that unbelievable.

Anyway, what's so unbelievable? I have been downloading like crazy using Limewire and I found a huge 800 plus MB file called NEWSIES.AVI. I thought maybe just a large clip from the movie so I downloaded it. Took me 24 hours, and thank God I have Streamyx if not I will be pokai. Anyway, halfway through I hit the preview button and I saw the Disney logo and the very beginning of this movie. I thought wow maybe it's the entire movie?

Guess what? IT IS THE ENTIRE MOVIE. I was so happy I posted this post at Pearl's website, since she's a big Newsies/Christian Bale. I mean yeah you can download Harry Potter movies and what nots but who would post the entire Newsies movie in Limewire? Well somebody did and thank you to this somebody. Believe me, I would have bought this DVD if I could find it but I couldn't, forcing me to resort to such highly unethical but bloody satisfying method. The quality is exactly what you'll get in your DVD copy. Problem was burning it into my DVD and my DVD could not hold the entire data (since it must be encoded into I think .vob format which is more than 4.7GB) so I had to choose the lower quality which came to 3.8GB. I was afraid the quality may be not so great but I watched it via my BIG TV and well well well, sound quality and movie quality all simply great. And I think that may be because the original file is of course original quality. Now I have my own Newsies DVD! I plan to make my own Newsies CD since can't buy it here and the songs are great. You can download most of them using Limewire whilst I posted some in my previous post. I am however unable to download the following probably because the Limewire hosts may be sleeping or something. If you have the following or know where I can get them, please post them using POST A COMMENT ...

- Prologue
- Ain't it a fine life (full version)
Note : Strangely can't find this title on the soundtrack list. And the version I have just suddenly cut off towards the end so I am looking for the full version if there is one.
- Seize the Day (Chorale)
- Santa Fe (Reprise)
- Rooftop
- The World Will Know (Reprise)
- Carrying the Banner (Finale)
- Escape from Snyder

What about the movie you ask? Well it's a fun interestingly cute and yet very entertaining musical. The acting is great, singing is good, dancing is minimal but passable but the choreography a bit messy and a bit too crowded but the story is good although Disney-ish. It didn't deserve to be trashed the way it was and would be great to watch it on the big screen. I am not going to lie to you; I watched it for Christian Bale and I found myself simply drawn to his presence along with at least 2 other young actors whose name I can't name right now but will write them in my review if I feel like writing one. He's very watchable and think about this; a musical? But it worked. In fact I liked this better than Moulin Rogue and the overly praised Chicago. I mean this movie depended on the young actors and believe me, story may be patchy but acting wise, they delivered. So yeah, I enjoyed it, despite what was written and the sniggers I got from my sister like "Christian Bale again? Don't worry, that phase will pass". My dear sister, a good movie is a good movie no matter what and well, Christian Bale just made it better. The phase may pass but believe me, not for a very long time. I appreciate great actors, Jang Dong Gun, Christian Bale and potentially great actors like Shaun Chen. Phase passes or not, a great performance deserves to be watched and publicised.

Ain't it a fine life?

Indeed, thanks to Limewire, it is. I got to watch the one movie I wanted to buy but couldn't buy. I could even bloody download American Psycho but nope, I prefer to pay RM80-00 plus to buy it. I will always buy the movies I want to keep but my friends, when you can't buy, what do you do? Well, quite simply, LIMEWIRE it!

Ray Charles & Johnny Cash 
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I watched Ray yesterday and whilst I was disappointed to know the biopic wasn't exactly full and true but well I kinda like know the guy behind the shades. Very little abt his musical background though but honest enough about hos womanising ways as well his musical genius. Johnny Cash's Walk The Line I haven't watched. But I kinda noticed these two men kinda shared a common fact; both admired their strong mothers very much, especially Ray's mom who was portrayed as someone uneducated but very strong willed.

My question now is, IS Johnny Cash really THAT famous? Walk The Line said he was a rebel and a musical legend who changed country music. Really? I asked my sis about Ray Charles and she said yeap, he is very very famous and a legend. But Johnny Cash may be a bit too much.

I am curious now. Could it be that Walk The Line had made him more famous than what was depicted in the movie itself? Can Hollywood really make someone appear really bigger than they were during their actual lifetime?

Limewire's greatness 
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What an amazing file sharing programme! Amazing! Totally in awe. My sister gave me a whole list of songs to download, her quote saying "I doubt you can find them all but well you can try" and guess what? I found ALL of the songs. I knew I can find those songs because hey! Elvis' I Believe also got! You will know a person's age by simply scanning her list of songs.

Anyway I have been downloading like crazy these few days. So many songs that I had to buy new discs and all. You can download Limewire Basic, punch in the name of the singer and voila! List of songs all MP3 quality. Amazing.

The first few songs I download was from the movie Newsies. Thanks to Pearl who helped me to identify which had Christian Bale singing in it, I download almost all of it. After repeated listening, I fell totally in love with The King Of New York. Such a catchy tune. And CB's singing in the song Santa Fe was infectious though not American Idol quality. But hey, he's miles better than Ace Young or Kevin Covais! I also loved listening to I Would Walk 500 Miles. What a romantic song and cute too. I am confused about the singer since sometimes Limewire's listing is incorrect. Then there's The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Wow!! But guess what? I found all the themesongs I wanted, and all original too! I also found some funny songs, my favourite being the song by Weird Al Yankovic's Rice Rice Baby. So funny I can't breath! I won't post all of them here since you can get Limewire and get the hard to find songs you always wanted. But here's a few I mentioned that you might like to download and listen to them again and again and again ...

Note : IE users, right click the title and choose Save Target As and Firefox users, left click the title and choose to save. For those using download managers, there's the URL. If the link doesn't work, the URL is always the correct one. If the link is really dead and broken, please tag the title to the Shout Box and I'll fix it pronto!

1. Newsies - King Of New York
Note : So addictive, so catchy
URL :http://media.point2e.com/newsies_ny.mp3

2. Newsies - Santa Fe
Note : CB can sing! CB can dance! CB can act! CB can prance around naked! What can't he do?
URL :http://media.point2e.com/newsies_santafe.mp3

3. Theme - Mission Impossible
Note : Awesome original theme
URL :http://media.point2e.com/theme_mi.mp3

4. Theme - James Bond
Note : Even more awesome original theme
URL :http://media.point2e.com/theme_bond.mp3

5. Theme - Pink Panther
Note : Cute, mysterious, sneaky
URL :http://media.point2e.com/theme_pinkpanther.mp3

6. Theme - Airwolf
Note : True test of your age. Can you remember this series?
URL :http://media.point2e.com/theme_airwolf.mp3

7. Theme - Knight Rider
Note : Another test of your age. Before boobs and slow mo running on the beach made the actor into hot commodity, there was the talking car! Awesome theme!
URL :http://media.point2e.com/theme_knightrider.mp3

8. Theme - Hawaii five-o
Note : A must download even if you're like I who has never seen this series before. The opening was amazing and I thought I was like surfing!
URL :http://media.point2e.com/theme_hawaii5o.mp3

9. Weird Al Yankovich - Rice Rice Baby
Note : Hilarious take on the Chinese menu with parody of Ice Ice Baby. What? You don't know the original song? You''re young! Remember Vanilla Ice?
URL :http://media.point2e.com/way_rice.mp3

10. The Lion Sleeps Tonight
Note : Love this one!
URL :http://media.point2e.com/lion.mp3

11. I Would Walk 500 Miles
Note : I can't stop listening to this rather romantic hyper active type of song. A must download.
URL :http://media.point2e.com/500miles.mp3

12. Chumbawumba - I Get Knocked Down
Note : Probably your local pub's themesong
URL : http://media.point2e.com/chumbawumba.mp3

13. Louis Amstrong - Moon River
Note : Watched Capote and kinda reminded me of this song but funnily, found a rather interesting version!
URL : http://media.point2e.com/moonriver.mp3

14. Louis Amstrong - What A Wonderful World
Note : Whenever I felt low and down, I would listen to this song and listen to the lyrics, so meaningful, so simple and yet so inspiring. This song is like Daffodils to me. How I wish we all can see the beauty of our world
URL : http://media.point2e.com/whatawonderfulworld.mp3

15. REM - Everybody Hurts
Note : And my themesong whenever I feel so bloody miserable I felt like crying and here REM put into a song what I hope to express to all those who feels miserable sometimes. If this song can't lift you up a little, well you are welcomed to email me. You know where to reach me.
URL : http://media.point2e.com/rem_everybodyhurts.mp3

Get limewire and find many more songs! What an amazing programme!

I must say a big

AI 5 - Top 12 Men 
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After watching tonight's performance, I am convinced; the judges must be deaf or rather maybe Simon has got most of them right.

I think only 3 in this competition that has shown improvement, showmanship and undiscovered talent and 3 of them aren't exactly idol material because they're not your typica teen idol.

Taylor Hicks stood out tonight with his energetic infectious performance that I just love. Not sure about the song which I am not very familiar with but he sang with such sincerity and had so much fun, I almost forgot this was in the end a competition and he made me like the song. A great performance and the judges got it right.

Bucky was another standout. His voice was great, the song was great BUT sometimes he did tend to oversing the song with too much rockish angst. I find him a million times more talented than the copycat Chris Daughtry and Bucky is definitely the original in this competition.

Gedeon was seductive and masterful in his performance. Hard to believe he's only 17. The only thing I do not like about him is the way he talks; he isn't arrogant but his tone sounded rather boastful although he wasn't being boastful. Just the way he talked. But his performance tonight was masterful and totally mesmerizing.

The rest ranged from mediocre to bad to awful to simply bad song choice. Kevin Covais was quite ok actually but he made singing such a painful chore. I do not know why Randy likes him so much, I thought his performance was equivalent to a school choir. He must go but I have a feeling he will stay another week.

Elliott Yamin simply chose the wrong song. Interesting to know he is 90% deaf in one ear and I suppose so were the judges because he was at best mediocre but the way they raved about him, you thought he just won a Grammy.

Chris Daughtry is someone the judges love and preferred over Bucky, calling him all sorts of good names. I find him a copycat and totally unoriginal. But one good thing is he always chooses contemporary hits, unfortunately he sings exactly like the original singer and yet none of the judges seem to notice that. I hope he gets axed but the way they raved about him, he will stay another week since I notice the viewers tend to listen to the judges.

Ace Young was the most awful of the lot. His so called great falsetto performance was erratic, awful, uninspiring, boring and worst of all, messy like hell. He can't sing. He only looks good on TV. I want him axed before this competition becomes a farce. But unfortunately I think he will last another week.

Will Makar was actually quite alright and yet Randy and Simon didn't like him. I mean he was better than the awful pretender Ace Young and Daughtry. But I know, he won't last.

My prediction of which 2 will go? However much I want Ace Young, Kevin Covais and Daughtry to go, I have a feeling they will survive another week. I want Taylor Hicks and the other 2 I named to stay but Bucky is on shaky ground because viewers don't seem to appreciate him.

So my prediction?

Will Makar

AND

Elliott Yamin

OR

Bucky Covington (I hope not)

BUT I really want this one to go ...

Ace Young

RESULTS
I got Will Makar right and a pity he had to go. But shocking was Bucky and Gedeon being the final 2 and I thought oh no not Bucky BUT NO! It was Gedeon!! Why is Kevin Covais, Ace Young and even Elliott who was awful still in the competition doesn't make sense. Especially Ace Young and Kevin Covais. So very sad to see Gedeon go. But I guess it may have to do with the way he talks. Anyway so happy Taylor stays!

Oscar shocker! 
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I predicted two days ago that Ang Lee will win Best Director but Best Picture will go to some other film, I guessed Crash as Oscars love those kind of movie. Then I hoped Rachel Weisz will win Best Supporting Actress, that Phillip Seymour Hoffman totally deserves a nod in the Best Actor category, that Jake Gyllenhaal will not win an Oscar and Reese Witherspoon may not win her Oscar. Some wrong, mostly right.

I am so glad neither Jake Gyllenhaal or Heath Ledger win in the category they were nominated for because for one, Heath Ledger should not have been nominated at all. As for Jake, much too young, much too soon, haven't really earned his dues yet. Phillip Seymour Hoffman is a deserving winner. But the shocker to me is George Clooney winning best supporting actor. Between Jake and George, I did not wish either to win as neither are actors of such calibre. Sometimes Oscars do get it wrong, Braveheart for instance. But consolation price for Jake who lost out the Oscar AND the Batman role, I read he got a pivotal role in the sequel to Batman Begins. As for Joaquin, maybe next year if he keeps giving us interesting performances.

So happy PSH and Rachel Weisz won. A pity there is no Best Virtual Performance. I would have love to see Andy Serkis win something.

Truth be told, this year is about mediocrity, only one or two stood out, the rest were fair game.

I am going to watch the Oscars later today. I am wondering did Christian Bale attend the ceremony or was he not invited?

Charmaine Sheh VS Everybody Else : Maggie Cheung Hor Yee 
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VS

Lesson No. 1 
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Never ever colour your hair on a hot day or you'll look like you have just been attacked by 10 parang wielding men. I do look like I just walked out of the real Resident Evil game.

Do you have your own Lesson No. 1?