Budi Bahasa Budaya Kita

After three days of continuous and relentless study, it was finally time to sit for Highway and Traffic Engineering exam. Students headed to the exam room with a dead pan expression and unfocused eyes. We all looked like zombies, to be frank.

Upon entering the exam room, the Head Invigilator announced in a stern voice, "Group A, first two rows. The next two rows, Group B. And for the following 2 rows, Group C."

Not all Invigilators imposed seating arrangements but it was not uncommon, either. We headed to our designated seats, barely paying attention to what we were doing as our brains struggled to keep a firm grip on various formulae.

"You! What group are you?" came the Head Invigilator's voice. He wasn't talking to me so I tuned it out and focused on those formulae.

"Group B," came the reply. My subconscious registered it as Ros' voice. More talking ensued but I wanted subconscious' help to remember formulae thus blocked out the conversation. My mind, subconscious and all, deftly began piecing together the variables required for calculating Stopping Sight Distance.

"Hey, you!" Stopping Sight Distance dissolved from my mind's eye. "Which group are you?" the condescending tone was directed towards me. I was dimly aware that the question had been repeated a few times. I paused by the desk I was about to sit at.

"Group B," I answered, sure that I wasn't at the wrong row.

"Hmh," was all that Mr. Tyrannical Invigilator could say in reply. I was at the right row, of course. I swallowed the sarcastic retort before it jumped off my tongue. I didn't think Sir Stern would appreciate insolence and he might find reason to deny me the chance of taking the exam. I wasn't entirely sure he could do that but I wasn't about to take my chances, either.

Lord Grump barked more orders to other students as the entered the exam hall. Despite wanting to go over my formulae, I decided to direct my thoughts to our moody Invigilator instead. What exactly was his problem?

As other students blearily made their way to their seats, he assaulted them with questions and orders -- all in a condescending and, in my opinion, very rude tone. My sense of justice seethed with the knowledge that, inadvertently and without reason, Professor Stern-Eye Moody was publicly humiliating students by treating us like idiots who can neither understand nor comply to order.

After the exam, as the invigilators collected and counted our answer scripts, His Most Extreme Cantankerousness yelled for silence. He was heeded by no one.

ギルガメッシュ : MUSIC

I have liked Girugämesh for their uncanny ability to mix j-pop with j-rock for an altogether heavy rocking sound yet still distinctively mainstream enough for a maximum fanbase. And I am so in love with Satoshi's vocals. *sighs*

Naturally, I have waited in anticipation for their new album. I was a bit dismayed to find that they have experimented heavily with electronic elements in their album, MUSIC and my first impression of the outcome was not at all encouraging. But I really like Girugämesh and I wanted to continue liking them so I gave the album some more time to grow on me.

Come forty seven repeated spins later , I've managed to change my previous conclusion of "This album is an utter failure" to "This album is somewhat of a disappointment".

With the addition of the electronic samplings, most of the tracks sound too Linkin Park-ish to me. For example, the beginning of Break Down flung me right back to my high school days while I was hung up over Hybrid Theory. I mean, I used to really like Linkin Park, but that was the old days. Girugämesh is Girugämesh.

On the other hand, the track Asking Why is one that I simply cannot get over. The poor attempt at rapping is reminiscent of the more dodgy tracks of UVERworld. Takuya of UVERworld and Satoshi have two things in common; they're great singers but horrible rappers. And Satoshi is even worse than Takuya at rapping. Now that is something I would not have thought possible.

Fortunately, some of their experiments did turn out pretty well one such example being the track evolution. The voice samplings are odd in an interesting way, combined with the drum and bass beat resulting in a catchy and almost dance rythem.

The last track of the album, 縁enishi, was for me, the saving grace of the album. It was so typically Girugämesh that on normal terms I would have found it boring; but in this album where Girugämesh's sound was barely recognizable I was merely thankful that the band I have grown to like so much was still there.

Hopefully, Girugämesh's further experiments will turn out better.

And I still love Satoshi. So there.

Brilliant Eddie

Quoting Eddie Izzard from his Glorious tour. It roughly goes like this:

Potpurri is a very good invention. You take stuff that fell off of trees, put underarm deodorant on it and sell it to posh people. 50 Quid a jar.

You can't sell it to ordinary people. "Potpourri, 5 cents per sack!"

They won't buy it. "That stuff fell off of trees!"

See how stupid rich people are?

Life and Riches

Nowadays there are a lot of games that feature a fast forwarded version of real life -- such as The Simms. I've never been a fan of this game. I find it mundane. You get your person to eat, to study, to work out, to sleep when it can't take any more of eating and studying and working out, and when it has enough energy to eat and study and work out you put it on the job again. And so the cycle goes. Eat, go to work, take showers, eat some more, learn a skill, watch tv, eat some more, take another shower, oops getting tired, go to bed, wake up, eat, go to work…..My achievements are when my character gets promoted, or when I have earned enough money to buy something for my house. Its so boring. Cycles of mundane activities and rewarded with mundane achievements.

Again, I find myself contemplating Life and its Purpose.

I'll have to admit, The Simms does mirror daily life -- the one we're accustomed to believe that is worth achieving. Up until now, I did believe that is what I wanted. But now I'm not so sure. I get bored so easily with The Simms. What is to say I will not get bored of Life?

Why do I work so hard? To get promoted.
Why do I want to get promoted? So I have more money.
Why do I want more money? To buy things for my house.

Then, is the purpose of my Life to gradually fill a house with things?

Well, in real Life, that is not all there is to it. Of course, there are other things that we need money for. But the conclusion The Simms has led me to is somewhat relevant. We work so hard for things that will make us more comfortable while we work so hard. Isn't there a way to be happier without having to work so hard? Isn't there a way to be comfortable without so much things?

A trip to certain hypermarkets have reasserted my line of thought. After seeing a coffee cup which costs RM150 each, I'm baffled by the reason why people wish to get rich. Do they slave at their jobs just so that they can afford to buy an RM500 ashtray?

If perchance I become rich, I hereby swear that I'll find a better use for my money.