Out The Room, Standing Straight

                                                                            by shutterbug13




Small cracks in view, streams of white seep through. These streams of light, they thicken, they strengthen. And reaches and stretch, till it touches the man. Then it breaks a loud crack. A crash and a boom. Then there is no chair, there is no room. The man he stands, surrounded by white. The light blinds with not a spot of dark in sight. Cold it is not but neither is there hot. It is the more the lacking of cold than there is warmth. The man he begins to walk, in his new found freedom from the dark. He walks on and on. Walks ahead and sideways, upwards and down. There is no difference, there is no change. He might as well walk in circles or straight. He slumps down to sit on the white floor, finding he sits on nothing at all. He stands up again to see where he is. To hold right the top of the peak, of what is a peak. He looks around to where he does not know, there is no place to go. He bows down and looks at himself. The light now seeps into his skin. penetrating his being. It goes deeper and deeper, brighter and brighter. Till it hurts his eyes, his bones feels to shatter. He lies on the ground, motionless now. But what orientation is he in the light. What he thought walking might as well be drifting, for he realize now there is no floor, there is no ceiling. So motionless now he is, no point for moving. He slumps there waiting, end of this feeling. Brighter there is none, the blinding light is all there is. Emptier there is none. He missed the room and chair he sits. Endless space, Blinding light. A tiny man.

The Graveyard Book

by Neil Gaiman

Started reading this Friday evening, finished Sunday morning. All in all, took about 5-6 hours. That's pretty alright for my reading rate. Well, I got the book from the library because Cereal said she was reading Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman and it was alright. 

The book is about a little boy whose family was killed and he was at birth without living parents. He crawled his way to the cemetery and was raised by ghosts, the Owens and the cemetery community as a whole. They gave him the name Nobody 'Bod' Owens. And the book tells of his adventures growing up to a teenager, and all the while the person who killed his biological family is still looking for him. He also gets awesome powers by the way, so that's always nice.

This book was like the play I saw Saturday night. The start was very very promising and absolutely lovely, but halfway through I sort of got disillusioned. The story just felt slightly disjointed, the ending left me sort of wanting and not in a very good way. Felt some things were under developed, and also felt some bits of the story was ripped off from others (Tolkien, and Agatha Christie). Still as a whole it was still pretty good, I liked the story. Some parts of his writing style is absolutely wonderful. Plus just found out he wrote Coraline, so look forward to reading more of his stuff.

Into The Woods

by Stephen Sondheim

Went to see another play yesterday and it was quite lovely. That was at Roleystone Theatre. Description as below from the site.

Into the Woods is a musical debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales and follows them further to explore the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. The main characters are taken from the stories of Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, and Cinderella, all tied together by an original story involving a Baker, his wife, and their quest to begin a family.

Found the first part very very good. The second part was somewhat messy for me and the ending felt a bit like everything was wrapped up a bit hastily, and the story sort of went sour. The acting and singing overall was very good, I'd say better that previous weeks. All the characters were quite funny, I like red riding hood the best, when later she went a bit psycho nutty after the 'trauma' with her grandma. No wonder they just keep doing Stephen Sondheim's.

It Comes a Brewing

by Davey the snail

Oh man, oh man. It's gonna be a coming those two. Those two... Ah yes, Davey I am... I mean, my name, Davey... My name is Davey. I means to talk about them two, Harold and George., my neighbors.  Arguing over they stupid holes and stirring up some nonsense that we other folk want no business of. But no, oh no. Talk of the town now it is. Storm be brewing up ahead, it is. If it's half as good as Marjorie's stew a brewing, things might not turn out half bad. But I don't know, those two never get along nice. Serious, never did. I just hope they leave poor old Davey...that's me...out of this stupid hole mess. Doesn't help me, house being between they two holes and all...

In The Room, On The Chair

Graphic by ikiz

Sitting on the chair, he sits on the chair. He was on the chair sitting. The chair is in the room, the room the chair is in, he sits on the chair in the room. It is dark. He feels the cold on his skin, prickling cold. The hairs on his body standing, the cold dank and thick. The cold it wraps around him, the dank it touches him, very much gripping him. But again, it is dark, very dark. His eyes wide open but he cannot see. He waits for the darkness to settle but it never does. It penetrates deeper and deeper, darker and darker. All he knows is this. He is in a room, dark and cold. And he sits in a chair. He reaches forward from the chair and it creaks. The path of hand trying to grip, only grips the thin cold air. Then the darkness thickens again, folding around even denser. And pushes him into the chair still. It grips him harder. He can no longer move, move he no longer can, held hard in position, motionless in pain. The cold in his flesh now. The darkness in his blood now, pumping through his veins. He rocks gently back and forth, the chair a pendulum of creaking. The cold now grips the heart, and cold liquid pumps more cold. He sits there waiting. The dark is all there is. Darker there is none. The running cold is all he feels. Colder there is none. In the room, in the chair he sits. Silent now. All there is, there is none. In the room, on the chair. A tiny man.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Watched this play yesterday night. It was lovely, very funny musical. Below is description I got off ASN website.

Inspired by the farces of the Roman playwright Plautus, who lived from 251-183 BC  this Tony Award winning musical tells the story of the slave Pseudolos and his attempts to gain his freedom by helping his young master win 'the girl next door'.

Pure farce the story featurs puns, mistaken identity much coming in and out of doors and satirical comments on social class.. The title derives from the old saying often used in vaudeville in times past that 'a funny thing happened on the way to the theatre.' 

Originally produced on Broadway in 1962 starring Zero Mostel  where it ran for 964 performances it has since been revived  many times . Frankie Howerd & Kenneth Connor starred in the first London production.

The film version was made in 1966, again starring Zero Mostel as Pseudolus.

Comedy Tonight is probably the best known song from the show.

Featuring Ross Bryant as Pseudolus, with Phil Mackenzie, Diana Ryman, Morgan Phillips, Kimberley Harris, Emmet Nichols, Harry Lenthall, Craig Menner, Judith Clark, Niquelle May. Barbara Lovell, Tarryn Bullock, Vicki Kirkman, Stuart Riches, Jeff Hansen, Warren McGrath.

AND- as a bonus we have a wonderful nine piece orchestra,seductively called 'Creatures of the Night' conducted by David Hardie.

Again theatre has brought to me something movies can never bring. It made me feel in a different way that only great movies sort of make me feel. It brings the stage to life, I am drawn into that world. I am there with them and I love every moment of it.

Unknown Quantity

Trapped in pitch darkness
Desperation causes suffocation
Any confinement shall wilt the kept
Till it is pitiful and broken

In the confines to keep it safe
Stretches and pulls
It is stuck, it cannot grow
Only serving poison to the soul

Though uncertain fear roams in freedom
There is blissful liberation
For the false will be known and fade away
And the true will return always

Alas a short lived comfort
Dread returns in full force
Gripping immobile
Wrenching cold sweat

Cannot be kept nor sent away
It is always present
To confound further logic
Disregard only feeds its growth

I have no malady
If you do, tell me more
Only fear of the unknown
Unquantifiable quantity

Maksim Mrvica

by lawrence

The Sicilian

by Mario Puzo

Just finished this book. I read the Godfather last year and absolutely love it. Good thing I read that first, because this one occurs right after the story in the Godfather.

Loosely connected to the Corleone's of America. Michael Corleone has ran to Sicily after the troubles in America. After 2 years, things have settled down and he is to return to America. His father Vito asks him to help and bring a certain Turi Giuliano.

This is a sort of Robin Hood, Che Guevara story. I just google'd Salvatore Giuliano and he is a real person. Wow, that certainly was very surprising. This book is very beautifully written, laid with rich Sicilian life; how they lived, the Sicilian people. And also the idea of omerta, the code of silence, where people do not speak to the officials but go to the Friends of Friends.

Would now love to read more of the Godfather now. I love Mario Puzo books. And maybe watch the Godfather again.

Love & Loss

Have you a friend
very close and dear
The sort you share everything with
With a laugh and a cheer

I have had many
throughout the years
And still do today
let's just be clear

What I speak now
Is of moments rare and special
When they have found the One
God praise the angels

But these friends of mine
Develop peculiar behavior
You don't see them anymore
Where did they disappear

In the past when you call
They show with no fail
Now try calling them
It is to no avail

Finding true love
What a joy that is
But losing a friend
What the hell is this

I'm happy for them
That much is true
But I really do wish
They have time for me too

I guess if it was me
It would be the same
Found the One after all
Certainly no shame

With all that said
Please remember this
You have your friends
In pain and in bliss

If the end does come
And the one is not the One
I will rub it in and laugh
Help them see they were dumb

When all that is done
Friends we will remain
Until they find another One
Oh no not this again

Dreamweaver (Part 3)

All throughout the day Lucy had a great big grin on her face. She was still very happy from meeting Rupert Yellowstone and the Professor and getting to play with sheep. The day passed very slowly for Lucy and she could not pay attention in her classes at school, even her favorite English class.  She could only doodle sheep on her notebook. Lucy was also quite the doodler, her drawing of sheep on a farm was given a gold star at school just last week.

After the last school bell, Lucy rushed home and told her mother she would like to take her bath early. As nice a girl as Lucy was, she did not particularly enjoy baths. So Mrs. Adwater was surprised Lucy would ask to take a bath. After her bath, Lucy quickly finished all her homework and set up the table for dinner. Mr. Adwater arrived home at 6 pm as usual and they had their dinner together. Tonight was spaghetti night and Lucy loved pretty much everything her mother cooked, but especially spaghetti, that was her favorite. That evening though, Lucy ate her dinner quickly, but still making sure to chew her food properly. She just chewed and swallowed a bit faster than usual.

After she had eaten everything on her plate, Lucy asked to be excused so she can go to bed. She said she was very tired.  Her parents were surprised because  Lucy would usually ask to play with her farm animal set and read her favorite book 'Farmer Bill's Guide to All Types of Sheep'. But they did not see anything wrong with Lucy sleeping early and asked her to brush her teeth before going to bed. Lucy agreed and ran up the stairs, brushed her teeth and went straight to her room. A moment later Mr. and Mrs. Adwater came in to tuck Lucy and and kiss her on her head good night. Lucy said good night back and smiled.

Her parents shut the door and Lucy sprang up from her bed. She was very excited of going back to meet Rupert and the Professor and perhaps, just perhaps, playing with the sheep in the field again! All the excitement and joy came bubbling up in Lucy as she thought about this. So she lay down again to get to sleep.

Then it dawned on her, what she had wanted to ask Rupert last night before he pushed her through the door. A deep set horror filled her. She had forgotten what exactly she did last night to get to the starry field! She feared doing the wrong thing and she could never return to that place.

After thinking long and hard she decided to give it a try anyways. What had she got to lose. She counted a thousand sheep. She stood on her head and jumped several times. She turned around and laid on the opposite end of the bed and flipped right and left. She did all this and did it again to make sure. She had done everything. Lucy thought she must have done something wrong. She still could not sleep. Finally, she gave up and laid there exhausted. Then she fell asleep.

Lucy opened her eyes and found darkness, all around her. She felt a strange sensation. A sort of weightlessness. But great gusts of winds was blowing on her face and on her whole body. She looked around and her vision started to come into better focus. Lucy started spotting bright objects far away all around but they were moving very fast past her. In front of her a small green dot was growing bigger at an alarming rate. Then it came to her. She was in the sky and falling fast!

Lucy shut her eyes and let out a loud scream and held it for a long time. When she was out of breath, she looked down and saw the green dot which now turned into a cube. But she was still not there yet. So she shut her eyes again, took another deep breath and continued screaming.

All of a sudden the wind stopped and Lucy was hanging in mid air. Then Lucy looked down and saw she had stopped several inches from the green grassy ground. Her mouth not realizing this, had screamed on for a few seconds longer. She turned behind and saw Rupert holding the neck of her pyjamas. Lucy gave Rupert a nervous smile. He in turn rolled his eyes and frowned. Lucy had a feeling that tonight, she might not be playing with any sheep.

Easter 4

4. Easter Monday

The last of Easter. Geez. Went for bushwalk at John Forrest National Park. Went for the eagle walk which was the longest one there, 15 km. So here we go. We did counterclockwise walk. At first, being the great explorers ourselves we went on ahead, head held high, all the confidence and adventure-filled hearts we had. Then 20 minutes in, where there were supposed to be the yellow eagle arrows throughout the path, the eagle abandoned us. We had very cleverly (dumbly) gone on to some other trail and had to make one big round back to eagle trail. What great start!

So we pushed on forward confident we were now adept navigators and could brave any mountain, creek or gorge. Opened up our brochure maps and made clever observations about the rocks and trees and landmarks we saw. Awesome. We trudged on, still greatly excited with all we saw. We walked through wide flat roads, narrow paths, steep rises, slow descents. There were wonderful views of the open bush. We saw a waterfall with no water (not enough rain for there to be any water. seriously). Lots of trees and greens all around, really nice air. So that was all nice and dandy.

So now, fast forward 2 hours. Bloody hell. bush, tree, hill, slope, red rock, black rock, sand. I don't give a shit anymore! It all looks the same! So we trudge along and up and down. Then there was a half hour of really narrow path, which wonderfully (would you have guess), the leaves of the plants were all pointy and prickly. So yes, for 30 minutes, we were dodging left right center, and going with constant 'ooh's and 'aah's, not from the pretty plants but getting poked by them.

Then we climbed up one bit and lo behold, finally hit another wonderful view. Could see Perth city surrounded by clouds. It really looked like a castle in the sky. Real beautiful. Then we some more big rocks and went to climb those. And again in front more big rocks. So we so had to climb those too. How often does one get distracted by big rocks that you just have to climb them? Very much always I would imagine. Rock = Climb.

Note: Rock facades may seem steeper in photograph than actually is.

Anyways, we got on this a bit, and at the end walked a long without thinking and yeah, we got kind of lost again. I saw some building in front on the next hill that sort of looked like where we started. But there was no path there. So me being all forest-smart and all, suggested, we should brave it and trudge through the bush to that building (which to be fair looked sort of near (now thinking back looks few km away)). So luckily, no one listened to me. And we did the smart (boring) thing and went back the route and found the previous yellow eagle and headed for the correct path. Then some more plodding along in the endless path. The last 2 km was tough, lots of rocky paths and tight bush ways. But finally we made it to the end! Took us about 4+ hours. I reckon we could have gotten on quicker had we been more vigilant with the map. But oh well, adventure's still and adventure, even more so when u get lost late in the evening and get a bit panicky.

So great. we all got out good and proper, tired as hell. So what do we do next? Get something to eat of course. Went to Hungry Jacks and got whoppers. So what next? Go home and rest? Oh nooooo. We went rock climbing. Because we are geniuses, we can do anything (not really). So headed for the Hangout. Obviously we weren't the only geniuses in the room. There were 2 other guys there climbing too. So yes, I could only do 4 walls before my arms gave out, to the point I lifted them up 90 degrees and they were shaking. So we stayed for a bit longer for a few more walls and headed home. Add 24 hours later and my arms still barely working properly.

Well, overall, awesome Easter. Gotten over the chocolate overdose and now actually drooling when I think of it already. Go kart not so much, maybe later when my arms don't hurt as much. Paintball was great, would absolutely go again. And bush walk, yes, probably going for another one next month. My sister suggested a 900+km walk which would take 6-8 weeks. Yes, I want a bit of adventure but no, I'm not looking to become Buddha, so I'm going to pass on that. And so, add horseback riding too. I so want to do that. Go kart, found another circuit, so probably try that one too.

Alright, back to work now. Bring on the pain, the cranial variety now...

Easter 3

3. Easter Sunday

This was a bit of a rest day, in the sense there was not much physical activity. Well, first we went to Elmar's for lunch. Huge big pork shank, which we struggled to finish, and pork ribs. Was thinking about a stein to go with it, but nooo, I need to be standing straight for the rest of the day. So decided against that.

Okay, after that we went to Margaret River Chocolate Factory. I love my choc, but I don't like dark choc (you purists can just shut up right about now, I don't care what you say. I like milk and white choc). So here, there's free samples of choc, so I just stuffed my face full of choc, lots. It was great. Then we went to get some honey from 1 farm near there. And on the way out we saw an awesome-looking cow. So took a picture of Mr. Cow.

Then we went to Freo for the Street Arts Festival. First we stopped off for some gelato. I got lemon and tropical. Real nice. Then went to a secondhand bookshop to have a look around. There wasn't any books I really wanted so didn't get anything. Then went to see some street performances. Some were pretty good, some were kinda lame. There was a mime, the guy in the picture was pretty good and a lady in pink, can't remember her name either. Then we got some crepes. By this point I was quite full already. So what happened next was pretty suicidal.

We went for more choc!!! San Churro. If you don't know what death by chocolate means, you'll know it after going to this place. We got chocolate fondue, chocolate churros, and chocolate drinks. I ordered something called Azteca. That's chocolate drink with chili and cinnamon in it. Those drinks actually came with warnings saying this is seriously thick chocolate, so be warned. We were thinking, yeah right, bring it on. And it was brought on. And I don't believe I'd say this, but I nearly puked chocolate. But was really nice, everything tasted great. Was a bit greedy and ordered too many things is all. Ah, choc heaven. Wonderful...

Easter 2

 2. Easter Saturday

We went go karting! What was even nicer was we went at about 5 pm. So we raced from daylight to sunset to dark. It was 4 4-lap races. But believe me it was quite enough. Really tiring. There's the group. Top L-R: Nic, John, Dean, Francis, Fred, Chai, Helmi.

Bottom L-R: Me, Cynthia, San Wen.

This was my 1st time going for go karting, so it was pretty scary but when we got started that all went away and just wanted to have fun. The karts were twin engine and went to about 100+ km/h, so yeah, thinking about that is pretty crazy, but when you're driving it, frankly it don't feel all that much. But few hours after I finished, I thought, that shit was nuts.

Here's the breakdown. Race 1, we were all pretty much just getting used to the driving and the track and were a bit hesitant to put our foots down all the way through the track, so yeah, was pretty alright. Though Chai spun on one of the corners I think.

Race 2, I started to get more into it and in one of the corners spun off the track onto the sand. Being a bit over enthusiastic going into the corner. Came in 2nd to last. Because after the spin, I stupidly sat there and did not know what to do. Then the guy told me just keep going. Then I did, so that kinda shook me up a bit.

Race 3, This 1 I did alright I think being a bit more conservative. I started 2nd on the grid, and finished 1st cut off the guy that was in first.

Race 4, This race was the most awesome one. I was placed 6th on the grid, Helmi 7th. At one turn he overtook me, then I went all mad crazy and dogged him down. And we were cutting up each other throughout the race. On the last lap, I braked really late on 1 of the corner and slid past him but was again a bit too hard on the accelerator and he slid past me on the 2nd to last corner. And he got past me again.

I think light people have a better advantage, the car accelerates faster. But still, good fun. Hope can get more friends to go next time. Overall, I finished 7th which was not too bad, considering I had 3 spins and 1 off the tracks, lost points from that. great fun.

So after that, went to grab some food. Actually wanted to go to Ciao Italia but they were closed for some reason so went to a Mexican place, which I never been though I passed it a gazillion times. It's just a few minutes from my house! Anyways, it's called The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, after the movie. The portion was humongous. Geez, did not know. So we ordered quite a bit and could not finish it here it is, tacos, enchiladas, etc.

Easter 1

This is a bit off from what I usually do for the blog. But here it is, because it was all great fun.

1. Paint balling on Good Friday

This was really awesome. Went to bed on Thursday night at 10 something, and picked up San Wen from the airport at 2.30 am, he just came from Malaysia for Easter holidays. Then got back home at about 3.30 am. And slept on till about 6 am. Got ready till and left at 7 am. We went on to the paintball place. Started around 9.30 am.

Well, some people would just freeze there and know not what to do when they start playing paintball. Yeah, I'm not one of those. Once the call started for the first game, I went on kamikaze mission and rushed through the center of the field and yeah, got shot in about a minute and was out of that game. Game 2, I was a bit smarter and looked around but still went through to the other side and shot at the enemy. Got 1 and the 2nd guy, I shot to his left, right and above him. And he shot me once and got me. So, had to practice better my aim. Lesson learnt. After that, pretty much got the hang of it. Next one, I sneaked off to the side, and shot off 2 people before getting killed. The one after our team dominated and were left with 7 people (it's about 15 a side by the way). Then there was one where me and several other guys volunteered to hold the fort. That was fun. Then several other games which were also fun.

Overall, it was really lots of fun. And we finished off at about 3.30 pm. Would so definitely do this again next year and hopefully can get about 40-50 people. That would be great. As you can see, no pictures. Cos we kinda all forgot to take any, seeing how awesomely fun it was.

Only took picture of one of my bruises. the next day  Ain't that bad. And it doesn't hurt all that bad either. Just very good fun.

End of the Dream

I had a dream, the dream that ended all dreams. It was bittersweet but momentous and affecting. This is the end of that chapter, and I shall begin work. It needs to be fulfilled, for better or worst.