At The End of The Day

Still about Fall Out Boy.

I just got myself really "in tune" with their latest album, Infinity on High. At first, it was Thriller that I couldn’t stop singing. I skipped Hum Hallelujah as soon as I heard the first notes.

Then, I found out that most of the first songs in the album are great. But this particular one… Hm.

For one, I remembered from the concert that it has this part where they actually sing the chorus of Hallelujah. Which somehow and other felt blasphemous to me. And add to that, I didn’t  remember being really entertained by this song.

And then I was on my way somewhere, the Boys blasting away in my ears, and I got stuck with the last part of the Hum Hallelujah’s chorus.

A teenage vow in a parking lot
"Till tonight do us part."
I sing the blues and swallow them too

I like how this part ends the chorus, I like how the melody actually gets the (dare I use the word?) angst of young love and Patrick’s amazing voice doesn’t hurt either.

Now it is the song that is kept on repeat on my player.

It is even better if I’m riding a bike which is speeding through the night. (Poetic mode ON.)

Imagine that. And I used to be the girl who loved NKOTB’s I’ll Be Loving You Forever. Nowadays when I hear that song (which is thankfully almost never) all I feel is impatience.

Jeez… what a night!

I was dead beat from the day before. I, foolishly, almost thought of giving up the ticket and spend the Sunday lounging at home.

Sheesh.

Andri called a bit later than promised, arriving with Tommy in tow and we hit the road at about a quarter to six.

We arrived much too early, as expected, so Andri and I had dinner first. Tommy decided that he wanted to keep his slim figure. Or perhaps he was just too nervous, anticipating.

We met up later with Gaga and went in a little before 8. Inside was quite cool even though there were already a lot of people. We observed that in most cases, the whole family seemed to be there. We saw a lot of mothers ushering their teenage girls and boys, even primary school boys! And then there were this father with his two teenage girls… Honestly didn’t know what to think about it.

The crowd comprising mostly teenagers, the usual OTT actions were to be expected. They screamed at the sight of stage technicians and all that… *rolls eyes*

But I must say, all the anticipations and the long wait did result in my screaming my head off when the Boys actually jumped on to the stage. I honestly didn’t know which one was who but I recognised Pete from the time I caught them on Punk’d and I got the feeling all music fans felt at one time, "God, it’s really them! It’s really THEM!"

Tommy and Andri had speculated earlier about which song would open the show - they rattled off some songs from the first album and gave a complete running commentary on how high each song’s possibilities are, the whole nine yard.

Apparently though, Pete cs had decided to open with one of their newest songs, Thriller. It was followed by an old one, Grand Theft Autumn. And as soon as I heard Andy beat the first few notes on his drums for the third song, I went nuts.

It was the first song that made me fall for them, Sugar, We’re Going Down. Much as anybody would never forget their first kiss, a fan would never forget the first song that turned them around.

I had expected a few live-performance flaws, but no. By Jove, it was just as perfect as ever. The whole performance was first class.

Sad to say that a few songs after Sugar, I gave it up and went out for a drink. After a while it was considerably warm inside and I’d been singing at the top of my lungs in there. And it was in the middle of this song from their second album I’m not that fond of, so…

Anyway, I came back in to A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More ‘Touch Me’. It is one of my personal favourites and I bet all the "tamer" people at the back rolled their eyes at me. It was difficult to get back to where Andri and Tommy were but I managed to worm my way back to the front, in time to hear the most perfect rendition of Beat It.

God. If I hadn’t already taken my hat off for them, it could’ve been the perfect time.

Other than that, they also sang Akon’s Don’t Matter and, after a very nice lead in from Pete, the chorus from Panic! At The Disco’s I Write Sins, Not Tragedy. According to an online article, they also sang Green Day’s Basket Case.

Pete, who is, according to this one article I read afterward, Mr Extrovert, confirmed  all those comments that night. He was the most exuberant, spinning wildly while changing places with Joe, lifting up the mic by the base and later throwing it away, all the way to jumping up to play on the giant speakers. Of course, he also spoke for the whole band and it was his thrown T-shirt that everybody tried to grab at the end of the show.

Another online article stated that they sang 20 songs but I hardly felt that way. It seemed as if all of the sudden, it was just over.

Tommy seemed much too stunned to say anything else but Andri and I agreed that it was worth every cent that we paid. God, was it ever.

Just one message for Fall Out Boy: Come back soon, dammit!

It was like being lost in the desert for a week and being only given one small cup of water.

Sh1t.

I got up especially to blab about last night concert and this stupid Internet connection acts out on me.

Come back later for more of one of the best nights in my life, OK.?

Fall Out Boy rockz!!!

I love doing this. You know, doing silly quizzes which supposedly tell you about yourself. Someone shrewd analyses your answer and typically gives you what you want to get. It’s even better than therapy!

My favourite site is BlogThings and it usually does give me what I want to get.

But this one… definitely NOT what I expect. I don’t think anyone who knows me would agree. What do you think?

You Are Bad Girl Sexy

Girl, you are nothing but trouble. And that’s hot.
You’ve got the classic bad girl sexiness mojo going on.
And your badass attitude makes men fear you - and crave you.
Don’t give into people who say to tone it down. You’re perfect as is.

What Kind of Sexy Girl Are You?

It’s a laugh anyway. Me, a bad girl, honestly.

Is it possible for someone as perfect as I to do something astoundingly stupid?

Of course not.

Because I, being perfect, did it thrice. THREE TIMES!

Due to my (past) habit of cringing at the sound of my cell-phone ringing (even perfect people have their quirks, you know), it is usually set to either Silent or Ring Once mode.

It resides in my pocket so I usually know when a call is coming through by the vibration.

Yesterday, I was moving through the classroom distributing the handouts and suddenly there was a trill of phone. It was just after the break and I said, "Turn it off please, we’ve already resumed the lesson."

No more sound, so I thought whoever had that cell-phone had done what I asked. About three minutes later, that ring ring came again. I looked around, frowning - that particular class was obedient and this was just unusual.

But nobody was groping around for his or her cell-phone and it just came out of my mouth, "Jeez. Sorry guys, it was my phone. Excuse me!" Hahaha.

Tune in for more of estupido episodes!!!

Sumpah benerannya gw gak mau nulis entri ini… Tapi daripada gw berbusa-busa curhat separo-separo di BB tentang Adam Levine yang so fine itu mending gw puas-puasin nulis seblog tentang dia.

Buat cowok-cowok, terutama yang berasa pengagum gw, consider this a warning, click ke mana kek daripada muntah-muntah baca entri yang eni…

As I’ve said, it was an embarrassment that it took me two albums and a span of almost five years to know what a fine specimen Adam was.

I first saw him, really saw him - I should say, while watching American Idol Season 6 where he performed the new single, Makes Me Wonder.

I’ve got RCTI to thank for still not knowing who he was until a couple of weeks afterward. Due to the length of the real show, RCTI cut it here and there to accommodate it into the supposedly two hour show. Which was why I was not introduced to the delicious hunk who dressed so nicely and sang one of the grooviest songs I’ve heard so far in this year.

I watched that episode twice to try and find out who in the hell is that guy but no… Nobody seemed to want to tell me who he was.

And touchingly, it was a male student who caused me to find out.

We were waiting for the others to show up and he innocently asked me, "Miss, do you know the title of the new Maroon 5’s song? You know the one that was on American Idol?"

Playing it cool, I said,"Yeah, it was good, right? Unfortunately I don’t know the title either." All the while rapidly cursing myself, That was Maroon 5, you moron, how come you profess to like their songs when you could barely recognise the lead singer?

That was a hit with my colleagues when I returned to the Teachers’ Room and told them about it.

And still it took me sometime before I got around to buying the album and yet some more period of time to really listen to the whole album.

I was reading a too absorbing novel to do what I like to do when listening to the music, namely replaying the track I loved over and over again, instead of listening to the whole thing.

So there he went, singing track after track and I suddenly realised, Hey, everything’s good in this CD.

I put down my novel, listened to She Will Be Loved and realised anew what a seductive song it was. Add Adam to the mix and of course, women will invariably melt.

So sorry to say that it again took me sometime to find Won’t Go Home Without You. Gosh, I adore that song. (I have even ‘educated’ Faridha to like that one, too.) Whenever he sang, "I won’t go home without you," I’d reply, much to the revulsion of my friends, "I feel the same, believe me… don’t go home without me…"

My, I feel so young again. Ha.

The internet seems to share my hunger for the sight of him. Naturally there are more than enough Maroon 5 stuff out there but as far as pictures go, it is the fine Mr Levine who dominates the space.

I like his sophisticated appearance and those eyes and that look which somehow translates into a mattress and tangled bedsheets… but still this is the picture that hooked me. Hooked me good and proper.

Again, it took me some time to finally get hold of this picture. Originally it was tagged so any random fans such as myself couldn’t simply right-click and save it. It was a good thing my sister has somehow successfully hammered some HTML knowledge into me that I finally got the damn picture. Should you like to see it in its original size, click here.

Have you ever fantasised about the biggest coup of your life and imagined how it would actually happen?

Well, this coup I have never imagined but it was BIG indeed - at least in my view.

Get this: something I’ve written a long time ago and posted on the Internet is being used as part of a postgraduate dissertation!
The mail asking for permission to use my story came in some time yesterday but I only read it today because well, I’m not on the Net everyday.

It might have been a hoax, yes, so I did some search first. I recognised the name of the university (you kidding me? I salivate at the mention of this university) so I googled the department mentioned in the mail. What do you know, it was the first department of its kind ever established in the world, according to Wikipedia.

I am basking in the thrill of it all - I’ve gotten credits for what I have written!!!

Yeehaaa!!!

Then again, the student might be using it to talk about errors occurred in text written by a non-native English speaker, but what the hell. I’m credited in a dissertation!

Lots of things have been going on… I don’t think I’ll be able to tell them all coherently or in an organised way. So, prepare yourself to a haphazard news break.

As some of you may have known, one of my weirdnesses is that I have never found either Brad Pitt or Leonardo diCaprio to be hotties other women rave about. Leo I can understand a little - he used to have those features I associated with the phrase Pretty Boy - and as all of you know, there is only one pRetty Boy that I like. (Brad Pitt? I simply have no comment. If that makes me weird than so be it.)

Still, I regard Leo as a good actor and astute in a businesslike way. (All of those dark movies that spelled independent and than suddenly Titanic? Clever is my word. How else are you going to garner a sea of fans and make a name of yourself? Once that is secured, you are free to choose just about any films you want to do.) And then of course, I saw The Departed and Blood Diamond. I found my opinion to be justified by those films.

What surprised me, though, was the fact that I found Leo to be exceptionally gracious. I was watching Oprah the other night and saw Leo for the first time. I mean all of this time, I saw him as whoever it was he was playing, right?

This, I supposed, was the real Leo and at times, he even looked endearingly uncomfortable over the many thundering applauses, the compliments from a co star.. even the suit he was wearing.

And yet he was quick to offer a hug of welcome and be very gracious when saying, "Thank you" and "I’m trying" to lots of compliments fired at him. After all of those gossips I read, this was certainly a nice surprise.

And then, there is the fact that my favourite band ever is coming to town. Yeehaa!!!

At first, the news that Fall Out Boy is having a concert next month only bloomed a small balloon inside me which quickly popped again when I reminded myself I might not be able to afford the ticket… and even if I did, who the hell was I supposed to go with?

Cousin Edwin? Improved as his musical taste has been, the mention of Fall Out Boy would only produce a blank look in his face. Too bad, I haven’t seen him in ages - it was only the miracle of cell phone which has saved us.

But then Andri started nagging me to come along - which was a bit useless since there was no need absolutely for me to be nagged. I mean, this is FALL OUT BOY, man! Even if they were having a concert in the middle of the week, I’d be there. (Now that I know I have someone to go with me, that is. Ha.)

And then last night, I found out that on top of that we are going to be re-united with the person who started all of this for me. Yup, gAgA, my student who introduced me to the delights of Fall Out Boy’s music is also coming along.

And of course, last but not least, new teachers are coming and we’re going to train them!!! I am positively thrilled!!!

It’s been a week of movies.

I’m gonna have to postpone writing about the man magazine article due to my unfortunate incapability to edit it. It goes on and on and on… as you can see from the last post I made.

Mid Term Test has long gone and we’re trying to wind down a little and some of my classes were scheduled to have a Movie Show session (that’s what we call audiovisual-based class session).

I chose Eight Below for two of my Intermediate classes, trying to get them to relate the events and circumstances that cause the story to roll - also to try and see if they can talk about events happening during the duration of the dogs lone stay at the field base. Since those were what we’ve been learning so far, Relating Events and Circumstances and Talking about Duration.

For my CAE 1 class I chose Braveheart. Lots of things that we could talk about, discuss about and so on and so on. We could have, that is. First they groaned the fact that they didn’t like that kind of movie, having caught the glimpse of the DVD cover. As it turned out, they were much too mesmerised by the story they were rendered almost speechless.

They were supposed to go home at 7 and they protested when I cut the movie short at 7.30. This was the second time in history where my students protested and said they didn’t want to go home.

This one was somewhat normal though. I mean, it was Braveheart - everybody would’ve fallen in love with the movie. The first time my students didn’t want to go home was when I was teaching Defining vs. Non-Defining Relative Clauses. Crazy, right?

Due to a set of rather upsetting circumstances (Lapis Legit, how could you!!! Hehehe, congratulations though), two new teachers are coming in. I wouldn’t really say that they are a hundred per cent new though. I don’t think I should be dishing things out too soon here but what I am is ecstatic. I was so thrilled I was almost disappointed that weekend had come along.

If only this guy was also coming to teach.

I recently spotted the very same title on this website I surfed. It got me curious because it was an online men magazine and I thought, Well, let’s see what they know women.

As it was, the writer was a guy. The moment I saw the name, my eyebrows started their ascent. But I thought, Why, let’s just see. I thought the article would be something like Brian Alexander would write, you know simple and yet, insightful.

Am sorry to say it was very far from what I thought it would be. Full of nonsense like maintaining sexual tension… For male readers who are reading, you might be a little lost here but as for female ones, I’m sure you know exactly what I mean. The biggest bullsh*t on Earth.

Let’s just get one thing straight first, guys. There is no such thing as a sexual tension between you and the babe of your dreams until you are definitely in her radar. Savvy?

(Yeah, those sad words about her not knowing you even exist could be true.)

Wait a second though. I am not here to help you reminisce about that painful days in High School when the personification of Beauty looked you down her exquisite nose and dashed all of your fantasies into nothingness.

It’s not like you have to be The Football Star or The Rich Guy. There are some girls who might put you in the three categories of being The Football Star, The Rich Guy or The Nothing. But do not despair, not all of us are like that.

Still, in our eyes, you guys are indeed categorized.

Yup, you are either

1. The Creep or
2. The Who’s That Again?, or
3. The Yeah, I Know Him from Work/School/etc., or
4. The I Kinda Like Him, or
5. The Cute Guy or
6. The Smoking Hunk.

Now, The Smoking Hunk category is reserved for guys like Leo, Mark Wahlberg, Robert de Niro, Jean Reno, etc. You get the picture. If, you are lucky enough to look like either one of them, you might consider yourself in the Smoking category. But then again you wouldn’t be reading this. You are too busy out there maintaining your girls.

Going back to the topic, we can start talking "maintaining sexual tension" and such moronic things when you are quite certain you are either in the Yeah I Kinda Like Him or The Cute Guy. Believe me, trying to maintain sexual tension and same such things while you are nowhere there will earn you a spot in the Creep category.

First, let’s see if you are in either of the two categories.

1. Does she smile when she sees you?
2. Does she usually laugh or smile at your jokes?
3. Does she usually notice if you’ve just had a haircut?
4. Has she ever teased you about any of your habits?
5. Has she ever asked you if you like her outfit/hair?
6. Has she ever complimented you on something physical?

If you answer up to 3 yeses, congratulations, you’re I-Kinda-Like-Him Guy. If you’ve got more than 3, especially if you answer yes to number 4,5 and 6, skip reading and wait for my next installment (teehee!), where you can read about how to make her think you are her personal Smoking Hunk.

If you’ve got no to each question, do not lose hope. Most of the time, we simply don’t notice guys because we are either in a relationship, or going through a heartbreak or too distracted by another guy. Do not think that we see you as a loser just because we don’t notice you. Women are genetically programmed to focus on one man - that’s why it’s hard for you if we’re already attracted to someone else.

It is hard, yes, but still possible. It’s up to you whether this girl is worth it. If you are game, here are some ways to help you get into her radar.

Number One: Be A Friend
I am not talking about the sharing kind of things. Just try to be someone she would acknowledge. Remember that she doesn’t know you from Adam. Even if you have been working at the same building for months, chances are she hasn’t noticed you yet (based on the number of NOs you’ve given to my list) and you need to take things one step at a time.

Try and catch her eye when you pass each other down the hallway or wherever. When she sees you, give a small nod (or smile if you’re the confident type) and - this is important - keep on going. She’ll see you as someone friendly, not some creep who’s looking to make a pass. Better yet, she’ll wonder about you. Your nod and/or smile will tell her that you’ve noticed her around and it’s flattering and already you’ve scored a point. Way to go.

Number Two: Try to Impress Her
The keyword here is try. The average women are not looking for Superman. And when I say try, I mean nothing crazy.

While you’re establishing acquaintanceship with her, her initial wonderment will develop into casual curiosity. She’ll start observing you. And because you’re not yet good friends, what she’ll observe is physical appearance. By all means, try to look neat. That’s all we ask. You saw how quick the metro sexual thing died down, right?

If you are naturally floppy or your job makes it impossible for you to be neat, try to develop a clean habit. If you are a clean kind of man, don’t worry if things explode at the office and you’re covered in coffee or mud or whatever, we can still tell that you take a shower everyday.

Quick tip: Wear a white shirt. Most women find white shirt on a man irresistible. If not irresistible, nice. White shirt + a smile = yum. If you don’t have the cool confidence of a rock star, do NOT wear black.

Number Three: Really Impress Her
Guys always seem to think that the way to go are flashy car and plastics. Yes, there are girls who look for those things in a man. Well, that’s neither here or there since there is an easier way to really impress her and more than worth the try: Let her see you with your friends.

Here are people who know the real you and really like you. You don’t have to do anything - the way your friends treat you, joke with you, tease you will be more than enough testimonial on how good a person you are. That is what a girl worth impressing wants to see. Not your car, not your money.

Now I have to stop and continue later because this really getting so long and I don’t want to bore you guys. Hasta la vista!