cat killers...

"I will not kill cats anymore."
- David Hooi Yin Weng, the Bedok cat torturer pleading to the court to give him another chance after being caught again for abusing a cat.

Well, it seems the news on this blog site will always be late. But I guess it's better to be late than never. This time it's David Hooi picking up the headlines again. Could you really trust a person being convicted a second time for abusing a little kitten? Of course if you took David's plead at face value you could say that he's going to keep his promise. That's only because he tends to abuse them and leave them dying. Which by the way is far worst.

The other little fact about this headline is that he was only given a sentence of 3 months for his crime. This is what has been pulling in the letters into the forums. The sentences was too light. Especially since this is his second conviction. Honestly speaking this is disturbing. Convicted for a second time and only a 3 month sentence? No community service, no counseling, no probation period after jail time, no fine. Are we trusting him to not abuse another cat? I think we're better off not.

Ever wonder why David may have actually started abusing cats? Not really? Anyways lets just throw up a few ideas.

1. When he was young he was scratched by a cat and ever since he has hated them.

-OR-

2. When he was young, his parents loved the family pet cat more than David. This resulted in David's life aim of abusing cats.

-OR-

3. David's got this unexplainable fear of cats. Therefore, to stop himself from being afraid of them, he figures he'll disfigure them. If he can't recognize them, he can' be afraid of them.

-OR-

4. David's got this unexplainable fear of cats and he thinks this will help him get over it.

-OR, and the most likely explaination-

5. David's just a sick sadist and he should have spent the last 42 years searching for a better and healthier hobby.

dreams...

Had a weird dream lately? I had 2 in 2 days. Would be nice if someone tried to translate for me.

Dream 1 from 2 days ago.

It involved some BB officers. The weird part was that there were elephants in the trees. And they were "art pieces". And for some reason it seems we were in Thailand. Maybe that's where all the elephants came from. And the dream ends with us getting into a car which was driven by the person whom I think hasn't gotten a license. Anyways the car trip ended after we turned out of the car park. The last thing I remembered was the car being hit by another car but that's when I woke up.

Dream 2 from yesterday.

This dream involves my family. The weird thing about this dream was that there were mutants. Mutants here refer to people similar to people in the world of Xmen. It seems that a guy with a doggish looking head came to my house and tried to assassinate my mother. The doggish guy called my mother a general. Okie super weird. I can't say that sometimes my mother doesn't act like a dictator-ish general but this dream is really out there together with all the weirdest dreams.

Comments on the dreams are welcomed. Entertain me.

car ride...

“Out.” The word rang in his head and nothing could stop it. John scrambled out as soon as they came to a halt. John used one hand to push his fringe out of his eyes while his other clutched his chest as he felt his heart race. Laughter filled the quiet night as John’s friends continued to enjoy the high that came with the speed of the ride. John slammed the door shut behind him and sat himself against the door. The closed door returned the silence to the dirt track as the wild laughter is again contained in the car.

The engine was still on and John could feel the rhythmic rumble of the pistons. The air that rushed out from beneath the car warmed John’s cold, clammy hands and gave him a certain degree of comfort. However, nothing seemed to be able to slow his heart. Even though he knew they had stopped, John could still feel the rush of speed. The blurred images of the ride continuously played out in front of him.

It was just another night out with his 2 best friends: Cleo and Bert. The only difference today was that Bert managed to borrow his father’s car. Bert’s dad was a well known car fanatic. The car was tweaked to operational perfection. Tonight, the kids had decided to test the famed operational perfection. They picked the remotest stretch of road they could find and prepared to play dice with destiny.

John was game for the first few runs but the speed turned slate after that. Cleo suggested getting off the road and driving along the dirt tracks of the nature reserve. The unlit trails and uneven road would give an added thrill. Bert and John quickly succumbed to the idea and they made their way there. It was still early and the roads were still littered with patches of cars. Bert drove, and sped most of the way there. Cleo found the taste of speed a drug too enticing to pass on and egged Bert to floor the accelerator. John on the other hand could only see his life flash past him like the landmarks the car whizzed past.

The cool air mixed with the smell of burnt rubber stung John’s nostrils and brought him back to reality. There was no way that John was going to convince Cleo and Bert to send him home in one piece or at a safe speed. The window was rolled down and the techno beat from the sound system spilled out into the darkness. Cleo perched herself on the open window and cheekily poked John, as if to see if he’s still alive. Bert cut the engine, lowered the volume of the radio and got out of the car and sat himself next to John.

The engine stopped its rumbling and John finally felt his heart rate slow down. John wondered if he was ever getting back into a moving car without breaking into cold sweat. The cool breeze swept across their faces as they just sat there and enjoyed the quiet that they could never find in the city. But John knew that this momentary slow down was not going to last for long. Cleo was going to get bored and he knew that were going to have to start up the car again. And John knew that sooner than later, Cleo was going to be itching to drive the car herself.

Cleo’s wild streak was constantly calling out to her. The speed demon within her was itching to unleash itself. A firm smack to the back of both John’s and Bert’s head signaled the beginning of the wild ride. Bert surrendered the keys to Cleo and she plugged the keys into the ignition with her trademark devilish smile. Bert just sighed as he conceded himself to the possibility that it may be the last ride of this carefully cared for vehicle. John caused more of a ruckus as he was slowly coerced to join them.

John strapped himself in at the backseat as Cleo repeatedly revved the engine, as if she was waiting for the imaginary lights in front of the car to turn from red to amber to green. Without warning, Cleo released the brakes and throttled the car into the darkness. The darkness in the reserve seems to swallow everything in front of them. The bright headlights pierced through the darkness only to have its light blanketed metres ahead. The car tumbled down the dirt path growing a tail of dust behind them. All John could think about was when the car would ever slow down. Bert kept his eye on the road and his hand ready to pounce on the handbrake if need be. Cleo just kept going. The tail of dust behind them just kept growing longer.

Just as sudden as it had begun, the car screeched to a stop. All three occupants braced themselves for an impact. But no impact reached them. The tail of dust overtook the car and engulfed the car, turning the car into a prison walled by dust. John opened is eyes, elated to see the car still in one piece. Bert had pulled up the handbrake, his hand still there. Although Cleo was still smiling, a sort of boredom had taken over her earlier eagerness. Without turning the engine off, Cleo climbed into the back seat with John and just waited. Bert looked at the back seat filled with two smiling people, wondered a quiet thought himself and slid over to the driver’s seat. It was a sign, a sign that it was time to go home.

midnight madness...

Fazing in and out of consciousness, John was fighting a losing battle to keep awake. It had been the 3rd straight night that John had attempted stay awake to study. As the Night wore on, the battle grew tougher. John shifted slightly in his chair, trying to find a less comfortable spot. A less comfortable spot would make staying awake that much less impossible.

John glanced at the clock in front of him. The clock just stared back. The yellow smiley smiled the same smile as it did when John started hours ago. Now, at 2 in the morning, not only did the face look as if it was smiling much more, it seemed to be smiling right back at John. The smile had a vile twist which sent a slight tingle down John’s spine. The smiley clock looks as if it was enjoying every second of torment that John was subjecting to himself. Not wanting to look at the now sadistic smile, John turned the clock away form him and continued to study.

In an effort to stay awake, John turned around and faced away form the desk for a moment, trying to gather himself again. The lamp on the desk cast his shadow against his room, casting most of the room into darkness. John took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. Then it suddenly occurred to him that the room was quiet, too quiet. The silence was so pervasive that every little movement that John made on his chair echoed into the vast emptiness of his room. John took another deep breath and made a move for his IPod lying idle on his bed.

After plugging in, John stared at the paper in front of him. Slowly the words started to jump up and danced around the sheet as John tried his best to decipher the mishmash of letters. It reminded John of all the Disney cartoons that he watched as a child, and his mind started to wander again. The letters and words danced around John’s fingers and seemed to lure him into a fantasy that didn’t include studying, a fantasy world that John would so gladly go into right now.

In the quiet of night, John could almost hear the music that the letters were dancing to. The music sounded strange, unfamiliar. John couldn’t remember uploading the song into his IPod. The music was so real that John started to tap his feet to the rhythm. Immersing himself into the music, John was drawn deeper and deeper into the melodies.

A soft click jerked John halfway back into reality. The click sounded like it came from far away, negligible and indifferent. John could still vaguely hear the soft thumping of a bass. The same thumping bass that had first taken hold of his attention. The dancing words and letters seemed to be scrambling back to their respective places while moving slower and slower but never really stopping. John’s vision blurred in and out of focus encouraging him to look away form the florescent bulb burning images of white into his head.

Everything moved in slow motion. Even the thumping bass had slowed down to a numbing throb. Every time it throbbed, John’s head felt like a needle had been slowly pushed into it. Still turning away from the light, John’s gaze settled on the knob of his closed door. For reasons that John could not decide on, the knob had seemed the most interesting article at the moment. Slowly the doorknob started to pulse to the rhythm of the now excessive throb. John stared at it, putting up a brave front, maybe try to frighten it perhaps.

The pulsing got harder and faster, engulfing John’s entire attention. Nothing else it seems is worth as much dedicated attention at the moment. Slowly, John reached out toward the doorknob. John’s concentration was unwavering. All that mattered now was that he reached the doorknob.

Inches away, the doorknob starts to turn. John was more intrigued than frighten. John forced his hand forward further. Still in a slow motion environment, John tried to reach the knob. But it was not to be. The doorknob turned. Slowly, John’s attention was being released by the knob. Even more slowly, the door began to open.

The door opened, but there wasn’t anyone there. It was just an empty doorway. John blinked, slowly once, then again. Then a bright light started to burn in the doorway. The light started softly at first, but it gained ferocity quickly. John stared, hard, enthralled once more. The light burned but it didn’t hurt his eyes, not yet. John blinked again, more quickly this time. The slow motion effects were starting to wear off, and the light began to hurt.

Once more, John reached out. This time John managed to touch his objective. Like his eyes, John couldn’t feel anything at first when he touched the light. Holding it there, John began to feel the warmth. Warmth at first, then a sharp prick like an incest bite. With this one prick, it jolted John into full consciousness.

Seated back at the desk, John found himself holding the crushed bulb of his desk lamp. John let the pieces of bulb fall onto the desk, the glass crinkle softly from his hand. John maneuvered the clock to look at the time. In the dark, the hands glowed in a greenish light. The smiley face had lost its edge, it only told the time. It was six. The next day had begun.

life's direction...

Have you watched the movie deemed the best movie in 2006? That's right. I talking about Pirates of the Caribbean 2. It was good. It was more than good. Johnny was great. I will be talking about one thing in the movie, may unintentionally spill a spoiller. But it wouldn't be a plot spoiler.

Do you remember the compass that Jack Sparrow, sorry... Captian Jack Sparrow used in the first movie? The compass that was supposedly spoilt? The compass that doesn't point north. Well in this movie, they tell us what the compass is used for. What it points to. It points to...

Some of you may want to close your eyes. Ears if someone is reading this to you. The compass points to the object that you desire the most on earth at that particular moment.

Isn't that just great? I wonder why no one thought of such an item before in all the fairy tales that were told to us. They come up with things like genies to grant 3 wishes but this, this is like making you the genie. As long as you can follow that arrow on that compass, you can find what it is that your heart most desires.

Need to decide which school to go to? Stand somewhere in the middle and watch the needle settle on the school that you REALLY want to go to. No more problems.
Can't decide where to eat? Just use the compass. It'll point you to what you're craving for.

Of course these are just "small" decisions that we could easily rely on chance. But for those more important questions. 2 women, maybe 3? A decsion that would mean you reaching your destiation and one that could cause you your life. Decisions like these. Sometimes we all need a bit of help.

Imagine if we could actually manufacture a compass such as this. Selling this would make me rich. Yes me, not Captian Jack Sparrow.

And this is how it would be marketed: A voice would ask, "Lost something valuable? Buy a compass and steer yourself onto the life that you desire!" The advertisement would show a guy coming out of the waters on a beach one hand holding the compass and he will slowly open his other hand to reveal a ring. A woman will soon run up to him, hug him and put the ring on her finger. The guy will smile a smile worthy of Brad Pitt and say, "I found my life's direction, let us help find yours!" The compass will appear and a price of US$49.99 will be stamped onto it. A sign that say FREE delivery to anywhere in the world will also be flashed across the screen. In small print that will marquee across the bottom the screen, a notice will say that every compass is only good for 3 desires. I need to ensure my future.

And on my table, the original compass will sit. Hopefully it will constantly point to itself. Because currently what I really want is a compass to point my way in life.

rain...

The blades crawled in circles as it cut through the thick summer air. The heat was unbearable. The picture out the window was continuously distorted by the hot air rising. It looked as if you’d passed a magnet over the picture of the television. The television on the other hand was showing a crisp clear picture.

It was too hot to do anything else other than to laze around. Simply watching the air rise off the ground took so too out of the viewer. John took a large mouthful of cold beer and felt the coldness rush down his throat. John took a second long drag at the liquid gold. This time the coldness didn’t go too far down. The coldness sort of disappeared in his mouth. A third attempt and John was greeted by an empty can.

John wished the beer would magically refill itself. Getting up would prove too difficult a task at this time. The television was running an advertisement about air conditioning. John stared hard at the screen, trying to will himself to feel the cool breeze of the advertisement. It was equally useless as wishing that the beer refill itself. John made no attempt to deceive himself further and gave up trying.

The room seemed to take in the heat and slowly John thought he felt the room start to burn. John wished it would burn, and then perhaps the people in the blue raincoats would come and hose down everything with their powerful water-guns. Maybe it was the only way, the only way to find relief from the blistering heat.

It was the second week of the heat wave. The heat has gotten so bad that a national curfew to stop people from going out in the day had been set up. John gripped the handle of the leather armchair with one hand and with his other hand, he formed a fist and pounded his chest. Some could have mistaken this as a heart attack, John was recovering form one. Without warning, John let out an earthmoving belch. The beer had tried to escape the bowels of John, but to no avail. All it achieved was to leave a tingling sensation in John’s throat. Tempting, tempting John to get more. But that too was wishful thinking. Nothing short of a life threatening situation could get John to get off.

The hand that gripped the handle was still holding on to the arm of the chair. John could feel his palms slowly moistening, slowly losing grip. The leather chair also provided no relief from the heat. It did nothing to help remove the excess perspiration rushing out of John’s pores. All it did was to form a sickly, sticky moist skin on the black leather. John made a quick decision there and then to sell the armchair once he had the strength. He couldn’t bear to sit in it after this. It would remind him too much of the heat.

The air stirred around John. The heat was entering the room again. John could feel the air rise off the floorboards and up to the ceiling. This momentary movement in the air created a slightest of breeze that gave him a moment of comfort. But John knew that soon it would just get worst. There was only so much cool air left in the room to warm up. John took this chance of slight comfort to change the channel on the television. John reached the remote but his wet fingers couldn’t do the simple task that John wanted.

John’s fingers slipped and the remote fell crashing to the carpeted floor. The television flinched. The channel switched to the weather channel. John used up all his energy trying to switch the channel, the air had stopped moving and the room seemed like the inside of an oven. And John was the cookie. John gave up trying to salvage the remote and made a last ditch effort to make himself comfortable. However, all it achieved was to remind John about the sickly, stick skin on the leather. John started to hope, against all hope, that the weather channel would be showing a blizzard sometime soon.

The blizzard didn’t come. Apparently, the heat wave got to the weathermen too. They’ve stopped trying to predict the impossible: the end of the wave. Instead, they brought more bad news, they predicted that the wave would last through the month. John didn’t used to believe the weather station. But now seemed like a good time to start. They could hardly be wrong about something as obvious as this. John closed his eyes. It seems there was nothing left to do but to wait for the coolness of nightfall. And even then it was not much different.

With his eyes shut, John heard the distant roar of thunder. It sounded foreign, like something out of a fantasy novel that you couldn’t believe. John collected himself, he wasn’t going to let the heat get the better of him. There may be a heat wave, but John wasn’t going to lose his sanity. John’s rational being told him that it must have come from the television. He wasn’t going to get his hopes up. John didn’t think he could survive a disappointment like this.

Suddenly, a familiar scent tingled John’s nostrils. It was foreign like the sound of thunder. John couldn’t remember what it was. It resembled the smell of freshly cut grass, the smell of moisture in the air. John slowly pried open his salt crusted eyes. The picture outside his window was still baked in sunshine. The weather channel was still showing its three day forecast: sun, sun and more sun. John closed his eyes.

John took the bad news better than he thought he would. He didn’t let out a scream of disappointment. He couldn’t, John couldn’t spare the extra energy. Then, John felt it. John felt himself melting. John felt himself melting in to the leather. He felt his skin soak up the sickly, sticky skin. John was becoming one with the heat. He couldn’t get out, even if he wanted to.

And then he heard it. Faintly at first, then it got stronger, the pitter patter of raindrops. John’s heart raced, he felt like he was going to get another heart attack. John’s eyes opened, seeing water from the heavens, John fought to get out of the chair. The chair fought to swallow John into it. All that effort to wait for this moment, John wasn’t going to let a chair get the better of him. With a final heave, John ejected himself from the chair and made it out of the front door into the refreshing outdoors.

The rain brought with it a feeling that John thought he would never be able to experience ever again: a feeling of cleansing. The sickly, sticky skin was slowly being washed away. The blackness of the leather was being washed away. John fell to his knees as he soaked in the rain. He gave thanks, especially to the weathermen for being wrong.


All original... by me...

"eca"s vs "cca"s...

If you are no a Singaporean, you'll probably think it's another 2 wrestling companies fighting. But it's not.
ECAs are Extra-Curricular Activities. These existed long ago when I was a student in secondary school.
CCAs are Co-Curricular Activities. This is the spanky new (new is subjective, it was new 5-6years ago) name they came up with for ECAs.

What's the difference? Nothing much. Even when it was called ECAs back in secondary school. It was also madatory for all to join one. Mandatory and Extra just don't mix, do they? But even though it was deemed Extra long ago, it seems that the people who joined up for it, took it more seriously. They came more regularly and took it less for granted.

Now that it's a Co-Curricular Activity, the people who join seemed to think it's less important and don't come as regluary. Even though the people up there think it's more important now.

I think as educators they missed a big part of how the teenager mind works. If you've ever been a teenager, you'll know that unless you were some saint, you'll probably do most things that your parents say you shouldn't be trying. Teenagers only do stuff that they don't or shouldn't be doing. Or things that are Extra. Getting them to do anything else that they don't want can turn out to be a nightmare. I wonder how I survived my teen years.

It's like how they advertised the newest youth park in town. They called it the "coolest" new place in town. The very fact that they call it cool makes it uncool to kids.

superman returns...

*Start of disclaimer!!!*

Due to me actually having found a 2 day job, this entry is actually about something that happened last week. If I have entertained you before with this story, this will just help jog that failing memory you will have.

*End of disclaimer!!!*

The title of the newest Superman movie. And the title is the most suitable, from my point of view anyways. I watched Superman Returns on Tuesday. With 2 JC friends. I can't say that the show was half bad. But after watching it twice, I wouldn't say it was half good either. It is a pretty long movie. It was 2 hours and 40 minutes, plus credits. Well worth the $7 at least. The show was overly dramatic in my opinion.

On Wednesday, I was intending to watch a movie with Mr. Derrick Ho. I thought that we were going to watch Royston Tan's 4:30. Apparently they didn't show it anymore. On Wednesday at least. I saw the movie being listed again on Friday. Bummer. So, to enjoy the privilege of choosing seats Derrick bought tickets online. Yup you actually get to choose your own seats if you buy it online. Well, I didn't know that we bought tickets for Superman. So Superman returned to my life twice in 2 days. This week I spent a total of 5 hours and 20 minutes watching the same show. At least I only had to pay $3 for it.

Back to something more recent, working brought to light something which I find throughly disturbing. I speak a mis-mash of English, Chinese and dialect. Which is really bad. Yesterday, a friend corrected me twice when I used "me and my friend". Bummer.