Do you feel alive?

I do. Hope y'all had a great year. I know I did.

Happy B-day, Pops, Happy 100th post, Blog.

My dad's forty-uhh, forty-something today. Forty-six? I dunno, mid-late forties. Happy Birthday to him, my classic rocker, bird shootin', politics-hating dad. Yeah he's still quite young. And what's the best way to tell him? By telling him that his favourite hockey team, the New York Islanders, lost to their rivals, the New York Rangers, who happen to be my favourite team, last night 5-4 after blowing an early lead.

And this marks the 100th entry on my blog, and it's still going on strong. I wonder how many blogs I follow will reach this milestone.

2008: A Look Back At This Year In Pop Culture.

Jo, the puppy cam's dedicated to you, pal.

They should've mentioned Rick Rolling.

Why American sports are different from (and better than) European sports.

Let's take one example of a sport played in both continents. My favourite, ice hockey. Observe, America:

Now Europe:

What's the difference? Oh the European sportswear must be cooler, look at all those decals! Wait a minute. Decals? As in, advertisements? The guy's covered in them! I can't even tell if there's a team logo on the bloody thing. Look back at the first picture. What do you see? Team logos, standing large and proud right in the fucking middle of the jerseys. Advertisements? Nope, just the brand of sportswear being used, example Reebok. Small patches, like in normal clothes.

See, the thing is, if I want to play in a sports team, I want to show it by wearing the team logo proudly. Not be a walking billboard.

And the distinction is clear in many other sports. Let's take American baseball now:

A giant NEW YORK right across the shirt. And you know that guy loves it, just look at him. Hell, he's even sporting some shades.

Baseball isn't that popular in Europe. Okay, how about European football?

Hmm yeah, I don't follow football but I know that that little white patch - come on, look harder - across from the Nike logo is the team logo. But fuck that, get insured with the American International Group (AIG)! What if you play for a team sponsored by a company that you think sucks? You're gonna be spending a good chunk of your career running around practically saying "Oi, support this company even though it probably sucks! I hate it, but hell, I support it anyway!"

Be proud of your team, wear the team LOGO, let the sponsors have a bit of advertising space in the arena and during game intermissions, not on your body.

And while we're on the topic of wearing your gear proudly, what do team captains in football wear? Arm bands, or wrist bands? Whatever, those cheap removable things nobody even ever notices. In America, team captains and assistant captains have giant "C"s and "A"s (look at the guy in red and white in the first picture) STITCHED onto their jerseys. Now that's something I'd be proud to wear.

American sports 1, European sports 0.

Walking billboards, pshh.

Oh and another thing. In American sports leagues such as hockey and baseball, athletes know how to be, you know, ATHLETIC. They put their bodies to the test during gametime and take their physical strength to the limit. In other words, they know how to play rough and not be pussies. Go ahead, tap an Italian footballer's leg.

OUCHIES, MY A-LEG, IT IS A-BROKEN, I CAN NO LONGER A-PLAY!

American sports 2, European sports 0.

No longer allowed to feel.

It seems that as more time passes by, the more focused we are on labelling others. Everyone has to fall under a specific category, and no two cliques can interact, socialise, or even dare to merge.

What's that one annoying label we like to use on everyone? Emo. Nowadays, when you see someone feeling down or lonely, your first reaction is to call him emo and then tell him to get a life.

I'm not going to give a definition of "emo", that shit's been done over and over again. My point is that now we're associating a normal human emotion with something negative that should be abolished forever, therefore discouraging people from expressing their emotions and hence encouraging them to bottle everything up.

Being sad or feeling lonely isn't emo. It's normal and it happens all the time to everyone. Thank God that shitty trend is on the decline now - human emotions should not be associated with trends, fashion or whatever. If you're down, speak up.

P.S. This isn't some reaction to a personal experience of my own or to anyone specific, it's just a general thought. If anything, I'm as happy as a nun who just got her negative pregnancy test results back (kudos to anyone who gets the reference).

Come on, make our lives easier.

Out of every single nation in our world, only three haven't adopted the Metric System as the primary or sole system of measurement. Two of them - Myamnar and Liberia - are practically irrelevant to the rest of the world, while the third hard headed nation is... yes, you guessed it, the United States of America.

Why must they insist on keeping something no one else in the world uses? Why not just get rid of their method of measurement - inches, feet, miles and whatnot - and save a lot of time on converting from that crap to metric system values?

Then there's that region shit with video games and DVDs and so on. NTSC and PAL. Bloody hell, that's so annoying. Why? Why do that to us? I loved my Playstation when I was a kid. Then we moved here and all the games were PAL, I couldn't buy a damn thing until I illegally chipped the console. I tried watching a DVD yesterday on my laptop and I couldn't because it was region locked. Give us a break, you sell us consoles and DVD players and laptops here, then you sell us games and DVDs which we can't even watch on them?

They're doing one thing right. They're going to make accounting standards the same worldwide. Same methods of accounting everywhere. Of course you are, how annoying is it to do business internationally, only having to realise that you have to do all your accounts ALL OVER AGAIN in THEIR bloody method? Very.

Abolish the United States Customary System for units of measurement!

Why that name?

Why is it called Boxing Day? In certain countries, the 26th of December is based on the tradition of giving gifts to the less fortunate members of society.

So a couple of thoughts. First of all, why on the day after Christmas? Isn't that disrespectful? I mean, you're dividing the time of giving into two days - the 25th for the people you know and care about, and the 26th - the day AFTER the wonderful time of (a very commercial, but whatever) Christmas - for those who are socially inferior, probably have no relatives, no friends, and are in need of more attention than the extra attention you already give to your friends. It's like, you ended up with a bunch of extra stuff from Christmas and you don't know what to do with it so you'll just get rid of it by giving it to less fortunate people. Well, that's bloody nice of you isn't it, why didn't you just visit the poor chaps on Christmas eve or Christmas evening and say "Here you go pal, a little something on this special day!"? Oh that's right, YOUR special day is the day after everyone else's!

And another thing, what's with the name? It's supposedly a day of giving, yet it gives the impression of giving blows to someone's face.Why not call it Getting-rid-of-stuff-by-giving-it-to-the-poor day? Here you go old man! Pow! Right in the kisser. Happy Boxing Day! What, can't handle a Round 2? Come on, I'm being generous!

Oh and, Happy Birthday to that drummer we love, hate, and love to hate for being such a dick sometimes. Here's to another 45 years, Lars Urlich!

Merry Christmas.

And Happy Chanukah (or Hanukkah).

And of course, starting from tomorrow, Happy Kwanzaa to my African-American friends. Not that I have any. I did, but I don't anymore. That was in America. I'm not in America now. I'm just saying it like, in general. Hmm.

It's so easy to buy presents for the little'uns. You just need to know two things: High School Musical and Hannah Montana. Let all the advertising, commercialisation and mass production do the rest.

Happy happy joy joy.

Happy happy joy joy, happy happy joy

Happy happy joy joy, happy happy joy

I got my driver's license, happy happy joy

Happy happy joy joy, happy happy joy

For the lulz.

The internet is full of a lot of shit. Practically anything. Here's some internet-famous pictures that really cracked me up.

Hardy har har. Bloody hell, I should be sleeping. Driving exam tomorrow.

In the Name of Honour.

That's the name of the book I just finished reading. A book which really frustrates me. The Islamic approach on justice - tribal judgements and crimes of honour - undoubtedly leaves a bad image showing immaturity amongst men and extreme unfairness towards women.

To push the law aside and take matters into your own hands when there is a dispute between two families is completely absurd. Raping your neighbour's wife, taking one of his young daughters to marry one of your relatives or murdering your own wife is not justice.

It's all about honouring your family, isn't it. That's not honouring anyone. Such people give a bad name to humanity itself. It's so pleasing to know that things are changing in countries like Pakistan, where women are drawing nearer and nearer to equality with men, cases of rape are decreasing, and the sad excuses of men who brought misery to their wives and other people's wives are being brought to justice.

Sweet tooth.

I don't know if this affects anyone else, but it sure pisses me off. Don't have a soft drink before you go to bed without brushing your teeth. Everytime I do, I wake up with the most irritating feeling of itchy sugar coated teeth. Ugh.

Last one standing?

A lot of blogs I normally read are now abandoned. Wasted. Defunct. Kaput. A shame really, it's not like you don't have enough time on your hands - after all, all you do is sit in front of the computer all day, like me.

One blog that is updated constantly, one that I've only just started checking out recently, is this - http://bizarrocomic.blogspot.com/

It's got great comics on it, and it's updated daily.

What sucks is that while everyone is abandoning their blog, Perez Hilton is still out there, doing his thing. Oh we'll bring you down one day, fucker.

Laughter is the best medicine.

Whenever you feel like shit, nothing beats a nice long laugh. It really helps when you stay focused on something funny for a long time. Chances are, your mood will practically fully change for the better after an hour or two of hilariousness.

That's why I say, if you feel down, watch stand up comedy. Rent a comedian's DVD, someone well known. Jeff Dunham and Lee Evans work wonders for me. Jeff's Christmas Special is quite popular, obviously, at this time of year. Lee has a couple of great performances which can be found in their entirety on YouTube. His facial expressions, accents and movement are all gold.

If you don't feel better after, well, eat a giant container of ice cream and watch soap operas in your underwear and cry a lot.

They're everywhere Pt. 2

First the toilet prank on me. Then the hacking of Luke's laptop. It was Jo's turn.

Jo is very fond of post-it notes. We used that to our advantage. A while ago we bought 5 packets of post-it notes and waited for the perfect day when Jo would be out of the flat for a long period of time. Today was that day.

After almost 2 hours of work, and a lot of swearing - the sticky notes weren't really that sticky - we were satisfied. All we had to do was wait for Jo to return to the flat.

First we left him a little bait. Some sticky notes on the front door of the flat. On them I wrote that Luke and I knew that Jo loved post-it notes so much, that we bought him a packet. We left him a brand new packet by the door of his room. When he came and saw it, he was really thankful and... hugged us. Then he opened the door to his room...

Here's my best work of art...

Yes those are dicks. You should've seen the little boy from across the street staring at them as I was putting them up. And for the grande finale, Luke's best work...

We decided to call him Pablo. After all, this is cubism at its best. Jo likes it so much that he won't be removing it. A true work of art indeed.

They're everywhere.

So you decide to go to Valletta to do a little bit of Christmas shopping, and who do you see walking towards you? Someone with a clipboard and a nervous look on his face, sporting a goddamn Vodafone logo on a dark blue polo shirt.

Yes, I use Vodafone.

No, I don't spend more than 10 euros a month, thank you very much now get the fuck out and leave me alone.

You take a couple of steps when you see someone else walking towards you. Someone with a clipboard and a nervous look on his face, sporting a goddamn Go Mobile logo on a dark blue polo shirt.

Oh fuck, not this again.

Yes, I use Go Mobile now leave me alone I'm busy kthxBAI.

A couple more steps.

You see him from the corner of your eye. Oh no, you are NOT talking to ME, asshole. So you cross to the other side of the main road to avoid any interaction with him. Phew, that was close.

You repeat this for a couple more times before you finally make it to... the other end of the city entrance. The city ENTRANCE. Dear God, is the whole main road riddled with bored and nervous mobile company employees who would do anything to sell something to someone for a little extra commission?

And I swear they increase in number as Christmas draws nearer. They're like a bunch of zombies all coming towards you saying BUUUUUY OOOOUUUUR PRRRROOOODDUUCCCTSS. And then you have to try to dodge them all like it's some fucking warzone.

Fuck you, let me do my Christmas shopping in peace.

It's official.

Burger King is better than McDonalds. Why? I took my McDonalds-addict girlfriend to Burger King yesterday (how romantic) and she absolutely loved it.

But it's obvious that it's better. Bigger burgers, for starters. The fries aren't coated in salt. And hey, they sell Kinnie! You definitely eat your money's worth. Unlike McDonalds, where you need to eat like 3 burgers to fill yourself up.

And while we're talking about fast food, don't go to Pizza Hut more than once a month. Or a year. Unless you're filthy stinkin' rich. Yesterday I spent money throughout the whole day for food equivalent to one meal at Pizza Hut. Curse those heavenly breadsticks and their price tag.

He's everywhere.

And I love it.

They're good old chaps, really.

So I get on the bus this morning, the driver's a young guy, he passes by another bus and screams "AW MY FRIEND!" to the other bus driver. He does this with another bus driver before I get off the bus for University.

As I'm on the bus back to the flat in the afternoon, once again I hear "AW MY FRIEND!", this time coming from another bus. It was the same guy.

See, they're not all that bad. Bus drivers can be friendly too.



"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY BLOODY WAY!!!!!...... MY FRIEND!!"

R.I.P. - 4 years on and still not forgotten.

"On December 8, 2004, while performing with Damageplan at the Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, Abbott was shot onstage by a mentally ill former US Marine named Nathan Gale. Abbott was shot three times in the head, killing him instantly."

Dimebag Darrell Abbott, guitarist for the bands Pantera and Damageplan, was brutally murdered on stage four years ago, doing what he loved to do best. An influence to many guitarists and metalheads alike, he will always be remembered for his memorable songs and the passion he had for his music.

My heart goes out especially to his brother Vinnie Paul, who witnessed the violent act when he was playing drums behind Dimebag that night.

Help The Imagery out just a bit more.

Keep voting for The Imagery on 5061 5230, just a few more votes and they'll have a chance of making it to the Lidea Band Challenge Finals, eventually leading them to perform in Holland if they win.

For more info check out http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=42671652126

A punk rock Christmas.

It's that time of the year again where we dish out the old Christmas classics from the back of the CD rack and play them non-stop, whether the whole family likes it or not. Not me though, I have my own playlist.

Yes, you guessed it, they're mainly rock-driven songs, but they're still great to play anywhere during the festive season. Here's a few of the songs from my Christmas playlist - download them or ask me to send them to you if you're interested.

• My Chemical Romance's version of "All I want for Christmas is You". Upbeat, fast, and headbangable.
• "I Won't be Home for Christmas" by Blink-182. It's not exactly the cheeriest of festive songs, but it's funny as hell. I love running the scenes through my head as I listen to the lyrics.
• Simple Plan's "My Christmas List". The whiny pop-punk band offers a great singalong for whiny teenagers. Honestly, I don't know why they came up with such childish lyrics but it's a fun Christmas song.
• "Punk Rock Christmas" - The Sex Pistols. Yeah, what else would these guys name the song.

Sigh.

Another one of my creations. Wish I could make it bigger. I have quite a large collection now. Won't be putting them online though, since they concern my friends, so unless I have their permission, it wouldn't be very nice now would it.

Linkin Park - Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes

I should become a professional music journalist.

I didn't include this in yesterday's entry because I didn't want to overload your tiny brains with my opinions on today's music. But now you have to read some more today. Nene.


Linkin Park's new live DVD/CD set, the second official one to be released after 2003's Live in Texas, portrays a much more cinematic and diverse performance from the band since the Meteora days. They used to be coined as nu-metal giants, but with new songs from Minutes to Midnight introduced to their ever-changing setlist, they're becoming more of a rock n' roll band without completely abandoning their roots.


The set first starts out with some of the heavy classics such as "One Step Closer" and "From the Inside" along the newer heavy stuff "Given Up" and "No More Sorrow". Then it slows down with popular singles like "Leave Out All the Rest" and "Breaking the Habit". Their longest song ever, "The Little Things Give You Away", almost reminds me of Pink Floyd, giving a psychedelic feel during the solo. Great guitar work by Brad Delson. There's some more classics from the Hybrid Theory album, some more of the new stuff, and even a couple of songs with Jay-Z which were mashed up for the Collision Course CD.


Some things which I like to point out from the performance are:

• What used to be the band's setlist closer is now the opener. Yes, I'm, talking about "One Step Closer".
• One of Phoenix's bass guitars is like, wow, totally fucked up. Half the body is practically missing. How cool is that?
• Mike's singing has improved immensely. Chester has gotten better too.
• Chester plays guitar during the end of "Shadow of the Day". I had never seen him play guitar before.
• The drummer Rob Bourdon looks a LOT like my own drummer friend Toffer (hi Toffy, hope you're reading this).
• Phoenix sings during "The Little Things Give You Away". That's the only time another member of the band apart from Mike and Chester sings in a song.
• Jay-Z looks so awkward during the end of "Jigga What/Faint" because the whole band is rocking out like hell and he's just standing there. Hah.
• The piano version of "Pushing Me Away" is absolutely beautiful, it almost made me cry.
• The band is improvising their songs a lot, with extended intros and outros.

If you think Live in Texas was good, this DVD will blow you away. There's a total of 18 tracks on both the DVD and the CD, and a bonus extra 3 songs on the DVD which are unlocked when you watch the full concert. There's a good mix of songs from their three albums, so there's something for everyone who likes Linkin Park. One of the bands I must see perform live before I die.

Oh so many people celebrating graduation.

Made this demotivational poster myself. Kinda got me wondering, am I in a rush to graduate?

This or that?

A few rock albums have been recently released. Namely, the infamous Chinese Democracy by Axl & Friends (fuck off, I'm not calling them Guns 'n Roses) and Nickelback's Dark Horse.

Let's start off with the former shall we? When you haven't released music for a while, you have to make sure that you keep up with the constant changing of the music scene around you. Bands mature and discover new grounds to maintain their popularity. Axl Rose was apparently aware of that. However there's a difference between extending your sound while keeping SOME of your roots and, well, doing something completely new and unrelated to previous works.

You see, if Axl Rose had named the band something else, there wouldn't have to be any connotations with Guns n' Roses' old work. But he had to stick to the damn name, now everyone's comparing the new to the old, and well, Chinese Democracy is the band's own St. Anger. I don't know, maybe die-hard G'n'R fans accept the huge change of sound, but I couldn't stand listening to more than a minute of some of the songs, let alone the whole album. I managed to listen to "Street of Dreams" in its entirety though, that song isn't that bad. I won't say the album SUCKS, because there are those who like it and have every right to. I personally just don't enjoy it. Hell, the new album "Day & Age" by The Killers managed to beat Axl out on the UK charts. On a side note, I think that album is pretty good except for, well, the first single. They could have started out with a song that defines their album more.

Now, Dark Horse. Chad Kroeger's unique voice and band has made the Canadian rockers the most loved and the most hated across the world. For those who love the band, this album is one giant present to you. For the haters, it's a huge FUCK YOU right in your face. Piling up on the success of their previous albums ever since they hit the mainstream with the album Silver Side Up, this album proves that Nickelback still have what it takes, compiling a work of art made up of huge in-your-face guitar riffs (e.g. "S.E.X.") and more mellow heartwarming songs (e.g. "Never Gonna Be Alone"). What makes this album so great is that they managed to maintain their same sound without dishing out the same old formulae over and over again, despite being highly criticised for doing so in the past.

If you're a Nickelback fan, you won't be disappointed. If you know any Nickelback fans, this is the perfect Christmas present. If you like rock n' roll, this album is definitely worth checking out. If you hate the band, you're going to have to deal with hearing them all the time on the radio again (and you were just beginning to enjoy the end of "Rock Star", ha).

The great cartoons we watched that could have destroyed our lives.

Growing up in the 90s, some channels you probably watched included Cartoon Network, The Disney Channel and Nickelodeon. Some great cartoons aired during this decade, but were we aware at the time of the subliminal messages behind these cartoons?

I'm talking about two cartoons in particular. Rocko's Modern Life and Ren & Stimpy. Nowadays people will tell you that these cartoons were really weird but awesome nonetheless. Of course we found them weird when we were kids. We were too young to actually understand what the hell was going on.

Rocko's Modern Life was full of double entendres and sexual innuendos, as can be seen here.



Ren & Stimpy was full of violence where Ren would break down into fits of psychosis and gleefully plot to kill Stimpy. There was also a great use of toilet humor, strong language and sexual innuendo which eventually led to the show being recast as Ren & Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon". There was even a more explicit homosexual relationship between them during this era. Here are some of the greatest Ren & Stimpy moments.



Well there you have it. These cartoons probably fucked up my generation where they were popular, especially in the United States. That explains a lot.

Hey, people are actually reading this.

I hadn't gone to Ritz in a while. When I went last night I had numerous people telling me that they read and enjoy my blog. Well that was unexpected, for once I actually feel like this thing is serving a greater purpose than just killing time.

I highly appreciate the fact that you guys take the time out of your busy schedules (you know, between taking a crap and chatting on MSN) to read what I have to write (although you're probably preferring to take a crap right now rather than reading this gay post).

I'd like to encourage those who read this blog to leave comments every now and then. Feedback is important to me and it would be nice to know what you guys think about what I say. You don't need your own blogger account to comment, you can just comment under "Anonymous" and leave your name at the end. Hell, if there's some topic you'd like me to talk about, I'm open to suggestions as well. Keep the following growing. Then one day we can kick Perez Hilton's ass.

A sneak peek.

It's been a week since the birth of my new baby sister. They say that the baby's body rapidly changes over the first few days, like the head becoming less bulbish and the bone structure getting stronger. So you know, I sort of expected to see a bigger, badder, Tehminahtor type baby when I returned to Gozo this weekend. Okay, not really. She's still the tiniest human being I've ever seen, and this time I didn't forget to bring my camera from Malta.

Be there or be square. I'm a circle.

Just who the hell does he think he is anyway.

He has a blog. That's fine.

He updates it with news. Good.

The news is actually full of updates on other people's personal lives. Hmm.

He's gay. Fair enough.

He outs closeted gay celebrities. Okay now that's not fair.

He writes false news, saying stuff like Fidel Castro died (last year). Are you serious?

Perez Hilton is a douchebag and, just like Paris Hilton from whom he got his pseudonym (hence making the whole situation very fitting), he's an extremely overrated "celebrity" with no real talent to give him credit for. Really, how can someone live with himself after writing some gossip about someone, therefore killing that someone a little more inside. We're talking about celebrities who can lose everything when caught in one unfortunate situation on film.

And he's a two-faced cheapshot. Okay so he's gay and he feels that homosexuality should not be a taboo, and that homosexuals should be respected. Nothing wrong with that. But then he goes outing everyone like there's no tomorrow, as if it's his duty to do so. What the fuck dude, let them do whatever the hell they want. Also, he criticises others for homophobic remarks, yet when his "friends" like Paris Hilton shout racist and homophobic slurs he says nothing.

One more thing. The doodles on the pictures he posts on his blog. White writing made from MS Paint. Ooookay, suit yourself. But what's with the white "drool" coming from the corner of celebrities' mouths? Is that supposed to be- Oh God, nevermind.

Superstar wannabe.

P.S. The hate he receives in the comments after his blog entries are hilarious. Adjectives like "fat", "ugly", "dick", "douche" and "hater" are apparent favourites.

The Word of God.

Funny how it's always humans doing the talking.

It's getting worse.

Gears of War 2 is still prevailing in our flat. The amount of cursing has increased significantly, as well as the physical abuse. Jo rammed me into the wall last time, smashed my shoulder pretty hard. And they've become so absorbed in the game. Observe:

That's pretty close to the telly...

Right after Jo threatened me to stop taking pictures. I think he was more interested in someone blowing up though.

Just look at that concentration!

Jo, the chainsaw will be ringing in your ears throughout the night...

Flattered? No, I'm freaked out.

Gozo is a small island, we all know that. Gossiping and knowing what time your neighbour took a crap is inevitable. I do it sometimes too, rarely but it happens without me wanting it to. I'm corrupted I tells ya.


I don't really expect myself to be the centre of attention during gossip hour. I normally keep to myself and there really isn't that much to say about me, or so I suppose. Yet my poor girlfriend keeps hearing about me from her classmates. I honestly don't see how there could possibly be so much to say about me. The funny thing about it is that they go tell her something about me as if she doesn't already know. Of course she knows, why anyone would expect to know something about me before anyone else does is beyond me.

The time I shaved practically made headlines. Yes I blogged about it but no that's not what sparked such a reaction. Hell, no one reads my blog. If people did read my blog then I'd direct this entry specifically to those who keep "updating" the girls' secondary school with events of my life. Perez Hiltons, the lot of you. I've been planning to write an entry about that fat fuck for a while now by the way, stay tuned for that.

Anyway, then came my mom's pregnancy. No shit my girlfriend knew. And yes she knew the baby was born hours, even days before the people who told her found out. Oh and, get this. They told her that she became an aunt now. Because my MOM gave birth. Hmm, you might want to rethink that.

Oh did you hear? No, neither did I. Go gossip with someone else.

Rock a Bye Baby.

The introduction of Xbox's Gears of War 2 in our flat is starting to induce a certain degree of, well, violence. Tonight, after hearing numerous chainsaw killings, mortar explosions and Maltese gamers curse everything that's holy, Jo couldn't take it anymore and practically told Luke to shut the fuck up so that he can go sleep.

How did he do this? Well he threatened Luke that if he hears him talk through the headset or he hears a chainsaw killing one more time, he'd destroy the Xbox. Feisty indeed. I remember my dad used to say that a lot with the computer, the PlayStation, and anything else capable of keeping a kid from boredom.

After a couple of minutes of ranting, Luke bluntly asked Jo if he would like to play. Funnily enough, Jo said that since he was awake, he'd love to play. Err okay. But then he changed his mind, and eventually went back to bed.

But it couldn't just end like that. Luke felt truly apologetic and decided that he should make it up to good old Jo le Ho. So he grabbed my guitar, went by Jo's room, and together we started singing Rock a Bye Baby. To our dismay, however, the only reply we received was "Shut the fuck up and go to sleep!".

I think Luke still managed to get Jo to admit that he still loved him though. And that's the important thing, really. The love here is undeniable.

Help a brotha out.

I really want to expand my tattoo collection but, being the typical lazy ass university student that I am, I do not have sufficient funds. If anyone would like to donate a small amount of money to contribute to my next ink job, please feel free to do so. Come on, this is your chance to show me that you love me. Any amount will do, come on. All I'd need is around 80-1oo euros. Cash is fine, cheque is too. Lint and used chewing gum isn't, sorry.

Ideas for tattoos:

- 2 more guitar designs similar to my first one

- a star

- a pool (billiards) 8-ball, e.g. :

- The bat on the fretboard of this guitar (one of mine):

- Something that has to do with the World Trade Centre

- Something that has to do with hockey

Mmmm so many ideas, so little bare skin! Actually I have a lot of remaining untouched skin, but I doubt I'd do all of these. One or 2 within the next few years. Anyway, my ideas are for my own personal pleasure, so if you don't like them, any of them, well I couldn't care less. Feel free to say which one you prefer though, suggestions are welcome.

Our latest addition to the family.

She's finally here - yes it's a she - Anabel Farrugia was born this morning at exactly 10am. I just returned from hospital, my new baby sister seems to be perfectly healthy and well, weighing in at 3.5kg.

She and I already have a few things in common. We're the only two siblings out of four who were born here in Gozo, and on a 22nd. Then there's the quite obvious fact which I don't even have to point out that we're the most adorable. Duh.

I thank God for the well-being of both my mother and her new baby. Time to dish out the cigars and the champagne.

That's one way to put it.

On a thread in a forum related to whether premarital sex is good or not, one fellow guitarist on Ultimate-Guitar gave the first response, which practically made everyone's day.

"Would you buy a guitar before trying it?"

Needless to say, I lol'd.

An interesting thought.

I'm sure many people have thought about this before. Let's say you're minding your own business somewhere by a road. Then, out of nowhere, a speeding ambulance runs you over and causes you severe injury.

Jokes and irony aside, as funny as it may seem, what do the paramedics do? Do they stop, take you in, and take you back to hospital? Do they keep going to assist to the emergency they were called for and let another ambulance come for you? Do they take you in, then keep going to assist to the other emergency? Maybe they just say "Fuck, not again" and park the ambulance somewhere and smoke a cigarette.

Anyone willing to volunteer so that we see what they do, please do not hesitate to contact me so we can conduct this experiment. Please, by all means, don't be shy.

A message of hope.

I was locked all day in the summer heat,

In a small brown house in Suburban Street,

With a skateboard and my shit guitar,

I'd dream all day that they would get me far,

My dad would ask me about my grades,

The asshole sports that I never played.

And then I'd ask about the girls he'd date,

Behind our backs when mom would stay up late.

It was near when I turned sixteen,

Got kicked out of school, and so it seemed

that things were closing in and ready to blow,

My dad moved out about that year or so,

It took an hour to start a punk rock band

To offset my fucked up family land

And as I held my mom would start to cry

I swore ourselves a better life

If I had a chance for another try,

I wouldn’t change a thing

It's made me all of who I am inside

And if I could thank God

That I am here, and that I am alive

And everyday I wake

I tell myself a little harmless lie

The whole wide world is mine

The summer's gone,

the years have passed,

My friends have changed,

a few did last,

The smallest dreams got pushed aside,

The largest ones that changed my life,

And all I wish for was come to pass

From rock and roll,

to love and cash

It’s all success if it’s what you need

Do what you like and do it honestly

If I had a chance for another try,

I wouldn’t change a thing

It's made me all of who I am inside

And if I could thank God

That I am here, and that I am alive

And everyday I wake

I tell myself a little harmless lie

The whole wide world is mine

Angels and Airwaves - Rite of Spring

I won't cry wolf.

Sitting on my bed at the flat. No one else is here right now, and I'm just passing the time until my next lecture at 1pm. It's raining and I feel quite relaxed. This song I'm listening to by Adema with the thunder in the distance is very soothing.

Juno's a pretty good movie, Ellen Page is a great actor. Got a bit freaked out at the awkward tension between Juno and Mark, I was almost sure he was gonna try to make out with her. It's funny how Paulie wears short shorts throughout the whole movie.

Meh.

Lights, camera, rock out.

Sometimes when I really get into a song, I start directing a video for it in my head. The more I listen to it, the more ideas I get and the more detailed the scenes I invent become. It's a really fun idea which I wish I could put into practice but that's impossible. I do not have the essential resources or expertise for that matter, so I'm just going to continue playing these videos in my head.

The bands whose songs I really get into the most are Funeral fo a Friend and Angels & Airwaves. Everything about their songs contributes to my ideas of what my videos would be like. The lyrics, the song structure, the overall feel, the heaviness or mellowness of the guitars, they all play a role. I dig even deeper into the song when the visuals run through my head, because the message of the song is amplified with the sense of sight along with that of sound.

Hey who knows, maybe someday I'll do something like this as a side project for fun.

A small tribute.

Before getting into music, my childhood was basically all about hockey. I found this video with shots of some of my greatest idols when I was young, including the likes of Gordie Howe, Mike Modano, Mario Lemieux, Mark Messier, Joe Sakic, Patrick Roy and Wayne "The Great One" Gretzky.

Backing this video is the song they play everytime a goal is scored at a hockey game. Originally by Gary Glitter, "Rock n' Roll Part 2" is now more commonly known as "The Hey Song" by sports fans and athletes alike. It's a great song to chant along to when you're celebrating a goal at the ice rink, or in the living room in front of the television with your hockey buddies and bottles of beer.

A stroke of genius.

Rough weather lately. The ferry ride back to Gozo wasn't that pleasant, with all the swaying and rocking back and forth. Having just eaten, I really wasn't in the mood to throw up. So I closed my eyes and covered my face and just concentrated for a couple of minutes.

Then it hit me.

A lot of people suffer from seasickness. There have been many methods which were tried to help stop it or at least minimize it. But have they tried suspended seats? Yes, seats chained from the ceiling, making them look like giant swings. How would this work? Well, as the ship sways from side to side, the seat remains stationary and the person wouldn't be feeling the same motion the ship is going through.

It's kind of like the principle of having buildings' bases allowed to roll during earthquakes, but instead of moving ground, there's moving water. Swivel chairs, or other seats on wheels wouldn't work because the ship itself is moving against the current, but when something is suspended it isn't affected.

Mass production will start immediately. I will be the guy dragging chains behind me, using them to dangle your seat from the ceiling. No need to thank me. Actually, yes there is. Cash would do.


P.S. There wasn't really any strong thinking behind all this, so chances are that I'm really way off and the whole idea is in fact downright stupid. Therefore I strongly advise that you do not try this on any ship. Seriously, don't go strapping the Gozo Channel chairs onto the ceiling.

Why you should never share a Rapidshare account with Jo.

If you do, your passwords will be retrieved and used later on.

To hack your hi5 profile....

(the grande hi5 finale)

...to hack your Facebook profile...

and to do many other soulless pranks, like subscribing to endless groups on internet communities which take forever to unsubscribe from. Oh well, for once the tables had turned against Luke.

A huge kudos to Jo for finding the passwords and to Rochelle for helping him give Luke's hi5 a "superrrr makeoverrrrr!!"

I'm moving to Norway.

The country, in my opinion, is highly overlooked. It's got a lot of great things going for it.

• It's one of the wealthiest countries in the world (2nd highest GDP per-capita in the world).
• It's full of natural resources (4th largest exporter of oil, 2nd largest of seafood).
• It ranked the highest of all countries in human development for the past seven years.
• It was rated the most peaceful country in the world last year.
• It ranked second in the Environmental Performance Index.
• It's so self sufficient that it's better off not being in the European Union (they've rejected the treaties to accession twice).
• There's a high standard of living.
• There's the Government Pension Fund - Global (the largest pension fund in Europe, second largest in the world).
• The investment choices of the Norwegian fund are directed by ethical guidelines.
• Public education is free.
• The majority of the population is fluent in English.
• Norway is the best place to live, according to the UN’s Human Development Report, which ranks countries based on such indicators as income per person and life expectancy.
• There is a strong drive for more individualist values. Notably there is a very strong support for tolerance towards same-sex relationships compared to most European countries.
• Along with environmentalism, animal protection is an important value.

So, where to spend the rest of my life? Norway it is, then. They play hockey there, after all.

For the love of God, know what the hell you're doing on stage.

I wasn't going to bother blogging today, until I was "inspired" to do so.

Many of us have seen this:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=QAMyQdBWhUw

I thought that nothing could possibly ever be as bad as that.

Well I was wrong. Very wrong.

...

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=MjWKAnrsUe4

...

Sorry for making you want to rip out your ears like that.

Don't give me that "They're just kids!" bullshit. If I'm 13 and I sound like that, I know not to get my ass on stage anytime soon.

So, what have we learned today kids? Practise, practise, practise. And tune your damn guitar before a live performance.

Am I the only one...

...who thinks toasted bread with cream cheese topped with sliced olives is absolutely delicious?

It's almost as good as a scrambled egg and mayonnaise sandwich.

The ongoing debate that never seems to be solved.

Recent years in our country have been riddled with story after story of illegal immigrants reaching our shores. Eventually this has built up to much protesting from the Maltese citizens.

We've brought up many accusations against these people, however the problem is that not all of them are just. Some of the good points mentioned, and let me emphasize on the fact that I agree with them and they are not related to racism in any way, are:

• Malta cannot physically handle the situation on its own, as it is already one of the most densely populate countries in Europe and the figures related to illegal immigration are overwhelming. It is receiving very minimal international help and therefore has to carry most of the burden on its own.
• A portion of these illegal immigrants are abusing the Refugee treaties and conventions which have been signed by our country.

Now, alongside these fair protests are some unfair judgements which I think should be pointed out. First of all, many of us think that EVERY illegal immigrant should get their ass kicked out of here and sent back to their homeland. After discussing it out with Jo we both agreed that, while a certain amount of these people are indeed abusing the Refugee treaties and conventions, some aren't and they have a truly valid reason for fleeing their country. For example, the country may be going through a civil war. These people really did not have any other option and truly deserve to be helped and to live a better and safe life elsewhere rather than in their own country.

Jo then explained that the proper procedures should be carried out in Malta with the arrival of illegal immigrants. These include verifying the reason for their escape from the country so that the proper action can be taken. That way, those who really need help can be treated while those who abused from the situation can be dealt with properly.

What I hope is that everyone else understands that there are those who really do need help, and we should reach out to these people. Also, I hope that we do not protest out of racism, believing that every African should be shunned out due to their different cultural background and skin colour. It's time to take action for our country's safety, but let us not do it with the wrong mentality.

Idiosyncratic.

The Imagery have just officially launched their first EP, "Idiosyncratic", through a gig at Rookies Sports Bar, Bugibba, Malta.

First off, a little about Rookies. It's a sports bar that pays homage to North American sports along with the typical European soccer and whatnot. Posters and jerseys of hockey and baseball players alongside various pieces of sports equipment stuck to the walls including hockey sticks and pucks. The bar has a very modest stage; the walls riddled with band posters and guitars signed by local talent. In other words, I don't think I'd find a better place for me personally to hang out at frequently if I were to live in Malta. Where else would I be able to find posters of Wayne Gretzky, Brett Hull, Green Day and System of a Down in the same building?

I've been following The Imagery ever since they first started. Over the past couple of years they've grown more accustomed to live performances and have been able to define their own sound without falling into a specific genre. Confidence and stage presence has greatly increased since their first gigs with 3-song setlists, and they are definitely nothing short of entertaining. Last night's setlist included the likes of Wolfmother's "Love Train", Against Me's "Stop!", Muse's "Feeling Good", The Wombats' "Let's Dance to Joy Division", The Raconteurs' "Consolers of the Lonely" and Franz Ferdinand's "Do You Want To". From such songs you can get the general idea of what kind of sound the band has been able to familiarize with the most. Songs you can dance to, jump around to, headbang to and smash your buddy's head on a table to.

Alongside these songs were the four tracks of their EP:

1. Margie Bloom
2. Vegetarian Bacon Salad
3. Out There
4. Shakespeare's Break

Being a band who I personally think have a sound and stage performance unique to the island of Gozo, they are very well capable of standing out among other acts in the whole country. If you really want to support the band, I suggest you buy the EP, and don't make copies of it or send the songs around.

To conclude, you know you will never be cool or smart enough to name something "Vegetarian Bacon Salad". Leave it to them.

Oh my God we actually did it.

This guy on a forum on http://www.ultimate-gutar.com/ came up with the ingenious idea to Rick Roll the MTV Europe Video Music awards 2008 in Liverpool:

The idea became vastly popular on Ultimate Guitar, and other forum sites such as 4chan, as millions of people cast in their vote, including myself.

Progress was made....




...and finally, the results were in. Needless to say...

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=QdfdZqHqh0Y


http://tinyurl.com/ynupj4


...we Rick Rolled MTV and its millions of viewers. Booya!

The funny thing is Rick Astley declined to accept the award, he didn't even appear at the ceremony. Come on Rick,



YOU WERE NEVER GONNA GIVE US UP OR LET US DOWN!

And please don't tell me you were too stupid to click the second link. Otherwise, you got Rick Rolled, baby.

Please, respect the classics.

I was at Valletta today. There was some activity going on, when I heard "Sweet Child o' Mine" play. At first I thought it was a live band covering the song, but then I realised that the intro riff kept playing over and over, backed by a processed beat. A remix. Oh God. They remixed that song too. Not surprisingly, it was followed by the Seven Nation Army remix, the one with the lame chanting of the main riff.

Why must such songs be butchered by DJs who can't be assed to produce something original? They make my ears cringe, and I'm sure the original artists just sigh at what has become of their music. Remember the 2006 World Cup? Yeah, a remix of Queen's "We Are the Champions" with that Godawful crazy frog wanker. I remember screaming in frustration in public after hearing it.

Please, stop this crap, such remixes often destroy the true message and meaning of these wonderful songs, let them be. What's really annoying is that people become accustomed to them without ever knowing about the original, hence giving no credit whatsoever to the original artists. Never heard of the White Stripes? Guns n' Roses? Ugh.

On a side note, whoever does a Linkin Park remix will have their throats personally slashed by me. No one can successfully remix a Linkin Park song except Linkin Park themselves. Just listen to their Reanimation CD.

Caught red handed.

I was doing some homework in my room when Jo passed by. We were having a casual conversation when I noticed him looking at a poster I have on my wall. He seemed particulary interested in it, so interested that I had to take a picture of him staring in awe...

...at Simon Neil (of Biffy Clyro)'s crotch. Here's a close up.

Okay, to be fair, the truth is that he was reading what his tattoo said. But everyone is free to interpret.

I feel naked.

You might have noticed a change in my blog name. It's true, I am now beardless. I shaved tonight in the hope of either letting it grow again in a more presentable form, or remaining clean shaven. I'll decide, eventually.

Good book. Confused though.

I finished Thomas Harris' "Red Dragon", known as the novel that launched Hannibal Lecter's legacy of evil. Extraordinary book, I can't wait to read the others that follow, but I'm confused about one thing.

Warning *Spoilers start here.*

Francis Dolarhyde was being controlled by something, the Dragon to be exact. The Dragon spoke to him and told him what to do. He was psychologically abused by the Dragon. What I don't understand is, this Dragon was something that really did physically talk to Francis. I mean, at first I thought it was a figment of his imagination which was born from his childhood experiences. But other people actually heard this thing talk. For example Reba, the blind woman, heard the Dragon talk to Francis when she was on the phone with him.

So, who was this Dragon? Was it really a... umm, dragon? His grandmother haunting him? I wasn't able to figure this out, but it had to be something or someone real and tangible.

*Spoilers end here.*

If someone could shed some light onto this for me I would really appreciate it. General comments about the book are welcome as well.

Double luck.

University has so far given me a generally good impression. Efficiency, dedicated lecturers, not too much work. Except for one little thing. Not being able to find available rooms for lectures. It's already happened to be numerous times, but it really worked to my advantage the last 2 times.

Last week we were supposed to start Econonomics Tutorial lectures. I overslept (following the infamous toilet prank night), but then learned that the lecture had been cancelled anyway due to unavailable rooms. Today I was to have the first Economics Tutorial lecture, and it was to be the only lecture of the day after being notified that my other lecture would be cancelled due to the Extraordinary General Meeting. So upon hearing the alarm at 6.15am, I thought to myself, "Fuck it, it's just a tutorial for a tutorial sheet I managed to complete correctly, I can afford to miss it". I caught some more z's until 10.15am, and lo and behold, Luke told me the tutorial was cancelled again because there wasn't any available rooms.

I won't push my luck any further this time, I'll go to the next lecture, if it ever occurs. It will be shifted to another day though so there should be available room. Man I could use another nap right about now.

The Life of a Young Man with a Beard according to a Young Man without a Beard... Part 2

During secondary education.

The Life of a Young Man with a Beard according to a Young Man without a Beard... Part 1

This would be Luke's whiteboard. On it is, well, the beginning of my life according to Jo. It's pretty accurate, details and everything. And it's just the first part.

Must I say more?

http://www.biggerbetterbeards.org/

I think not.

Check out The Imagery on...

http://ia310840.us.archive.org/2/items/ToniSantMMI0137/MMI0137.mp3

From 4:25 to 8:00

Be sure to go to at least one of their upcoming gigs (highly advertised on Facebook Events).

Dear God, even more shame.

With the humiliation of the toilet prank still very raw, I never expected that I would get pranked again so soon. Well, I did, and I fell for it hard.

Yesterday Luke SMSed me asking if I wanted to go out to eat with him and Jo. I said no, I wanted to go somewhere else for the evening, implying that I wasn't going to be with them for the night.

At 10pm Luke calls, asking where I am, because they arrived at Victoria, where I was with my girlfriend. I was a bit confused, I hadn't expected them to meet with me later on so that we could go eat together. I told him I couldn't meet up with him and Jo, and they got pissed off, and then so did I. Eventually I started to get worried and I felt a little guilty, on my part even though I felt that it wasn't completely my fault.

Jo then SMSes at around midnight, asking if I could go online, because he and Luke were starting blogs of their own. I couldn't go on at the time, so I spent the night worrying that they were writing stuff against me because they were so pissed off.

That's when Jo linked me to Luke's first blog entry this morning...

http://lukesultana.blogspot.com/2008/10/hi-well-lets-start-off-blog-shall-we.html

Enough said. It was yet another ingenious prank.

I hate you guys.

Ultimate shame.

I fell victim to the biggest prank ever played on me last night. Early morning, to be exact, at 3am. It goes back to hours before though, seeing as my lovely best friends are such prank artists they had to set up everything perfectly.

It started out by Jo and Luke saying that the light switch to the bathroom was shorting out half the flat, so we couldn't turn it on. They put a strip of tape on it so that no one would press it. Jo fetched my flashlight from my room, then after a couple of minutes he returned saying that Luke dropped it and broke the light bulb. I tried the flashlight myself and it didn't work, so Luke was to buy a new one the following day.

After that, nothing in particular happened. We played Call of Duty 4 after midnight until like 3am. I had to go to the bathroom, and since I couldn't turn on the light I took my iPod with me to use as a light.

So there I was, wondering how good my aim was in the dark, when I noticed that the sound of impact was a little weird. Since it was 3am, it took me a few seconds to register that I should probably stop and check what the hell I was taking a piss on. I stopped, lowered my iPod towards the toilet, and saw that the toilet bowl was covered in plastic sheet wrap.

...

My first reaction was to stare in awe for a few seconds, then shout "DUDES!" followed by a loud shrill of laughter coming from the 2 biggest dicks on the planet outside the bathroom. Then followed the speechlessness of utter amazement.

The lights were never shorting out, the flashlight was never broken, Jo had just flipped the batteries upside down. To add insult to injury, I was videorecorded cleaning up my own sad 4-year-old boy mess.

A truly artistic and epic prank.

Assholes.

Come if you want to listen to good music... and to us.

It's almost that time of the year again. No, I'm not referring to Halloween, although this event is almost just as scary, in other ways. The annual Battle of the Bands at the Sacred Heart Seminary Marathon. *Sigh* Oh boy...

Now, since I (and by "I" I mean anyone who has ever taken part in this event) love Joe Louis running the whole thing (and you thought I was serious), I'm going to be performing this year as I did last year. I'll be doing an unplugged set consisting of 3 songs with my somewhat longtime collaborator Ricky. The songs we'll be doing are:

...

...

...

Actually, fuck you, if you want to know, come and check us out. There's gonna be a couple of other bands, including Inner Grey, I believe, and yet another one of those temporary supergroup bands, made up by some of the most well known musicians on the island of Gozo. They're called The Mob. That's one awesome name. My project with Ricky is called Acoustica. That's even more awesome. The Mob's performance will be awesome. Ours will be even more... uhh, actually we don't give a fuck, we're just playing for the fun of it.

Chances are, everyone is going to head up to Ritz after to drink pints of beer out of the trophies. Just for the hell of it though, nobody really cares about the actual results of the Battle of the Bands. We all know it's one big dumb joke.

No spoonfeeding, they said.

I remember 6th form. A lot of teachers used to tell us that we had to get used to jotting down notes while they taught us during lessons, in preparation for university. "No more spoonfeeding", they would say. So there were lessons where we had to write down our own notes to practise for the years that were to come.

Well, here we are now. Has this so-called practice paid off? Partially. In some cases, we do have to type our own notes while the lecturer explains. But in most cases, we're actually getting more spoonfed than ever before. The lecturer waves a wad of notes, tells us that they can be found at a stationery to be photocopied, and then tells us to sit back, relax, and listen carefully. And they insist that we don't write a thing and just pay attention. When we do have to write our own notes, the lecturer tells us what to write, word by word.

Now I don't know, maybe it's because we're still in the beginning of the first semester, but damn, these lectures aren't just easy going, they're becoming boring as fuck.

Looks like the Americans are getting their free Dr. Pepper after all.

So the release date of Guns n' Roses' new album Chinese Democracy has FINALLY been set, for the 25th of November. The track listing has also been revealed:

01. "Chinese Democracy"
02. "Scraped"
03. "Shackler's Revenge"
04. "Street Of Dreams"
05. "If The World"
06. "Better"
07. "This I Love"
08. "There Was A Time"
09. "Riad N' The Bedovins"
10. "Sorry"
11. "I.R.S."
12. "Catcher"
13. "Madagascar"
14. "Prostitute"

Now personally I'm not a huge fan of the band. Yeah okay we all enjoy the classics, Sweet Child O' Mine, November Rain, yada yada. But I'm a far less of a fan of the band now than I was before. They're not really Guns n' Roses, after all. They're "Axl Rose and band", and well, Axl Rose has become one of the biggest dicks of the music scene who nobody really likes anymore.

A lot of people are really hyped about about this. Not because they're going to hear some new material for the first time in over 15 years, but because they're going to get a free soft drink. Hell, I'd be happy too if Dr. Pepper came knocking on my door with a free soda, who wouldn't?

Start the Machine.

I got Angels and Airwaves' first DVD last week. It received many positive reviews for the honesty and openness of Tom DeLonge in it. Personally I agree, I learned some things about Tom and the band that I didn't know before. He realised he was being a dick with all the bombastic claims before the band released the first album, and he genuinely understood that he went over the edge with what he said. Also, he was on a lot of pills due to his back problems and he became addicted.

There are two sides to every story, but the way Tom opened up about Blink 182's breakup in this documentary makes you feel sorry for the guy. The way he was pressured and the choice he reluctantly had to make must have been really tough for him.

Anyway, the DVD made me listen to the band a lot more again, Tom's a great songwriter. Not the most complex guitarist, but he really knows how to build up songs. Can't wait for the third album.

Find it and win a prize II.

2 posts in one day, but this really deserves its own separate entry. Some of you may already know this, but for those who don't, go to a past entry of mine - http://chrisredness.blogspot.com/2008/10/so-many-lectures.html - and highlight the whole text. Yes, you'll see an encrypted message.

Jo hadn't realised that the picture in front of his desk had been tainted with Hitler moustaches. For 10 days. And he found out yesterday because we gave up on him ever noticing by himself so we told him. But get this, we STILL had trouble making him realise even when we made it so obvious.

First we told him to sit at his desk. Then we asked him to check the time. So he looked at his wrist watch and we told him to ignore that. He looked at the clock on his desk. We told him to ignore that too. Then his mobile. He had to ignore that as well. Finally he had no choice but to check the time on his clock hanging on the wall. He looked at it for a second, looked back at us and shrugged.

We just stared in awe at him. We could have written a giant sign in red on his wall and he still wouldn't have noticed it. The thing is, it IS noticable. It's not like they were tiny dots or something. So we told him to focus on the picture, and I mean really focus, until he burst out laughing.

Sigh.

Find it and win a prize.

I've been on like half a dozen buses in the past couple of days. And each bus has its own different buzzer to signal the driver to stop. Everytime I go on a bus I spend a few minutes trying to find the damn thing. They come in many forms:

• You pull a rope, an old bell rings
• You pull a rope, a more modern buzzer rings
• A big black round button
• A tiny round black button on the ceiling
• The elevated part of a strip in a more modern bus
• A big red square button on the a pole of (what I believe is) the most modern bus, with that really annoying sound.

I don't know if there's anymore, but I swear that the past 6 buses I've been on all had different buzzers. I'll probably run into yet another one tomorrow. Perhaps I should start taking pictures. And perhaps they should make less types of buzzers, ones which are easier to find.

Drugs are bad, mmmkay?

THEN:

NOW: