May 2006 Archives

Okay, I screwed up my last post. I'd normally not worry about it, except I also ping a great website called Project Petaling Street, which is a site that collates pings from Malaysian bloggers. It's a great window from which other Malaysians can view me. In editing my previous post, I sent 4 pings out, and that's bad.

I guess I shouldn't really over think it, after all there's only about 2 people who read this blog, including myself. What can I say, I love the sound of my voice. Uhm, the letters of my voice. Er, the words... ah, screw it!

So here's the pix of my lovely library again. Click on the thumbnails for a larger picture.

And this:

And the following are closeups of my shelves. These are currently on the shelves at the moment:
Left-most bookshelf and corner unit (top view):

Left-most bookshelf and corner unit (bottom view):

Bookshelf No. 2 (top view)

Bookshelf No. 2 (bottom view)

Bookshelf No. 3 (top view)

Bookshelf No. 3 (bottom view)

May I have the money soon to buy a cozy recliner for my library.

The only thing that I wanted for my library that I cannot have no matter what I do at present is a window. It simply isn't positioned in a place where I can hack in a window. Too bad. I'd have loved listening to the patterings of rain on my windowsill, while I sit next to it, a cup of hot coffee in one hand, a lovely book in the other.

Ahhh.... I've dreamed since I was younger that I'd have a library I'd be proud of. Not that I want tons of books with huge shelves, but something that's homely, comfortable, contains a good selection of books that I enjoy reading.

I'm not there yet.

However, since moving into my new house, I did get to build a library that I am proud of, it's just that it's not perfect just yet.

Here are some shots of my favourite spot in the house (next to the bedroom, of course).

Here's the side view:

And here's another view:

I just realized that I didn't really close out the story. I should have mentioned that China, the near-invincible China, has retained the Thomas Cup by beating Denmark in the Thomas Cup Finals. I saw the third match, which was the second singles, and well, it's not the typical down-the-wire match that usually happens between Chun Lai and Jonassen, but it was entertaining nonetheless.

It is an expected victory. The Great Wall of China remains unbreached.

I'm excited about the World Championships coming up.

Thanks to TBF, I've got a good list of fantasy works right here, listed by Jeff VanderMeer, an author of some renown in the fantasy fiction realm. In fact, in some quarters, he's lauded as one of the most refreshing voices in contemporary speculative fiction.

I've gotten quite jaded from normal fantasy. It takes a helluva lot these days to make me happy, and none of the recent books I've read in fantasy seem to fit the bill. Even Fionavar Tapestry from Guy Gavriel Kay, which falls into the category of recently-read, seemed tepid compared to his other works for me.

Even my current read, Celtika by Robert Holdstock, did not turn out to be what I expected, and honestly, I did expect a lot from Holdstock. But somehow his prose and story flow does not seem to flow smoothly enough for me, and frankly, I couldn't care less about any of characters in the story, least of all Jason.

I don't know about you, but it seemed to me 2 years ago, after Michael Schumacher kept winning race after race after race, that Formula 1 needed some breath of fresh air.

Once I went on walks in the park and a total stranger on his cellphone said, "What, go to Sepang to watch the race? Why, so that we can see the same bloke win again?" Yes, things in F1 is getting way too predictable.

There were a few things Mr E (too lazy to spell out his full name, and risk getting it wrong) could do to inject some excitement back into Formula 1. Here is a recreation of a checklist that he probably had stapled on his desk at work:
1. Hire more chicks, er, ladies to perform on the tracks as the cars speed by. Hazardous, but what's entertainment without a little risk?
2. Impose ridiculous rules that restrict engine changes and other technicalities previously allowed in an attempt to level out the playing field (oh, wait, we've already done that)
3. Ask everyone to license the Ferarri engines.
4. Tell Schumacher to lay low, swallow his pride for a season or two. For the good of the sport, you understand. So what if you get extend your record for consecutive podium finishes, if nobody turns up to watch you spray champagne? So restrain yourself for a couple of years. Relax. Then turn on the heat again when the prevalent feeling is that there are worthy others aspiring to your throne.

I'm inclined to believe Mr E chose option 4. What else could explain the timely drop in Ferarri's performance just in time for the new season two years ago? Coincidence? From being totally dominant, and completely out of the competitive picture the next season?

Schumacher says, "Alonso, that upstart, now has two championships!!! It's time to get mine back!" And promptly wins two races in a row.

I wonder how many think along the same lines?

I don't know if I wished this would happen, but I certainly didn't feel too surprised when Nadal beat Federer -
again. This time marks the third time Nadal whacks the No 1 in a final, and what a game it must have been. I didn't watch it, but I sure wished I did.

You see, I love Federer's game. He is mentally strong, and his game is almost flawless. Even when he's hanging by the skin of his teeth, he can claw his way back and win the match. I've seen it happen a couple of times already. The other times he just won outright.

Until this Nadal chap. He is the antithesis of a good tennis player for me: total power. Sure he wins matches, but it's a damn boring way to win. That's why Federer always gets my view time, while Nadal doesn't.

So anyway, I wanted to say that it's great the Federer's been beat, because despite all his talent, he is getting too arrogant for his own good. Amazingly, if you read the post match interview, he didn't exactly give credit to Nadal for winning, rather his disappointment at losing to himself. Ah, well, actually that's not too bad. But I'd rather see him humbled a couple of more times to that he's a little more down to earth.

Unfortunately, my greatest fear has come true. Malaysia, yet again, has lost in the semis of the Thomas Cup. I wrote a similar rant exactly two years ago when our team lost then (which was unpublished, so you wouldn't find the colourful language I used then).

As it were, it did come down to the final match between the 3rd singles. Kuan Beng Hong has been put into the limelight, but failed to take control of this opportunity. And, as I expected, he lost. No only did he lose, he lost to a *lower-ranked* player. I've never even heard of his opponent, Joachim Persson. It's also not because of experience, because Beng Hong is 23 while his opponent is 22.

This is a perfect example of the lack of dependability of our players. It simply does not matter who they play against in a crunch tie - whether it's against a player who's ranked lower, or against someone who's playing with a blindfold. We - expect - to - lose! Mentally, when it comes down the wire, we're just crap.

Our points came from the most unexpected of sources - our doubles. Our doubles were not expected to win against the Danish doubles - they are more experienced. However, they produced the results we needed to push the tie to the deciding 3rd singles after our 2 singles lost. Lee Chong Wei, of all people, lost in straight games. This I had expected him to win.

Damn. I'm starting to ramble. I'm sitting on the floor with the laptop on the floor as I type this. I'll gather my thoughts, scream a wordless cry of anguish in the shower, and begin to think happy thoughts.

Like work.

[WAIL!]

Well, this pretty much confirms it: Choon Hann has suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon after landing awkwardly during his match yesterday. And as expected, Hafiz is now moved up to the second singles with Beng Hong taking his place as third singles.

The doubles have to step up their game if Malaysia is to have any chance to march to the finals.

Well, I'm excited again. And what else could it be but badminton!!! :)

Anyway, I was working the whole time Malaysia played South Korea, but thanks to a nice find, I was able to follow the results of the game while working my brains out in the office.

Early thoughts: Choon Hann retired from his second singles match, conceding when he was leading 10-6 against his Korean opponent, a match I fully expected him to win. However, I don't really know the cause for his retirement in that game, but it can only really mean one thing: injury. This is purely conjecture on my part, I don't really know for now, but it does spell bad news. The semi-finals will see them against Denmark, and without Choon Hann we really would bite the dust in the third singles. Beng Hong cannot compare with whomever they have for their third singles, and I fully expect the tie to go down the wire.

You know, as I'm writing this, I keep thinking to myself whether I should really explain the whole thing to my international audience (yeah, the two of you) in case they don't know what I'm talking about. A quick one then: Thomas Cup competition is a competition that pits the best badminton players from various countries in a tournament. Each tie between countries is played in a best of 5 matches, and the matches are in the order of:
1. First Men's Singles
2. First Men's Doubles
3. Second Men's Singles
4. Second Men's Doubles
5. Third Men's Singles.

Before anyone decries "Sexism!!!" let me just say that there is an equivalent tournament that runs side by side with the Thomas Cup, called Uber Cup, and that's for the ladies.

This year's Thomas and Uber Cup tournament is held in Sendai Stadium, Japan. Don't know where exactly Sendai is, but it's nowhere near a Korean car factory, that's for sure.

When I came back from work today, I saw a pulsating match between Japan's 2nd Singles match Kanako Yonekura versus Holland's Karina De Wit (yes, since it's the ladies, it's Uber Cup). The Japanese won the first game purely, to my mind, on the strength of the rapturous support she enjoys in her home turf. De Wit was clearly the stronger player, physically and skillwise, but she still lost. No problem. De Wit bounced back with such a vengeance on the second game that I thought the matchup was all over by the time it came to the final game. Yonekura was visibly tired. I expected a wash-out.

Nope. Yonekura this time played a fantastically tactical game, completely different from the second game. De Wit was outplayed the first half of the 3rd game. That's when I thought this Japanese girl really has some skill. :) By the end of the game Yonekura could hardly play anymore due to tiredness, but she hung on for a fantastic win. She had me laughing and cheeing for her all the while.

Pure entertainment. :)