Euro 08 Final - Spain Vs Germany

Hardly lost any sleep the past week due to being too tired from work to be bothered to watch any footie. Tried to wake up this morning to catch Liverpool's Spanish contingent at work against the Russian but i slept right through till 5 am. Woke up just to watch the damn highlights of the 3 Spanish goals.

Always had a feeling them under-achieving Spanish boys will come good this time around. I actually did not expect the Germans to actually come this far, especially after the "effective" football they've been playing. Their attacking play was woeful compared to them Spanish.

Talking about the Liverpool Spanish boys, the one that really shone was Alonso (are we STUPID in getting rid of one of the best passers of the ball in the current squad?). Torres i think got sucked in by all the hype surrounding his great form for us. Sometimes he look to to have too much pressure on his shoulders. The lack of goals ain't helping either. But the sheer presence of him in the attack actually paves the way for other to shine - especially Villa. He drags defenders out of position as they are so worried about him. Reina and Arbeloa hardly featured except in their final group match.

Nothing much to say about the Germans as only 2 of their players actually excites me - Podolski and Schweinsteiger. Definately won't mind having any one of them down our left wing and terrorising the defenders.

Well, i'll definitely be up for the final this Monday morning. Just hope i don't sleep through the damn alarm again!!!! Viva Espania! Viva La Selección! Viva La Furia Roja!

Another manic monday! Another eventless weekend!

Damn it! I hate Mondays to the core. Being already the lazy arse that i am, mondays are the absolute most fooked up day in my week. Already dead stoned over the weekend by watching Euro footie, i had to wake up with a fooking bad migraine this morning.

Totally no mood to work and sleepy as fook. The only damn thing i can do to keep me awake is by posting in me blog, forums and msn. Thank God today was a quiet day at the office - i can't imagine how i'll go through work if i had piles of shit to do. 1 1/2 hour more to go before i get the heck outta me office and time seems to be moving so darn slow. :0(

Ever since the petrol price shot up, i hardly even go out to hang out anymore. Been a good boy by staying home to watch telly and sleep through the weekend. I did drop by Ikea yesterday to get some CD rack to mount on me living room's wall to organise my dvds, blu-ray discs and cds collection.

I think i'm gonna pickup my other passion - DIY and do a bit of remodeling in my pad to keep me sane, since i basically do not have much of a social life anyway. Have no fooking idea why i suddenly had the urge to reorganise my living hall. Nothing drives a diy enthusiast crazier than the sound of a working electric saw or drill.

Heck, i might even post up pictures of my handy work once i get to finish the re-deco project (as of now, most the ikea stuff are still in their boxes and only the coffee table and shelf unit has been fixed up). I sense more of my hard-earned moolahs heading to Ikea cash registers the next month or so. Stay tuned for the net results!

-JonC-

Elmo Pt II: Aka Kevin Clash

As promised here is the 2nd part of the interview from Rove with the "real" Elmo. Not really what you expect eh?

Price Hike + Lazyness + Bachelor = Cheapskate Dinner

I basically slept through the entire weekend and stayed at home instead of going out. Was not too keen on bursting my extremely tight budget (no thanks to me fooking medical insuarance bill). Unfortunately this time round no more home cooked comfort food for me since me mum went back to me kampung last weekend after staying with me in Klang for over 3 months.

Luckily she left over some ingredients that i could cook with (knowing how my lazy arse won't be bothered get them at the nearby market). Hence below was the net results:


The above dinner was whipped up in roughly about 20 mins, and it consists of instant fried mee, oyster sauce lettuce (with a touch of fried shallots), 1 fresh tomato and a 9" omelette ("Fu Yong " style). If any of you bloke can't even cook a proper pack of instant noodles, i'll personally smack ya in the head with me trusted frying pan!

The instant fried mee was cooked to perfection - al dente! Cook 'em in boiling water for about 2 mins, anything longer will turn them soggy. The lettuce was boiled for about 45 secs before i took 'em out and slapped em with some oyster sauce, a touch of vege oil and topped of with some fried shallots. The sliced tomato was suppose to be added to the omelet but i missed it so i just ate it as it - a fruit.

The pièce de résistance was the 9" omelette "Fu Yong" style! Due to no Chinese "Lap Cheong" sausages, i only had onion in it with soy sauce and pepper to flavour it. If you wondered how on earth it turned out in one piece, just take note of the amount of oil and heat you cook it with. A good non-stick frying pan helps too. And yeah baby! I managed flipped the bugger over too. ;0) A tip if ya wanna take a shot at cooking one; its best you stir fry them onions first until they turn slightly translucent (together with the sausages) before you add in the eggs.

I threw in a few cans of beer to quench the thirst. Net result was a filled to the brim bloke who went on with his weekend by watching the marathon run of "The Simmons' Family Jewels" on Channel V in conjunction with Father's Day.

PS - As dysfunctional as it may look, Gene Simmons and Shannon Tweed actually gave life to 2 youngsters that had their heads screwed on better than their own.

He's Red, He's Furry, He's 3 1/2 yrs old and He's From Sesame Street: His name is Elmo

Here's another side of Elmo you've not seen before in an interview in Rove ( a talk show in Aussie). I'll post up the interview with the puppeteer that plays Elmo later in the week.

Damn! i grew up watching Sesame Street and loved most of the furry characters in there. Favorites will always be Grover, Kermit and of course that red haired cute dude - Elmo. Gotta pay homage to Jim Henson, the guy is an absolute genius. I'll say it here - Sesame Street kicks that damn purple dinosaur named Barney's arse! :0P

-JonC-

Anger Management? What? Me?

I am seriously contemplating seeing a shrink to shrink my damn anger. The boredom and frustration at work is really driving me up the wall. Those who know me well would have notice a drastic change in me since 2 or 3 years back - my fuse got a WHOLE lot shorter and my swearing got a WHOLE lot louder and more frequent. I'm a heck lot more serious, sensitive, picky and annoying.

Coincidentally, when my rage and temper went off the chart, i was freaking pissed with my shitty work and pay i got from it. The same monotonous job, the endless cleaning of other people's self inflicted crap, the feeling of getting kicked around like a ball, not getting my idea accepted by the management and dealing with a bunch of stubborn dimwits has well and truly taken its toll and screwed me brain up nicely. To top it all off, and the most ironic thing about it all, is the fact that I'm still working at the same company after 9 years. Half the time i ain't got a clue what the fook made me stay - maybe subconsciously i did not realise i am digging my own grave or i actually enjoy the shitty situation (a scary thought indeed).

(frustration + disappointment + anxiety + worry) x stress [work or non-work related] / lousy social life = pure rage or hatred

The above is my theory on whats happening to my glowing hot brain. AD, before you say anything, i know you'll suggest alcohol to dose of the flames. But science has proven that alcohol burns much faster and hotter when thrown into an inferno!!! ;0P Also, i don't think filling up my drying and hole filled melon with the "happy" juices will save me any bit. I've had my fair share of puking me lungs and brains out during me college years.

Maybe, my love of football will save me but what conspired in Anfield the past season or so did nothing to elevate my inner suffering. Shitty politics and performance all round frustrated me even more. Football is one of my best escape from this angst filled life and when it ain't going according to plan, what else could be worst?

Playing football so far has been my best method to vent my frustrations out and dose off the flame in me head. Pity those who play against me though, cause they don't call me a tank for nothing ;0). Then again, the heavens up above conspired to turn me into a fooking Harry Kewell. I've got an injury list so long, it'll filled up an entire file cabinet.

Albeit all this inner turmoil i found a bunch of unkers, young punks and fellow football and fun loving guys and gals through the net. Really appreciate their company and our crazy method of talking cock and exchanging idea through each others' blog. Hey! What better way to virtually scream all your frustration , crazy thoughts and fears so that it can be heard? It's free and people will respond in the virtual world. What more can you ask for? Thank goodness for the internet and blogging!

Lately, i've found another method to vent my anger, thanks to the pretty huge amount of moolah i paid to Sony for my unit of PlayStation 3. Didn't realise my nearly psychotic mind actually enjoys thrashing the shit out of a game controller using my fingers in some rather violent games. Eureka! What better way to soothe and relax me head than crashing cars and shooting people up in Grand Theft Auto 4? How about playing the role of a trained killer in the form of an SAS operative killing terrorists in Call of Duty 4? And best of the lot, play a footie game and thrash the scums and rent boys with a score of 10-0 with Torres scoring triple hat tricks in PES 2008?

Thanks for reading my pointless rumblings and what nots. Hope you'll have a good laugh about it (on my expense) and help you go through the hazardous monotonous life back in the real world. Maybe you'll see it in a whole new light, and think that hey i'm not alone! There are other weirdos and slightly nuts people out there - case in point being myself. ;0)

AD, so far i am still keeping my promise to talk cock er...... i mean update me blog on a "sustained and timely" basis. Muahahahahahaha!

-JonC-

Anyone got caught in the "Petrol" traffic jam?

Imagine my frustrations when i had to pass through 3 fooking packed petrol stations on my way home from work last night. The fooking queue spilled over to the main road and caused bloody massive jam.

Thank goodness i am staying just about 10 minutes away from me work place, although last night's journey took triple the normal traveling time. Kiasu is a phenomenon not limitted to our southern neighbour anymore, and Malaysian can be just as bad if not worse.

Saving from paying the new price for a day won't make a world of difference! Its as if by pumping petrol last night, you'll never ever have to pump it again. Whathafook!

Okay! Enough of venting my frustration on the jam. Time to plan my strategy to fight for higher pay. New motto in Malaysian life - "barang naik, petrol naik dan elektrik pun naik, tapi gaji tak naik."

-JonC-

What's The Story, Fuel Subsidy?

It's going to be the same ol' shitty process at ALL petrol stations again later tonite when every Tom, Dick & Harry will rush to the nearest petrol station to pump their tanks full before the announcement to increase the fuel price is made tomorrow.

The dreaded price increase will happen AGAIN once the new prices for the 2 new types of petrol: RON95 (normal unleaded - expected price close to MYR 3) and RON99 (super unleaded - expected price around MYR 4) are revealed to the general public. To those who are not inclined with the terminology and meaning of the RON standard for petrol, all you need to know is that the new RON95 rated petrol will be of lower grade and octane, hence less power than the current RON97 at the petrol pumps. The new 99 will be new "super" unleaded to replace the RON97.

Well most will just say, since RON95 will be cheaper, just stick to it and be done with it. As long as the car still runs, there should not be any problems. WRONG!!! Car engines are designed to run on specific octane and RON fuels. It's better to use the recommended fuel specified by the car manufacturer - bare minimum will be RON95.

Most cars on the road with electronic engine management systems will not have much problem running the new fuels. The onboard ECU (computer) will automatically adjust the ignition to compensate for the lower octane fuel to avoid "knocking." Basically to explain this, you need to understand that fuel and air mixture literally explodes in your engine (more precisely in your cylinders) to create power. If the explosion occurs on the wrong time, it will create a lot of heat and wear to damage your engine. So when this mistimed explosions happens, it's called "knocking." Tell tale signs of this happening is when you notice "pinging" sounds and bad fuel consumption.

Those with normal everyday family car will not encounter much hassle using the RON95 petrol since all we want is to just get to point b from point a. Performance seeker with high performing cars however, will have no choice but to fuel their desire and fuel guzzlers with RON99. Anyone with older generation carburator engines might need to take note of this and get more info from your mechanics to avoid expensive repair bills.

So what does all this do to us? Well, higher priced fuel not only means we have to pay more for petrol to pump to our cars. It also means every other thing that we use, eat and buy will be effected as well. Literally every consumer products and services that we use, have to involve fuel burning vehicles (unless u stay in a kampung where "kereta lembu" is still used to cart goods). Higher fuel prices means higher transportation charges hence leading to higher priced goods. It's all a chain reaction. Basic economics dictates that price increase and high demands will lead to the inflation phenomenon. When this happens, you and i will spend more and save less for the same amount of income. Anyone thinks their salary increments is covering their increase expenses? You get my drift? In the long run, those in the lower and middle income group (me and most of you included) will suffer.

Sorry for the lecture on automotive engineering and economics. Hehehehe, both are among my favourite subjects along with politics and history. I just feel that all this shit needs to be informed to the masses to wake them up to reality. Life ain't rosy in bolehland anymore. It's time to speak our minds and work together to solve this issue and not swept it under the carpet.

So what say you Petronas, "Barang Naik" and Pak Lah?

PS: It's now widely reported the prices will be allowed to fluctuate according to market forces by August. So expect petrol prices to hit the roof at MYR 4-5 per liter.

UPDATE: PETROL PRICE INCREASED TO MYR 2.70 AFTER 12AM TONITE. NO ANNOUNCEMENT ON 2 NEW CLASS OF FUEL.

-JonC-