Mood: Meh
Reading: Bird flu strain found in Italy: health ministry
Currently listening to: Fly - Sugar Ray
Quote of the day: "The important thing is not to stop questioning." - Albert Einstein

I know i should really be typing out a post on the events pertaining to the last two weeks but i've opted for something significantly shorter (and more practical for myself and for others who might want to take part in the various activities). Its also something with which i hope to provide as an answer to those who wonder why i'm always so busy/sleepy.

So i hereby present to you - "The Mundane Life of Pat" (aka "My Crazy Weekly Schedule"):

Monday:

8:30am - Wake up
9:00am - Arrive at work
2:00pm - Go home for lunch/nap/chores
3:00pm - Get back to work
6:00pm - Officially the end of the working day (although nowadays it seems 7:30pm is de rigeur)
7:00pm - Gym
8:30pm - Dinner
9:30pm - Meeting with Vikram
12:00am - Go home
4-5am - Sleep

Tuesday:

8:30am - Wake up
9:00am - Arrive at work
2:00pm - Go home for lunch/nap/chores
3:00pm - Get back to work
6:00pm - Officially the end of the working day.
7:00pm - Badminton/Tennis/Squash depending on the weather and court availability
8:30pm - Dinner
9:30pm - Meeting with Chen Hoe about our side project
12:00am - Go home
4-5am - Sleep

Wednesday

8:30am - Wake up
9:00am - Arrive at work
2:00pm - Go home for lunch/nap/chores
3:00pm - Get back to work
6:00pm - Officially the end of the working day.
7:00pm - Gym
8:30pm - Dinner
10:00pm - Mamak/Coffee with the gang. Also doubles as our Short Film Project Meeting.
12:30am - Go home
4-5am - Sleep

Thursday

8:30am - Wake up
9:00am - Arrive at work
2:00pm - Go home for lunch/nap/chores
3:00pm - Get back to work
6:00pm - Officially the end of the working day.
7:00pm - Badminton/Squash/Tennis
8:30pm - Dinner
9:00pm - Dance/Salsa session with the gang, typically followed by mamak.
12:00am - Go home
4-5am - Sleep

Friday

8:30am - Wake up (TGIF!!!)
9:00am - Arrive at work
2:00pm - Go home for lunch/nap/chores
3:00pm - Get back to work
6:00pm - Officially the end of the working day.
7:00pm - Gym
8:30pm - Dinner
9:30pm - Dinner with friends and general bumming around.
11:00pm - Go to Alvin's place to play AD&D with the gang. Also kopi and shisha.
4-5am - Go home and sleep

Saturday

11:30am - Wake up. Sometimes there's even tennis.
12:30pm - Go to the club for lunch with the parents.
1:30pm - Ballroom Dancing lessons.
2:30pm - Some quick salsa practice.
3:30pm - Go home and take a shower/surf the net/etc.
4:30pm - French class at the Alliance Francais
7:30pm - End of French class *groan*
8:30pm - Weekly dinner event (i usually get there at 8pm to make sure everything is in place)
11:00pm - Weekly after-dinner event
1:00am - Coffee & shisha (AD&D?) at Alvin's place
4-5am - Go home and sleep.

Sunday

12-1pm - Wake up. Curse.
1:30pm - Driving range with the guys (usually at 1Utama)
2:30pm - Lunch at kopitiam at Taman Tun.
3:00pm - Badminton/Tennis/Swimming with the gang.
5:00pm - 100 Pluses at La Deli
6:00pm - Bum around/dinner at home
9:30pm - Coffee/mamak with the gang. Officially its a full-blown Short Movie Project Meeting
12am - Go home.
4-5am - Sleep.

...

Monotonous no? And it runs like clockwork (almost) every week depending on various factors involved. Occasionally (ok, frequently these days) i even attend certain events/meetings and have to doff my gym/tennis from the schedule as required.

Still... i haven't been to the gym in three weeks straight now...

Oh right - some points of note.

Events

Dance Session: Thats right, every Thursday night at 9pm i organise a dance session at Albert's condo where i'll be practicing/teaching salsa dancing to those who are interested. However, its not just about that - its also an opportunity for people to practice and even learn other dances such as ballroom (cha cha, waltz, tango, etc.) or even the Melbourne Shuffle as taught by Alvin! All are welcome!

Badminton/Tennis/Squash: I actively play these sports every Tueday (7pm), Thursday (7pm) & Sunday (usually 3pm with Sunday being the more popular by far). We're always on the lookout for new opponents so if you're up for some exercise come on down and i'll give you a game or two!

AD&D (Advanced Dungeons & Dragons): Very geeky but fun. Albert and i are co-GMs and we will be running D&D sessions every Friday night (11pm - and maybe Sat late night as well if we're up to it) at Alvin's place. If you're interested in joining us for our role-playing shenanigans then by all means let us know (we have 6 people, aside from us, who are playing so far)! :)

Short Movie Project: Another side project of mine which i'm pretty excited about - i'll just extract this text from an email i wrote earlier to help describe it...

...I don't know about you guys but i basically see all of this as a more long-term commitment - in many ways i hope that we will be able to generate approximately one short film a month with the main objectives being:

1. Allowing us all an outlet at expressing ourselves through the creation of a short visual experience. Everyone has a story to tell, i'm sure, and this is your chance to tell it! :)

2. I think it would be good if everyone were given a chance at writing/directing/filming/editing each time and to bond, as friends, through the sum of our shared experiences in making the movies. In some ways you could see this as an opportunity for each of us to learn something new that might come in handy in the future (for example, if you're a budding copywriter this is a great opportunity to test the waters to experience, first hand, the limits and real difficulties that may come with such a production - in addition to this a few of you have been taught institutionally to do such things - such as filming/editing/etc. - and it would be good to learn how to do these of you guys).

3. Doing something productive and creative with our spare time. Oh, and keeping us off the streets and drugs. ;p

Sooo... in a nutshell i kinda see it happening like this: We meet up at the beginning of each time frame (the beginning of the month, or bimonthly) and either throw around ideas until we like one that somebody comes up with or we could even take in turns for each person to be the writer and/or director and we go out to get the props, realisations, actors, etc., film it and finish the editing by the end of the timeframe, only to restart the process again in the following cycle. I really do see it as a community effort - each and every person should get their chance at taking the lead and bringing their vision to the screen while the rest of us will help to make it happen! Of course, bear in mind that the key words here should be LOW and BUDGET ok? If there are any costs i think it fair that we share them...

More information (and hopefully a website!) in the near future, but its pretty cool no? And yes, it really is happening! :)

So, there y'go... i've got a lot on my plate at the moment and aside from these, and work, i'm starting a business project with my father on the side, another one with Chen Hoe (ah, a long cherished dream of ours), and even one with Vikram... which kinda explains all those 4-5am sleeping times during the week eh?

Seriously though - there are busy days ahead.

Oops, 5am! Sleepy time...


Blog Post Of The Day

Die Kunst der Gould [Jolly Lucifer]

"...I have always had trouble reconciling organized religion with free thought. Often found difficulty in rationalizing pre-ordainment, Nirvana, heaven, hell, the eucharist, sacrilege, the sacrament, religious ceremony and righteous justice.

I refuse to throw my weight behind a topic that has shed the blood of innocents in its quest for self-justification since the dawn of time. I refuse to be a blind disciple.

My harshness aside, I do respect religion as long as it is not used to further a man-made cause. For that is what I believe all religions are: Man-made. Any self-respecting deity would find religion beneath them. Better to leave it to a bunch of monkeys to quibble over who has the bigger Divine Stick. The only god in organized religion is Power.

So, I do not believe in organized religion. I believe there may be a place for it in this world, as long as it does not try to actually do anything.

Do I believe in God?

I believe in Bach."