The Worst is Over....

I'm back, everyone!

Everyone...I use the term loosely...It seems that despite my short period of absence, my blog has yet to gain national fame!

By now, I should be a mysterious online celeb, anonymous to all but known by many! Its strange that I have not set the nation alight with my remarkable wit and prose...

Perhaps there is no space in the public sphere for my immense intellect...I cannot expect too much from society...Most of you are too shallow to comprehend the vastness of my wisdom!

Anyway, for those of the non-existent 'you' that were wondering where I've been the last few days, well...My exams are finally over, and I have come through the long and excruciating endeavour pretty much unscathed and rejuvenated!

There is a warm rush of relief that rushes over people the moment they walk out of an examination hall after the very last paper...Right now, I'm basking in its glory!

Life feels so good right now!! Unfortunately, it's gonna suck again tomorrow...I gotta get back to my job, and the prospect of employment seems like such a bother..

I need a vacation...More importantly, I need money so i can afford a vacation...

I guess that's why I gotta go to work...Its all just one big vicious cycle!

I'm gonna go and take a nice afternoon nap right now...It's nice to be a free man again, and I look forward to writing more often for your reading pleasure.

I leave you with sound advice from everybody's favourite pothead, Bob Marley: "Don't worry about a thing...cos every little thing is gonna be alright."

Keep on smiling, people, and rock on.

This is Dreamer, signing out.

Del Piero and Me...

A hearty Aloha to All...

I've just witnessed a class act in the form of Del Piero scoring two sublime goals against a hapless Real Madrid side.

I've always been a huge admirer of the genius of the Italian wizard, but i must admit, his recent resurgence in the champions league has left even me astounded.



Believe it or not, the crafty striker is already 34 years old...He's a relic in professional footballing terms!!

Nobody's told him that though, and he's playing like a teenager on steroids. Its enough to plunge a stake through my brittle heart...

If i haven't already said so (and I'm pretty sure i haven't), I'm 27 years of age as of now, and in my mind, i am way past my footballing prime. Throughout my life, I have had a love-hate relationship with the beautiful game, which has riddled me with a plague of injuries.

I remember a time when i could run circles around defenders, and had enough energy to play two games in a row. I was a speed-demon back then, but that was a long time ago, and my ligaments are not what they used to be.

Professional footballers used to be older than me...They were once grown men that i could look up to and aspire to be..Now, when i stop to think about it, I'm about as old as Robbie Keane and Steven Gerrard..and look what they've achieved compared to me!!

Damn, just looking at the young punks who play for Arsenal is enough to plunge me into despair..Most of them are in their teens, and earn in a week more than I'm likely to ever earn in a year!!

The thought is pretty sickening...It sorta drives home the fact that my best years are now firmly behind me...I can no longer dream of one day scoring at the KOP end of Anfield for my beloved reds..Heck..i can't even dream of playing as a reserve for Sembawang FC!!

The sweet-scented innocence of my childhood dreams has been lost forever in the years that have swept by oh so quickly and ruthlessly.. The naive idealism of my youth has been tainted by the filth that reality has cast my way... And anything, once tainted, can never be pure again...

Or can it..? Looking at my haggard old hero Del Piero gliding past defenders like a figure skater on green ice gives me renewed strength to start dreaming new dreams all over again...

The footballing maestro had it in him to survive relegation, and to resurrect his career in the highest level of professional football with the club he loves so dearly..

Many would have given in at his age, but the courage that he has shown to dare to dream such grand dreams should be a lesson to us all.

Del Piero has taught me to never ever stop dreaming, because in this life, our dreams and our hopes are all we have to live for. I might not ever be the professional footballer i once dreamed of being when i was a kid, but if i dare to dream big enough, then who knows..

Maybe one day i might just get to score that goal at the KOP end after all...I'd probably have to buy the whole stadium first, though!

Gee...sometimes the optimism i show in these blog entries freaks me out..what happened to the perpetual cynic I'm so used to being? He's probably not as eloquent as the pipsqueak optimist in me, and chooses to hide his face when I'm at the keyboard.

Nonetheless, for all the middle-aged cronies out there, i hope this entry has been as uplifting for you as it has been for me.

I leave you with a sense of the grandness of my dreams for a better world, and the reason why i call myself Dreamer, summed up in the words so aptly quoted by Nelson Mendela....

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure"

Shine on, people, shine on.

This is Dreamer, signing out.

Do We Really Need to Know....?

Hey Guys...

I'm feeling all sombre today because some friends of mine have been adversely affected by something that's been posted on Stomp recently.

Now, I'm not gonna talk about what they did, or whether it was right or wrong (though i do feel that while what they did wasn't entirely 'right', it certainly wasn't wrong).

No, what i do wanna discuss is the voyeuristic pleasure so many Singaporeans derive from publicly crucifying others on an Internet forum.

Its disgusts me that someone would take a photo of two ladies sharing a table for four at Carls Junior, just to complain about it on what is essentially an online platform for our national newspaper!

If the photographer, or anyone for that matter, had really wanted to share the table, perhaps they should have had the cojones to try asking for it? The whole thing is absolutely ridiculous and appalling.

While this incident is not the one that has affected my group of friends, it is the behaviour of our dear Stompers, and not the event itself, that I'm trying to pin point.

Why are these Stompers so quick to condemn even the slightest misdemeanour? Why do they stand on this moral high ground and judge others like they have some god-given mandate?

It seems to me our dear Stompers are a deprived bunch, who crave attention and fame through any means possible. Nothing is too unimportant if it gives them their 15 minutes of showtime in their pathetic limelight.

I blame it on society's over-reliance on computers. Kids learn to do everything through PCs these days, and they grow up not knowing how to accomplish anything face-to-face in the real world.

It is so much easier to air a grievance anonymously online than it is to actually resolve the matter personally in the real world. Society has lost its balls. They have been misplaced in cyberspace.

Please, please please, do me a favour. The next time you see someone 'hogging' a table at a KFC, don't take out your 5 mega pixel camera phone with touch-screen display. Try asking instead, "Is this seat taken?"

It's a whole lot less troublesome, and you'll actually end up with a seat, and a smile on your face for having the courage to speak up.

My blood is on the verge of boiling, and overall, it has been a bad day. I have been royally pissed off by a team of petty footballers, as well as by a whole community of lame and voyeuristic Stompers.

Nonetheless, I shall endeavour to dispose of all my negative energy, calm my inner being, and project beautiful green waves of warmth and peace upon my as-of-yet nonexistent audience.

I leave you with my heartfelt blessings, and a reminder from John Lennon that "Love is free, Free is love."

This is Dreamer, signing out.

Skinny Twits Should Learn to Shut Up...

G'day Mates...

Its a Sunday evening and I'm exhausted from a day spent running around in the blazing sun, chasing a ball with 21 other people.

This is despite the fact that my exams are in four days time. Why do i do this to myself?

As much as i love football, I'm not sure if today's game was worth the effort. The opponents were a bunch of jack-asses, and were out looking for a fight. In the end, the game had to be cut short to prevent the outbreak of bloody violence.

Even the referee was in danger of being assaulted..whats up with this bloody team?? I'm not sure if they know it, but we weren't exactly playing for the world cup...There really is no need to get so worked up about a Sunday kick about...

Their shenanigans spoilt my bloody weekend..There was this one particular dimwit who was especially annoying...

He was this scrawny little fella, a stick figure amongst men who had an ego inversely proportionate to his size...What he based this ego on, nobody will ever know...

The words "full of hot air" seem to describe him pretty well..i wanted to smack him a few times across his skeletal face to get him to shut up, but that probably would have snapped his brittle little spine...

On the bright side, i managed to shove him off the ball a few times..no big deal though, considering a slight breeze could have done as good a job as my shoulder...

Damn...I'm all worked up from today's game...Life doesn't make much sense when your favourite past time leaves you all irritated...

I've gotta get back to my exam preps soon, and i really don't feel like it...studying is such a chore...

Nonetheless, i must persevere, and i leave you with my best wishes as always, and some words of wisdom i once heard from a friend: "Violence does not provide the insight to a solution".

This is Dreamer, signing out.

Happiness...

Happiness......Just what is 'happiness'?

To me, its a Liverpool victory and a Manchester United Defeat on the same weekend!

It's 4 in the morning, and I'm hardly prepared for my exams, but I'll be smiling in my sleep tonight.

You'll never walk alone, people!! (unless you re a united fan)

This is Dreamer, signing out.

A Glass-Full of Shit....

Greetings again!

I'm starting to get a little disillusioned about this whole blogging thing. One full day has passed and i have zero comments on my first two blog entries!

Whats going on? I was expecting to take cyberspace by storm! Instead, I'm spending this Saturday afternoon wondering if I'm just a crazy, delusional man with unrealistic dreams of grandeur....

You know, pessimism has always been one of my more endearing qualities. I've learnt that the secret to avoiding disappointment in life is to not expect anything from it. Its a safe approach to living, but at the same time, it gets you nowhere.

Sometimes, it pays to take a risk. Thomas Edison never gave up on the light bulb despite years of repeated failure. Likewise, i must persevere in my quest for online stardom! One fine day, these very words will be read by millions, and i will be an anonymous cult figure!

Muahahahahaha!!!

Anyway....speaking of pessimism...you know that whole glass-half-empty / glass-half-full cliche everyone talks about? I think the whole concept is severely flawed. Is seeing a glass as half full really being optimistic?





Well...what if it were a glass full of shit? uuurgh...i mean, if i were in Afghanistan, and some goat-herding rebel forced me to down a glass of liquefied horse poo, and i was already halfway through, i certainly wouldn't wanna look at the glass as half full!!!

No sir... That glass would definitely be half empty!! That would be the only way to look at half a glass of shit with any sort of real optimism...Unless of course a glass of shit is your idea of fun.

What I'm trying to say is this. If the objective is to get the glass empty, then a half-empty perspective is the way to go. If the objective is to fill the glass up, then by all means, stick to you shortsighted "glass-half-full" perspective. Just make sure you define the context before you go around preaching how a glass should be looked at...

There's a little useless something for you guys to think about over the weekend...You guys...where are you guys anyway?? whoever you guys are, you'd better come soon..you don't know what you're missing!

Drop me a comment, or a shout, or even a cheap-shot insult, if that's what rocks your boat...Just say something to lemme know you're there..Looking forward to the hoards of fan-mail and comments I'm about to receive...

With that, i'll leave you once again with nothing but my best wishes...Peace and love to y'all, and in the wise words of Spock, "Live long and prosper..."

This is Dreamer, signing out.

We Don't Need No Thought Control....

Wassup, Peeps....

It hasn't quite been a day, but here i am again. Studying sucks, and my head hurts. Wesley Snipes is on TV, so I'm guessing the movie sucks. I'm 5 minutes into it, and my suspicions are pretty much being confirmed the more i watch.

Am i the only one in Singapore who realises that almost all of what we see on TV was designed to cater to people with intellectually deficiencies? I honestly hope I'm not alone. I spend most of my time in front of the TV watching the Discovery Channel in the hope of actually learning something, but even that, after a while, gets repetitive.

What is it with cable TV and reruns? We Singaporeans spend big bucks on cable in order to get some decent entertainment at home. After a week, we realise we're really only paying for repeats of repeats of repeats. I'm getting so sick of seeing Friends every time i tune into star world. Aren't there better things to show, other than repeats of a glamourised soap opera?

You can't really blame society for Internet piracy when you think about all the crap broadcasting we're forced to put up with. Why should anyone pay to see Chandler fall in love with Monica for the 700th time, when we could watch on the internet a shitload of brilliant movies we've never heard of for free? Don't get me wrong; I'm not condoning Internet piracy. I'm just saying, i can understand how it might seem like a more attractive alternative.

So why do i still pay for something i don't really want? Well. I would gladly cancel my cable subscription if it didn't mean losing access to the live football action on which i am so dependant. Most people i know (most of the guys, at least) only subscribe to cable for sports, but since sports channels only come in a package with the other crap channels, we have no choice but to pay for them all.


Seems like extortion to me!! Words like "injustice" and "exploitation" spring to mind!! How bout the option of paying less only for sports? That souunds like a pretty fair deal. But wait...what about the poor multi million dollar cable companies? They'd suffer the excruciating pain of making less money with such a scheme in place. No, our exploitation must continue for the greater good!!

The situation seems dire. There isnt much we can do to change anything. I doubt my pathetic little blog's gonna make any difference. Cable prices are only gonna escalate, and in the end, we'll all just have to watch our football at overcrowded coffeeshops, with the gambling ah peks and their bottles of stout. The thought is depressing, to say the least.

Anyway......i doubt I've garnered much of an audience since my first sorry entry, but if there are any like minded pseudo-intellectual TV-hating DVD-devouring movie zealots out there reading this who feel the need to shout out and be heard, feel free to comment.

On that note, I'll leave you with some pretty hardcore advice from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, that might just change your life for the better: "Throw away your television now...Its a repeat!"

This is Dreamer, signing out.

In the beginning...

Greetings, Earthlings....

I can't believe I'm doing this. Its less than a week before my exams and I'm bored shitless. I really should be paying more attention to the book that's in front of me, but the allure of the Internet seems too much to resist.

Before I continue with my rhetoric, i guess it would be appropriate for me to let you guys (and gals, in case you wanna be all PC about it) know a little about myself. Well............ let's see....

The thing is i kinda wanna remain semi-anonymous, and so I'm having a tough time deciding how much about myself i should reveal. I guess the Sherlock Holmes' out there would have already deduced that I'm a student, so good on you for that. (For the not-so-astute, refer to the first paragraph.)

I'm also an enthusiastic member of Singapore's proud and exemplary workforce, and I'm in my late twenties. I study part-time, though i don't really know why, and i love sports, movies and music.

I also read alot (only fiction), and one day i hope to capitalise on all my passions by becoming a football journalist on weekdays and a rockstar and movie producer on alternate weekends.

I've always thought blogging was lame and self-indulgent. This opinion has been substantiated by years of observation, and i often find myself nauseated by the foul stench of lameness emanating from most Singaporean online wordsmiths.

It seems highly contradictory of me to say such things, and create my own blog regardless. So why do i persist? I guess boredom is the main reason. In this difficult week leading up to my examinations, I'd do anything to avoid looking at my books for a few more minutes.

I don't know if anybody is actually gonna read this crap, but if you've already gone this far through my entry, i apologise for wasting 5 minutes of your life. You should have been doing something more useful, like following up on the US presidential elections, or thinking of solutions to end world poverty. Shame on you.

Nonetheless, I will continue to make new entries to this infant blog, and if you think what you've read was in the slightest bit interesting, please do let me know. (That is possible right? I mean, there are ways you could leave comments and stuff? This whole blogging thing is alien to me.)

This has somehow been therapeutic. The art of creative expression is truly medicinal, unless my feelings deceive me. I've not much else to say for now, and so i leave you with my blessings and warmest regards. Peace and love to all.

This is Dreamer, signing out.