Surge in concerts

There's a surge in the number of concerts in this couple of weeks, don't you think? 1st there's the Pussy Cat Dolls, then INXS coming too, of course there's Jim Brickman and not forgetting Four Play, I hear Alan Tam is coming over too...the couple of months or past year has been dry until recently...pretty good since the last one I went was Linkin Park @ Merdeka Stadium. Hoping to go for the Jim Brickman one but haven't got the time...Four Play's sound cool too...well just have to wait and see how...

Anyway, went to SP Setia's Night of the Stars - Victor Wong and Emil Chau Concert last Saturday, great concert, good sound system, great showmanship from Emil!! wasn't hot, I even tot it was going to rain but thank god it didn't happen since it was an opened-air concert!! not too crowded eventhough 40,000 people was there, was organised very nicely, ample parking space...good job by SP Setia!! Kudos to you...

Back to winning ways...finally

Leeds won finally after a few draws and lost pre-season games...This time a win over League One side Nottingham Forest at the City Ground. A goal each from Healy and Bakke, and an goal from a Forest fellow.

Looks like a full 1st 11 to me, don't you think so - Sullivan (Ward 87min), Kelly, Butler, Lewis (Morris 46min), Harding, Kilgallon (Gregan 46 min), Stone (Bayly 70min), Carole, Bakke (Howson 90min), Moore (Beckford 60min), Healy (Blake 65min).

World No 1 falls to youngster...

As i was blogging a couple of days back on Chong Wei's progress...well our fren lost to an upcoming, giant killer Chen Yu a 20 year old chinese unseeded player...this will definetely affect Chong Wei's seedings in the World Championships in Madrid coming September....

Another jaguh kampung in the making? Nah!! i still think he's still progressing...just rather slowly and steadyly

Another player off to the Blades

looks like another player is off to the Blades, this time its keeper Bennet, he'll be joining Hulse there.

Do we have any *reliable* backup keepers? hmmm....

A keeper on the shopping list Mr Blackwell?

update on HGF

Anything happened? nope, not that i know off....but here's some interesting news i read in yesterday's NST...

it seems that the Taiwan performing pop stars will try to appease these spirits so their concerts won't be spooked. Even Black Eyed Peas (yeah!! you know, my hump..my hump..my hump) will be burning incense sticks, make offerings of fruit, pork and chicken before their concert.

One other performer Stefanie Sun, will preside over a ghost-worshipping ceremony at the concerts. Her producer has even cautioned their stage workers against saying anything that might annoy the ghost in the concert area.

Lastly, Irish boy band Westlife is believed to be burning some incense and link arms and pray for peace at their concert.

What? Lost again?!

Leeds United suffered a second successive pre-season set-back when they went down to a lively and battling Scunthorpe United side who came from behind to win at Glanford Park. ahhhhhh!!!

Kevin Blackwell supposedly named a strong squad for the trip to Glanford Park....but...still lost 2-1....anyway a few names are not on the sheet or 1st 11 - Healy, Lewis, Griffiths, Stone, etc...

trying to console myself....

Zune? apa tu...

A direct competition with Ipod?

The Zune brand is being billed as a "music and entertainment" project aimed at "connecting with others to discover new music and entertainment and deliver a family of hardware and software products" - Microsoft's GM of marketing, Chris Stephenson

check out www.engadget.com for more info

Sell Hulse?

Sell Hulse? Why?! He's been Leeds top scorer last season...looks like we'll have to depend on healy, blakey, moore? the new guy beckford? and........cresswell...btw he's injured isn't he?

Good luck Hulse @ the blades

Seventh Month aka Hungry Ghost Festival

just a note...tomorrow is the 1st day of the Seventh Month aka start of the Hungry Ghost Festival....ooooohhhh......scary....

Leeds first pre-season defeat

Aisay! mana boleh?! How come can lose?! then again its not Leeds' first eleven, has some new faces, some trialist, etc...here's the news...

Leeds United suffered their first pre-season defeat of the campaign after going down 2-1 at Hartlepool United.

James Brown opened the scoring for the League Two side after just 14 minutes before doubling their advantage early in the second half.

Steve Stone pulled a goal back for Leeds on the hour-mark, but it wasn't enough and after a good spell of pressure from United, the tempo slowed as both sides made changes.

Dave Livermore, a £250,000 signing from Millwall, made his full debut for Leeds while Robbie Elliot, who has joined on trial after turning down a deal at Newcastle United, played the full 90 minutes at left back. Former Celtic youngster Mark Fotheringham also featured in midfield after joining on trial.

Photocopies also can...

Malaysians can now carry a photocopy of their MyKad for initial identification purposes.

“But make sure your immediate family members know where your MyKad is kept so that they can bring it to the concerned authority if you are detained or stopped when using the photocopy document.”

“As long as you can produce your MyKad in a reasonable amount of time, no action will be taken,” says Deputy Home Affairs Minister Datuk Tan Chai Ho.

Not so jaguh kampung after all...

Chong Wei may have lost to Lin Dan the third time around this year but if you monitor the progress he has made and the determination he has, its not too bad after all.

Chong Wei toiled for more than an hour in his 18-21, 21-18, 18-21 defeat by the second seed in the Macau Open Finals.

keep it up and make Malaysia proud!!

Unlucky

Unlucky

adj. un·luck·i·er, un·luck·i·est

1. Subjected to or marked by misfortune.

2. Resulting or likely to result in misfortune; inauspicious.

3. Not producing the desired outcome; disappointing.

Adj.	1.	unlucky - having or bringing misfortune; "Friday the 13th is an unlucky date" luckless unfortunate - not favored by fortune; marked or accompanied by or resulting in ill fortune; "an unfortunate turn of events"; "an unfortunate decision"; "unfortunate investments"; "an unfortunate night for all concerned" luck - having or bringing good fortune; "my lucky day"
	2.	unlucky - marked by or promising bad fortune; "their business venture was doomed from the start"; "an ill-fated business venture"; "an ill-starred romance"; "the unlucky prisoner was again put in irons"- W.H.Prescott ill-fated, ill-omened, ill-starred, doomed unfortunate - not favored by fortune; marked or accompanied by or resulting in ill fortune; "an unfortunate turn of events"; "an unfortunate decision"; "unfortunate investments"; "an unfortunate night for all concerned"

Leeds United away kit

The new Leeds United away kit will be worn for the first time at Darlington tonight.

The yellow kit, as previewed by midfielder Shaun Derry, is officially launched on Saturday July 29 at club stores.

Congratulations to May!!!

Congratulations to May on her 4th child, a boy....finally :-) on 20th July 2006...weight 2.8Kg...

Sad

Sad

abbr. seasonal affective disorder

adj. sad·der, sad·dest

1. Affected or characterized by sorrow or unhappiness.

2. Expressive of sorrow or unhappiness.

Adj.	1.	sad - experiencing or showing sorrow or unhappiness; "feeling sad because his dog had died"; "Better by far that you should forget and smile / Than that you should remember and be sad"- Christina Rossetti glad - showing or causing joy and pleasure; especially made happy; "glad you are here"; "glad that they succeeded"; "gave a glad shout"; "a glad smile"; "heard the glad news"; "a glad occasion"
	2.	sad - of things that make you feel sad; "sad news"; "she doesn't like sad movies"; "it was a very sad story"; "When I am dead, my dearest, / Sing no sad songs for me"- Christina Rossetti sorrowful - experiencing or marked by or expressing sorrow especially that associated with irreparable loss; "sorrowful widows"; "a sorrowful tale of death and despair"; "sorrowful news"; "even in laughter the heart is sorrowful"- Proverbs 14:13
	3.	sad - bad; unfortunate; "my finances were in a deplorable state"; "a lamentable decision"; "her clothes were in sad shape"; "a sorry state of affairs" deplorable, distressing, lamentable, pitiful, sorry bad - having undesirable or negative qualities; "a bad report card"; "his sloppy appearance made a bad impression"; "a bad little boy"; "clothes in bad shape"; "a bad cut"; "bad luck"; "the news was very bad"; "the reviews were bad"; "the pay is bad"; "it was a bad light for reading"; "the movie was a bad choice"

The rain...the rain...

the rain...the rain....it came, it went...pretty quickly...that sums it....

the 1st time it came, very heavy, very sudden and it lasted less than 1 minute...err what happened there?!

the 2nd time it came, not as heavy as the 1st, lasted a biiiiit longer...about 1/2 hour....whats going here?

some cloud seeding action going on here? hmmm

now its damn hot again....and i'm feeling the effect, the throat is dry...runny nose, cough coming back...i'm more sick this year compared to the past years combined!!

Ping Pong aka Table Tennis

for once pong has got me sweating like playing Squash...and the room we played last night didn't have any fan and we couldn't find the air-condition switch and remote control, so how? played with the windows slightly open...can't open too big else the ball might fall to the ground floor...btw the room is on the 1st floor. infact it did go down..Gene hit it so accurately the ball went thru the narrow gap in the window...thank god we had spare balls...

Ping Pong aka Table tennis is one of the most popular sports in the world in terms of player numbers, as well as being one of the newest of the major sports.

Pong is a sport where two or four players hit a ball back and forth to each other, with a wooden racket with rubber padding aka bat/pad on a table, in a manner similar to tennis. The rules are slightly different, but the concept is essentially the same. did you know Pong is an Olympic sport and "ping-pong" is the recreational name, the offficial name is table tennis.

Play is fast and demands possibly the quickest reactions of any sport. A skilled player can impart spin to the ball which makes its bounce difficult to predict or return with confidence. Spin combined with speed makes table tennis an exciting sport to play as well as to watch. The difference between Olympic level play and the average home recreational player is tremendous. Often a proper foundation of table tennis skills is required to understand how competitive players can do what seems impossible to the untrained eye.

The winner is the first to score 11 points, with each player alternating serves every 2 points. At 10-10 (or duece) the players alternate with every serve. The winner is the first person to gain a clear two points advantage over his opponent. The 11 point game is an International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) changed in 2001. The 21 point game is still widely played at recreational level. All games played at national level and at international tournaments are played to 11 points in either a best of five (5) games (preliminaries) or best of seven (7) games format (championship matches).

And did you know Pong is originated from England as an after dinner amusement for upper class victorians in the 1880s, all this while I tot it was from the Chinese since they're the ones doing very well in this game :-). Mimicking the game of tennis in an indoor environment, everyday objects were originally used to act as the equipment. A line of books would be the net, a rounded top of a Champagne cork or knot of string as the ball, and a cigar box lid as the bat.

The Haze...not too bad today

Woke up this morning...thinking to myself...is the haze worst today?...went to the door, drew the curtain...hmmmm....looks ok! kinda clear, push the glass door....hey no smell lar today!! its hell a lot better today...lets hope it keeps this way and btw, where's the rain?

The Haze....the haze....

The haze....the haze......the haze is back!! aaaahhhh!!!!

drew the curtain this morning and hmm...somethings not right...is that mist or haze?

opened the glass door and aaaaahhhhhhhh smoke smell!!!

visibility is rather poor in Klang this morning..approximately 3-5 Kilometers...

here we go again...

HGF...

now that we know about HGF..have you ever wonder why you never get invited to wedding dinners during these times - seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar? its for the same reason lar...however the modern type will still carry on...else you've got no place to hold your dinner especially this year, since there's 2 seventh months..i've got a friend who had no choice but to book a hotel/restaruant in Shah Alam (she stays at Setapak btw) as all the hotels and restaurants are fully booked after the seventh months.

Seventh Month...

I'm one of those, fascinated by the paranormal phenomena...anything to do with ghost, UFO, bermuda triangle, jersey devil, anything...not that i believe them or not, just fascinated...and this coming seventh month of the chinese calendar making it more interesting...why you ask? supposedly there's 2 seventh months this year...and still why you ask? read on...

The seventh month of the chinese calendar month is also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival (HGF). Since there's 2 seventh months, it makes it more interesting, remember your mother and grandma told you not to leave your house after dark :-). However, as claimed HGF is *celebrated* only once eventhough there's 2 seventh months.

BTW, before talking about HGF, you'll be wondering why there's 2 seventh months. According to the Chinese lunar calendar which is based on the movement of the moon and sun (duh..). A lunar year has got 12 months with 29 or 30 days compared to our *normal* calendar which has 30 or 31 days except for Feb. Based on this, there's a *short* of couple of days..to compensate for these days, a leap month (not too sure how often though!) is required, like the *normal* calendar leap year (every four years 1 day extra to Feb).

Back to our main topic, this year's leap month is the seventh month aka HGF, so twice the fun? After doing *some* research, HGF is not a religion thingy, it has nothing to do with Buddhism or Toaism but just plain Chinese old folks believe..the believe of ghost wandering around roaming the streets after dark.

During this month, you can see people preparing offerings of food and *paper money* by the road side. It is believed that during this time, the gates of Hades are wide open releasing spirit in to our world...ooh spooky....they so call *lepak* with us lah...these offering are to please them as some say they're harmful. Some go to the extend of providing entertainment like chinese opera shows, not for us living souls though.

to be continued...and oh yes! the seventh month starts July 25th to Aug 23rd..the 1st month lah

Kopi...

KOPI is a beverage , served hot or with ice, prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant. The seeds are known as coffee beans (thats where the high class kopi shop got its name). Here's somehing interesting, kopi happens to be the second most commonly traded commodity in the world, trailing only petroleum, and the most consumed beverage. In total, 6.7 million tonnes of kopi were produced annually in 1998-2000, forecast to rise to 7 million tonnes annually by 2010. Kopi is a chief source of caffeine besides tea. Coffee has its history back as far as the 9th century. It was said to originate from Ethiopia and spread to the rest of the world via Egypt and Europe. Over the ages, coffee has met both resistance and acceptance by many.

To me, KOPI-O ice *kau-kau* is the coffee :-)

Dennis: JPM still a McLaren man size

Juan Pablo Montoya may yet return to the cockpit of a McLaren Formula 1 car before the end of the season, according to team boss Ron Dennis.

sure hope it's true, we can atleast see him race one last time.

Firefox use growing

I'm a big fan of Firefox, been using it since....since....hmmm i can't seem to remember, I can only say I was introduced to Firefox by Tay, the gadget fellow...so its good news that Firefox use growing around the world, and here's a snippet of the news from computerworld.

----------------------
After a brief period of little growth this spring, The Mozilla Foundation's open-source Firefox Web browser is again gaining ground on Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer (IE).

In its latest study on Web browser usage, Netherlands-based OneStat.com said Sunday that Firefox gained 1.14% in June and is now used by 12.93% of surfers. That's up from 11.79% who used Firefox in May, while IE use declined by 2.12% to 83.05%.

"We thought that Firefox growth had slowed down," said Niels Brinkman, a co-founder of OneStat.com. "It seems it's increasing again. That's a little bit of a surprise to us."

----------------------

*kewl!!* now to wait for v2.0

JPM out sooner then later...

Juan Pablo Montoya will step down from his McLaren race seat with immediate effect.

The team announced on Tuesday that Pedro de la Rosa will take the Colombian's place from the French GP.

How sad!! good luck in the Nascar race...

Leeds United Home Kit Launch

HOME KIT LAUNCH DATE ANNOUNCED

Leeds United's new exciting home kit will be officially launched on Saturday, July 15.

But fans who travel to Norway to see Kevin Blackwell's men in pre-season action will be able to see the kit in use for the first time on Thursday, July 13, as United will wear the new strip for their opening tour game against FK Sparta Sarpsborg.

United will also wear the new strip for their second tour game against FK Ulf Sandnes on Monday, July 17.

The new kit is white with a navy and yellow royal trim.

Interesting world we live in...

I say, what a world we live in...interesting don't you think...at first you have the Genies, Ghost, Coffin? Exhibition @ the Shah Alam museum...don't know how true and genuine are these exhibits - the mermaid, the half women half snake thingy, etc. and claimed to be captured by a group of bomohs

and now you have women, many of them elderly and chinese somemore *sigh*, "kena" con of their money and jewellery (RM3.2mil) to mediums and bomohs last year.

What an interesting world we live in...believe it or not!

JPM to quit F1 for Nascar...

Juan Pablo Montoya says he made the shock decision to abandon Formula 1 and switch to NASCAR because it was too good an opportunity to pass up.

The Colombian stunned the racing world on Sunday when he announced that he would be taking up stock car racing in 2007.

Elaborating on the reasons for his decision in a press conference at Chicagoland, Montoya insisted that he had F1 offers on the table but that none of them were as appealing as pursuing a new career in NASCAR.

It's a shame to see him go, the raw and aggresive driver he is, compared to schumi and the iceman...all the best John...one of my favourite drivers...

Squash princess wins 1st title of the year

Top seed Nicol David dethroned Rachael Grinham as the Qatar Airways Challenge champion in an enthralling final. It was anybody's for two games as they traded their full repertoire of shots. Rachael was playing beautifully, keeping Nicol on the back foot by mixing lobs, drives, volleys and boasts in equal measure.Rachael kept the upper hand at the start of the second, taking a 5-3 lead, but two errors let Nicol level and signalled a change in the match.In fact Rachael was not to score another point as Nicol upped the pace, volleyed everything she could and took control of the match as Rachael visibly tired.The 9-0, 9-0 scoreline in the last two games didn't reflect the match, but while Rachael was still contesting the rallies she couldn't find the answer to Nicol's pace and consistency.The inevitable was accepted for the last few points and a new champion was crowned.

Game one:Rachael takes the first game after some early errors by Nicol put her behind. Rachael using the lob well, and staying on top as the rallies became longer as the game went on ... 18m

Game two:At 2-all a court light blows, slightly dark in back left corner but both players agree to carry on. Rachael goes 5-3 up but with both players using every shot in the book in long, crafted rallies Nicol comes back into it to level ... 19m

Game three:Nicol takes early charge with winners from a variety of shots, races to 5-0. Rachael steadies, extends the rallies and wins a few serves, but can't stop Nicol taking the next four points, finishing on a service return into the tin ... 6m

Game four:Long rallies to start, then two quick points for Nicol, then two tins from Rachael. A stroke takes it to 5-0, another three quick tins to 8-0 match ball as Rachael seemingly accepts the inevitable. A final long rally sees Rachael's lob go out ... Nicol is the champion ... 7m

"I learned from the first game as the match progressed."I started to make her run around the court, and she started to feel it, I could sense her gasping for breath."The scoreline makes it look as if the last two games were one-sided, but it was much harder than that."Now I've got the Malaysian Open coming up in my hometown, and I'll have to change my approach. Making comebacks all the time isn't a good plan ..."I'm delighted to win this event for the first time, it's been a great week and the organisers and sponsors have done us all proud." - Nicol David

Jokes of the day

Check out my new Jokes..laugh of the day blog @ http://jules-jokes.blogspot.com

2 cool jokes everyday...i hope :-)

Song of the day has moved...

Song of the day has moved to http://jules-songs.blogspot.com

Song of the day - 06/07/2006

I don't wanna miss a thing by Aerosmith, year 1998

Ronaldinho statue set a blaze

ANGRY Brazil fans have destroyed a seven-metre tall statue of world player of the year Ronaldinho following the national team's World Cup quarter-final defeat by France.

The statue, made out of resin and iron, in the southern town of Chapeco in Santa Catarina state, was burnt after the Selecao's 1-0 defeat by Les Bleus, according to the local mayor's spokesperson.

"All that's left is a burnt out metal skeleton of a statue," the source said.

The monument, depicting Ronaldinho with a ball, was unveiled two years ago to celebrate the player's first world footballer of the year award in 2004.

The Barcelona forward, who is from the neighbouring Rio Grande do Sul state, was a major disappointment for Brazil during the tournament, failing to shine as he had done all season in his Barcelona club colours.

Agence France-Presse

wait

wait....waiting....waited....somemore waiting...... it continues...

Song of the day - 05/07/2006

Once in a lifetime by Gregorian, year 1991

Goals...

Goals...not the World Cup ones...but the other...

A study was done on the graduates of one Harvard class 30 years later..it has found that

- 80% had no specific goals
- 15% had ones they only thought about and
- 5% had written goals (dreams with dateline!)

The 5% measured by NET ASSETS, had not only surpassed the goals they wrote down for themselves but as a group, had more NET WORTH than the other 95% combined.

Pretty impressive don't you think?!

Give me a store clerk with a goal and I will give you a man who will make history. Give me a man without a goal, and I will give you a store clerk - J.C. Penny

Song of the day - 04/07/2006

Your Song (2002) by Elton John featuring Alessandro Safina, year 2002

Ever wondered if it's true?!

Lorenz's Law of Mechanical Repair:
After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch.

Anthony's Law of the Workshop:
Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner.

Kovac's Conundrum:
When you dial a wrong number,you never get an engaged one.

Cannon's Karmic Law:
If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the next morning you will have a flat tire.

O'brien's Variation Law:
If you change queues, the one you have left will start to move faster than the one you are in now.

BELL'S THEOREM
When the body is immersed in water , the telephone rings.

RUBY'S PRINCIPLE OF CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
The probability of meeting someone you know increases when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.

WILLOUGHBY'S LAW
When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will.

ZADRA'S LAW OF BIOMECHANICS
The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.

BREDA'S RULE
At any event, the people whose seats are furthest from the aisle arrive last.

OWEN'S LAW
As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffeee is cold.

HOWDEN'S LAW
You remember you have to mail a letter only when you're near the mailbox.

Courtesy of Evelyn Ting...

Song of the day - 03/07/2006

Fight for your right by Beastie Boys, year 1986