Desmond and Stupid Game Show Answers.

Suddenly the 1980s seem so much cooler.
Although, 1987 has always been so.

(While it may be so that I embedded the videos, view at your own risk. I take no responsibility for the things you might hear, or the stares you might receive from bewildered family members.)

(Not kidding about the stares. Turn volumn down.)

Desmond and the Sky High Mic.

Along with Carrie Underwood and Melinda Doolittle, Michael Johns shares a special place in a part my brain that's labelled Memorable American Idol Contestants. (Kelly Clarkson doesn't count because I didn't watch the first season.)

"Michael Johns," you say?

"That Australian guy who sang Bohemian Rhapsody? Who got axed on Idol Gives Back? With that quirky-jerky-dancing? Who sticks out his butt, and lifts his mic high into the sky? That Michael Johns?"

YES.

I still think he got prematurely booted out of Idol.

Season 7 of American Idol was crazily fun. With Brooke White's restarts, to David Archuleta's lyric flubs... right up to the disastrous cover of Shout to the Lord, where they colour-coded white, as if Idol night was Laundry night... Season 8 never replicated such insane fun, in my opinion.

(Not like it matters though, because this individual had to strain his brain to remember the names of this year's finalists, Adam Gokey and Kris Lambert. Guess they're just not in my MAIC happy place.)

Desmond and the Overdriven Glands.

I honestly believe in global warming, as I should, with the irrefutable evidence that is the sweltering heat of our Sunny Island.

How I hate that self-declaration, 'Sunny'. As if we don't already have enough sun on a normal "island-day". Seriously, I'd love to apply for citizenship to a country that declares itself Rainy Island.

(This individual believes we should switch off appliances that are not in use for the sake of our sweat glands. His are already in overdrive on a normal-sunny-island-day, and he shivers at the thought of the liquid output that should occur on a global-warmed-sunny-island-day.

And warm shivers should never be.)

Desmond and the Bejeweled Bandrocket.

That's it. Full Bejeweled Blitz BETA Embargo.

Incidentally, as I was looking for bejeweled pictures on the net, somehow forgetting that one page on facebook I have a love-hate relationship with now, I found a woman who sells a bejewel guidebook.

That actually sells.

Yes, I lift my eyebrows in quizzical wonder.

(If you have not jumped on the bandrocket that is Bejeweled Blitz, and want to foolishly do so as this fool has, click the link above. Be forewarned: the only way off the bandrocket is a self-imposed embargo, in less severe cases, and full-on exile from facebook in the worst.)

Desmond and His Merry Land.

(Edit: The video does not work on my laptop, and I am rather disappointed. But I'm going to post this entry anyways, because it's my party and I can cry if I want to. Click here for Danny and Kris' duet performance of Styx's Renegade.)

In my happy little world, where I am happy King of my happy little people, I can understand why I even know this song by Styx. And in my happy reign with my merry making and cherry drinking, I can even accept why I like the song.

But dethrone me, and oh my word... I listen to the weirdiest things.

I haven't been following American Idol as much as I could have, considering the holidays, but when I saw this video, it triggered a Royal Monologue, sans the trumpet players: "

I know this song. Dear me. I know this song. Why do I know this song. Shoot. It was on repeat for awhile. On repeat?! Why in the... how could... No I was... EH. The original was better!"

Taking a line out of Simon's many, I say, "no disrespect to either of them, because they were brilliant," but the original was better.

In any case, it was a mighty good season with Kris, Danny and a few others. And while I will not disclose the results from last night in respect for the ones who have not watched it, I will say this: Kate Perry is weird.

That's that folks, Desmond, out!

Oh what the heck, Desmond, in! IT WAS DANNY! WHY!?

Okey (G)okey, Desmond, out.

Desmond & the Steam Roly-poly.

I woke up this morning feeling strangely like a failure. You know how it's like -- you wake up one morning and your hair rejects all commands to "stay down"; the tube of toothpaste is almost all out, forcing you to take on the role of a steam roller, flattening out whatever little mint-flavoured paste there is left for the toothbrush -- that you've just knocked into the toilet bowl. You can't find a proper shirt to hide the beerbelly, your pants are splotched pink from what you suspect must be your lucky red underwear (which probably isn't red, or lucky, anymore) and OH MY WORD MY HAIR JUST WON'T STAY DOWN!

Well, this morning was something like that, except the rush of negativity hit me before I even got out of bed.

The moment I awoke, I stared into the ceiling wondering why I was feeling frustrated and unaccomplished. It took just a few seconds, and then I realised that I was dreaming about being confined in a guarded semi-abandoned house with secret passages. In the dream, I was about to escape when I met an actress and some guards, and decided to help them open a chute, thereby forgoing my chance to escape.

That was why I felt so frustrated. I didn't get to escape! Some dreams feel so distant and unachieveable.
Must have been all those reports of quarantines in the papers. (That said, I'm glad the situation is getting better.)

Sometimes dreams make for great fun.

Desmond and the Un-embed-able Video.

This is Shaun Smith.
This is a (bad) picture of Shaun Smith, on Britain's Got Talent.

This is not a video of Shaun singing, because somehow the 59865 videos on youtube are ALL un-embed-able.

Anyhow, the picture is a link to the video on youseless youtube, so if you want to watch the video, click it! Or if you can't find the picture (I don't see how someone can't, but strange things do happen), click here.

Shaun here is on the rugby team, and he can sing quite excellently. I love the song, and Kris Allen sang it on American Idol a few weeks back too. Shaun's got talent. Britain's got talent.

I was talking to a friend the other day, and I said some people have everything.

And I know they say we all have our own talents, and that each person is entrusted with different things, in different amounts. But sometimes, you can't help but feel lousy about yourself, or that life is unfair. Especially after watching AI, or BGT, or just hanging out with your friends, who are incredibly talented.

I mean, being able to fold origami cranes out of sweet wrappers the size of your thumb?! Seriously.

Okay, I'll stop here. Being unable to post my video is upsetting. I hate you!tube.

Desmond and "All Over Again".

I'll admit it. I'm a fanboy. I like to think it's an alter ego that is only activated when the object of my fan-dom appears before me, but that's just a thought, and I could be terribly wrong.

Well, today, Ronan Fanboy was beeped. Kinda like the batsignal. I see something Ronan, I know it's a sign to throw on my fanboy costume and emerge.

If you do read the li.fe.sec.tion of the STs, which you should because the Stonesoup, Foxtrot and Babyblues comics are awesome, you'd realise Ronan Keating has an interview with ST on the 3rd page. That's one, two, THREE, for the fan-person in you!

I think Keating started off much of the Irish Lovin' for me. And although he's dropped out of my blog and my music in recent months (years), I still like him.

I think I might just make a playlist of Keating and Boyzone songs later. Hmmm. (Edit: Since I'm too lazy to make a new playlist, I'm going to put my Irish playlist up again. With more Keating in it. )

(If you're a closet Ronan Fan-person, and want to read the online article, click the picture of Ronan. If not, just get the onetwoTHIRD page of today's li.f.e!)

Desmond and Falling Slowly.

I was searching for videos of last night's performance, and I remembered that the americanidol website finally decided to upload the performances this year. I don't recall them doing so for previous seasons. My "did so did not did too" routine aside, the performances are on the site, and really, that's all the matters.

Plus I wanna try uploading the video, because blogging is fun like that. -HEEE! Grins uncontrollably to self-

If it works it should be between this paragraph and the one before. (Edit: Yay it does!)

Of all the performances this season, I've really enjoyed this the most. Nice, melancholic song that, as things would have it, was from an Irish film. I swear I'm not seeking nice Irishy things to like. They're seeking me out instead, and I'm falling for them like trees in the woods of Woodcutters Ville.

HEEEE!

(Edit: I just realised that the song title and my paragraph complement each other like puns. I did not intend for that but.... HEEE!)

Desmond and the Request for Change in Battery.

It's true, I am the kinda person who needs a lot of sleep. I often say, "I love me my sleep" and dear me, I do mean, "I love me my sleep".

As it is, Eight Hours sits on the fence between the two neighbours 'Satisfactory' and 'Unsatisfactory'. Ten hours is very much preferred.

Somehow, all the assignments and studying in the last few (late) nights have left such a lasting impression on me that my sleep-early wires have shorted out. All that's left is an incredibly tired energizer bunny who's begging to stop banging on those blasted drums. "Stop, stop. Take out the energizer and stuff in a duracell. MAKE IT STOP!!"

Oh boy, I need me my sleep.

Desmond and the Weather-related Catalyst.

I was studying for my paper when I found in my lecture slides, a link to this article : "London's day of innocence". It is not exactly an under-one-minute read, but I really liked it.

The article talks about how a day of snow lifts the city from its pessimism and discontentment, even if only for a day. Jeffries described Londoners to typically be economy-driven cynics who grumble of the inefficiencies of the tube, late buses and the like. Practicality and functionality edges out space for warmth and community. Seems like the London pace of life is normally so fast that it leaves no room for enjoying simple things.

(For what it's worth, I never thought London to be like that. But it sounds like our little Island huh. We, too, rush through our work day, and return home to rush some more. We crave instant gratification, "everything must happen NOW!" )

But all that changes when snow falls on the city, on a perspective-altering day in February this year.

"In London, this doesn't happen often. We trust our dour reflexive, self-poisoning moaning as a lifestyle philosophy instead. We like it that way: strangers are strange and Britain, [curse] everything about it, doesn't work. Why don't the buses run on time? Why are we so hopeless? Why can't something be done (usually by someone else who we can blame for their shortcomings)?

[But on this day] we surrendered to delight. We found better questions to ask: how do you roll a snowman? Where [in the world] are my galoshes(rubber boots, in case you were wondering ah! -Des.)? What have you done with my sledge? Can one get to work by sleigh?"

I think my lecturer meant to draw similarities between our city and London. In essence, I think this just reminds us that there is beauty to be found in our country, in spite of our cynicism towards it. London needed snow. Could we do it without? Yes, I hear you, we have no snow here to speak of anyways. But could we find something to be thankful for without first needing a weather-related catalyst? I'm sure we could. I'm sure I need to.

Desmond and Chandler's Claw.

"Former Friends star Matthew Perry was forced to seek medical attention after damaging his hand playing videogames." The actor admits he spends days on end glued to the screen playing war games on his XBox, ruining the muscles and tendons in his hand.

It's actually quite hilarious for me, because in this particular episode, "The One Where Joey Dates Rachael", there's a scene where Chandler's hand is "messed up" (in his own words) from playing 8 hours of Ms Pacman.

[Scene: Monica and Chandler's, Monica is entering to find Chandler playing Ms. Pac-Man.]

Nice going Matthew Chandler Perry Bing. I see the professional dedication.

Desmond and Good News Singapore. (With Sydney Pictures).

I realised I have no real pictures of GNS. With the crowds or during worship or the audience!! Oh well.

These past few days have been tiring. But so worth it. I have to say I miss GNS already. I walked out of the stadium reluctantly last night... certainly wasn't something I expected. It's been so long since we've done such a big event, and to be honest I've never seen so many people accepting the salvation call. (In COI, we were always backstage so I never got to see the throngs of people).

It's crazy. Good crazy. People crowded in desperation, hands thrown up in need... God's amazing. The messages were so simple, so easy to understand. And isn't that what the gospel is about anyways? Accessible by all men, for all men. No other clutter attached to God's simple truth.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life."

So many things got me thinking over the past three days. And I don't have answers for everything. But somehow seeing the good that did happen reminded me that God is good. He's seriously good. And even with the things I don't understand, I know this: I can trust in the character of God.

Aside from all the amazing things God has been doing, I think another reason I loved GNS was because the days and company, reminded me a little of Sydney and the Hillsongs conference. At the Acer Arena the entire day; then at Gloria Jeans or some hotel lobby, eating simply and sharing food. Then pretty cool music (Planet Shakers at GNS, and Hillsongs at... erm... Hillsongs) and then taking photos in a stadium.

And God's the same God in Sydney and in Singapore.

I'm sorry for the Sydney photos. But I really had nothing GNSy to post!

I can't remember who suggested taking the photo, but I do remember why we took it. Because this man was at the conference everynight, urshering us in with a huge smile. Has little to do with the fact that he was on a wheelchair, but much to do with the servanthood he displayed.

Because I have no pictures from GNS, I'll use this to thank the many people who served at GNS. From the logistics and AV crew who were there setting up, to the ushers and choir and many others who helped made the event run properly, to the consolidators and data-input people who worked through the wee hours of the morning. It's so great to see church members working well together.

Victory Family Centre.

Desmond and the Peppermint O.D.

I realised that I really hate cough syrup. They can put all the wood peppermint they want in the cure and it'll still taste horrid. Same goes for the gooey pipagao.

The past few days have been all about assignments and words and pages and sleepless nights. I don't really know how I managed all the work but somehow everything worked out. That's 4 thousand down, and 5 more to go.

But that's for another time.

Now I'm looking forward to my beauty sleep. Oh, how I love me my precious sleep!

Yippee yaya yippee yippee yay!

Desmond and the Jones Conclusion.

Newcastle to name Alan Shearer as Manager.

Woohoo!!

I don't watch much soccer. (Okay. Lying. I don't watch ANY soccer at all.) But I do have a team I support -- Newcastle. It was the first team I knew, and Alan Shearer was the guy who started it all for me. (Not like it became a huge part of my life eventually.)

The WorldCup 98' was the only time I actively watched soccer matches with my dad, and like alot of other people, I was rooting for England, and Shearer was captain then. (I could be wrong, considering I don't even remember who took the cup.)

Anyways, it's nice to see he'll be in charge of Newcastle for awhile.

On a sidenote... It dawns on you, just how old you are, when you look at pictures of your childhood heroes and realise they've aged. Indiana Jones, anybody?

Desmond and the Wet Mile.

I played in the rain today.

Well, if you take "played" to mean "ran", that is.

I got caught in the rain was waiting under shelter, and it didn't look like the rain was letting up anytime soon, so I decided to make a run for it. Anyhow, I make a bad estimate of distances and rain intensity and so was caught in the pouring rain longer than I expected.

Halfway through the run, I started grinning happily to myself, because playing in the rain is a big joy for me. (Assuming the aforementioned definition of "play" still stands.) But I quickly realised how stupid it was to run in the rain, because today was the first time in the past few days that I've felt a little better.

Still, I'd love to run wild in the rain come another day, when I'm less sickly and when there are less people staring.

Desmond and St Patrick's Day.

It's St Patrick's Day in Ireland!

Now, I'm not Irish, not in Ireland, not a drunk/drinker, nor am I crazy... (Although I'm willing to hear you out if you do think I am crazy, 'cause I suspect I might be.)

Anyways, I'm none of those, but it did bring a little cheer to me just knowing that today is an Irish holiday. I don't think I'm really excited about the holiday, because let's face it -- It doesn't involve me in any way. But I'm just happy there's some holiday for me to photosurf for, and blog about. (Read: I miss you Christmas. I really do.)

Anyways, I couldn't really find any nice pictures that were available for use. But I did create a new playlist of Irish singers/bands and I'm going to say this: I like Westlife. I love ballads and strangely it's the boybands who sing them... (YAY Ronan Keating!) And Westlife is pretty good.

I added alot of songs randomly, but one song that I did add on purpose was The Cranberries' "Zombie". Why, you ask? Cause I hate it so much that I like it. Zah-um-beh-beh-beeeh.

Disclaimer: I don't drink. I just like nice pictures. And since St Patrick's Day demands all things green, and Guinness is the poster beer of Ireland.... voila.

Desmond and the Supper-Lunches.

I'm inclined to blame the recent late nights and other school-related woes for messing up my bio-clock. Not only that, I also realised that I have been eating a lot!

A lot, a lot.
And at the weirdest times to boot.

So yes, the weight is piling, the flab is growing... and the appetite is worrying.

Desmond and the Well and Long Sleep.

The past 2 weeks have been incredibly busy. I don't think I've felt this busy in a long time. But it's heartening to see God work things out when they move beyond my control.

After many sleepless nights and early mornings, I'm glad that today has come and gone. No more presentations or assignments to lose sleep over.

Well, no more for the next 2 days. Then it starts again.

But tonight, I'm going to sleep well, and long.

And, the rainy weather's back. And God knows I love rainy days. I really do.

Desmond & The (in-the) Pit Stop.

These past few days I've been feeling like I need a pit stop in my lit race. Don't get me wrong, I love lit. But sometimes, you just feel like a break from stuff. And now is my "sometimes".

I'd like my mind to stop turning and working out the significance of the things sometimes. Stop "reading between the lines".

They say "knowledge is power". It's true.
They also say "ignorance is bliss". That's true too.

Maybe what it comes down to is this -- 'They' don't really know what they're saying. And you have to decide for yourself what really matters.
Either way, it doesn't matter. I just want my break! (No, recess week was hardly a break!)