BLOGGER



Youngest kid of six with an inferiority and black sheep complex, but determined that God saves not just his soul to heaven but the remainder of his manic-depressive life, so others won't say he became a Christian and remained a jerk.


MAIN THEMES

On identity
i won't be transparent before i'm opaque. and you'll get to know me starting from the small things: who my favourite bands are. what kind of movies i like. who are my heroes.

On Christianity
I’m convinced that when confronted with sincere, real love, the Jesus factor will become obvious. But let’s not plant the cross before we carry it. I’m not trying to con you.

On dreams
Some dreams are meant to be achieved. I know that. But maybe other dreams are meant to drive us, privately. Never known to anyone but ourselves.


OTHER THEMES

On melancholy
It is a sadness that, when choosing between crying and sighing, will choose sighing. I'd almost say that melancholy is being sad about sadness itself.

On memory and nostalgia
It saddens me when life moves forward and people decide that certain things are worth forgetting.

On language
I've learnt that the word irregardless is filed as a non-standard word in the English language. That's a lexicographer's way of saying it's not a real word.

On politics
Crowds are fickle things. So when we stand in the thousands and cry against the present government, do we know who we're actually crying for?

On society
People always want the best for themselves. But I want to sometimes take second or third or fourth best, just so that the loser down the road doesn't always have to come in last. It must feel like shit to always come in last.

On growing old
Leasehold property make me feel sad. It doesn't matter how old the family photos are that you put on your wall. It's your family but it's not really your wall.

On philosophy
I ask you, if God loves everyone, and if God is also incapable of loving evil, how can there be such a thing as an evil man?

On a daily basis
One line quips, like this.


CHAT





Thursday, June 18, 2009



It takes a lot to make me like the 80s. ok maybe that was true of me up to mid last year. then the starflyer album showed up and this whole 80s revival started making in-roads into my heart. a few weeks ago, it was the new bon voyage album. ooh, nice. and then last week, the cupid of 80s love struck one proper arrow into me and now i'm completely in love.

the band in question is golden silvers.

to be fair, they didn't win me over purely on their 80s revival sound. there are many moments on their debut record where their harmonies sound like the beach boys, or when the singing made me check if this was a pete doherty side project (it's not). but after about seven days of solid non-stop spinning, it's the 80s numbers that have hooked me. it's the new new romanticism. it's kitsch 80s parody. it's sublime retro pop that's generic yet original. sigh. i've lost all objectivity with these boys.

here's to the highlight of my music listening for 2009: golden silvers.

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Genusfrog [ 4:40 pm ] | 0 comments

Friday, January 23, 2009



Yes. increasingly, boundless line is starting to feel like a lot of wasted reading time. i keep going back hoping for more of what hooked me to it in the first place. but every day now, it looks more and more like a lobby group. or an american version of rtm.

take candice watters for instance, who two days ago went on about how she lives in the greatest country in the world, because "for all the bombs lobbed against us -- figuratively and literally -- we will witness again the transfer of power from one ruling ideology to another, all without a single shot being fired".

obviously you can't take stupidity like that lying down, and not just because America hasn't been properly bombed in a long time. so i wrote a comment to her reminding her that this great nation is the same great nation that sells about 30 billion dollars worth of firearms to the third world every year so they can kill each other while she has her peaceful inauguration. i also told her i hope she enjoyed her peaceful inauguration.

true to form, they didn't publish it. not that i expected them to. they never publish my comments and maybe for good reason. they're not speaking to young christians and "bringing focus to the single years" anymore.

boundless line, which started off as a place where honest young christians wrote largely about relationships, christian character and what it means to serve and love has degenerated into a somewhat ugly mouthpiece for pro-life obsessiveness (don't mess ok, foetus fatigue is not an option) and idolatrous americanism. i really don't know how writers like candice watters can get a writing gig with them. i guess like most things, it's a case of standard jatuh.

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Genusfrog [ 2:39 pm ] | 0 comments

Friday, December 12, 2008
8 POINT GUIDE TO BUYING A BIBLE

Hah. so you thought that going out there to buy a bible is just a simple matter of picking up a 20 ringgit gift bible and blessing the cashier on the way out. well clearly you've never applied your mind to buying a bible before! muahaaa! ok why am i laughing like a villain from a bad movie? nevermind. here are 8 things to have your eye on when you go out to purchase the word of God.

Font

font makes all the difference. you're gonna be reading this every day. it better be a typeset that's pleasing to the eye. a font that's heavy on serif, like georgia or times new roman, carries with it an air of formality, dignity and maybe even old-fashionedness. conversely, a sans serif font, like calibri, arial or verdana just looks a lot more modern, young, even relevant. never underestimate the power of font, my friends. it can make the difference between a believer really believing that leviticus has relevance to the 21st century or not. and yes, my bible is sans serif.

Feel

nevermind what the actual words are supposed to make us feel. does the book feel nice in your hands? leather binding always makes your bible feel more serious and important. they always remind me of the lambs that were slain. hard covers feel more studious, more unyielding. they remind me of absolute truths. paperbacks feel more pulpy and user-friendly. a bit more like applying blacks and whites in a grey world. velvet bibles take you closer to solomon's temple but further from the Jesus' leprous streets. i've seen firm-grip rubbery covers. i'm convinced that they subliminally remind you to hold tight to God's word. texture, my friends. you have no idea what it's been telling you.  

Size

this is a no brainer. a big bible offers larger print and looks more impressive when you haul it out during a sermon. but if like me you read your bible above your face while lying in bed, your nodding off will be divinely punished via crushing of nose. a small bible will be harder to read but can go everywhere with you. a small squarish fellow will fit into your handbag. a thin long one will fit your back pocket. most of the time, you'll be staring square into medium-sized bibles, but think about the benefits of something bigger or smaller before deciding to fall into the middle.

Layout

believe me friends that how your page is put together makes a difference. does each verse start on a new line? these are the best bibles to own if you like being the first to find scripture. or do the verses continue without line breaks? i've seen bibles laid out like storybooks, with virtually no chapter and verse numbers. before you think it's ridiculous, those bibles will have you know that the original manuscripts all look like that. and it doesn't just stop there. are there footnotes? cross references piled up in a column down the middle ridge of the page? are there margins for you to write in? are there pictures? charts? maps at the back?

Niche

hah. and you thought words like niche only exist from monday to friday. the bible market is a niche market people. you don't know how many nice looking bibles i've had to put back on the shelf because they're the ultimate radical teenager's bible, or the woman in ministry bible, or the bible for the prayer warrior within you (with an index of claimable promises of God), or the ultimate leadership bible, or a devotional bible for men in their forties. whatever your niche - even if it's manga - there's a bible that's built specifically for you. except jaded young working adults. they don't make bibles specially for jaded young working adults.

Version

see, now we're talking about the hard stuff. translations, man. are you more of a dynamic translation kinda guy? if you are, then perhaps the NIV is for you. or perhaps you read about the NIV being the devil's bible and decided to play it safe and ended up with a formal equivalence translation bible like the NKJV. or maybe all this jargon is not your thing. you just want the bible in today's english and nothing else, so you've unwittingly moved from an NASB to an NLT. or what about a paraphrase? have you checked out the Message? whatever you do, please, please, please do not buy the (old) king james version. freeda bowers quoted from the KJV throughout her 40 days book and i almost died every night when i had to read that book. 

Use

at some point, you have to ask yourself why you're buying the bible. if you want it to complete your eclectic bookshelf then go for something with an authoritative-looking spine. if you want a bible to read everyday then get something more readable and sparse. if, like me, you're a geek and finding a bible with more commentary than scripture thrills you eventhough you know you might never read any of the commentary, then maybe what you're shopping for is a study bible. and it doesn't just stop there. in the bible market, geeks rule. put differently, if you're the kind of guy who wants to compares modern english with the king james english with the ancient greek with the masoretic hebrew, you're more likely to find a bible than a girl who will take you as you are.

Gimmick

oh yes, you better believe it. there are lots of gimmicks in the bible market. i saw a bible that's branded as a thirst-quenching bible. the outer cover looks like a plastic water bottle, complete with cap. take the lid off and instead of water emerges springs of everlasting, totally boring-looking bible. not a very smart gimmick. then there's the metal bible. those are way cool. flick open the tin latch and a very smart bible flips open. there's even one called the mossy oak bible, whose cover camouflages with the bark of a tree with crawling twigs and vines. the publisher's notes say that it's "perfect for outdoor adventurers". 

~Epilogue~

and so my friends, you see that bible shopping isn't something you dash in and out of the bookstore for. it's an exercise that can demand more out of you than your simple faith can withstand. it's a hallowed project, requiring only the most optimised customisation that your complex identity deserves when it comes face to face with the capital W of God. and finally, do your generation proud. we are 21st century postmodernists. we judge a book not only by its cover but also by all the other ridiculous details that surround it. it's the least we could do for a book we hold so dear. 


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Genusfrog [ 8:46 pm ] | 2 comments

Friday, October 10, 2008
THE POP RECORD TEST

When i was growing up, i had a test to see if an album could hold up as a good pop record.

the test was this: an album needed to have four solid singles and two solid album tracks. Doesn't matter if the rest was shyte. if an album had six songs that did it for me, it was worth the 40 precious teenager's dollars.

my jury has largely returned on oasis' supposedly colossal lp dig out your soul. but a few of my jurors are still drinking teh ais and talking about be here now so i will wait for them to return before i pass judgment on this album.

so while i wait for my sophisticated senses to return from their deliberation, i fall back today on my teenager's test to a good pop album: four good singles, two good album tracks. and i realise one thing.

this isn't a pop record.

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Genusfrog [ 3:03 pm ] | 1 comments

Wednesday, September 10, 2008
ALBUM REVIEW: GLASVEGAS BY GLASVEGAS

The last time an album came along and did this to me, it was Arcade Fire's Neon Bible.

Listening to this album over and over again gives me the kind of buzz like i'm listening to something special. It's like the first time anyone ever heard Definitely maybe or the early Arctic Monkeys demos. Or in my case, like hearing The Raveonettes' Whip it on! ep. There's something sinister about a record that you just don't know how to stop playing.

Describing music is never adequate, but the melodies on this record are reminiscent of doo-wop ballads from the early 60s. The guitars are fuzzy, perhaps shoegazy. The lyrics are desperate, direct but poignant. Lead singer James Allan rips through every note with his Glaswegian accent. The themes are regretful but the sound is triumphant.

I'll leave you with one of the compelling reasons why this album is conquering my heart right now. Right mouse + save target/link to download the song below.

Glasvegas - It's my own cheating heart that makes me cry

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Genusfrog [ 4:28 pm ] | 0 comments

Sunday, May 18, 2008
TO SARAH, ON CITY OF ANGELS

It's a terrible movie. one of God's angels, who's spent the entire history of the world killing people, one day decides that he's fallen in love with - of all the women possible - meg ryan, and then decides to dump his eternal status for one night of fornication (see disgusting pic) only to have her die moments after so that he has the rest of his life to think about what made him such a jerk. you know, the money you pay to see that kind of film can be earned back. but the two hours you spend cannot. it's wasted life. you know when the bible talks about the years the locusts have eaten? it's talking about movies like that.

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Genusfrog [ 7:32 am ] | 0 comments

Tuesday, October 26, 2004
SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF FILMIC SPACE

">"We're not in Kansas anymore...

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Genusfrog [ 10:57 am ] | 0 comments

Tuesday, July 27, 2004
GET FUZZY, GROOVITUDE

Get Fuzzy has to be one of the best comic strips i've encountered in a long...

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Genusfrog [ 9:12 am ] | 0 comments