Operation Overlord

Write to live, live to write.

AIRBORNE ALL THE WAY Saturday, October 24, 2009

Yesterday we had dinner at the Ancient Taste restaurant, and we were served by a six year old kid.
She cleared the dishes on the table, brought the drinks and even got the bill to us. She didn't seem very keen on talking, though - just wanted to work and work and work.
At five o'clock yesterday my dad made us watch Aliens, but we didn't want to. Jason went, "Can't we watch some family bonding movie instead?"
"Such as...?"
"James Bond, of course!"
So we ended up watching Die Another Day. Which isn't a bad movie for a James Bond movie.
Things that make Bond movies Bond movies and not Evans movies:
1) The dry, witty comments. Typical Brit humor. One liners that make you laugh like there's no tomorrow.
2) The gadgets. Jet packs and invisible cars - a must have in the movies.
3) The two most classic lines of all: "Martini, shaken not stirred" and "My name is Bond. James Bond."
4) The impossibility of it all. Bond movies are pretty much something you won't see in real life.
5) The girls. He's got as many gadgets as he has girls.
That list was very random.

~Today in History~
1944: The USS Tang (SS-306) under Richard O'Kane (the top submarine captain of World War II) is sunk by the ship's own torpedo.

~Quote of the Day~
In Germany they came for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.
Reverend Martin Niemoller. True, true.

~Uesless fact of the Day~
A Russian telecoms company offers free phone calls to the White House for anyone who wants to rant at George Bush. I bet they're now offering free phone calls for anyone who wants to rant at Obama.

>>Forgotten by23:40

AIRBORNE ALL THE WAY Thursday, October 22, 2009

I hate science and literature and chinese. In fact, everything I got back today was disastrous.
First of all was the very-bad-but-expected, Science. I got a miserable 69 while everybody else was talking about how their 80+s were not good enough for them.
The bad-but-expected one was Literature where I got 64. Good news is that everybody seemed to be getting the same mark so I should be average.
The expected one was, obviously, Chinese, where I got a delightful fifty three. At least I didn't fail.
Doesn't matter, I guess. What's done is done. You know, on Tuesday they want us to do some Rangoli design. Thing is, it's more of Recyclegoli. Because we're not going to use sand, we're going to use 'recycled materials'. I tell you, these teachers are crazy.
My printer is still broken. It can't scan anything into the computer. Gurnh.
Well, see you then. I'm off to wallow in my little corner of despair and self-pity.

~Today in History~
1944: The city of Aachen falls to American forces after three weeks of fighting, making it the first German city to fall to the Allies.

~Quote of the Day~
Books cannot be killed by fire. People die, but books never die. No man and no force can take from the world the books that embody man’s eternal fight against tyranny. In this war, we know, books are weapons.
-FDR. And thus, I love books. Books are the best presents a person could give another. Not chocolates. (Hint, hint.)

~Useless fact of the Day~
Genitofemoral neuropathy means 'jeans are too tight'.
Bamboozle your mom with that sentence next time.

>>Forgotten by00:21

AIRBORNE ALL THE WAY Wednesday, October 21, 2009

I didn't do very well for English today. In fact, I didn't do well at all.
I'm not going to dwell on it. But believe me, it was terrible.
Got A1s for Geog, History and Math. All above 80, none above 90 and that's all you need to know.
Yesterday we went ice skating. Haven't done that for a long time, but I'm glad to say that I haven't lost much skill. I can still skate quite fast and I haven't broken my record of 'longest time without falling' yet. Vera hadn't skated before and I spent quite a bit of time cajoling her into skating without touching the edge of the rink. At least she went two rounds like that at the end of the two hours (which cost a whopping $100+ for the six of us.)
After that we ate lunch at Pastamania then went to Bugis and they took that pink picture thing. I enjoyed the stop at my favourite bookshop that begins with a 'K' because I managed to read The Lost Symbol until page 316.
Then it was off to the Iluma and all sorts of anime stuff. Which, quite obviously, I didn't enjoy. We were thinking of buying Pearl a Christmas/birthday present, but she declined because it would mean buying me a present and out of all 73 books on my list, most of them are thirty dollars or more.
On the way back home, on the train, Nicole and I had a very nice chat about a)Whether Barack Obama should have/should not have won the Peace Prize, b)Whether China will take over the U.S.'s position as a global world power soon, c) How the U.S. got from such a superpower fifty, sixty years ago to this state, d) Something about WWII.
A very enlightening conversation with someone actually proficient in General knowledge, and a conversation I could certainly never have held with some people from my class. ~~(LIKE BRYNA)~~
You know, for my Geography paper, I put funny answers (crossing them out later, of course, but they're still legible) for the last two questions. Strangely, I got half a mark deducted for both of them even though all the points in the answers were in there.
Do you think that China will soon be more powerful than the U.S. of A.? I personally do not think so. China's still very far back. It's got too many problems that a developed country shouldn't have. Besides, the last time the U.S. had a recession this bad it was called "The Great Depression". Guess what happened after that? The Americans re-emerged more powerful than ever and took over from Europe. Who's to say that this isn't going to happen again?
By the way, I hate the teacher who marked my composition. It was "Unsung Heroes" and all I had to do was add a line in. She gave me 21/30 because there was "Too Much Dialogue!"
GOD. They told us to write a bloody STORY. You want too much dialogue, you go and read Oscar Wilde or something. THAT's dialogue for you. What's a story without a lot of dialogue? She also underlined all the "'s" and the "'nt"s. What's wrong with that? Have you ever read a story where there isn't a single "'s" or "'nt" and everything's written as "it is" or "was not" or "can not"?
I. Am. Going. To. Kill. Her.
Or. Him.

~Today in History~
1944: HMAS Australia is hit by a Japanese plane carrying a 200 kg (441 pound) bomb off Leyte Island, as the Battle of Leyte Gulf began.

~Quote of the Day~
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
Winston Churchill. I'll keep that in mind.

~Useless fact of the Day~
An Austrian woman who hid behind her boyfriend's articulated lorry so that she could jump out and surprise him was taken to hospital after he reversed over her.

>>Forgotten by02:20

AIRBORNE ALL THE WAY Sunday, October 18, 2009

I don't know when the last time I came on was and I don't really care.
Now that the exams are over, I'm actually quite busy.
First up: The Smile story, written by Le Yan and I. We've come up with a little blog for it and I'm trying to fix everything. In case you're interested, it's about an unbelievably stupid policeman called James Evans and a
Next would be the Truth About Lies, which is in progress. It's about two types of humans: the normal homo sapiens and the telepathic homo sapiens. War, mystery, action, BUT thankfully no romance.
And of course, I've got my own bloody stories to finish, like That Which Cannot Be Changed and Soldier Boy.
I just watched a silent movie yesterday. Guess what it's called? "Silent Movie". It was actually quite funny and the ironic thing that throughout the film only one line was spoken - by the most famous mime in history, Marcel Marceau. In case you don't get it, a mime is someone who never speaks but instead mimes doing things.
I'm off to take care of the sites now. Goodbye.
Sometimes it occurs to me that I just don't have anything worthwhile to say.

~Today in History~
1944: United States forces land in the Philippines.

~Quote of the Day~
The Germans should have thought of some of these things before they began the war, particularly before attacking the Russians.
'My good friend Montgomery', as Rommel would have called him. What can I say? Hitler was a dummkopf.

~Useless fact of the Day~
The working wives of most married millionaires tend to be teachers. Does this mean what I think it does...?

>>Forgotten by21:43

AIRBORNE ALL THE WAY Monday, October 12, 2009

EXAMS ARE OVER.

Today was the last paper, Chinese, which was unbelievably easy. I say easy as in easier than I expected. I finished with half an hour to spare, and spent the time reciting a) 50 states, b) pi, c) periodic table, d) Macbeth, e) san zi jing, f) Gettysburg Address, g) Winston Churchill speeches, h) capitals of the world, and i) WWII. It doesn't sound very fun, does it?
But anyway, enough about exams. They're over and we can't do anything except go and celebrate. Just now, my mom and I were at NTUC and we saw Kim Ng filming that programme about cooking in seven steps or summat like that that my mom watches. They were blocking the way and we had to stand there and wait for ages before they moved.
ANYWAY...you know all this furor about Ris Low and her lousy English? I don't think it's her fault. I just think she's a Singaporean.
I mean, plenty of people speak like that. It just so happens that they're not beautiful enough to win a beauty contest. You can't fault a Singaporean for speaking like a Singaporean. And no one's English is one hundred percent perfect, anyway. As you're reading this you'll probably find a few grammatical errors or punctuation errors here and there. (But nut speling erors! My speling is gret!) Some people may be 99% perfect. Ris Low is perhaps 30%...? Maybe less. But a lot of people speak worse than that. Wouldn't it be funny to see somebody commenting:

Ris Low cant speak. I better than her way more. BOOMZ!

Sorry, I'm not very good at imitating lousy English.
So...I don't think I have anything else to say. Have a happy holiday.

~Today in History~
1943: The new government of Italy sides with the Allies and declares war on Germany.
Moral: Italians always change sides, so don't be happy if they join you first.

~Quote of the Day~
America can always be counted on to do the right thing – after it has exhausted all other possibilities.
Winston Churchill. Go America!

~Useless fact of the Day~
The Paramount logo contains 22 stars.

>>Forgotten by20:53

AIRBORNE ALL THE WAY

I cannot believe that Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize.

For one thing, he hasn't done anything remotely peaceful that makes him deserving of the prize. He hasn't done anything that sets him apart from others. He hasn't closed Guantanamo bay. He hasn't brought North Korea back into the six party nuclear talks. He hasn't solved the problem in Iraq, or the problem in Afghanistan, or the going-to-be-problem in Pakistan.

And so, the million dollar question is, What has Obama done to deserve this prize?

I believe that the warming ties between North Korea and the rest of the world was not a result of Obama's fantastic negotiating skills and peaceful wotchamacallits. Perhaps it's just because Kim Jung Il saw the Bush era ending, and decided, whoever the next president will be, oh heck, I'll just give 'im a ring and tell 'im to get our talks fixed up again. Maybe I'll even kidnap two journalists and release them as a sign of goodwill. I'll pop over to the border now.

Of course, he didn't really think like that. But anyway, the point is that I don't think Obama had anything to do with warming ties. He just happened to be at the right place at the right time.

And his healthcare reform stuff has brought more violence to the world than it has peace. Violence in America, anyway. All your marched protests and stuff are things of the 1960-70 Vietnam war area. It hasn't been seen for ages.

Guantanamo bay? Despite all his big promises, he hasn't done anything. Because after he made his promises, Obama realised that once he closed it, he had nowhere to put the convicts. Is that dumb, or is that dumb?

Perhaps the only things he's done are allowing Cuban relatives in the States and in Cuba to see each other again, and talk with Myanmar. Or maybe Myanmar's just following North Korea's lead. Oh swell, look, another reclusive country's talking with the US. Maybe we should do that too. Yeah, that's wot. Sentence Aung San Suu Kyi to a nice long house arrest ('cause of an American, ain't that ironic?) and wait for some high level bloke to come talk to us, just like Billy Clinton did with NK.

Whatever it is, I'm not convinced that Barack Obama has done enough to deserve the prize.

It should have gone to me.

~Today in history~
1942: Japanese ships retreat after their defeat in the Battle of Cape Esperance with the Japanese commander, Aritomo Gotō dying from wounds suffered in the battle and two Japanese destroyers sunk by Allied air attack.

~Quote of the day~
The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example.
Benjamin Disraeli. Bet you don't know 'im.

~Useless fact of the day~

Over 2500 left-handed people are killed each year because they used products made for right-handed people.

>>Forgotten by00:27