I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it.

PICS

Sat, 09 Jun 2007 05:43:05 GMT

Azaiba:

Looks like Intercon:

I'm not sure but this looks like the road past the McDonalds, Shell (the one towards Shatti Plaza):

Further up that road - this is on the way to Mumtaz Mahal and the Khimji waterfall:

OMG, Al Jadeed! WTF? Saud Bahwan Residencies were screwed!:

CBD area o_0 :

Probably CBD again, at the intersection ahead of Sheraton, on the way to Ruwi and Al Nasr cinemas:

Arrr, the Starbucks place! :

I know, an update is more than just OVERDUE.....

Sat, 09 Jun 2007 05:35:09 GMT

... but believe me there has been plenty afoot.

For starters, there was CYCLONE GONU, which struck Muscat on the night of the 5th of June. Rains pretty much continued throughout 6th June, especially after 6 pm, which was when the eye passed over Muscat. My area was left pretty much unharmed (we had some debris but nothing disaster-area looking) and the government had warned us against road travel, so we had no idea how bad some other areas had it. Of course, road travel during rains in Msucat is always a bad idea - they just aren't equiipped witht the proper drainage system and infrastructure to handle rains (even light showers).

On the norning of the 7th, I got a call from one of my closest friend, Poonam, who I actually had been calling pretty frequently throughout last night. She lives in one of the most low-lying areas in Msucat - right behind the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, and quite close to where my dad's office is located. She needed a huge favour - a place for her and her sister to stay until this mess was sorted out. I agreed, and when I got there to pick her up I was shocked. The boundary wall had collapsed - this wall was 4 feet high - and there was water everywhere, the level close to 6 feet of water. SUV's were drowned, and I spotted a BMX bike floating around somewhere. My friend and her sister lowered themselves down from their 2nd floor flat's balcony from some bedsheets, along with their luggage. The tenants of the ground and first floor had come up and basically 12 other strangers were forced to spend the night at their home.

Medical services were upto their neck in calls for help. The north-west regions had been affected severely and that was where the bulk of the aid was going. We still had electricity and running water (unlike a lot of places around Msucat), but we had to go grocery shopping for our guests. The shelves on the supermarkets were cleaned out of bread, milk, mineral water, etc. People had stocked up on candles and torches and the like in case the power blew, and when the stores ran out of regular candles, people bought the aromatherapy ones.

My dad's office is basically submerged. There is a giant crater in the parking caused by the rains where you can actully see the sewer pipes and wires and stuff (that's what you told me, Priya). Oh, and all the BEC employees' passports have been damaged. So..... all round, we are all screwed.

We just were cut off our running water supply - the gas pipe at Ghubra blew so the repairs have stooped the Ghubra plant from functioning (the desalination plant). We still have power, and hopefully water should be available byt the evening. In the meantime we are bathing in mineral water, like Cleopatra or something.

Oh well. The storm was fun while it lasted. Nothing as bad as some of the recent storms, like Katrina or anything, but still pretty severe for this region! Not much property damage because there aren't any mobile homes or any wooden houses or anything - it's mostly just flooding, and muck and grime all over the floors.

That's all for now. More as the cleanup progresses.

We know you gots the smarts but is you gots the TALENT?

Tue, 06 Feb 2007 19:10:31 GMT

Ayyyyyyy. Board practicals start tomorrow, sort of setting off the official countdown to the board exams. Yech. Which is obviously why I am sittting here at my LJ instead of studying. Lately, I've been so bored I've been into making icons/avatars of random stuff I'm obsessed with and they're just sitting here gathering dust on my computer for ages, sso hopefully I will get around to posting some of them soon enough.

Other than that, it's been a slow month. ER, my new TV obsession (technically, I don't watch it on TV) is finally gaining momentum with its drama and hopefully John Stamon's character will leave Parminder Nagra's character the hell alone (because I want Neela to be with Ray, of course, new ship of mine, don't you know). Also, been scouring the web for "Sunshine" and "Grindhouse" trailer pics, both of which I want to see. Oh, and the Academy awards are coming up, I will be posting my prediction ballot up (last year was PRETTY poor, but oh well, it wasn't reallly a prediction, it was more like who I wished would've won).

Other than that, slow February. It's pretty stale with movies and music, because all the big releases are in the summer. Until the next sudden fit of boredom.....

Farewell, today......

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 05:08:07 GMT

Ummm, so, today's the informal farewell to be josted by the stupid 11th-graders.... ok, well, not all of them are stupid but the cookie-cutter fashionistats and the wannabe gangsta-rappers annoy you. I had to ride the bus back home from school on Wednesday listening to Akon's "Smack that" 1173645713413 times in a row. Let me tell you, after the 3rd time, it gets VERY ANNOYING.

Ah so, farewell. I'm dreading getting into the sari, I swear I keep thinking its going to come off at any time and it won't be pleasant when that happens because the staff attends too. The boys have it easy - only a suit with ties or bowties. Atleast they don't have to wear cummerbunds. I know about 16 girls visitng the parlor today for.... whatever it is you do in the parlor. Man, I don't know why they bother to go through with painful things like eyebrow waxing when NO ONE notices anyway.

After which, there is aupposed to be another party, just for the graduating class, but, because we're all not-so-secretly glad of being rid of each other, attendance is gonna be low. Oh well, I hope the food is good.

No shit.....

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 13:51:56 GMT

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Last of the mock examinations over (on a high note, rare event). Still have the practical exmainations left.... should be able to swing it, piece of-- yeah, who'm I kidding.

Just saw trailers for Sunshine and 300, look awesome. Thank God some good stuff is coming out this year, last year was BORING.

Just an update post....

Sun, 21 Jan 2007 07:01:57 GMT

No, I haven't died but I wish I would have. I came close to dying when I heard Sacha Baron Cohen's speech at the Golden Globes. After which I couldn't see much, Beyonce's disco ball dress blinded me.

Exams still not over and I'm starting to get scared because I don't give a shit. Ha ha. See you in February.

As requested...........

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 17:00:49 GMT

OFFICIALLY PROUD MEMBER OF THE "I-AM-SEVENTEEN" COMMUNITY.

Back to Bedlam.... or School, at any rate

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 16:24:53 GMT

So. School starts on August 5th, and yes, I'm NOT looking forward to it. There's not much I can do, though I can whine. We're getting a new principal, by the way, fresh from the soils of Tamil Nadu. His name is Gilbert Thangudurai. I kid you not.

Anywhoo, the old folks think that a SAT-II subject test would do me some good, so here I am, freshly registered for Math and Physics (apparently necessary for Engineering). Also, I am listening to increasingly harassed reprts coming from the PC Thomas coaching classes regarding the future and such.

Not much these days besides shuttling from tuition to tuition. Also saw Pirates 2 (too dam long, the title). Pretty good, do what if it is over 2 hours? I liked Depp way more than Bloom, and found nothing attractive in concave Knightley.

Posting....

Sun, 09 Jul 2006 16:30:12 GMT

Nothing much has happened since..... Leher came over for the day but couldn't stay over because of previous commitments, or something. Anything, we watched "Must Love Dogs", starring Diane Lane and John Cusack (who, by the way, is one of my favourite actors) which turned out to be a not-so-great twist on "You've Got Mail". Captain Von Trapp (all right, I know his name is Christopher Plummer but he is always the Captain to me) was wasted in this film in some sidey role and I still do not understand the purpose of Dermot Mulroney's role in this film. Why was he there? God knows.

I had borrowed "Memoirs of a Geisha" along with that (I actually own the book) and was looking to nitpick about the differences. However, it was visually stunning (I mean it) with some great cinematography and the costumes and make up was gorgeous. Michelle Yeoh was PERFECT as Mameha - she was exactly how I imagined her to be. Nobu, sadly, had both his arms and the Baron didn't look scummy enough but the rest of the casting was perfect, especially Ken Watanabe's part.

Next week, I'll take in Howl's Moving Castle again - just to revisit Miyazaki's world again. Tah.

Whoa....

Thu, 06 Jul 2006 14:12:54 GMT

Man, I can't believe it has been this long since I saw the face of LJ. Man, I should really et back to updating.

Well, what else? I saw another great anime film with Priya by Hayao Miyazaki - Spirited Away - and it was just every bit as amazing as Howl's. The animation is superb and the story was pretty good. I was unnerved when I found out the creepy Ring girl had voiced Chihiro/Sen but I thought she did a good job. My favourite was No-Face : I particualrly admired the dainty way he drank his tea at Zameba's. Cute. Also, nice bath-house.

I also managed to see whatever I could of The Chronicles of Narnia- somewhat disappointing. Too many references to LOTR for me, and I somehow could warm myself up to the kids (I did feel sorry for Edmund, though). Tilda Swinton wasn't even evil enough for me...... she was more Bad-ass in Constantine.

So far, all right. I'll pop to the video store to see if I can get anything else good enough.

I don't believe this....

Sat, 25 Mar 2006 16:23:32 GMT

You know, all this while I've been moaning and groaning about my school, how much I hate it and how much I want to get away from here but now that I'm about to enter the final year, I'm.... nervous.

Fri, 24 Mar 2006 15:37:41 GMT

You're blue — the most soothing shade of the spectrum. The color of a clear summer sky or a deep, reflective ocean, blue has traditionally symbolized trust, solitude, and loyalty. Most likely a thoughtful person who values spending some time on your own, you'd rather connect deeply with a few people than have a bunch of slight acquaintances. Luckily, making close friends isn't that hard, since people are naturally attracted to you — they're soothed by your calming presence. Cool and collected, you rarely overreact. Instead, you think things through before coming to a decision. That level-headed, thoughtful approach to life is patently blue — and patently you!

This was a result from some test I took on Tickle. Nyah.

Another movie update....

Sun, 12 Mar 2006 18:53:15 GMT

I just saw Tim Burton's Corpse Bride and it is so fabolous! As everyone knows that shy and clumsy Viktor is about to get married to Victoria. He gets cold feet, mucks up his vows and sets about to learn them up proper. As he practices in the forest, he inadvertently places the ring on the finger of a corpse- who now claims to be his bride.

Dying looked fun here- the Underworld (it's not really heaven or hell, actually although they do mention the living world being upstairs everyone goes to the same place) seems a fantastic place to stay, or as the old Elder put it-"everyone's dying to be down here".

The songs are quite fun and entertaining (all composed by the BRILLIANT Danny Elfman) and I haven't enjoyed any animated film with music and songs in a very long time. This film is original and fun, and animation is super-fantastic and so adorable. I enjoyed the nightmare Before Christmas and I wasn't let down by this animated effort from Burton. Very dark and Gothic, every frame of his film is a visual treat.

Screencaps::

That's Viktor, voiced by Crazy Johnny. He is so cute.... man, I wish there were guys like this in real life. Akward Goth would be so cool.

Victoria, voiced by Emily Watson (yeah, it's Emily, NOT Emma). Isn't she adorable????

And the Corpse Bride (Emily, actually) voiced by Helena Bonham Carter. The sweetest person (dead or alive) in the PLANET!!!! The Corpse Bride is cool.

Post-It: Overload of PINK!!!!!!!

Sat, 11 Mar 2006 13:35:06 GMT

I checked out "The Pink Panther" yesterday. Ok, maybe I can't buy redemption for going completely against my initial plan for ignoring this hackneyed version of Peter Sellers's classics but I figured, you, know, what the hell. A little juvenile, very childish and very visible desperate attempts to make the humour a little mature, the one thing I appreciated about the film was that Steve Martin never tried to be Peter Sellers, he tried to be Clouseau. Which... ok, I've heard better French accents (like in Frech Kiss, Kevin Kline???) but..... eh, all right. Of course there was a very distracting little cameo appearance by Clive Owen (can we say HOT?!?!?!?) and Beyonce seemed totally on there for fluff and Emily Mortimer was so adorable as that secretary female alongside Bruce Willis in that Disney Film but here..... augh.
The best was Jean Reno who is gonna be Bezu Fache (!!!!!). Can't wait to see him as Fache.

Overall rating? 2.5 out of 5

Mon, 06 Mar 2006 11:05:23 GMT

working? check

and....

Shit!

Thu, 02 Mar 2006 11:16:32 GMT

Damnation and hell! It's been to freaking long since I posted on ym LJ. Well, life has one kept me busy by offering lemons by the truckload. Well, where do I start....

Things haven't been so hot on the school font. God knows how many tests I've been taking: the SAT (2110, suck on THAT), the Canadian Math Test (from U of Waterloo, eheh) and of course, my stupid finals. I just had a very dissapointing English exam as well a tremendously (and unsurprisingly) sucky Chem exam as well. So life is peachy. God, I can't believe I wrote that.

Would it be such a good idea to take out ADSL? I'll be away (hopefully) in, like, a year so what's the point? My dad doesn't use the Net even 1/8th as much I do (and even that would be a lot) and my mom doesn't know diddly-squat about the pleasures of the Net.

Bah whatever. The first thing I'm going to do after my exams is check the Oscar-nominated movies. Not all though, just the following:
1. Memoirs of a Geisha (Japan)
2. Transamerica (unusual for a woman to take this part)
3. Walk the Line (Joaquin)
4. Brokeback Mountain (Heath, Jake and a great performance)
5. Munich (Eric Bana, and a GOOD Speilberg film)
6. Capote (Performance)
7. Hustle and Flow (I was pleasantly surprised by Terrence Howard's nomination)
8. North Country (Charlize, and women empowerment)
9. Mrs Henderson Presents (Judi Dench rules)
10. The Constant Gardener (mystery, Fiennes and Weisz)
and all the animated films

Movies I do NOT want to see inspite of the nominations:
1. Match Point (because of Scarlett-hate)
2. Syriana (someone from the Middle East will be SO bored seing this movie. No idea what the Middle
East is really like.)
3. Junebug (just.... bleh)
4. The Squid and the Whale (enough divorce stories already!!!!!)
5. Pride and Prejudice (ugh, Kiera)

My votes:
Actor: Terrence Howard OR Joaquin Phoenix
Actress: Judi Dench OR Charlize Theron
S. Actor: Paul Giamatti
S. Actress: Rachel Weisz[WON]
Film: Capote OR Brokeback Mountain
Director: Crash dude, Paul Haggis
Screenplay: Crash[WON] AND Constant Gardener
Song: It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp, Hustle and Flow[WON]
Music: Geisha
Set directing: King Kong
Effects: King Kong[WON]
Costume: Geisha[WON]
Cinematography: Batman Begins
Make up: Narnia[WON]
Foreign: Paradise Now (Palestine)

Well, that wraps it out.

Happy new year, y'all!

Sun, 01 Jan 2006 08:11:50 GMT

Hey and happy new year. I had a blast at the Yacht Club (though too many drunks around on the beach. A couple of people decided to go for a midnight swim and ended up drunk AND frozen) and the New Year seems to look great..... til March. Because I graduate in April to class 12.

It rained like crazy yesterday in the morning. And while I love gloomy weather I didnt want it to rain so bad coz the party woulda been spoiled. Roads were blocked, branches fell of trees (!) and tuition test was cancelled. YAY!

Had a busy week though. Went over to Priya's on Thursday and played some Theif- these Eidos (is that the spelling) people are too shrewd, no using mechanical eye when moving. Gah. So unfair. We also watched Brother Bear- it is the CUTEST movie without being cloyingly sweet. Seriously, I was like "How can you kill bears! Bears are so AWESOME!" all through the day.

Hmm, that would be about it. I think I should change the layout of my page and my pic.

Movies seen: Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (creepy beyond belief! all that hinting that everything was arranged and Johnny Depp........ eugh), Brother Bear (as said above), Four Brothers (surprisingly good, and funny and mving too), Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire (detailed reveiw later, for now ***)

Sat, 24 Dec 2005 07:20:50 GMT

Wishing you a Merry Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza and a Happy, Prosperous New Year

I was tagged......

Sat, 17 Dec 2005 13:32:52 GMT

List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words, or even if they're any good, but they must be songs you're really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your LJ along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they're listening to. 1. With you- Linkin Park 2. Where will you go- Evanescence 3. Boulevard of Broken Dreams- Green Day 4. How you Remind me- Nickelback 5. I miss you- Blink 182 6. Vertigo- U2 7. You're beautiful- James Blunt

Tagging the following: jellyjulie , l izardfuel55 , mondayschild_ , sneakbox , channybabbe</span> , danssugrbaby , applejammy ,</span>

Dearly beloved.....

Sat, 17 Dec 2005 13:21:12 GMT

Well! Holidays have officially started and you can only imagine the relief I feel now. I hate it when they drag school on. You pretty much learn zilch coz your mind's on other things (hols, movies, whatevers).

My grandparents (maternal) have come to visit so I'm pretty busy anyone. I do enjoy solitude however I dont get their company a lot so having them around is nice. Its keeping me busy anyway.

Not that I need ot be kept busy- I got my tuitions to do that, along with SAT preparations. None of my teachers are gonna cut me slack- except for Chem coz Karan and Rahul Shah are leaving for the RS Regional Conference in Pilani, Rajasthan, India. Hope they'll have fun.

Checked out "King Kong" last night with Karan. It was AWESOME! It didn't feel like a Peter Jackson movie, but it was really good. Jack Black ROCKED and although he was villain-ish, he still kicked ASS. I never noticed before but Adrien Brody has a REALLY long nose, and Naomi Watts totally looks like Nicole Kidman, especially like her in "The Others". Good movie, but don't go if you don't have a lot of time- VERY LONG MOVIE!

Well, Christmas is around the corner, so holiday cards (or e-cards, in my case) gotta be sent out. Hope everyone else is having a nice life.

Movies seen: King Kong (*does gorilla howl and beats chest*), Muriel's Wedding (eh......), Pulp Fiction (pretty good, if a little violent)

Happy days are here.... till tomorrow

Sat, 03 Dec 2005 13:11:27 GMT

Hmm. The National holidys are here now. Though I have no idea why now, National day was on 18th of November. Whatever. A holiday is a holiday. Still, I wish some of my tuition techers understood that. Chitra (physics) is keeping a test today- Mechanics of fluids- and Chem tuition test tomorrow- Haloalkanes and haloarenes. Sometimes I wish I hadn't taken science, it's too much of a bother.

Went to see "Chicken Little" last night. What an adorable movie- seriously! It is amazing- the animation is wonderful, the expressions on the faces are fantastic. It's really funny too- I mean it has to be with Zach Braff in it! Go see it- it is great.

Well, that's all. Back to Physics.

Movies seen: Kill Bil Vol.1 & 2 (just for kicks), Chicken Little (go SEE IT!), Mr. & Mrs. Smith (hmmm....).

I'm so dead....

Thu, 24 Nov 2005 18:08:57 GMT

My exams are finally over and I don't know if it's worse than before or not. I mean really, what is with these teachers? Especially Chem..... God, it's not like you're giving blood or something, only marks!!! Geez.

Whatever. I hate my school.

I registered for the January SAT so I guess I should start preparing. The Math is considerably easier than my math but the English is a notch higher..... obviously. I guess I'll be all right if I prepare well. 2160 should be...... a distant dream, dammit. I'm gonna have to bust my ass over this one too. It seems I have another year of ass-busting (the 12th boards, thank you very much) and then...... whoa. I can't believe I'm only, like, a year away from college. Weird!

Movies seen: Batman Begins (again! And I could watch it again!), Shaun of the Dead (again), Million Dollar Baby (really good film. See it to believe it.)

A short break

Wed, 09 Nov 2005 18:16:55 GMT

October pretty much passed out in a flurry of mad revision and cramming for the exams. I am still recovering from the after-shock of the terror that was my Chem paper. Yeugh.

What happened in October? Well, the aforementioned cramming and learning aside, we got holidays for two major festivals- Diwali, which I celebrate, and Eid. Diwali holidays and Eid holidays were actually in November but since there wasn't really much in October that happened, it is counted for "Events in october".

Diwali turned out to be boring.... except for the sweets. Watche dabout 35 minutes of Hitchhiker's Guied To The Galaxy at Karan's place then left for Ketan Mehta's house. Priya, where the goddamn hell wre you?!? I had Alisha to keep me company along with Riteja Dutta (!) but it's so boring bashing the world aorund you with people like that. Anyway, I basically gorged myself silly on sweets and went home.Eid was long and dragging.... except for my parents, who, in a sudden fit of insanity, decided to go out every night, buying me CD's and renting movies, fully knowing I had exams coming up! Ha well..I barely studied English, knowing fully well I'll be punished in the exam for my callousness but I ahve had it up to my neck and I won't take it any more.

Nov. 6 was the premiere of Harry Potter 4, one of my fandoms. Some of the pics:

That's Katiw Leung, the girl who palys Cho Chang. Thank God she got rid of her stupid blonde streaks- she looks lovely without them. The dress is really nice- though the hem at front looks like her dress is riding up her front. Killer shoes though.

Dan Radcliffe- Harry Potter. He looks like a freaking environmentalist viscount or something. Or a deranged tree-loving Dracula, which is weird coz vampires can be killed with wood, right? Anyway, what I would to know is what the shit is up with freaking velvet? Although I like the shorter hair- the GoF hair is NOT good. He looked his best in PoA.

Miranda Richardson- Rita Skeeter. I think she looks great- especially as Rita. I saw her in a flim earlier- The Prince and me. The movie sucked but she was good- she had a believable Danish accent.

Matthew Lewis- Neville Longbottom. I hated the way he had suddenly thinned out in PoA. Looks like he's getting back to Neville-phase again.

Bonnie Wright- Ginny Weasley. Now this makes the Harry/Ginny pairing believable. She looks great- I love her eye makeup. The shoes suck, but she's working black really well. Nice hair too- very Rachel MacAdams in Red Eye. The dress could have fitted better at the top, though.

Emma Watson- Hermione Granger. Nice dress, though I hate the pink and would never wear it myself. Too shapeless. And wtf is up with the shoelace/head band thing? Was she going for a flapper of the 20's look? Looks like she's wearing Indian nagra shoes- they're all the rage in Oz, when I went down there. Also, silly hair.

Robert Pattinson- Cedric Diggory. He wore leather paints- and I can't believe PETA hasn't asked people to boycott HP yet. He looks better blonde- looks great in the movie, but a little..... drunk real life. Ha well. He has a unibrow too.

Rupert Grint- Ron Weasley. OK, wtf is up with the guys? Was this lounge lizard night? What is up with all the velvet? Rupert I can live with the torn pant becuase they're so Rock_Star but please NO VELVET. Also, cut your hair.

Shefali Choudhary (right) and Afshan Azad (left)- Parvati and Padma Patil. Their Yule Ball costumes suck royally. No Indian girl with a shred of self pride would wear those. They look okay here- their dresses are a little weird though. Left looks like Dan's Dracula-Bride, and Right looks like Aquafresh Mint.

Devon Murray-Seamus Finnagan. Looking good- atleast there's no VELVET.

James and Oliver Phelps- The Weasley Twins. That's their natural hair colour. So I guess they're not returning for the 5th movie or something. They look better with shorter hair- and brown.

Well, I guess Madonna must have hurt her head when she fell off her horse, because this outfit sucks. She looks like the carriage footmen the the Fairy Godmother turned the rats into in Cinderella. HAHAHA.

David Tennant- Barty Crouch Jr. Pretty good looking. Seems cool too- he wore a kilt to the BAFTA's.

Clemence Poesy- Fleur Delacour. She looks nice blonde. A lot like Calire Danes, though. She looks a little anorexic here- god, eat a Big Mac or something! Plus, I don't like the ruffles.

That's it.

Opinion Poll.

Sun, 23 Oct 2005 11:45:49 GMT

Sorry about the long haul delay- I barely had time to update saying hi. Anyway, this was somehting I've been meaning to post for a long time.

PEOPLE OF THE LAND

I recently came back from teh Round Square Conference in Ivanhoe Grammar School, Melbourne, Australia. One of the speakers that came to speak to us was Chris Sarra, principal of an Aboriginal school. This school was in a complete mess- low attendance, bad grades, students snififng petrol and not giving a damn about things. Chris managed to completely turn it around with his strong ideals about self-pride, education and morality.

One of the things he did to lift and boost the morale of the kids was to make up a school song- simple yet effective. However, some of the lyrics did stir up some controversy and ruffled a few socio-political feathers. A line that went "We're young, black and deadly" led people to make remarks about the fact that it was underlining the divinding factors of race amongst them.

But did it?

ARE WE ALL THE SAME?

One of Chris's most powerful ideals was that the Aboriginals should be proud of their identity, and this song was to instill pride in their "blackness". He wanted them to know that they should be proud of their ancestry, culture and origins, and that being Aboriginal didn't mean being the lowest of the low. The trampish sort of lifestyle that most of the Aboriginals led by choice was because of the negative mindset that was embedded onto their social upbringing. The only way to correct it was to show them that being Aboriginal was a matter of pride.

But some feared it would further divide the gap between the Aboriginals and the White Australians by further encouraging the ideas of racism- that they're different, somewhat separate from the rest of society. The're's only a certain level of self-pride that is accepted in society- before you're branded "cocky". Drilling it into their minds that they were different wasn't thought to be a healthy mindsat for the impressionable young children.

DEADLY IN OUR MINDS

The line contained the word "deadly", which stirred up some controversy too. Were the emotionally-fragile young Aboriginal children being encouraged to indulge in juvenile deliquency? No. They were being told that a mind can be the deadliest weapon- when used rightly. Education can be a most powerful tool, and it was impressed upon the children by these words. They were deadly only to those who doubted them and their abilities.

But outside of the school it was a different ball game. They couldn't fit in so well.... simply because they spent all of their lives in a place where they mingled only with people like themselves. Poeple felt this was because of the effect of the fact that they were being constantly told that they were different.

SHOULD WE REALLY TELL THEM THEY'RE DIFFERENT?

Should we encourage promotion of racial diversity? Or should we tell eveyone that they are all equal and forget our indigenous culture for peaceful co-existence?

And October has officially begun......

Fri, 14 Oct 2005 10:36:48 GMT

..with our lovely monthly tests. Yessir, I have also started to flunk them in my true monthly-test-taking-style so everything is normal. We had dinner guests last night and no kids showed up so I watched "The Punisher" by myself. It was a good movie, pity it didnt do well in teh box office. Tom Jane looks pretty good with black hair- I think I saw him and Teri Hatcher in an Elton John video. Oh well.

Muscat seems so much more suckier now that I'm back from Melbourne. Anyway I have this opinion poll I want to post up, so I'll do that when I have more time.

Anyway just wanted to update to show the world I'm alive and semi-allright.