[[*---Virtu contro al Furore---*]]

Friday, December 31, 2004

______________________________

Consummation

I saw a lunatic
Raving mad
He called the world
To his feet
They answered not
He stretched out
Gaunt arms
No One

I saw a king
Down on his knees
Eschewed by his people
Crying he begged
Torn and ragged

I saw a rebel
Defiance in his eyes
He fought the world
Raging swirl
He stood
And died

I saw a slave
Meek and downtrodden
He did his time
Silently his crime
Was forgotten.

I saw a fool
Thinking no evil
Laughing he lived
Life ever cruel
Tore in him a rift
He wasted
He crumpled
Left for dead

I saw a warrior
Grit his teeth
Rising out of the dust
Sword unsheathed
Shake off the rust
To Battle

I saw a man
His lot was small
But the LORD
Blessed him
He had no hoard
But he was content
He passed on
But his smile is not gone

And all that I saw
Was but my reflection in the mirror

[[ Sagacious Musings ]]*|3:56 PM|

Tuesday, December 28, 2004

______________________________

In Loving Memory

Fount of the deep
Burst from the seams
Eljudnir's keep
Death's reams

Wormwood froths
Human mirth
Mjollnir's wroth
Rend the earth

Gog and Magog
None unscathed
Crash upon rock
Lifeless wraith

Smother the fires
Of Life
Heathen quagmire
Bitter strife

Remember those who gave their lives to the deep
And pray the Lord their souls to keep

[[ Sagacious Musings ]]*|2:56 PM|

Monday, December 27, 2004

______________________________

Carpe Diem

Yggdrasil withers
Ragnarok appears
Oblivion awaits
Dire Straits

Silver Sands Sublime
Deus of Time
Ephemeral wake
Bloodstained rake

Wrench him inviolate
Lest you etiolate
Burn the effigy
Do not tarry

Seize the day
Enter the fray
Or look back
Salt stack

[N.B. : Am blogging this from brisbane airport. More about my trip when i reach home and finish running some errands. But just a little (albeit overdue) response to tags:
Candy: Well yes. But if you think about it, do you really want to live that long?
Lis: Thanks! You too (belated yeah)
Morrigan: Well, do metrical formulae still apply to free verse? I do agree the words are too long - how's the poem above then? Any better?
Dan: Yup thanks! You too.
Debbie: Thanks! See ya at watchnight service
Chun: Are you on something dear? Nah Thanks ya.
JOse: Thanks! Hope your party thing got sorted out yeah.]

{Another thing. In case i do forget to blog about my trip, i shall put the list of people whom i got some stuff for:

MG pple:
1. Angel
2. Candy
3. Kate
4. Cyn
5. Mich
6. Feli
7. Christine

AC Db8ers
1. Josh Hoe
2. Auggie
3. Kal
4. Joseph

Church people:
1. Daniel
2. Jon
3. Muriel
4. Joanna
5. Debbie

Others:
1. Chris Cheong
2. Hiu Tung
3. Jennifer
4. Litzee
5. Bern
6. Suat Ying

Your presents will be mooching on down to you soon. MG pple - will prob get candy to pass them to you, AC Db8ers and BZ - when sch reopens i suppose, Church people - Watchnight service or next sunday, Others - DEPpers will pass yours to kal before that party - hope y'all are all going. Bern and Litz - sometime when i meet you. =X Suat - prob thru rg pple in church.}

Toodles dearies. Flying back now.

[[ Sagacious Musings ]]*|7:18 AM|

Tuesday, December 21, 2004

______________________________

Annuit Coeptis

Everything falls into place
By God's surpassing grace

What was broken is whole;
Seal over the gaping hole.

Burnish the bronze till golden;
As the Almighty's power beholden.

Embrace the shining light;
Covers the devil's night.

[[ Sagacious Musings ]]*|10:44 PM|

______________________________

Cockroaches

Spawn of the depth,
Filth of the Abscess.
Debarred and unclean
Acerbic and extreme.

Twist to the right,
Twist to the left.

On their bellies they run
Averse from the sun
Eviscerating light of day
Numinous fray

Crushed by your hand,
Crushed by your foot.

The masters they laugh
Gone is the dove
From their languid hands
Searing Firebrands

Siphon your life
Siphon your strife

But they proliferate
Ceaselessly promulgate
As Tyr closes his eye
Loki will descry

They amass like fools
They amass as tools

Overthrow, overrun,
Masters fall before their sons.
Conflagrations of size
New Blood, arise.

Hissing, all too soon
Hissing, call unto doom

New masters, new names.
Bourgeoisie all the same
Iron fist of oppression;
Indelible regression.

Crushed under the foot of hypocrisy
Hoi Polloi die with Ignominy.

[[ Sagacious Musings ]]*|1:43 PM|

Monday, December 20, 2004

______________________________

deleted a rather acerbic post just now. suffice it to say that my trust in friends has been unceremoniously shaken (once again).
So, that does beg the question of who to really trust.
Shall ponder that over my holiday, that is when i'm not reading (Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. Yum. ) or skeet shooting (hey what can i say).
Oh well. Rather meaningful song below. I'll leave it at that.

H.I.M - Join Me in Death

Baby join me in death
Baby join me in death
Baby join me in death

We are so young
Our lives have just begun
But already we’re considering
Escape from this world

And we’ve waited for so long
For this moment to come
Was so anxious to be together
Together in death

Won’t you die tonight for love
Baby join me in death
Won’t you die
Baby join me in death
Won’t you die tonight for love
Baby join me in death

This world is a cruel place
And we’re here only to lose
So before live tears us apart let
Death bless me with you

Won’t you die tonight for love
Baby join me in death
Won’t you die
Baby join me in death
Won’t you die tonight for love
Baby join me in death

This live ain’t worth living
This live ain’t worth living
This live ain’t worth living
This live ain’t worth living

Won’t you die tonight for love
Baby join me in death
Won’t you die
Baby join me in death
Won’t you die tonight for love
Baby join me in death

Baby join me in death

[[ Sagacious Musings ]]*|1:07 PM|

Sunday, December 19, 2004

______________________________

Sabbatical

Starlight Delineates
Moonlight Evanesces
Wind the lissome trees rake
As world sublimes to a curse

Dream Sweetly, My Love.

For the Prince of the air
I See his firm dominion
Souls he will tear
Like the vultures of carrion.

Dream Sweetly, My Love?

As I Watch the world spiral down
Vile filth frothing forth
From the seat of the earth's crown.
See the calamity it wroth

Dream Sweetly, My Love!

Exodus of morality
Upon a downtrodden place
Degenerative causality
Befalls this dimunitive race.

Dream Sweetly, My Love.

Awake not from your halcyon slumber,
Lest your dreams be ripped asunder.

[[ Sagacious Musings ]]*|2:59 PM|

Friday, December 17, 2004

______________________________

Had 3 debates today, spoke for 2, did 3rd opp each. Ah well. So much for training in first...
Lasted till about 6? but got back at 8 because i had to go cut my hair...
Not to mention, of course, being busy EVERY other day of this week due to that SPH bao mi hua competition.
I swear. If we don't win, i'm going to be quite pissed.
Did i mention having to do massive amounts of tiresome chinese work? And thanks to my mom, as well as my own pride in my work, i can't force myself to rush it through..

It's all coming back now. And you know what the worst part is? That nobody cares.
Disappear into nothing. Fade into the shadows.

Auspicum Nihilo

Pain and terror
Bow in mute genuflection
Cain kills Abel
Before the lord of destruction

Poured out full strength
Heaven's wrath
And as you drank
Life slips from your grasp

Revelational exegesis
Look behind, turn;
Smell the disease
And Burn.

Blood from the Winepress of the Reaver;
Smoke of Us Burning rises Forever.

[[ Sagacious Musings ]]*|1:25 AM|

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

______________________________

Today a mormon came and wanted to preach to me. Interestingly, they call themselves the church of latter-day saints and all... Quite a clever cover-up? Although the book of Mormon in the guy's hand did quite give him away.
Isn't it sad to see honest people striving towards a misguided cause? No matter.
SPH video competition is taking up most of my time now. That and higher chinese homework which is a persistent pain in the behind... Not to mention trying to recoup relations in church and all...
It's hard really.

Sabre sharp and real
Cold hard glint of steel
Mirroring slash
Purveyor of death.

Staring down a silver edge
Shimmers with glistening rage.
Rust and soot, red and black,
Show a one-way track.

Who holds the sword?
Be it thin or broad?
Scratched sheen shivers
Holding burning rivers.

Stare into a blackened mess;
Impure metallic abyss.
There lies your future, broken and cold;
On the point of the blade you hold.

Burnt down, at the end of my rope;
Thus pass I with one fell stroke.

[[ Sagacious Musings ]]*|1:22 PM|

Friday, December 10, 2004

______________________________

Centre of my Life

Got back from youth camp on thurs, as expected with all youth camps (heck and every other camp too) totally crashed out due to massive exhaustion coupled with a caffeine-induced mental hyperactivity glaze, as has been my custom here and there in certain lapses of cognitive function. 12 packets of coffee. Need i say more?

Hmm how about day by day?

Day 1 - Reached church. Think it's the first time that youth camp has been held at the same location for 2 years in a row, so i do pledge as future camp com member to ensure that the thing is held elsewhere next year. Made some really really dumb audio-deprived videos during the settling in, namely one of me dancing, one of a really out-of point fight scene, and others which were noticeably even more mentally-lacking. Thankfully all the videos are now gone. They take up too much space anyway.
Sermon was quite enlightening. Never knew one should as a principle pray BEFORE reading God's word. Interesting how i didn't view it as an academic subject during the past few weeks despite just diving into it. Even then. Made a rather deep impression on my soul and all. Did think the message was a little short though, but i suppose with a youth-modelled message it would only be expected.
Went to bed pondering. Caleb (Mr. Golden Hair) enforced bedtime anyway so yeah, no choice.

Day 2 - Woke up early to bathe/Do QT early so as not to make it conflict with breakfast. QT really touched my heart, with all the parts about how to be wary of your friends and how they would stab you in the back eventually and so on. Reminded me of lots of things that happened this year, and my revelation as of a few weeks ago. Sermon was similarly close to my heart and personal experience.
Then *someone* broke my cam. My dad's cam too. *glares* deprived me of all the potential future happy memories! Urgh. This did lead to some interesting beginnings though, of friendships that is.
After that went off for the Amazing G-race. (Will they ever stop being corny?) At East Coast.. was fun though I think we could have done better on a few of the challenges. No problem though, as we had fun overall. Less tiring than last year too. Of course, came back to church and negated that energy buffer with some floorball. Scored 3 or something like that. :) After some more group rehearsal for Omega Night (explained later), the day, ended, or so i thought.
Well basically the sermon the night before was about following what God has impressed upon you to do. Thus i felt that God was telling me in my heart to rebuke some friends of mine about being serious in camp. Well at first i thought that it would take at most about 30 mins? But since no one came over to seriously emphasize lights out and all, ended up talking for about 3 plus hours, until like 3 plus. Interestingly, said friends actually responded positively, plus some other church people whom i knew on an acquaintance basis came over and joined us? And eventually i became better friends with all of those people. Indeed the LORD blesses those who follow his will...

Day 3/4 (i didn't sleep, so these count as one.)
Well aside from another good round-out sermon, fell asleep in the workshop on world religions cause of said sleeping at 3 the previous night, also cause i knew most of what was being taught. Rather embarrassing though. Then Omega Night comes along, and i have to do the sound/projection on an extremely ad-hoc basis... Still turned out relatively well, even though i wasn't really prepared and stuff. Of course all the skits were really funny, and so that's what counts...
Candlefight was fun as always. unfortunately my cone of protection only lasted for 1 blowout, when it began to cause problems with the candle. Stuck to defense for the rest of the game then. Haha last man standing was much more fun (because i won =)) but anyway did manage to blow out some candles of people who were quite strong and experienced. Thankfully a large part of the people torched out (the aluminium foil protecting the flame caught fire because of the gaseous wax) so that kind of eliminated a substanstial part of the competition. Knocked down 12 sachets of coffee in 1 cup by the way, in order to stay awake. This later proved to be quite a bad decision.
Well then, went to play bridge until about 3 plus after showering and stuff, but the best part is that i managed to convince my friends to play drunken elephant. Heheh. Managed to stay card-less for 2 rounds out of 3! And of course we didn't play the spinning part.
Oh well. Ended the camp on a rather low note due to a certain incident which i am sworn to secrecy about. I did think it not much of a deal though, although that might reflect on my unnaturally liberalistic mindset (and my church is conservative, believe it or not). Ah well. Had to create a scenario for the pastor and stuff. Still, more adversity did help with relationship development in certain areas, also due to the person in question willing to ask my opinion and push the matter.

As for those coffees, went into headachy-light sleep as a result of mental hyperactivity pepping up extreme physical exhaustion. Slept basically the whole thursday away. Whoopee.

Ah well. Overall a thoroughly refreshing experience. Must say i absolutely can't wait to be on this year's camp committee!

"This is what the LORD says:

"Stand at the crossroads and look;

ask for the ancient paths,

ask where the good way is, and walk in it,

and you will find rest for your souls."

Jeremiah 6:16

[[ Sagacious Musings ]]*|11:30 PM|

Monday, December 06, 2004

______________________________

The cyclic nature of everything is most interesting.
For one, listening to metallica first under the duress of an insatiable hunger for all things metallic and hard, then after a while, listening to metallica under the changed paradigm of appreciation of skills in metal guitar, while looking out more, in this case, for symphonious melody rather than simplistic head-banging cacophony, does indeed yield far different results.
Past few days have been really fun. Perhaps it's been the most fun week since the hols started, and that being most likely due to a nice change of perspective (duly elaborated in the past few entries) that has rounded out the serrated edges of my mental state. Of course, parental frustration and resulting excessively elaborated tirades have set in a few jarring chords here and there.

Well. Went to Josh Hoe's house on Wed after some sparring with SC (two spars, to be exact), must say that we left the spars on a high note after the unplanned ceremonious uncovering of a dormant nuclear bomb. He knows who he is. Certain surreptity is required before next year's JGs though. Anyway, first spar was rather edgy and unpolished, but second spar underlined 2 things: The first being said super weapons, and the second being that our Sec 1s are officially owned, through and through. SC and MG at U-14s finals, anyone? Now if Crawshaw thinks he's good, then he hasn't seen Lisabelle/Susannah/Celine yet... Oh well. Gap year i suppose. (Hope no sec 1s read this =X) At any rate, went to Hoe's house at like 5-6, ate dinner and watched S'pore Idol. My my. Sly was sure lucky Bon Jovi wasn't watching, i'm quite sure he'd have sued for defamation (of his song that is) if he was. Well. Taufik was far better, as all would know, but the disparity (or comparative lack of it) in prizes between Sly and Taufik was rather hilarious/inconceivable. Went up, tried out LOTR:ROTK the game (which ownz by the way), but got tired after getting consecutively owned by the escape from the halls of the dead level. Went down to sing to Josh and Jeremy's drumming and guitar (they interchanged halfway) along with Auggie. Ended up sleeping somewhere near 4, which once again reinforces the view that a Sleepover is an oxymoron because the least thing people actually do is sleep... But that aside, woke up the next day to another debate session (seems that debate trainings these hols have been in consecutive days for some reason), this time a spar with NY where they unceremoniously pulled out a truistic case (don't ask me why) and packaged up the debate to us as a present... Um i suppose it was the motion, though why exactly they should expect us to run a upper limit quota case was rather unclear. Went out again, this time to the Pines to play squash with Cheam, Hoe, Paul, and Hiew... and ended up straining many muscles due to rather unpolished whack-the-ball-as-hard-as-you-can style.

After some crash and burn courtesy of extreme physical exertion after veritably shortened rest periods the day before, woke up on fri to go play some bball (shot 50 out of key shots in 45 min), after which i went to PS to go meet Gel and Candy who were shopping for some camp stuff... and just looking around town in general. Some things to note:
1. I like gel's thumb ring. Heh.
2. Candy lives within 5 min's walk from me. O_O Now that is interesting indeed... apparently she only moved there this year...
3. HMV is seriously out to cheat your money. There are some normal CDs which are like going for 35 bucks?! And strangely enough there was a temporary blackout at Lido, which didn't affect HMV. So we postulated that HMV had it's own generator built using Cheat-Your-Money CD prices... although HMV does have many CDs which can't be found elsewhere. Thinking of getting the Auf Der Maur CD.

Anyway, I did manage to get the Metallica S&M CD (it stands for San Francisco Symphony Orchestra and Metallica, don't get the wrong idea), which i must duly accord its' well deserved praise; all the songs are definitely an improvement over the original songs? And considering how much I love Metallica, that's saying a lot. Notable Songs are One and Enter Sandman, which have made very significant improvements over the originals, even considering how good the originals were.

Well. Went for Ju's "Merry Pimpin' Christmas" Party yesterday, and got to see for myself, the other side. Haha. Well. Debate girls (IJ not included) are most certainly quite guai compared to Ju and her bunch... Hmm. I estimate approximately 200-300 F-words were used? And perhaps about 50 times combined with "bitch" or "mother"... haha. Not to mention, of course, that most of the girls seemed intent on getting piss drunk (kidding. No one actually got drunk) and of course, low cut tops and really short skirts notwithstanding.
Notable cheap puns (courtesy of some AC drama boys)
"What would santa say if he came here?" "Ho, Ho, Ho" (hint if you don't get it. Pimps always have? _____)
(to auggie using potato chips to light candles)"What a chip thrill man..."
And so on and so forth. Well amazing that Auggie and Zhiheng actually endured that party for like quite a few hours... Despite being terribly out of place. Haha.. Anyhow Ju's dog has issues. It humped my leg. Darn i wanted a photo of that. And no, it's my right leg, not the center one. By the way, it was a male dog. Ok, nevermind.
Anyway, it does strangely seem that every party i go, i end up, for the large part or the end part, talking to a bunch of girls. Same in this case, ended up talking to a bunch of girls, together with terence. Fun stuff. Missed out on the liquor though, but not that much there that i haven't tried before... Mostly the girls were drinking Vodka Coke so yea.

Ah well. Off to youth camp in a short while. Hope i don't miss out packing anything. Also hope the LORD will bless the camp and send revival amongst the youth... Who knows? It's worked for me, it could work for anyone, and it could even work for everyone. Still, that's all in the LORD's plan.

Ah on the issue of nice music, Debussy's Reverie is really good... Airy and intangible, yes, but rhapsodious nonetheless.

Well. I'd best be off now. Hope to catch a number of people to go out (together) before some leave for overseas...

[Edit] Oh yes. i must kill Metallica for not including The Unforgiven or The Unforgiven II in their S&M album, or Creeping Death for that matter... Outlaw Torn was SUCH A WASTE OF 10 GOOD MINUTES!!! Urgh.. The Thing That Should Not Be and Bleeding Me weren't that good either... Bloody hell, Metallica sacrificed some of their nicest songs for "balance" between the number of songs from each album...
Good things though. Realized that Wherever I May Roam and Of Wolf and Man are really nice tracks. Oh and Hongyi was wrong when he said that Metallica had to resort to cheap tricks like vulgarities in St. Anger, because Fuel already had lots of vulgarities and it was quite a popular song... Ah well. And JU, METALLICA IS NOT MAT ROCKER MUSIC!!! Shall have to kill her over that. Hmm. Must get Bern to join me in that.

Metallica - The Unforgiven II

Lay beside me, tell me what they've done
Speak the words I wanna hear, to make my demons run
The door is locked now, but it's opened if you're true
If you can understand the me, then I can understand the you

Lay beside me, under wicked skies
Through black of day, dark of night, we share this paralyze
The door cracks open, but there's no sun shining through
Black heart scarring darker still, but there's no sun shining through
No, there's no sun shining through
No, there's no sun shining

What I've felt, what I've known
Turn the pages, turn the stone
Behind the door, should I open it for you?

Yeah
What I've felt, what I've known
Sick and tired, I stand alone
Could you be there, 'cause I'm the one who waits for you
Or are you unforgiven too?

Come Lay beside me, this won't hurt, I swear
She loves me not, she loves me still, but she'll never love again
She lay beside me, but she'll be there when I'm gone
Black hearts scarring darker still, yes, she'll be there when I'm gone
Yes, she'll be there when I'm gone
Dead sure she'll be there

What I've felt, what I've known
Turn the pages, turn the stone
Behind the door, should I open it for you?

What I've felt, what I've known
Sick and tired, I stand alone
Could you be there, cause I'm the one who waits for you
Or are you unforgiven too?

Lay beside me, tell me what I've done
The door is closed, so are your eyes
But now I see the sun, now I see the sun
Yes, now I see it

What I've felt, what I've known
Turn the pages, turn the stone
Behind the door, should I open it for you

What I've felt, what I've known
So sick and tired, I stand alone
Could you be there, cause I'm the one who waits
The one who waits for you

Oh, what I've felt, what I've known
Turn the pages, turn the stone
Behind the door, should I open it for you
So I dub thee unforgiven

Oh, what I've felt
Oh, what I've known

I take this key
And I bury it in you
Because you're unforgiven too

Never free
Never me
cause you're unforgiven too

[End Edit]

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Has Come to Thee, O Israel...

[[ Sagacious Musings ]]*|9:30 AM|

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

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Symphony.

Dischord and Harmony
Terse Unchained Melody
Fugues and Cacophony
Meld in Rhapsody.

Bought Metallica's S&M today, was 31 dollars but I think it's money well spent. (Though I shall, in all likelihood, be proved wrong at some later point in time.) The whole concept is actually rather noveau, combining electric guitar with a symphonic orchestra, because the orchestra adds not just that whole sense of majesty to the piece, but also the symphony seems to complete the piece, by glossing over the static and dischord often heard at some points in a electric guitar piece, and smoothing over the slight tangles here and there. Not to mention, naturally, that the complementation of the smooth sound of brass and woodwinds eases out the sharp vibratos of the electric guitar, not to mention help to paint over the distortions so that they sound more natural...

Hmm. Wanted to comment on how our youth is going down the drain. But we'll leave that for another day - Don't feel particularly pensive or critical at this point in time. I'll just leave you with this then.

Wilfred Owen - Anthem for Doomed Youth

What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
Only the monstruous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells;
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, -
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.

What candles may be held to speed them all?
Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes.
The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of patient minds,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.

[[ Sagacious Musings ]]*|1:52 AM|