Bought in: Borrowed from Julie. Content: 2/5 Language: 2/5 Ease of Reading: 5/5 (higher being easier) Overall: 3/5
What I never understood after reading Twilight is, why is it that when guys fawn over a hot chick like Shimrit As or Sienna Miller, we are deemed perverts, but when Stephenie Meyer talks about how god-awfully-fucking-perfect Edward's pale white face and glittering skin is, it's a masterpiece for teenage girls?
Anyway, after bashing the movie, I only thought it fair to read the book before I really start to hate this saga as a whole. So I did, and I finished all 500 pages in 1.5 days. Record-breaking for me, but frankly I'm not proud of myself. Seldom is there a book so cringe-worthy, it made me cringe whenever Bella says Edward's face is super perfect, and then during cringing I cringe more because I know that I still have 400 pages of this shit to go through.
Premise-wise, it was kind of interesting until Stephenie Meyer slaughtered the horror-fantasies of Bram Stoker to pen down her own wet dreams into a barely literarily-stimulating book. I don't mean to say that I could have written a book any much better, but I have definitely read books way more respectable than this in terms of using the English language.
Frankly though, some parts I felt were food for thought. For instance, how the vampires supposedly develop perfect features and improve their overall senses when they get bitten and "transition" into their new life in order to be the "perfect predator". For example, Edward can read minds because when he was a human, he could sort of read minds and this became more fine-tuned when he became a vampire. In all fairness, I thought this was interesting. But for all this to be undermined by the fact that Bella can't help cumming in her (probably black) panties everytime Edward glances at her in the cafeteria, I can't help but label this book as a trashy read. Chick lit disguised in a horror genre. So if I were to become a vampire, I would have the ability to rip off Stephenie Meyer's head at will.
The only saving graces are that (1) the movie sucked more cock; (2) if I wrapped my fish bones in pages from the book, it could last me about 1.5 years.
Now don't go around telling me, "Oh, if you hated it so much, why did you waste your time reading it then?" Well motherfuckers, if I didn't read it, I would totally thrash the book anyway, and then you guys would be saying, "Oh but the book is so much better." It was, but eating rocks instead of pebbles doesn't make it easier to digest. Also, if I didn't waste my time reading the book, how the hell would I know it sucked so much cock too anyway? Same goes for Youtube comments. Goddammit. If only the book wasn't mine.
Cruiser tried to give some lame sign off here at 1:13:00 AM
Book Review I: The Language Instinct - Steven Pinker
Foreword: So I figured, since I love this domain so much, and the title of the blog even more, I thought I'd post something on it to prevent it from getting defunct. Over the course of the weeks in Germany I read at least 9 books, and I think it's only respectful for the books that I review and share with the world what I have learnt.
Bought in: London's main train station? I can't remember the name, not King's Cross though. Content: 5/5 Language: 4/5 Ease of Reading: 4/5 (higher being easier) Overall: 5/5
Very seldom does a book come into your life and make you reconsider your major. Steven Pinker did such a wonderful job of drawing me into the world of linguistics, talking about why only humans have such a developed linguistic ability with such varied forms of communication. He also considers the possibility of a "grammar gene" (which he later claims may not be so probable after all) or even a section of the brain dedicated to grammatical abilities. He finds out why children tend to learn a language much faster than adults (this arises from the "need" to develop a language in order to survive, whereas adults more develop from the point of "want").
The main reasons I bought this book were (1) Julie studied linguistics, and it's only natural I should know more about this area of study; (2) Some people annoy me when they keep talking about linguistics that they learnt. No finger pointing. I wasn't bent on wanting to counter-argue with people like that, I just needed some background information to call bullshit if I ever have to.
Language-wise, the book is not exactly a literary book, so don't expect to learn too much about irony and juxtapositions, but Pinker puts technical information into relatively easy to read chapters and paragraphs. Granted, certain sections of the book delve a lot into the technical aspects of dissecting how language works, (reminiscent of Noam Chomsky albeit in a more graphical manner), but it doesn't detract from the main goal of providing insight into this fascinating world for everyone, even to those without prior background knowledge.
All in all, highly recommended. I finished this book in about 6 days total, but that was during my busy period. I don't recommend finishing this book like a fiction book, but to slowly digest every nugget of information that this gem provides.
Cruiser tried to give some lame sign off here at 9:35:00 PM
Montages like thee make you want to be a gangster. Cool Valentino suits, shades, silk ties, pinkie rings, desert eagles, hot babes, big hoop rings. Like in Revolver.
Cruiser tried to give some lame sign off here at 11:32:00 AM
Ok guys just to inform y'all again i have a new blog set up to chronicle my life here in indiana. will still update this blog, but not as frequently as the other one at
Just an update: I've finished mixing my own track! Track Listing here:
1) Rihanna - Pon De Replay 2) The Game - How We Do 3) Delinquent Habits - Return Of The Tres 4) Mary Mary - Shackles 5) Pussycat Dolls - Buttons 6) Machi - Jump 2003 (hehe) 7) Speedy feat. Lumidee - Sientelo 8) Will Smith - Miami 9) Sean Paul - Get Busy (you can't deny this track really gets you grooving) 10) Lumidee - Uh Oh 11) Khia - My Neck, My Back 12) Pussycat Dolls feat Will.I.Am - Beep 13) Shakira - Hips Don't Lie 14) Eminem feat Nate Dogg - Shake That Ass For Me 15) Petey Pablo - Show Me The Money 16) Nelly feat. Timbaland - Promiscuous Girl 17) Sean Paul - We'll Be Burning 18) Destiny's Child - Lose My Breath 19) Justin Timberlake feat T.I. - My Love 20) Ciara - Get Up
A few minor glitches here and there but it's a beta version. Don't forget I still gotta juggle schoolwork ok. haha
Cruiser tried to give some lame sign off here at 11:55:00 AM
Because I'm such a lazy pompous asshole, here's a couple of my own mixes that I did during my free time. Not that I have a lot of it, but I tend to prioritise the wrong things sometimes. Enjoy!
Cruiser tried to give some lame sign off here at 2:05:00 PM
Afternoon Delight
Anchorman is probably the funniest Will Ferrell movie EVER. He has some good comedies, like Old School, Talladega Nights (Part Two of his Mediocre American Man trilogy, go Wiki it), and Blades of Glory. But Anchorman beats them hands down. It's slapstick and witty at the same time.
One of the funnier scenes.
Cruiser tried to give some lame sign off here at 10:23:00 PM
The bad thing about me is that with every little topic that crosses my path, I have to Wiki it. I won't exactly call it a bad thing, but somehow I tend to get anal when people get their facts wrong because I've Wiki-ed it and read up on it before in the past. So yes, ignorance, in some respects, is always bliss.
Luckily for me, I have a good temper to hold back those anal moments, because it's not really a good idea to offend anybody less than a year upon arrival into a new country.
Just sitting down in front of my laptop blogging about Singapore, it has come to my attention that I have Wiki-ed the words Creole, Cajun, Scouse, Panama, Flower Power, Hippie, Rastafarian, Purdue, Lafayette, Eisenhower, Calculus, Navras, Tiesto, Ferry Corsten, Markus Schulz, just to name a few. Most of which aren't even related to my entry: I just thought I'd randomly Wiki a word and see what comes out. I've watched movies good and bad, and some cult movies most people wouldn't bother to watch. I listen to songs that most people wouldn't listen to (D&B anyone).
But I guess all this is for the greater good ("The greater good!", the guys in Hot Fuzz would exclaim). In fact, I do feel that to know so many things is sort of an empowerment, because as they say, Knowledge is Power. I am saying this because I realise most people don't bother to check out what they don't know. This leads to ignorance, and then to embarrassment, then shame, then suicide, then death. So yes, go read a book, Wiki a word, Google a random phrase - you could save your life.
Cruiser tried to give some lame sign off here at 8:12:00 AM
I know many of you have been refreshing my page many times to see if I've updated my blog on the happenings of my life so far in the US and the A. HAH! No! I've been busying myself with ponning orientation programs and scooting around campus in my Wal-Mart bike.
Life so far has been good. It makes me feel pressurized to know that I'm constantly 12 hours behind Singapore time, but yes, it's been good. Food's much much better than expect. Loads of bacon and ham and fried chicken to cater for the typical American 18 year old kid here, and those exotic Mexican or Indian dishes to cater for people like me. I always get stares when I pile my plate full of rice and some weird dishes (just like cai peng), but I don't give a hoot because I know I'm not clogging my arteries at a much faster rate.
The only downside? They don't have table spoons to cater for rice-eaters. Only teaspoons. Damn Americans.
The 18 year olds here are the typical rock-loving, meat-eating, beer-guzzling, football-crazy teens who constantly piss me off with their lack of variety. Living with them is sort of like living in a world of DotA players. They can play WOW or DotA or whatnot, but upon introspect they are essentially the same. I'm desperately looking for someone who appreciates electronica and retro music like I do here.
Had a real bad day yesterday. Scooted down to the Purdue Memorial Union (which is a lovely place to hang out) to get my campus ID done, then realised I needed some SEVIS form which I did not have. Scooted down to the Stewart Centre on campus to get my form done, which took 3 hours. All while lugging my engineering, psychology and math textbooks (which weigh more than a standard field pack). Scooted back to the Union, got my ID, then it began to pour. Yes it poured, and for those whom I haven't told, THREE TIMES IN FACT. It's looking a little like Singapore at the moment.
Anyway, yes it poured, and I was stuck in the showers with my slingbag full of textbooks and a half-punctured tire. Just another of those Strugglebus Days.
On a lighter note, we had a few well-known comedians coming over and wishing us all the best in our studies or something. There was Bernie McSomething, something not being his real name, and Judson Laipply, the guy who danced the Revolution of Dance (YouTube him if you will). There was a couple others but obviously I ponned to stay back in my room and slack.
Day 6 on campus: Haven't met a single Singaporean person yet (not including the guy at the counter). Lots of hot babes though.
Stay tuned! Meanwhile, I probably am going to start a new blog about life here.
Cruiser tried to give some lame sign off here at 11:23:00 AM
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