Sub-prime shit The industry’s been hit rather hard thanks to this nonsense. Making me rather tired, too. Bah.        Goodness It’s been a really long… time… once again. Haha…. I’ve really been neglecting this website. A pity, though. Well, a quick update on my life. For starters, I’ve not been playing basketball for the past 2-3 months. Ever since I did my back. Back breaking… knees giving way… ankles giving way… now my neck is aching like no one’s business. Sigh!!!!! Think my life as a basketball player is coming to an end. I still miss those days of old, playing basketball with my IRC guys, who then became my very good friends. Donny, Andrew, Eugene… to name a few. These guys, I guess I’ve stayed in contact with you guys for longer than I’ve been with my secondary school friends. Please forgive me if I have been neglecting you all. I’ve been really busy, and tired lately. Thanks to the credit crunch in the US of A… even Singapore has been affected. So much so that I had to retrench 3 of my staff. It’s been a sad month, this September. Hopefully October turns out better. I’ll pray for that…. Ciao~        Glenn Knight This morning, while my colleagues and I were discussing about a certain topic, a man walked past. I brought attention to this man, whom I felt looked lost and shattered. My colleagues then gave me an insight into the man. I found out that his name was Glenn Knight. Honestly, I had no inkling about who he was. My colleague told me to check out the Internet to find out more about him. After lunch, as I had some time to spare, I searched out information regarding Mr Knight, and was astounded! Actually, he was the first director of Commercial Affairs Department back in 1984. He was the PP for Adrian Lim’s trial amongst other trails.   This was a man who had risen to power, only to fall hard, and after picking himself up, he fell hard once more. It is for this reason that maybe that’s why he’s so shattered.   More here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Knight A long needed post It has been a while, hasn’t it? Heh. I know, I know. Each time I begin a post, it’s the same thing all over again. Bleah. Anyway, I’m alive, for those of you who wonder. Just that being involved in Church and work really zaps the energy outta me. And, I have this feeling that I’m not getting any younger. I feel as though I’m tired most of the time. Sigh! And… I’m now 78kg. BIG SIGH! My most recent injuries are the partially torn right knee ACL (thought I completely tore it the other time) which troubles me a lot. Having to walk properly is taxing. And the stupid Raffles Medical consultant (5 minutes for $85 and $28 for a tube of Bengay WTF) always tells me things that I already know. Then again, when it comes to injuries… I more or less know it all, don’t I? Ha~ This month and the last has been more or less a BUYING month. Dear and myself got our flat (it’s just undergoing renovation now), I got myself a brand new Honda S4 Revo (which paying by installments will just about kill me… and help me to slim down whether I like it or not), bought lotsa furniture… but the downside is… we’ll be in debt for the next 30 years. For reals! BIG BIG SIGH! Quick, find me a rich relative who loves me enough to splurge some LOVE onto me. Overall, life’s been tiring. Oh, I said that already? Guess that sums up the most about the start of married life. Heh… ok… till the next time. Btw, catch The Dark Knight. No, I’ve not caught it yet…. but I reckon that it’ll be a swell movie to watch. Peace out y’all~ Celtics finally clinch it BOSTON - On a new parquet floor below aging championship banners, the Boston Celtics won their 17th NBA title and a first one, at last, for Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen : their Big Three for a new generation. After 22 long years, the NBA has gone green. Lifted by ear-splitting chants of “Beat L.A.” from their adoring crowd, which included Boston legends Bill Russell John Havlicek and JoJo White, the Celtics concluded a shocking rebound of a season with a stunning 131-92 blowout over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 on Tuesday night. With the outcome assured, Boston fans sang into the night as if they were in a pub on nearby Canal Street. They serenaded the newest champs in this city of champs, and taunted Kobe Bryant and his Lakers, who drowned in a green-and-white wave for 48 minutes. Garnett scored 26 points with 14 rebounds, Allen scored 26 and Pierce, the finals MVP, added 17 as the Celtics, a 24-win team a year ago, wrapped up their first crown since 1986. This was total domination. The Celtics obliterated the Lakers, who were trying to become the first team to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the finals. No way. No how. No chance. Boston’s 39-point win surpassed the NBA record for the biggest margin of victory in a championship clincher; the Celtics beat the Lakers 129-96 in Game 5 of the 1965 NBA finals. Pierce doused Celtics coach Doc Rivers with red Gatorade. Owner Wyc Grousbeck, who named his group Banner 17 to leave no doubt about his goal, put an unlit cigar in his mouth _ a tribute to Red Auerbach, the patriarch who had a hand in the franchise’s first 16 titles. Garnett dropped to the parquet and kissed the leprechaun at center court, then found Hall of Famer Bill Russell for a long embrace. “I got my own. I got my own,” Garnett said. “I hope we made you proud.” “You sure did,” Russell said. Rivers pulled Pierce, Garnett and Allen with 4:01 left and they shared a group hug with their coach, who was nearly run out of town last season. In the final minute, Rivers, who lost his father at the beginning of this remarkable season, was soaked by Pierce, the Celtics’ captain who decided to stay when things were bad and was rewarded for his loyalty It’s was Boston’s first title since the passing of Auerbach, whose signature victory cigar was the only thing missing on this night. Even Auerbach, who died in 2006, got some satisfaction. Led by Rivers, his beloved team denied Lakers coach Phil Jackson from overtaking him with a 10th championship. A perfect ending: a 17th title on the 17th of June. The Boston-Los Angeles rivalry, nothing more than black-and-white footage from the 60s and TV highlights of players wearing short shorts in the 80s to young hoops fans, remains titled toward the Atlantic Ocean. The Celtics are 9-2 against the Lakers in the finals. They missed their first crack at closing out the series in Game 5, but didn’t miss on their second swing, running the Lakers out of their gym. Bryant, the regular season MVP, finished with 22 points. Garnett and Allen were All-Stars in other cities, stuck in Minnesota and Seattle, respectively, on teams going nowhere. But brought together in trades last summer by Celtics general manager Danny Ainge, a member of the ‘86 Celtics champions, they joined Pierce and formed an breakable bond, a trio as tight as the club’s lucky shamrock logo. With Garnett scoring 17 points and Pierce adding 10, Boston built a 23-point halftime lead, and unlike Game 2 when they let the Lakers trim a 24-point lead to two in the fourth quarter before recoveirng, the Celtics kept coming in waves. They pushed their lead to 31 in the third quarter, and with Boston still up by 29 after three quarters, plastic sheets started going up in the Celtics’ locker room in preparation for a champagne celebration. Bryant started 4-of-5 from the field, but he missed seven shots in a row and finished 7-of-22. Everywhere he went, L.A.’s No. 24 ran smack into a wall of Boston defense as high as the Green Monster a few miles away at Fenway Park. “Defense,” Rivers said before the game. “Is what we do.” In the second half, Celtics fans chanted “You’re not (Michael) Jordan” at Bryant, who will have to wait for his fourth title and first without former teammate Shaquille O’Neal. The Lakers, who stole Pau Gasol away from Memphis in a mid-season trade to help Bryant, will have the all summer to think about what went wrong. No team had to work harder for a championship than these Celtics, who were playing in their record 26th postseason game. They were pushed to seven games in the first round by Atlanta, another seven by Cleveland and then took care of Detroit in six to win the Eastern Conference title. They entered Game 6 of the finals slowed by injuries as Pierce, Kendrick Perkins (shoulder) and Rajon Rondo (ankle) were less than 100 percent. There was also uncertainty surrounding Allen, who stayed behind in Los Angeles following Game 5 after his youngest son became ill. But just as they had while winning 66 games during the regular season, the Celtics got plenty of help from their bench as P.J. Brown, James Posey, Leon Powe and rookie Glen “Big Baby” Davis came in and contributed. It was a group effort by this gang in green, which bonded behind Rivers, who borrowed an African word ubuntu (pronounced Ooh-BOON-too) and roughly means “I am, because we are” in English, as the Celtics’ unifying team motto. The Celtics gave the Lakers a 12-minute crash course of ubuntu in the second quarter. Boston outscored Los Angeles 34-19, getting 11 field goals on 11 assists while holding Bryant to three points, all on free throws. The Celtics toyed with the Lakers, outworking the Western Conference’s best inside and out and showing the same kind of heart that made Boston the center of pro basketbal’s universe in the ’60s. House and Posey made 3-pointers to put the Celtics ahead by 12 points and baskets by Pierce, Garnett and Rondo put Boston ahead by 18. In the final minute, Garnett floated in the lane, banked in a one-handed runner and was fouled. His free throw made it 56-35, and after Perkins scored, the Celtics ran to the locker room leading by 23. On his way off the floor, Garnett screamed, “That’s that.” And so it was. Notes:@ Since the finals began in 1947, 16 have gone seven games, the most recent in 2005 when San Antonio had to go the distance to beat Detroit. … With little to say, Jackson answered three questions during his pregame news conference before saying, “It’s been nice, thank you.” … It wasn’t as starry as L.A.’s crowd, but Game 6 brought out celebrities including Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, actor Leonardo DiCaprio, Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who got a huge ovation when he was shown on the scoreboard, and Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade. *This brilliantly typed article was taken from Yahoo news. Confirmed! For those of you who did not know, I am Roman Catholic by religion. Yesterday, I received the Sacrament of Confirmation. A good 13-14 years after Catholics normally get confirmed.   What is confirmation? Based on Wikipedia’s entry, Confirmation is a rite of initiation in many Christian Churches, normally in the form of laying on of hands and/or anointing for the purpose of bestowing the Gifts of the Holy Spirit upon them. In some denominations, confirmation bestows full membership in the church upon the recipient. In others, such as the Roman Catholic Church, confirmation “renders the bond with the Church more perfect”,[1] but a baptized person is already a full member.[2] Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, and Anglicans, view Confirmation as a sacrament. In the East is conferred on infants immediately after baptism, but in the West is usually administered later at the age of reason or in early adolescence. In Protestant Churches, the rite tends to be seen rather as a mature statement of faith by an already baptised person. However, it is required by most protestant denominations for membership in the respective church, in particular for traditional protestant faiths. In traditional protestant faiths (Presbyterian, Methodist, etc.) it is recognized by a coming of age ceremony. Several secular, mainly Humanist, organizations direct “civil confirmations” for older children, as a statement of their life stance, an equivalent alternative to traditional religious ceremonies for children of that age. Some secular regimes have as a matter of policy fostered the replacement of Christian rituals such as confirmation with non-religious ones (see Miltant atheism). In the historically Protestant German Democratic Republic (East Germany), for example, “the Jugendweihe (youth dedication) gradually supplanted the Christian practice of Confirmation.”[3] A concept that first appeared in 1852, the Jugendweihe is described as “a solemn initiation marking the transition from youth to adulthood that was developed in opposition to Protestant and Catholic Churches’ Confirmation.”[ Anyways, for those of you who are not bothered by that (I believe most are), I must say that I thoroughly felt ‘more with HIM’. After so many years as a lost sheep, I think I’m finally finding my ground. I chose Brian to be my confirmation name. Why Brian? Well, there was a Jesuit Priest by the name of Alexander Briant. His name means ‘Strong’. he is said to have felt no pain. So, being a person who is almost always in pain, it was a no-brainer to choose him as my patron saint. Below is a brief biography of St. Alexander Briant. Born : 1556 Died : Dec 1, 1581 Beatified : Dec 9, 1886 Canonised : Oct 25, 1970 Alexander Briant was born in Somerset, England. He studied at Hart Hall, Oxford, where one of his teachers was Robert Persons who later became a Jesuit. As Alexander did not find the new religion of Elizabeth I to his liking, he crossed the Channel in August 1577 to study at the English College in Douai where he was reconciled to the Catholic Church. He studied theology and was ordained a Diocesan priest in 1578. He returned to England in 1579 and took up his ministry in his native homeland but his apostolate lasted for less than two years before he was arrested by priest-hunters by accident when he was visiting Fr Robert Persons who the priest-hunters were tracking down. The two priests had great esteem for each other and Fr Briant also succeeded in bringing Fr Persons’ father back into the Church. As Fr Briant refused to divulge any information on Fr Persons, he was transferred to the Tower for interrogation and severe torture on the rack but he did not break under torture. Fr Briant wrote to the English Jesuits about his torture saying that he kept his mind so firmly set on Christ’s Passion that he felt no pain during the torture, only after it was over. He was also determined to enter the Jesuits if he were released from prison but as he doubted that he would be released, he asked to be accepted into the Society which the Jesuits did upon receipt of his letter. On Nov 21, 1581, the day after Fr Edmund Campion had been tried, Fr Briant and six other priests were tried at Westminster Hall. He entered the Hall holding a small wooden cross that he had made and kept looking at it during the trial. When a Protestant minister standing next to him snatched it from his hands, Fr Briant said: “You can tear it from my hands, but you cannot tear it from my heart. I shall die for him, who first died for me.” He was charged with having taken an oath against the queen’s life while at Rome and at Rheims, though he had never been in Rome or in Rheims when the alleged oath was supposed to have taken place. Nevetheless, he was found guilty of the charge and condemned to die as a traitor. Fr Briant was dragged through the muddy streets of London to Tyburn together with Fr Campion, SJ and Fr Ralph Sherwin, a diocesan priest. When his turn came, Fr Briant courageously mounted the cart beneath the gallows, made a public profession of his Catholic faith, and expressed joy that God had chosen him to die in the company of the other two martyrs. He was hanged but was cut down while still alive so that he could also suffer disembowelment. He was then beheaded and his body quartered. Fr Briant was only twenty-five years old when he suffered martyrdom for his religion. He was the third Jesuit martyr to die at Tyburn on Dec 1, 1581. For the joke in this… from here on out, I can sign my name of in the initials ABC! :)  A win-win situation I can’t remember where I saw this, but check this website out. http://freerice.com/index.php What happens when you click on the website is; first and foremost, you’ll get to boost your vocabulary. Great if you want to impress the masses. Secondly, for every word that you get right, the sponsors of the website actually donate 20 grains of rice to the needy. Yes, it’s that simple! So, what are you waiting for? Open heart surgery and dad My dad had quintuple heart bypass surgery on Thursday, a surgery procedure that took slightly over 5 hours. A really taxing moment in our lives. For those of you who aren’t too familar with this term, well, it’s a medical procedure that involves removing an artery from either the chest area, the arm, or the leg, to create a bypass to and fro the heart, as the original vessels have been blocked, or are diseased. The norm (thus far) that I’ve heard of is a triple heart bypass, followed by quadruple, followed by quintuple. As for my dad, it turned out that he had 7 blockages. 2 were diseased, so the surgeon, Dr. Lim S L couldn’t do anything about it. The blockages were about 90%. So, no ballooning could be done. Thankfully, the surgery went smoothly. It was kinda heart-wrenching to see my dad struggle because of all the pain that he had to go through. What was equally heart-wrenching was to see another uncle who had the same procedure done that same day, have his heart collapse on him. He passed away. The sight of his family, some of whom had waited in the waiting room with us for so many hours, crying, made me feel like crying as well. Sensitive? I don’t know. I think that it’s human nature. Today’s the 4th day already. Dad’s still in the High dependancy ward. The lady diagonally opposite his bed had to be resuscitated before heading back to ICU. Dad himself is feeling tired all the time. Breathlessness is a frequent thing. All I can do, is pray for a quick and complete recovery for him. Pray for him, if you can spare the time. Thanks. Well… Whaddaya know. It’s been so long since I’ve blogged. I don’t really have the time and energy left to blog now… life’s really just like that. I miss all my friends! Peace out. It’s Not My Fault HE stopped his car abruptly on the fast lane of a busy highway to insert his CashCard.     And it caused an accident that left a woman seriously injured. But to Mr Lim Huang Khim, 45, it was the ‘natural thing’ to do. He does not think he did anything wrong. This, despite being fined for his inconsiderate driving that caused a motorcyclist to slam into the car behind him - which had braked in time to avoid hitting Mr Lim’s car. This, despite a judge ruling in a civil suit that Mr Lim was 50 per cent liable for the accident. The motorcyclist, Miss Tiong Zhen Cheng, 33, was flung more than 20m and landed beside Mr Lim’s car. The sales executive was warded in the intensive care unit and spent about a week in hospital. She still suffers pain and some memory loss. Miss Tiong ended up being sued by the driver of the second car, Mr Lye Chiew Meng, for the damage to his Toyota. His rear windscreen was shattered and the repair bill came to $7,000. But her insurance company felt Mr Lim should also be liable and he was named as the third party in the civil suit. SMILED MANY TIMES IN COURT     Earlier this month, Mr Lim, who works as a driver, insisted he was not to blame and smiled several times as he recounted the accident on the stand. He was chided by District Judge Lim Wee Meng for his cavalier attitude. Judge Lim said: ‘I don’t think it’s funny. Someone was seriously injured and I don’t think it’s funny at all.’ The accident happened around 7.50pm on 29 Nov 2006 on the Central Expressway, just before the Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantry near the Braddell exit. Mr Lim was driving a rented silver Mitsubishi car and was travelling on the extreme right lane on his way home with his wife and four children. When he saw that the gantry was activated, he switched on the car’s hazard lights and stopped to slot in his CashCard. Mr Lye, a finance manager, who was behind him, managed to stop in time. But Miss Tiong’s 400cc Honda motorbike crashed into Mr Lye’s car. When cross-examined by Miss Tiong’s lawyer, Mr Lim maintained that he was not at fault. Her lawyer, Mr William Chai, asked: ‘A car was damaged, a person was severely and mentally injured, are you saying you are not responsible? Not even 1 per cent?’ Mr Lim replied: ‘I’m saying that I’m totally not to be blamed.’ He told the court that he had not inserted his CashCard into the in-vehicle unit (IU) earlier because he did not know that the ERP gantry was activated at that time. When asked if seeing the activated gantry was a big surprise, Mr Lim said he had seen it from afar and was trying to insert the CashCard in time. He also told the court that he did not see Miss Tiong’s bike behind Mr Lye’s car. He admitted that following the accident, he had purposely left out in his police report the reason for stopping his car as he knew that it was an offence. Mr Lim, who has been driving for 24 years, was fined $200 by the Traffic Police for inconsiderate driving and given nine demerit points. But in his affidavit tendered to the court, he said: ‘I decided to pay the $200 out of convenience even though I do not believe that I should be responsible for the accident. ‘I did not want the trouble to engage a lawyer to contest the claim because this would be time-consuming and the legal fees would definitely exceed $200.’ In contrast, Mr Lye was apologetic about what happened to Miss Tiong. His lawyer, Miss Bonnie Kwok, told the court: ‘My client would like to extend his sympathies to Miss Tiong.’ She also said that while Mr Lye could clearly see the traffic conditions in front of him, Miss Tiong could not. Said Miss Kwok: ‘It’s not a situation whereby the vehicles were approaching a traffic light junction, so there’s no reason for Miss Tiong to anticipate a sudden stopping. ‘Mr Lim had created a dangerous situation. I found it rather distasteful that Mr Lim’s demeanour in court showed that he couldn’t be bothered that Miss Tiong had suffered severe injuries and trauma.’ Before giving his verdict, the judge pointed out that Mr Lim could have gone through the ERP gantry and paid an administrative fee of $10 for not having a CashCard. LIABLE FOR DAMAGE He ruled that Mr Lim and Miss Tiong were each 50 per cent liable for the damage caused to Mr Lye’s car. When contacted by The New Paper, Mr Lim insisted that he was not in the wrong. He said in Mandarin: ‘Are you a driver? Have you driven a car before? ‘If you have, you should know that it’s a driver’s natural reaction (when you see an activated gantry). ‘You can’t say it’s right or wrong because there’s no right or wrong in such situations. I did switch on the hazard lights to warn the vehicles behind me.’ Mr Lim said that he felt sorry for the injured Miss Tiong, though he did not speak to her in court. ‘She might think that I have an ulterior motive if I went up to her and apologised,’ he said. Just two days before the accident involving Miss Tiong, Mr Lim said he was involved in a similar accident along the East Coast Parkway. Mr Lim told The New Paper that the car in front of his had slowed down suddenly. ‘So I also braked and stopped my car to take a closer look at what the driver was up to and to take down his licence plate number,’ he said. ‘But the car behind me couldn’t stop in time and ended up crashing into the rear of my car.’ Mr Lim said the first car then drove off. His car, a Honda Stream, ended up at the workshop for five days. That was why he was driving a rented car, which did not have a CashCard in the IU. Mr Lim added: ‘If I was driving my car, this wouldn’t have happened because I always have the CashCard inside the IU.’ _______________________________________________________________________________________________ One thing that I must say about this Lim fella. NNB! If I were the one there, I would have beaten the crap out of him, then make him stuff his face in it. Defiant bast***d. A new chapter… belatedly written! Yes, I must admit that this has been a really belatedly typed-out post, but as they say… better late than never! Ai Ling and myself got married on the 29th of March 2008, at St. Mary of the Angels, located at Bukit Batok. It was a really hectic affair, and it was such a relief to have it done and over with. I would like to thank my brothers, DBlack (my best man), Ah Gu, Ah 9, cupid and uG for helping us out throughout this event. It was a heck of a day, bros… what with Ah Gu’s car stuck in a lot for half an hour, and with the chaos at the Church. At the same time, though my wife’s ’sisters’ do not read this blog, I would like to thank them still. Cheryl (Bridesmaid), Mas, Loges, Jenny and Isabel… thank you ladies for the GATECRASHING and all… The turn out at St. Marys was about 35%, but it was alright. Too many would have killed the joy. I was really too stoned by the time the event completed, but was a little peeved that another group gate crashed at 2pm and asked us to leave. Basket. Thanks to everyone of you who turned up for our wedding… you know who you all are… Story Of The Weekend ‘Dutch striker Eldridge Rojer is fighting to save his career - and overcome his deep embarrassment. The Excelsior star suffered from torn cruciate kneee ligaments - making love to his girlfriend in the shower at their home. Ambulance crew found the the player in the embarrassing position. His girlfriend had called the emergency number. She feared he’d broken his knee. ‘Rojer, who is out for 10 months, said “I was stark naked. My girlfriend passed me a towel to cover myself. I was in so much pain. I thought it was better to be honest about it to the doctors and medial stuff. I also told a team-mate and the manager. Within two hours the whole squad was on the phone to me. I was getting dozens of text messages. When the local reporter turned up, I knew I could not deny it any more. The boys had told him all the details too” - The Sunday Mirror. Got this from www.football365.com… and I must say that this Dutch fella is a real wanker! Whoa Nelly! Nothing to do with the title, but whoa! It has been ages since I last blogged. Must say that time has really passed by me so fast…. man! In a few weeks time, lotsa things will be happening. Main things will be 1) Marriage, (2) Honeymoon and (3) slogggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg! Shaldn’t blog too much. Really tired from the week’s events, plus, thumb hurts badly cos of serious sprain during basketball session on Saturday. pet adopt your own virtual pet! American Gangster I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, no matter what the critics might have said. D.Washington really played his role as Superfly Lucas really well, and seriously, I was disappointed when I saw the real face of Lucas. He ain’t that handsome. MY MAN! Marion Jones sentenced to 6 months jail Disgraced former athletics star Marion Jones completed her fall from grace when she was sentenced to six months in prison for lying about taking steroids in a doping scandal that cost the sprinter her five Olympic medals. Jones’s humiliating fall from grace accelerated when she admitted she lied to federal investigators about being a dope cheat and about her role in a check fraud scheme and culminated with the prison sentence. “The offenses here are serious,” said US District Court Judge Kenneth Karas. “They each involve lies made three years apart.” In passing sentence, Karas said that Jones had made “not a one-off mistake… but a repetition in an attempt to break the law. “Nobody is above the legal obligation to tell the truth,” he said, adding, “I recognize this is not a happy day for you or for your family.” Jones, 32, pleaded guilty in October to lying to federal agents over a steroid distribution scandal involving California laboratory BALCO and her role in a check fraud scheme. After the sentence was imposed, a tearful Jones shared an embrace with her husband, Barbados sprinter Obedele Thompson, and other family members. A still-emotional Jones later spoke briefly to reporters outside the courthouse. “I respect the judge’s orders and I truly hope that people will learn from my mistakes,” Jones said. Jones admitted in a statement to the court before sentencing that she was “scared and nervous about today’s outcome,” breaking down in tears as she pleaded with the judge to spare her jail time. “Yes, I made mistakes by lying,” she said. “I have admitted these too late but hopefully not too late to elicit from you the milk of human kindness.” “We all make mistakes,” she added. “But I strongly believe that a person’s true character is revealed by their admission of those mistakes,” she said. Jones was also sentenced to two years’ supervised release and 400 hours of community service. Jones must submit herself into custody by March 11 to begin serving a sentence that Karas said was meant to deter other athletes from following down Jones’ path. “Athletes in society have an elevated status. They entertain, they inspire and perhaps most importantly they do serve as role models for children around the world,” Karas said. “When there is this widespread cheating… It sends all the wrong messages to those who follow the athlete’s every moves.” Andrea Andrade said Karas sent a different message to athletes by imposing a prison sentence upon her cousin. “The message to professional athletes is to not tell the truth because you will be dealt with more harshly if you tell the truth than if you deny and you are found guilty,” she said. Karas had previously asked why Jones should not be made to serve each perjury sentence consecutively rather than at the same time. Defense and prosecution lawyers appealed to him not to stretch out the time given the public humiliation she has endured. Prosecutors asked that Jones be given a six-month sentence as was agreed in her plea bargain, which saved the effort of trials on both charges. Defense attorneys had said she should serve no jail time given her downfall. “We were very disappointed by the sentence. We felt it was much, much too harsh,” said George Hulse, Jones’s grandfather. “We were hoping for (only) community service. She could have used this time much more effectively rather than spend that six months in prison.” A tearful confession to doping after years of denials was followed by Jones returning the three gold medals and two bronze medals she won at the 2000 Sydney Olympics to the International Olympic Committee. Jones captured gold in the 100- and 200-meters at Sydney and helped the 4×100m relay to gold as well. She was also a five-time world champion. But now, Jones has had all results since September 1, 2000, stricken from the records and has been banned by the IAAF, although she has retired from competition. Jones lied to federal agents three times, starting in November of 2003 when asked about her connections to the BALCO steroid scandal. In August and September of 2006, Jones was questioned about a check fraud scheme involving Tim Montgomery, the father of her son Tim who himself was banned and stripped of a 100m world-record run based on evidence collected in the BALCO probe. Courtesy of MSN.com Useful Tips 1. Cure for headaches: Take a lime, cut it in half and rub it on your forehead. The throbbing will go. 2. Use of Soap Wrapper: Don’t throw away the wrapper after removing a bar of soap. Place it inside your school cabinet or shoe box. It is a cheap way to filling the air with a nice smell. 3. Are your shoes smelly? Here’s a solution. Put some tea leaves into a pair of stocking stuff each into a shoe. Leave for day or two and the smell just vanishes. 4. Tips for stamp collectors: Place the envelope in the freezer for a few hours. You’ll then able to easily lift the stamps off with a pair of tweezers. 5. To keep buttons from dropping off: Dag a drop of clear nails polish onto the thread that secures the buttons. This will harden and make it more difficult for the thread to break off. 6. Are cockroaches in your home driving u mad? Try this tested trick. Fill a large bowl with cheap wine and leave it under the sink. The pests will drink it, fall in the bowl and drown easy. 7. To avoid hurting your fingers while hammering nails into the wall: Hold the nails with a wooden clothes peg instead. So even u miss, u won’t get hurt. 8. To get rid of itch from mosquito bite: Try applying soap on the area - instant relief. 9. Ants, ants, ants, everywhere Well, they are never said to never cross a chalk line. So get your chalk out and draw a line on the floor or wherever ants tend to march, see for yourself. (or, as my aunt says, you can substitue chalk by pouring baby powder. Same effect!) 10. Don’t panic if your soup’s too salty: Add cut raw potatoes and throw them away once they are cooked as they have absorbed the salt. Your soup’s saved! 11. Use air-fresher spray to clean mirrors: It does a good job and better still, give a lovely smell to the shine. 12. If u have problem with slippery shoelaces which refuse to stay: Rub them with a candle and make them less slippery so that knot stay put. 13. If u have stubborn grease stains on your work clothes: Add a bottle of Coke with detergent. It’ll help loosen the grease. 14. Dirty marks on your white court shoes: Just add some medicated oil on a piece of cloth and clean off the dirty marks on your white court. They’ll be looking as new again. The Origin of The Twelve Days of Christmas There is one Christmas Carol that has always baffled me. What in the world do leaping lords, French hens, swimming swans, and especially the partridge who won’t come out of the pear tree have to do with Christmas?   Today I found out, thanks to the Internet.   From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics.   It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.   The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.   Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.   Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.   The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.   The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.   The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.   Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit: Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.   The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.   Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.   The ten lords a-leaping were the Ten Commandments.   The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.   The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles’ Creed.   ***** Taken from an e-mail sent by Angela Danker to myself. Good Lord Derby almost became, IMHO, the Bogey team of Newcastle United. Thank Gawd Newcastle managed to claw back. I have a theory. A theory that the ‘Big Four’ secretly sold their players to Newcastle United with the players being brainwashed to play as badly as they can without making it seem too obvious. Otherwise, why is it that players like Celestine Babayaro, Alan Smith, Michael Owen, Damien Duff etc fails to perform their best? I still think that the Gaffer should stick Milner on the right, play N’Zogbia (Duff) on the left, with Emre (Butt) and Barton (Geremi). If you wanna play Alan Smith, that’s fine. I kinda like his attitude towards the game. But, in the EPL, you need more than hard work and passion. You need the skills. Obafemi Martins is one player that I really enjoy watching. But, sticking Owen ahead of Martins, seriously isn’t a good move. If you wanna look to the future, I say, sell Owen for 8m quid to Manchester City or whoever wants him. The guy’s a liability. Since you could afford to sell Kieron Dyer (who is out injured again), why not throw them all out. Players should be paid what they’re worth. And I say, it’s kinda weird. Newcastle has always had this habit of letting teams score. I couldn’t blame them last time, as they had Titf*ck Bramble and Twiddledee (Boumsong), and a whole list of CMIs before. But today, Newcastle boasts a line-up of 2 French club captains, the England U-21 captain, a Croatian National team regular, and a Spanish specialist left back. What the Hell?! Nuff said. It’s depressing. I’m sure as hell gonna get stick from my colleagues tomorrow. SIGH! I say, stick to this team currently, and let them gel. 1st 11: Shay Given, Habib Beye, Steven Taylor, Ronny Rozehnal, Jose Enrique, James Milner, Nicky Butt, Emre, Charles N’Zogbia, Obafemi Martins, Mark Viduka. Subs: Steve Harper (he’s a good man!), Cacapa, Damien Duff, Joey Barton, Shola Ameobi Alan Smith might make it into the team based on his terrier like style. But, Geremi and Owen, for me, have more to show for. National Treasure: Book of Secrets Caught National Treasure: Book of Secrets, on the 22nd of December at Toa Payoh. Very interesting plot, but I must say that Nicholas Cage looks like he needs Beijing 101, fast. Other than that, I was very very disturbed by a really really fat guy who, while he should not be blamed for being fat, he should be blamed for having an extremely nasal-unfriendly body odor. That coupled with the fact that his legs reached half into my seat because he couldn’t close his legs cos he was THAT big sized made me a very disappointed man. Imagine finishing a basketball game, being easily able to cramp, and not having enough space. I ended up with a heck of a back cramp. THANKS! And… his gf just had to put her feet over his enormous stomach, and thus, letting me have a wiff of her TOE-JAM! THANKS AGAIN! p.s. Not all fat people are bad. 99.9% of them are nice people! The Warlords   Now, anyone who knows me well enough knows that I don’t really fancy watching Chinese flicks on the big screen. And worse still, it’s during the weekend where costs are inflated. But, that being said, I must say that The Warlords makes my money worth. It was a great movie, must say, 8 over 10. The acting of Jet Li, Andy Lau, and Takashi Kaneshiro were top notch. They really acted out the gore and sob scenes well, especially Andy Lau. No doubt he’s one of Asia’s finest actors. That being said, go watch it! Rant! Reading about HDB’s proposed sites on Compassvale and Bukit Panjang leaves me to think that some people just have no brains. Though I do think that it’s good that the Government gives thought to that lower income families, still, where does that leave people like me? Building so many 3 and 4 room flats, and leaving middle income families to rot, is that the solution? Fuck lah. I wished this was all a bad dream. Stressed! Tomorrow is supposed to be the day that we’re supposed to select our choice HDB unit. That plan, however, is to come to nothing. Reason being, with the bloody good computation thing that HDB’s got, we’re ending up giving $10, a lot of wasted time, and pent-up frustration for a lack of a choice. That’s right. A lack of choice. Out of all the )&*@# flats that were on sale, there’s only a few 4 room flats in Sembawang left. Talk about choices. Equlity. CRAP! Think it’s kinda stupid, rather, great that HDB thinks of such a thing. $10 for balloting. Great. 4000 ballots. 400 flats. 4000 x $10=$40000. Just like that, they earned enough. Great tactic. Nuff said. Newest Acquisition Finally did it. We bought a Sony PSP, Lavender Purple coloured, slim version. Damage, $400.00. Fun? HELL YEAH! Calories: burnt and gained Today was a rather see-saw kind of day. Oh, by the way, Happy Deepavali to my Indian friends, strangers, and those who don’t celebrate it but enjoys the holiday nonetheless. I did. Went to the gym to burn some extra fats. Did a solid chest workout (I’m a-gonna feel it tomorrow) and a little bit of abs, and tried my hand, rather, my legs, at leg pressing my max. Managed to press 360lbs for 12 repetitions. I think I’ll try pressing an additional 90lbs more the next time I try. Knees hurt a little, but hey! No pain, no gain. Anyways, I know my limit. Just like what happened when I tried to do a few sets of calf raises. Felt my right calf muscle twinge. That meant trouble. Bah. Can’t wait for basketball on Saturday though. Hope that it doesn’t rain. Weighed in after the workout at 74.7kg. DAMNNNNNnnnnnnnnnnned. Still need to try to burn off 4.7kg, at least! Bought and read Vincent Ng’s book, TEN. Yes, I know I’m a bit late cos the book’s been out quite a long time ago… but I just needed to get motivated! And yes, his book motivated me. Thanks dear, for sponsoring to help me get the book. Love you to bits! After the gruelling workout which left my legs feeling like jelly, we headed over to Suntec City. Received a message then that my MDIS mates want to meet up tomorrow at… Suntec City. Great. There, we put on lotsa calories by having a sinful Carl’s Jr meal! Scrumptious meal! Had the Western bacon double cheeseburger meal, and my dear had the Crispy Chicken burger (or something like that). Luckily, we were able to digest properly by walking about Suntec for another 1 hour or so. Saw this Chevy car sale. $400+ a month to get yourself an Aveo. Sure or not… first deposit $88. What’s the catch? Anyways, I deduced that we need to have at least $800 spare cash per month if we’re gonna think about getting a small car. What with the cray oil prices, rising car park charges, and HELL YEAh… ERP rates… NNB. The World’s gone mad. Rather, Singapore’s gone mad. Ah well… till the next post. =) Hellgate: London Today was the official launch for the game, HELLGATE: LONDON. http://www.hellgatelondon.com/ As much as I hate to admit it, DA GAME LOOKS L33T!!!!! Ughhhhhhhh! Whyyyyyy? No money to buy any new games, no money to even upgrade my lagging-like-there’s-no-tomorrow-pc, heck, sometimes, I wonder if I have enough money to even eat. Sigh! But, after looking at the coolly-designed special edition boxset of the game, and watching the videos of it, one cannot prevent oneself from thinking of getting a loan to get the game and upgrade the pc. But, if one were to do that, two would definitely kill one. Mad, no? Seriously speaking though, anyone here in this small community interested in playing this game? I guess it kinda sucks after a while to play alone. It would be like how I spent hours on end playing through the same maps in DiabloII alone while my good brother Donny slept on cos his timing wasn’t the same as mine. I wanna be a Templarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Nuff! Oh, by the way, Happy Halloween folks! Douchbag! So, what happens is that I went online early in the morning 10th of Oct, at the risk of being caught by my bosses for using the Internet during office hours (when there’s work to be done), to apply for one of the Sector A flats available to me. Kiasu me. Didn’t want to wait till the last minute. Was once of the first 20 applicants, judging by the once-every-few-hour update. Thought my chances were super high. At the end of the application period, there was a grand total of 4800 applications received, for just over 400 flats available. 1/10 chance of getting a flat, and I’m in the lead! Then the bomb dropped just now. HDB texted me, saying that I was applicant number 2882. NBCB!!!! It’s like, really, wtf!! Dear didn’t seem particularly bummed by that fact, maybe she’s being optimistic about it. But logically speaking, wtf?!?!?!?! Weet! Steady lah! After reading my bro DBlack07’s rantings about being 99999th position in the rankings of SGBlogs… I decided to check it out… http://sgblogs.com/blogs/11 Wheeet! Steady lah! Limpeh got position number 260! Haha… Sure or not? Who reads my blog anyway? -_-” Makes me 0.0000050543% more determined to put in more effort into my posts from now on. Right. Anyways, today was a very packed day. In between Church (where I was touched by Father Jivan’s sermon on how we should all be grateful for the good things that we have in life), my dear and I went house-shopping. Rather, we went to potential houses which is on sale this walk-in selection, being estates in Jurong East, Bukit Batok, Bukit Panjang, and Choa Chu Kang. We went to all the flats that we shortlisted, parked the bike in the various car-parks available to us, and went to check out i.e. the neighbourhood, the atmosphere, the neighbours, the location, the amenities.. well, we stopped short on the amenities bit, cos, we didn’t really have the time. But, one thing was for sure. We’re POOPED!! My new acquisition Crunch Time It’s ‘Crunch Time’ week for me… feeling a little pressured. It all started this morning, when I ccame to office and opened up my email. Then I realised that the AIG Manager had come back on Saturday and bombarded my email account with notes on why pro-active calling was not done and why am I so slow in this and that. And worse still, my M.D sent me an email asking why and how could I reslove this. Of course I was shocked. One, I’ve been pretty confident of my work thus far, and feel that I’ve been making headway on getting to break through the barrier that is known as the ‘Law Firms’. So, I went to check the chief complaints that the AIG Manager had emailed about, and realised after a short while that the complaints were about cases which I had taken up only the day before! And since there was so little information, there was not much that I could do! Ugh! Oh well… anyways, tomorrow will be a packed day. 4 statements to be done, and if possible, I would love to get the Commissioner of Oaths down to the witness of the Cairnhill Rd case so that I can close that case. Stressed, a little. Frustrated, more so. Btw, Newcastle won 3-2. *jumps about in glee*