...
...
...
Sometimes, I wish I had more time here. Not that I don't wanna go to America. Are you kiddin' me? I can't wait! But then again, that was months ago. I still wanna go and I will. I mean, come on, X Japan reunion concert in LA before the end of the year, nice weather for a change, earning in USD, no dad to tell me to cut my hair when it gets long, the list goes on. Still, I wish I had more time. Fuck, what the hell's wrong with me? I detest emo posts, and here I am...emo-ing with the fuckin' best of them.
I know, just like in the previous post, you're probably wondering what I'm emo-ing over and so on. Again, it's just hard for me to post it here. This is something I have to keep to myself...for now.
As I speak, I'm listening to "Say Anything" by X Japan. I know, I'm boring. I can't help but wonder, why can't I compose like that? I can't help but feel disappointed with myself. Disappointed that I can't compose something better. Or rather, disappointed that I COULDN'T compose something better.
...
...
...
Over the past week or so, I've been through a lot of emotions. I still am actually. In just over a month, I'll be heading off to Pennsylvania and heading off to a new life. A life without parents, without a maid, without a lot of things. Yeah, there's that sudden overflow of freedom, but still..I don't know if I'm ready for that. I thought I was. Heck, I was so fuckin' excited a few months ago. I still am now actually, but not as much as I was before. Why? Well, there are some things that I have to keep to myself.
I'll continue this later. Gotta pack up and get some rest for my Penang trip.
...
...
...
Alright, this is gonna be a pretty serious post. If you guys came here to see me take snipes at Man Utd, then leave. I haven't been in a good mood over the past few days 'cause Thierry Henry left Arsenal for Barcelona. I mean, the guy was the reason I started watching football and supporting Arsenal. The thought of tuning into Premiership Saturday seeing an Arsenal side without Thierry Henry, well...I can't even imagine it. To make things worse, he joined my second most hated Club, Barcelona.
So anyway, I was in the cyber cafe today with my friends when Andrew messaged me. I expected to read to somethin' like, "Futsal tomorrow 11-1". Instead, it was, "Chris Benoit died and it was on Sportscenter". Apparently, he killed his wife and son before killing himself. For those of you who don't know who Chris Benoit is, he's a professional wrestler. I know, I still watch wrestling every now and then. I'm lame. But guys, look at the big picture here. Life's just so fragile isn't it? You think you're gonna wake up to a new day everyday, when you might not. I'm not saying someone in your family's gonna kill you or anything, but, come to think of it, in this crazy fucked up world we live in today, that's not out of the question. Just ask the Benoit family.
Anyway, what I'm trying to say here is, we don't know for sure when we'll go. So we need to live our lives to the fullest. And let your loved ones know that you care. Don't wait 'till it's too late. I mean, who's to say that there is life after death? Who can really prove it? If there is, then good. Then you get a second chance to tell your loved ones what you should've told them years and years ago. But what if there isn't life after death? And everything just vanishes. Your dreams, memories, conscience...everything. Think about it.
...
...
...
Spirit of '99? Treble? Ronaldo's the best player in the world? Mancs, you can take all those words stick it 'cause YOU'RE OUT!
I'll get to the rest of the match in a minute, but let me give it back to EVERYONE who's been givin' me stick over the past few weeks just 'cause Arsenal's not in the semis. Remember what I said about the possibility of an all-English final? I just proved myself right again. It just wasn't gonna happen. Why? 'Cause Arsenal weren't one of the 3 English teams left. Remember what I said about a possible repeat of 1999? I said it was bullshit. Well..WHADDYA KNOW!? I WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG! Remember what I said about Ronaldo being good but not great? Well, there you have it. Big players perform when you need them to perform. Alright, fine, Thierry Henry doesn't perform when you need him to all the time either...but he's only human. Need I remind you of Inter at the San Siro a few years back? Or Man Utd at the Emirates just a few months back? My point is, Ronaldo's been on fire this season, but he's been scoring all his goals against teams like Blackburn and Watford. Fine, there was that brace against Roma, but let's face it...Roma didn't show up that night. So, you put two players in Kaka' and Ronaldo head to head. The English press thinks there's only one winner. Well, in that sense...they're right. They just picked the wrong winner.
Now, we have a final to be excited about. I certainly am. I sure as hell didn't want an all-English final. Come on, I watch the Premier League week in and week out. The last thing I'd want is the Champions League Final to be just a regular fixture that happens every season in the EPL.
Anyway, the 2nd half was a lot slower. The main highlight was when they showed Fergie's face when Gilardino scored Milan's 3rd goal. He just looked soooooooooooooooooo sad and I was just sooooooooooooooooooo happy. Then Utd decided to show the world what a bunch of pricks they were by refusing to return the ball to Milan after Milan had put the ball out of play for Kaka' to receive treatment for a cramp. Doesn't matter. They can cheat all they want. They were still 3-0 down and set for a very very sad ride home to Manchester. Hey, maybe one of their houses got robbed like Reina's house did.
And so it goes. The repeat of arguably the greatest Champions League Final in recent memory. No treble for Man Utd. No quadruple for Chelsea. I couldn't be happier. At least I'll sleep better tonight. As for you Mancs, I told all of you to just go and sleep 'cause you were goin' out for sure. Well, I tried to help. I tried to help you guys avoid watching your team get creamed, but you just wouldn't listen would ya? You said you were gonna show us (Arsenal) how to reach the final? Guys, I got news for ya. We made final last year. When was the last time you did?
...
...
...
The referee blows the half-time whistle and I am FUCKIN' OVERJOYED! Well, yeah, I'm still a bit of an emotional wreck...but I'm feelin' a heck a lot better now. AC Milan v Manchester United. In case you don't already know by now, I despise Man Utd. The very sight of the Man Utd crest makes me wanna puke. Well, it's not quite as ugly as most of their players...but it's bad enough. So, the thought of another Man Utd treble...it just wrenches my stomach. I can't live with a bunch of Mancs rubbin' it in for the next 10 years.
So, Nemanja Vidic starts at the back for Man Utd but Rio Ferdinand is still out. I was rather pleased to hear that. No offense to Vidic's ability, but he's not the right guy to handle Kaka'. In my opinion at least. And 2 minutes into the match, Kaka' proved me right. Pickin' up the ball on the edge of the box before skinning Vidic like he was nothin' but sending the ball wide. A sign of things to come.
10 minutes in, Kaka' puts Milan 1-0 up and puts a broad smile on my face. MAN how I'd love to be watchin' this with a Man Utd fan. Milan were 1-0 up, in control...and pretty boy Ronaldo was gettin' his ass handed to him by Gattuso. Everytime Ronaldo gets the ball and brings a tiny glimmer of hope to the hearts of the watching Man Utd supporters, Gattuso shows up, grabs that tiny glimmer of hope starting to take shape, and pisses on it.
About 20 minutes later, Vidic and Heinze decided that if they were gonna lose, they might as well do it right. I mean, what better place to fall on your ass than in front of 70'000 people and millions watching on TV? Just ask Nemanja Vidic. Seedorf puts Milan 2-0 up and gets me jumpin' up and down.
Second half's startin'. Now...I just gotta hope Milan doesn't screw this one up like they did at Old Trafford.
COME ON MILAN! COME ON KAKA'!
...
...
...
So, tell me...what should I do? No wait, don't tell me what to do...'cause you'll probably be too busy laughing at me. So, I'm not gonna give you the chance to tell me what to do by refusing to tell you what's going on here. A lot of things have happened since I last blogged. I got into Penn State University, so my future is safe for now. My parents were very pleased when they heard the news and so was I. Being 19 going on 20, you would think I could care less about what my parents thought about me. Truth be told, I do. Since I was a child, I loved it when my parents praised me. When I was playing my 10 minute guitar solo at my sister's wedding reception in Kenya, I took a quick glance at my parents' table and seeing them smile while I was playing...that was just the greatest feeling in the world. My dad doesn't really approve of my ambition to become musician. So, he was either the world's greatest actor on that day or he was just proud of his boy. Either way, it doesn't really matter. My dad hardly shows any emotion, so for him to do so while I was shredding at my sister's wedding...you get the picture. Now, don't go callin' me a momma's boy or whatever. 'Cause I'm pretty sure you want your parents to be proud of what you're doing too. You think you can look me in the eye, swear that you're not lying and tell me you don't care what your parents thought about you? I think not.
Now, I bet you're wondering, "Why the emo post Jun Yong?". Well, nah...I can't tell ya. It's far too stupid. I'll let you in on it a little bit though. Just a little.
Have you ever thought that something or someone was too good to be true? Almost like a dream. Then, you fail to grab the opportunity to make something of it and that dream vanishes before your very eyes, leaving you thinking , "What if?". To make things worse, you have fragments of that dream stuck in your head to haunt you everyday. A regretful, yet sweet memory. Lost? Good.
I love the song "Endless Rain" by X Japan. Maybe it's 'cause of that song that I'm in the state I am in now. Man, it's almost as if Yoshiki saw me 20 years in the future and wrote something about it. The more I listen to the song, the more I love it and the more emotional I get, and the better it sounds. It's like a drug you can't stop smokin'. Plus, that's the song I'm learning on classical guitar at the moment. So, you get the picture. Ken Inn's calling me gay 'cause it's all I've been listening to the entire day.
Well, Wen Khyn's coming back on Friday and we can probably go chill out on Saturday. Lookin' forward to seein' Good Ol' Wanker again and jamming.
| Monday, November 27, 2006 |
And so it goes. Arguably the biggest match of the Premiership season. A match neither team could afford to lose. The teams? Manchester United and Chelsea. The stage? the greatest stadium in football history - Old Trafford. Now, Old Trafford is great for two reasons. For those of you who don't know shit about football, there's a pretty good chance that you've heard about Old Trafford before anyway. Since you probably forgot what was it that you heard about Old Trafford, I'll help refresh your memory. If you heard about it a few years ago, you were probably flipping through The Star when you stumbled across the back page where there was a huge picture of Sylvain Wiltord scoring past a helpless Fabien Barthez with the headline "ARSENAL CLINCH TITLE AT OLD TRAFFORD!". That was when football fans worldwide started to take notice. Before Arsenal won the title at Old Trafford, no one gave a crap about that shithole. Now, the other possibility, would be that you heard about Old Trafford pretty recently. Maybe as recently as say, three months ago. If that's the case, it's a pretty safe bet that you were watching Sportscenter when they aired footage of Cesc Fabregas splitting the Manchester United defense with a pinpoint pass to Emmanuel Adebayor, who poked the ball home effortlessly to send the Mancs home crying. At the bottom of the screen, it probably said something like "Arsenal leave it late to beat Manchester United at Old Trafford". After Arsenal clinched the title at Old Trafford in 2002, interest in Old Trafford was sky high. After a while though, the hype started to die off before it was revived again by none other than the greatest football club in history, Arsenal.
So, now that you know a little bit about Old Trafford, let's get back to the topic at hand. I couldn't wait for the match to start. Really, I couldn't. I was probably more excited than some Manchester United and Chelsea fans. Maybe it was because I had 100 bucks on Chelsea, but that couldn't be it, could it? So, I was in my room messin' around with my brand new guitar processor when I realized that it was 12 minutes past 12 and ran right out to the TV room to join the match 12 minutes late. The score was still 0-0, so I didn't miss much. Then, I noticed that Chelsea were playing a midfield quartet of Lampard, Ballack, Makelele and Essien. I was so fucked.
Apart from Drogba trying to elbow Vidic in the face and missing horribly (Needless to say, Vidic still went down like a bitch getting a facial from 15 guys), nothing much happened for half an hour. The Mancs outplayed Chelsea all over the park and were finally rewarded much to my dismay. Rooney picked up the ball from Ronaldo (Or was it Giggs? I was too sleepy to take notice) just inside Chelsea's half and picked out Saha, who somehow managed to squeeze his shot around Carvalho and past Cudicini. Mancs 1-0 Blues. Jun Yong losing cash and falling asleep. And at around the stroke of half-time, Jun Yong fell asleep and woke up at 4. I stumbled my way to the computer to see the fate of my two RM50 notes. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand...it finished 1-1! Say!
| Thursday, November 02, 2006 |
Alright, most of you would know by now that I fucked A-Levels. I didn't study for my finals and got a CCD as a result. In the eyes of my parents, my future was in jeopardy. In my eyes, nothing was wrong at all. I was getting better at the guitar with every passing day. So in my eyes, my future was under control. But still, I have to get an education first for two reasons.
1. So that my parents would shut up and let me chase my dream.
2. So I can get the fuck outta this country as soon as fuckin' possible.
Oh wait, there's one more reason. See, in the worst case scenario, being that I don't make a breakthrough, I'd be stuck playing in a cover band every night earning 10 quid per-gig. As much as I know I'm gonna enjoy doing, that's not gonna put food on the table. So I'm gonna need a day job to go with that. And I can't get one unless I have a degree. A safety net, if you will. So, I had to nail my SAT. And you know what? I fuckin' did. 1900/2400. I know, not exactly Harvard material, but nobody said anything about me trying out for Harvard. 1900 should be able to get me into most good universities in America. Plus, I'm eligible for a scholarship. I know what you're thinking'. "Jun Yong!? Scholarship!? You gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me!" Hey, just so you know...I'm not THAT dumb. 1900/2400. 'Nuff said.
Anyway, I'm going to Vietnam tomorrow and I'll be back on er...Tuesday. I think. So, I'm not gonna be blogging until then. Later bitches.
Last night, I bought the Ozzy Osbourne Tribute album, which Ozzy released five years after Randy Rhoads' death to pay tribute to Randy. The album consists of 13 live tracks (Ozzy's only live recordings with Randy) and 4 minutes of Randy's studio out-takes for the song Dee. Really good stuff. If you love rock n' roll, get your ass off that chair, head over to Tower Records, and buy this album. Of course, you don't have to go to Tower Records. The Ozzy Osbourne tribute album is available at all reputable music stores near you. If you live in East Malaysia where all things Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne are banned, you can purchase your copy of the Ozzy Osbourne Tribute album online. You can also download the album off BitTorrent, you cheap fuck.
Okay, now that the plug's outta the way, I'm gonna start with the live shit. Unlike most musicians, Randy played differently live than he did in the studio. Randy didn't see the guitar as something that should play backup to the vocals. He saw it as something that should go hand in hand in with the vocals, almost like a duet. And you could see that when he played live. He'd throw in audacious fills to complement Ozzy's vocals, modify his solos, heck...he'd even riff differently. It's a real shame that most of today's musician's don't do this anymore, 'cause it really seperates a good show from a great show. Oh, and among the 13 live tracks, three of them are Black Sabbath covers - Iron Man, Children of the Grave and Paranoid. Man, you should really hear Randy Rhoads play Iron Man. He makes Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath's guitarist) sound like a complete pussy.
Now, after you've gone through all 13 live tracks, if you're not having an adrenaline rush, go consult a physician. If you are, then the 14th track will give you the perfect medium to cool down. Dee is an acoustic piece Randy penned for his mother. How sweet huh? I damn near cried listening to it in the car last night. It's just a beautiful song. And the fact that he wrote it for his mother adds to it. Anyone who thinks Randy was just another metal guitarist who knew nothing but speed, go listen to Dee...and THEN tell me he sucks. I'd love to see you play.
