Jyoou no Kyoushitsu (Queens Classroom) ep 5

God, I fucking love this dorama. Ep 5 sees the whole class turning on Kanda and she truly realises that she is all alone. The Queen is one smart bitch. She give Yusuke what he wants the most: his graduation certificate! The poor fella has to decide between spending the rest of the school year playing or continue fighting an uphill battle against the Queen.

The climax of the ep is when Kanda breaks down and the Queen tries to lure her to the dark side. The Queen has taken everything away from her and now offers Kanda the ability to gain even more than she had. What's a kid to do when the whole class has turned against her and she can't get any help from her parents or sister?

But I like the idea presented in this episode that the Queen is like a lioness throwing her own cub down a ravine so it can learn to survive. Kinda reminds of V for Vendetta, one of the best graphics novels ever. Break a person down and then build them up again. If this is the Queen's aim, then it should be asked why did she specifically target Kanda?

The sub should read 'come to the dark side Kanda!' If the big reveal in this series is the Queen saying 'Kanda, I am your mother!', I am going to scream. Seriously.

Next episode is going to be about Hikaru and from the preview its not that big of a revelation. There's 6 episodes to go and I can see The Queen's declaration of no summer holidays turning the whole class against her. I like her line in the preview for ep 6 where she says to the mothers, 'Since education is free, isn't no summer holidays for the kids a good thing?'. But why would Kanda, Yusuke and Hikaru want to work with a bunch of lying, cheating backstabbers? I reckon they should go along and sell out the rest of the class out to the Queen!

Jyoou no Kyoushitsu (Queens Classroom) ep 4

The Queen is good, damn good. When she found out about the rebellion in ep 3, she not only managed to diffuse but also to turn the girl they were trying to help traitor. Nothing pisses me off than suck-ups trying to save their own skin while damning their friends.

In order to prevent another uprising, the Queen punishes the whole class, ensuring that there will be a mole next time. The Queen then starts her plan to destroy any semblence of unity in the class by diving them into groups and appointing weak leaders. Any transgression and the whole group will get punished.

Again we see Kanda trying to be true to her 'friends' and non of them standing up for her. The Queen bumps into her on a rainy night and tell her that she is alone.

Now I start to see why the writer chose to place the story in a primary school setting: so that the naevity and good nature of Kanda does not seem like idiocy. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. If Kanda were a high school student, we'd think of her more like a idiot for trusting her friends. Instead, we are appalled that primary school kids can sell out their friends and have no remorse.

Its hard to believe that currently my favourite dorama to watch does not really have any idols for me to perv at. Maybe its due to the fact that everyone can relate to a school settings and classmates who sell ppl out and suck up to teachers. God, I hate those suck up kids.

I'm still waiting for the enigmatic Hikaru to make her move. My prediction: she'll have some great plan to topple the Queen later in the series...

The missing part of the story so far is Hikaru. Kanda asks the question we all want to know: why is she so indifferent to the Queen and her machiavellian ways. Unfortunately, we don't get an answer. She and Yusuke are the only ones left to defy the Queen but her motives are unclear. The preview of ep 5 shows the whole class turning on poor Kanda and we'll have to wait till the 2nd half of the series to get our answer.

Mrs Kintaro as Kanda's mom. God, what I wouldn't give to watch Salaryman Kintaro seasons 3 and 4. Its one of the most fun series to watch, ever.

The other plotline to ponder is the motive of the Queen. She claims to want to turn her students into hard working people who listen to their superiors and afraid of punishment. Personally I think that's a load of crap. Working smart is better than working hard and superiors aren't always right.

Fear of punishment is directly from Machiavelli's book, the Prince. The most effective way to rule is through fear. Another 'tip' from the Prince is to make the people hate one of your subordinates and then execute them when the time is right. Clearly she is slowly making the class hate the group leaders and I think she'll turn on those who suck up to her when the time is right to appease the rest of the class.

Its more likely she's not as evil as she seems. I'm guessing she's more of a ends justifies the means person. She seems to have the agenda of breaking Kanda down and turning her into another self serving, suck-up student. As with eps 1-3, there a great scene at the end of the ep. With more 6 episodes to go, I can't wait to see what happens next.

Hara Sachie as the lame teacher Kanda goes to for advice. See I told you there's no idols to perv at, unless you find the Queen hot......

Drugs, media and judiciary

Well, Michelle Leslie has managed to get out of Indonesian jail, so congrates to her. For those who never heard of her, she's a model who got caught with 2 ecstasy pills and was facing a possible 15 year term. My interest in writing about this case stems from this article in The Age which reveals all the behind the scenes stuff that went into getting her out like bribes and alleges that her convertion to Islam is false.

The purpose of the media is to publish the truth. No one can argue with that. However, there is no absolute rule and when we are talking about international politics, there is no black and white. Basically what I am saying is that The Age should not have published this article.

Why? Because it makes the Indonesian judiciary look bad. Everyone knows that bribery is a way of life in South East Asian countries. Its not something that can change overnight or even in a decade. Judiciaries are pretty much self regulated with pressure from the gov and media helping to shape it roles. Indonesia is changing. There is a will to change you can't bloody uproot the whole system and replace it with a working one overnight. You don't change from Communism into a 'democracy' overnight and have it work.

Its not like the Indonesia likes to throw foreigners in jail without proof. They've got a working justice system. They're got their own rule of law. Respect the system. Criticism will only harden their resolve. As John Howard said, what's the point with all the media attention on Tuong Van Nguyen (who is going to be hanged in Singapore on Friday) giving false hope. It only makes the Singapore gov/judiciary stick to their guns.

All these media and appeals etc will only create a siege mentality. The media should only make a big deal of it when there has been an abuse of justice like torture and false evidence.

Which brings me to my next point: David Hicks deserves the more media attention cause the freaking USA has been holding him in Guantanamo Bay without proof. I guess only beautiful white females who get caught in foreign countries sell more papers.

The next foreign national to get caught AND get huge media exposure is going to get it up his/her arse. No bribing and the courts will be pressured to convict.

The Indonesian system is no perfect but what system is. Its not like the prisoners are being tortured and false evidence has been used. Let the accused people and their legal team work within the justice system without the glare of the international and international spotlight.

Let the judiciary do their job. You want them to be independent then stop with the media barrage. Let the judge(s) decide the cases on the merits and evidence or bribes. Australia is lenient on drug users. Do they want to see someone who wouldn't even spend a night in an Australian jail spend 15 years in an Indonesian prison?

So to sum up whatever I have been typing for the past half an hour:

LET THE PEOPLE BRIBE IN PEACE! THE DEFENDANTS ARE HAPPY, THE COURT OFFICIALS ARE HAPPY AND EVERYONE GETS TO GO HOME.

Psibeing comes to town.

Last week Dr. Psibeing finally come down to Melb after like year but could only spend a night a gaming. He had more important things to do. 'cough' meeting future in-laws 'cough'.

Anyways it has been months since I had been to a cybercafe and it was unfortunately that we did not even have time for 1 game of SC. 'cough' stupid Dota 'cough'. I had asked YC to bring his gosu digicam along to take pics so I can post and write some insulting captions and hopefully get more ppl on bnet.

Side note: One thing I learned this year from basketball is that its hard to ignite the fires of competition by name calling and insults, especially those who like to go home early. 'cough' Robert 'cough' Perhaps I should start insulting their mothers, girlfriends and if that doesn't work, their favourite AV stars. End side note.

Unfortunately the gosu YC someone lost ALL the pics save one. I'll leave it to your imaginations how an I.S. honours gosu can 'accidentally' delete pictures from his camera. My apologies to fellow 419ers. I had planned to post the pics with all sorts of batu api stuff.......

The lone surviving pic of Dr. Psibeing incidentally makes him look like a cheekopek. Either that or he was happy at the thought of doing a 'jason' on us and there was no way we would go to some crappy Sydney suburb just to get our revenge.

Now we eagerly await the visit of CKPip and hopefully we can get a few nights of SC violence this time.....

Thought of the day 23/11/05

I am not sitting on top of the food chain just to be a vegetarian.

Jyoou no Kyoushitsu (The Queens Classroom) ep 1-3

I hate shows with lots of kids. They're always boring and irritating with the adult character/teacher usually helping them sort out the usual problems like not having friends, bad parents etc.

The Queen glaring at Kazumi.

But Joou no Kyoushitsu is different. If I had to describe it in a sentence, I would say its like Battle Royale set in a primary school. Amani Yuki plays the Queen, a teacher who dresses up in black all the time and looks like an S & M mistress. Instead of your typical super enthusiastic teacher, the Queen is a harsh one. In ep 1, she sets up a rule whereby the two lowest scorers have to be class representatives and do ALL the chores. Later she changes it to whoever disobeys her has to do the chores.

The Queen basically implements the rules of society into the classroom. Only those who excel and do what they are told get priveleges. Those at the bottom suffer. The Queen basically rules by divide and conquer. The students fear her and her punishments. She quells any uprising by the students by going after their weak links and turning friends against each other.

Shida Mirai plays plays the main character Kanda Kazumi, who gets punished in ep 1 and is helped by Shindo Hikaru (Fukada Mayuko) character. Hikaru is the 2nd top student in the class who is quiet but seemingly mature. Joining them is Yusuke, the class clown. These characters are the only ones who truly dare speak out against the Queen.

Shida Mirai as Kazumi.

I cannot offer enough praise for Shida Mirai's acting. You feel for her as she tries to muster courage to face the Queen and you applaud her sincererity in trying to help people and do the right thing. Her fear of the Queen is all too real. The scene where she speaks up for Yusuke is too fucking beautiful. Her acting is just too damn good for a 12 year old kid. After only watching 3 episodes. she really deserves to have won the best newcomer award.

In ep 2, the kids try to unleash the most fearsome force in Japan on the Queen; their mothers on the PTA but the Queen deftly parries their attacks and does some attacking of her own to keep them in line. The easiest way to defeat the Queen would be to united but the Queen easily splinters their fragile unity.

What is scarier than PTA mothers? The machiavellian Queen, that's who.


Yeah, this show features kids but the story is anything but childish. Its a dorama about human behaviour. How we act in groups and how we act as individuals. Its about the strength of friendship in the face of adversity. Its about the our need for self preservation versus our ability to be unselfish. Its about our role in society and the rat race for 'success'.

And the music and cinematography and this dorama are excellent. The most memorable scene is the one where Yusuke 'sacrifices' himself so that Kazumi can sneak by the Queen and not be late. You can feel Kazumi's fear as she races to the class while Yusuke is desperately trying to distract the Queen. Its a simple thing, trying not to let your teacher know you are late but the way they do it is just too fucking awesome.

I cannot recommend this dorama enough. Forget about eye candy and idols. This dorama is about great story and bloody excellent acting. Its a crime that only around 500 people have downloaded this dorama. Watch till the end of ep 1 and I guarantee you will not regret it.

And hontoni arigatou gozaimsu to kryptolus and hanchan for bringing us this great dorama.

Intellectual discussion on Gamer Chicks

This conversation took place the day Dr Psibeing decided to come down to finally come down from Sydney and grace us with his presence. We had just finished dinner and were looking for YC's car, and he had forgotten where he had parked it.....

Akiramike: Eh, Ghostroc still staying at the same place ar?

Psibeing: Yar, he staying with 4 other girls.

Akiramike: OMG, must ask him for some tips. That guy champion. How the hell he repress his hamsapness (sukebeness) so as not to scare off the girls.......

Psibeing: And one of them is a gamer chick some more.

Akiramike: Holy shit, that guy truly champion can find gamer chick. Hhhmm... gamer chicks....

YC: Your dream, is it?

Akiramike: Tiu, dun tell me you dun want gamer chick for gf. Cooking and cleaning not as important.

Psibeing: Gamer Gf dangerous. If you trash her, then no sex for a week....

Akiramike: Aiya, got gamer girl then you can conversations like 'Honey, I loved the way you dropped my base and killed off all my workers'.

YC: ...................

Psibeing: Hey babe, I love the way you hold and move the mouse.....

Akiramike: lol. Sorry love, for attacking your base from behind but you were so wide open I couldn't resist.

Psibeing: Happy birthday dear, here's a new vibrating joystick for you to play with!

Akiramike: lol!

Psibeing: Darling, I love your very sexy zergling rush.

Akiramike: Your rush gave me a hard on! Rush me again! lol.

YC: (these two idiots are crazy)

Rest in Peace Eddie Guerrero

Pic stolen from http://www.eddicts.com/. I steal but at least I'm honest about it!

Haven't been following wrestling as closely lately. Just came back from bball, took a shower and found that Eddie Guerrero had died on Sunday of heart failure. My mind's still reeling from the news. Eddie Geurrero was one of the best wrestle ever and the fact that he died still at the peak of his career is a great shock.

I remember him coming to the WWF along with Benoit, Malenko and Saturn. His Latino Heat gimmick with Chyna was a blast. He could make the fans laugh and in the ring astound us with his crisp wrestling. As I got on the net, I discovered his old matches from Japan and ECW. Who can forget the best of three falls match he had with Dean Malenko? It was poetry in motion. Wrestling at its finest. Moves and countermoves. Holds and counterholds. No playing to the crowd. Eddie, Benoit and Malenko embodied what I love about wrestling. The psychology and moves.

But Eddie has best entertainer of the bunch. He was the heel we all loved to boo and cheer. His most successful gimmick by far was his 'Lying, Cheating and Stealing' with Chavo. I'll forget laughing my ass off at the crowd chanting 'cheat! cheat! cheat!' and Guerrero using all sorts of stupid cheating techniques. But Eddie had the intensity when things got serious. When it was time for the match the fans knew they were going to get their money's worth.

My favourite Eddie moment was the end of Wrestlemania XX after Benoit finally won the belt. To see two of the best wrestlers ever at the top was a dream come true for wrestling fans. Eddie and Benoit earned their belts the hard way. They weren't pushed down our throats but became fan favourites because they entertained us and wrestled spectacular matches again and again.

People always talk about his battle with drugs and alcohol. To me he represents what wrestling is all about, great talkers who can entertain people in the ring. God took Eddie from us fans too early. I can only dream about Eddie in a Wrestlemania match with Shawn Michaels. I wanted to see a 2/3 falls match with Benoit to rival the great Eddie/Malenko. Eddie v Batista. Eddie v HHH.

Wrestlers are overworked people who put their body through so much punishment just to entertain the fans. The WWE needs to take better care of their wrestlers. Let Eddie's passing be the last one. Give the wrestlers a break. Don't fire them if they get injured. Come on Vince. Wrestlers are not supermen. Doing more restholds and slowing the pace down won't help them. Wrestlers need to do less shows and have more time off.

After this, I'm gonna pop in Eddie's DVD 'Stealing Life, Cheating Death' and watch the matches and promos by one of the greatest wrestlers ever. Rest in peace Eddie. Though you lie, cheat and steal, at least your honest about it and I'm sure you're in Heaven right now picking up some mamasitas in your low rider.

Ai no Uta ep 5

In Ai no Uta, Kanno Miho plays Yoko, a negative, grumpy woman who's given up on life and tries to commite suicide. She fails, pretends to have amnesia and attempts to start a new life as Ai-Chan. Tamaki Koji plays this ex detective who helps her.

Let's look at what's bad about this show. Firstly Tamaki is essentially playing his Mr. Nice Guy character from Konna Koi no Hanashi. It worked in that show cause he was playing off Hiroyuki Sanada. I read somewhere that this is the first time he's not the main male lead and its pretty obvious why: his acting is fucking boring. There's no depth and unrealistic.

Yes, I know jdoramas are not realistic but his performance is very 2D. As Ai-chan says in the dorama, he looks like an idiot smiling all the time.

The one point that can save his character is that he was supposedly a pretty mean cop before something happened but it took up to ep 5 to show us a small glimpse of it. And I just found out the writer of the show wrote Beach Boys, one of the most overrated and super boring jdoramas ever. There goes any expectations of the story picking up.

Mmmm.. I love women in uniform....

The second problem is how pedestrian this dorama seems. The sets are awfully dull and empty. It seems like those low budget doramas like Tails of Happiness, not that there's anything wrong with low budget doramas. Its just that there doesn't seem to be much effort put into it.

Narimiya Hiroki just feels so miscast as well, like he was in Ima, Ai Ni Yukimasu. Maybe its just how bloody boring the acting of the male actors are.

Of course the best thing about this show is Kanno Miho. This show is about her pulling off as many sour and moody expressions as possible. Her character of Yoko/Ai-chan is a blast to watch and Wakui Emi's role is pretty funny too.

Kanno Miho in maid uniform. At least they're catering to the Otakus...

Its great to see Kanno Miho play something different and she really makes some ugly facial expressions. lol. So unless you're clamoring for more Kanna Miho give this show a miss. If you haven't seen her acting before, go watch Koi Ga Shitai which IMO is her best show I've seen.

Props to Chiisana_Tantei, ar-a-mach and gryzze for uploading the series. Big props to Haruspex for subtitling the series. One can never get enough of Kanno Miho! :)

Rambling caused by post Internet Withdrawal Syndrome

My ISP had problems starting yesterday night and I was without broadband for 24 hours. Its feels really weird switching on your PC but not being able to go online. I still had doramas to watch and games to finish but mostly I did neither. I felt restless, didn't know what to do. Played some games here and there, watched jpop vids but always checking my connection and hassling the help line people.

Internet withdrawel is similar to cigarette withdrawal. You don't feel happy and just keep thinking about lighting a fag. There's things to do in the meantime but you don't feel doing it. And after you take your first puff, alls right in world.

Being online is not an addiction. Being online is not just about downloading. Being online is about being connected to the world. In the old days, you get your news from the morning papaer and evening news. Nowadays who watches the news? Its better to go online and read from multiple sources and go to forums/blogs that debate current issues. Being online is about being able to access the wealth of information at your fingertips.

The internet has become more indespensable than radio and television. Its not just the window world, its the freaking huge doorway complete with red carpet. News and the way its reported is skewed to the viewpoint of a paper/news program. People nowadays want to see news reported from multiple viewpoints and form their own opinion.

And of course people want to voice their own opinions. That's what's so great about the net. You don't need to form your own group with similar minded people, get signatures or stand with a speakerphone on parliament. You can do it from the comfort of your own home.

Someone said 'opinions are like arseholes, everyone has one'. That's certainly true but before the net most of the time we had to rely on the media to tell us what everyone was supposedly thinking. Its easier to form our opinions on things based on others' cause they'll do all the arguing for us and we just choose which argument we find stronger/more appealing.

With so much wealth of information, more people are realising the world is not black and white. That issues and politics are never what they seem. That there are always other interests or aims involved. The internet has become a haven for the dissection and debate of information.

The problem now is that there is too much info. We only have 24 hours a day. Its tiring being a cynic and reading up on stuff. A world where everything is shades of gray can get depressing. If the world is so fucked up, what hope is there for the future? Being well informed will not change the world.

Still, once a cynic, forever a cynic. As long as I have my broadband, all's right in the world...

Obviously I have no fucking idea what I'm rambling about. Bloody tired from too much bball and I'm just waiting for ep 4 for Hana Yori Dango to finish so I can watch it and get to sleep.

Top 10 reason to date a cute girl who has a life threatening disease

The popularity of Korean dramas is bad. Jdoramas just keep getting more melodramatic. Case in point: 1 Litre of Tears. Its about this girl who has some disease which will slowly deteriorate her motor skills until she cannot even move. Sounds like those tear jerkers aimed at women who love to cry, doesn't it? How I long for the days when Japanese doramas were about disabled people.

The only reason to watch this show is Sawajiri Erika, the kawaii girl involved with the twin brothers in Hotman.

Inspired by 1 Litre of tears heres my 'Top 10 reason to date a cute girl who has a life threatening disease' :

1) You'll never see her grow old, fat and have saggy boobs.

2) Her parents will actually be glad if you have sex with her cause they want her to experience the pleasures in life b4 she KOs.

3) When you say 'I'll love you for the rest of your life', you are not lying.

4) Damn good sob story to hook girls with. Just make it look like your destroying your life in mourning and it'll arouse their maternal instincts. (Sekachu)

5) Your next gf will under pressure to treat you better cause she will always compare herself to your dead-ex.

6) Easiest way to break up with subsequent GFs after you have scored and not have them get mad: 'I'm sorry, I can't get over her'.

7) Don't need to worry about her taking half your assets after divorce.

8) You can go after the sister/best friend after she dies. (if she's as cute)

9) You dun have be afraid of the dreaded 'C' word - commitment.

10) You have an excuse to visit cute nurses everyday.

Girls with perfect teeth just aren't as cute. :)

In defence of Kuroki Hitomi

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Top 100 in the world!

I was surfing limkitsiang.blogspot.com (the blog for the head of the opposition party DAP) when I came across the following pics celebrating Universiti Malaya's drop of 80 places to 169 in the Times Uni ranking.





Akira: lol, check out the UM banner: http://limkitsiang.blogspot.com/

KTS: wow happy yar

Akira: world top 200 woohoo

KTS: yar

Akira: next year just change the 2 to a 3

Akira: lol

Akira: melbourne uni kalah (lose) to UM, they should put a picture with Steve Brack's (Premier of Victoria, ie state where Melb Uni is in) face or something

Akira: u see the 3rd pic? damn good english grammar lol

KTS: ahha

KTS: its not world's top 100 english language universities mah

Akira: lol

Hana Yori Dango ep 2

For those who never heard of Hana Yori Dango, its the shoujo manga which the famous taiwan series Meteor Garden was based on. My exposure to Taiwan tv series has been limited to some basketball series which I forgot the name of and the joint S'pore and Taiwan production the Champion. The one thing both series shared was the incredibly horrible acting that made Fukada Kyoko and Fujiwara Norika look good.

Plus the fact that millions of teenage girls were mad crazy about meteor garden meant there was no way I would enjoy it.

Finally decided to give Hana Yori Dango a shot and so far, its been a fun 2 eps. HND like so many shoujo stories features this poor girl who studies in an affluent school, gets bullied, has strong character blah blah blah. The important thing for sukebes is whether its got lots of girls to perv at. Check out the screencaps to find out..

Inoue Mao after getting kidnapped by Domyoji. Wut sort of idiot kidnaps cute schoolgirls, dresses them up and then does nothing. Only the rich kind I suppose..... (there exists the possiblity that Domyoji did stuff to her when she was knocked out and the Japanese censors... nah)

3 rich girls getting some champagne bukakke. IMO the key to a good dorama is spraying girls with liquid.... just kidding..... maybe.

I would love to join them for a swin, especially with the freaking hot Melb weather.

Hhmm, Sada Mayumi. She kinda looks like Paris Hilton in this shot.

Kawaii!!!!!!!! :)

OMG, Matsushima Nanako is Domyoji's sister???? Pls let this be more than just a photo cameo..

Yes! Matsushima Nanako's going to be kicking ass and taking names in ep 3. Now if only GTO will show up....

Inoue Mao does a good job as the main girl but one actress that would be perfect for the role IMO would be Ueno Juri of Swing Girls fame. Inououe Mao just doesn't have the X factor/screen presence that Euno Juri has. One thing for sure, HYD has pretty good production values and as long as things dun get too melodramatic and there are plenty to chicks to perv at, I'll be along for the ride.