National Treasure No. 1?

'Alexander' Fails to Conquer U.S. Box Office
Sunday November 28 1:03 PM ET

Conquering much of the world was a piece of cake for Alexander the Great. Conquering the North American box office is another thing.

"Alexander," director Oliver Stone's three-hour epic starring Irishman Colin Farrell as the youthful Macedonian warrior, opened at No. 6 with ticket sales of just $13.5 million for the three days beginning on Friday.

Since opening on Wednesday to get a jump-start on the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, the film has earned $21.6 million. The independently financed film, a dream project of Stone's for 15 years, reportedly cost more than $150 million to make.

Warner Bros. Pictures., a unit of Time Warner Inc., paid $35 million for North American rights from the film's producer, Intermedia Films, a unit of Munich-based IM Internationalmedia AG .

Nicolas Cage's action-adventure "National Treasure" was No. 1 for a second weekend with $33.1 million, followed by the animated superhero saga "The Incredibles" with $24.1 million. Both were distributed by Walt Disney Co., with the latter produced by Pixar Animation Studios Inc.

---------------------------------------------------

Hmmm.. seems like this whole treasure-hunting, code breaking mania hasn't abated at all huh?... looks like a good movie to watch aniwez...

and a big HAHA to colin farrell for choosing a white-elephant of a movie to act in... haha... deserve it..

oh well...

One More Day To.. BRUNEI

Sigh... going to Brunei next day liao.. having mixed feelings about this.. for one, it's good to break away from Delta Wing, sensing that we're heading for imminent DOOM at that rate the instructors are getting pissed off at our discipline. on the other hand, Brunei never was easy.. no one ever said it was.. and it ain't likely to be, considering how downpours are like a common occurence these days.. so yeah.. it would most likely be one helluva miserable thingy.. but i'm keeping my hopes high =)

Aniwez... spent these few days at home pretty much recuperating and well getting some pre-christmas spirit =).. shopped a bit.. but its starting to worry me cos.. people start to say they can't think of anything to buy for me cos i seemingly like have everything.. err.. reality check for me?.. have i really spent so much and become such a shopaholic that i haven't realized... i mean.. it takes me quite a lot of restraint to like not go heading to some branded store and buying stuff to wear or smth... sigh... maybe i shud just not go shopping..

aniwez.. all i want for christmas is.. (no lah... wishlist lah)

1. Levi's Strauss Shirt and Leather Jacket

2. Zara nice creamy coat to suit my shirt that i bought for John's wedding.. (which mum complained to buy exorbitantly expensive)

3. Ami or Julie to win survivor. =)

4. Crumpler bag? (thou its pretty low on my list.. cos everytime i enter the shop it just does not tug at my heart to buy it)

5. Billabong boardshorts and t-shirts

6. the choker thingy

7. Sims City 4 or The Sims 2.. to play

8. A Scientific American Subscription

9. An i-pod mini

sigh.. aren't i disgusting at times??>. oh well.. i might make a resolution not to spend much this christmas..and save it so my bank account looks good.. hee..

Aniwez... i dun have much resolutions for Brunei, juz

1. to lose even more weight and look good =) (btw, its been AMAZING this weekend cos for the first time i've been like encouraged to eat as much as i can and really attack the food..yipee!~!! but in defence to my physical health.. i did run 9km today.. at THAT'S good considering how i never really could run half that distance when i was in JC)

2. to do well for JCC, and pass it well.. ie. good Nomad score, good Chill Hermit Score and good Chill Bone score... which mea ns my team MUST navigate all the way and do well...

3. not to get foot rot at the end of the whole thing.. ie. TAKE CARE of my HYGIENE... which honestly.. i'm a lil' fearful.. cos even in singapore im getting groin rot (eeeuch!) and wierd fungal infections... sigh..

4. to build up LASTING friendships through the course of the whole thing.. yeah..

that's abt it for now.. going to pack my abgs and DO SOMETHING CONSTRUCTIVE for now..

signing off,
fRanK

New Obstacle Course for SATFI MI (yah rite!)

I'm confused, troubled.. yet relieved

God really DOES answer prayers.. and with my repeated "miracles" of ATP, BTP, SOC and SEOC... but sometimes i feel that i'm a little really.. lacking in faith.. sigh..

So S*** really did arrive back with a BANG.. and his "homecoming" present?? -- a customized personalized tekan session.. (rolls eyes)... LIKE i didn't expect him to do so... i mean... when such a prideful person comes back and sees things that seems to have drifted from his ideal.. of course he will get pissed.. but boy.. he got pissed over REALLY stupid things... which yet again proves the fact WHY he still is a ssg.. DESERVES it.. big deal about all your bloody badges.. it doens't matter cos your personality and your mental prowess cannot make it..I mean complaining about us not eating together and "if one eats all must eat", then claiming we don't neck-sling and it is a bloody infringement on discipline... PEOPLE!?!... i mean.. first it ain't practical and it is like stabbing myself in the back just cos "a man needs to feel pain to be a real man".. YAH RITE..that's just HOW stupid he can get...

just dun understand why instructors let him carry on his cock act the whole time w/o saying a word... i guess it is to show that they're not as stupid.. which in actual fact they ARE at times... OH WELL...

perhaps it is my abyssmal results during ATP for the 1st 2 days and the cock-ups that made me get into this perennial bad mood and frustration.. i mean.. its not nice shoot over and over again, getting 0s and just hoping to pass whilst others are aiming for marksman.. and it got so bad that i couldn't even think of enough reasons and excuses to explain for this shitty scores. SIGH... shared with Joshie and Bay... think they felt i was slightly off my rocker liao.. but oh well..

but thank God,.. he really answered my prayer and i passed eventually... and not only that lah.. i guess it gave me back alot of confidence that really i dun suck THAT bad.. and with God everything IS possible.. I was bitching that "why can't i get be mediocre in some things instead of being ABYSSMALLY SUCKY at some stuff!?!".. but well i guess the reason i was so shitty was cos my morale was really severely affected liao.. and with that re-zeroing and LAD problems... it just got my confidence down to new lows lah..

WHATEVER it is.. i'm glad things are over and i escaped relatively unscathed... PHEW... now ust to tuck this in one corner of my head, and remember this FIFTH miracle... =)

But well.. life as it is.. never stops dishing out new shit (i'm getting so vulgar.. sigh.. attribute it to weiyang).. and i'm REALLY worried about the comms mag.. cos really.. nothing seems to BE GOING RIGHT... first mr bay choon sing lands himself a cwsm role.. and i'm really helpless and grinded to a halt.. then.. i'm like darn inexperienced.. so i dunno how the whole thing gets puts up.. so its really my fault as well... MAJORITY... and i'm really really worried... sheesh... God... please help me through this..

a few more days to Brunei... 2 more days of ####

sigNing Off

FraNK

CURSES TO ALL COMS!!

My home computer really sucks...REALLY.... it has zilch photo editing programmes, is horribly laggy at times.. and really... screws up everytime i try to scan stuff... sheesh...

aniwez... dunno what to say about next week.. seems pretty bleak cos..

1. Staff is gonna come back next week frm his all-acclaimed ranger course and will probably be asking us to have acelebration bash or smth... then he says he wants to see the 14 people who got silver for ippt... CRAP.. mega-tonic crap!!!! sheesh.. can't he just rest it and stop being so prideful about things like this? wHAT IS HIS PROBLEM!!? JUST LEAVE US OUT OF YOUR EGO-ISTIC MACHINATIONS!!!

gosh..

2. ATP is the next 3 days, meaning 3 days of worry, discomfort and eye-straining targets.. plus if i shoot badly i probably will have to keep reshooting and reshooting... sigh...

3. This weekend is crappishly short... so short i can;'t even write a proper blog entry.. so short i have to rush home early from lunch with mohan and co and have to fiddle with my stupid com to get it to send stuff out to pple...

4. the irritating Plt Ops Order we have to do... arrgh! and if its not enuf, i have pple pelting me left right center with questions .. whilst im sleeping, eating and doing stuff... gosh...

ok... i'll go sleep now..

irritated...

Of Princeton, Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, and my latest mini shopping-spree

foreword -- something tells me i should continue my army journal, starting back from R.O.C., or these memories, pretty much treasured lessons and cherished moments, will simply fade into obscurity as time swathes through it relentlessly... (ok.. forget the bombasticity of it..)

ANIWEZ, back to the topic... I'm so utterly glad for this holiday period where I feel that i'm living a semblance of a nomral civilian life again... and well, even thou i din really go out with frens, lan, or play tennis, it was pretty kewl overall.. =)

My mini shopping spree which i planned was severely halted when my mom said she would be drawing $520 out of my account this month, thanks to my new levi's specs and the monthly household funds.. oh well.. this, added with my intended shopping spree fund of $200, totalled to my monthly allowance... which pretty much sucks... OH WELL...

Aniwez.. i did buy some stuff -->
1. Nike shirt feat. a nice TENNIS logo, to cement the notion that i WANT to learn tennis and be good at it! (I mean! I was made to love tennis! even watching Wimbledon (the movie) made me tingle.. how cruel is it that the sports i like are always so inaccesible and always seemingly cost alot... while others get away with a simple basketball or soccer... grr) --> $37.00
2. FINALLY.. an adidas polo tee, $49.00 (I had $30 discount plus RSH gave 10% off =))
3. "The Rule of Four" and Grisham's "The Last Juror", totalling to around $51.00

the clothes cost me $41.75 ultimately hence totall i spent $91.75 liao!! ouch... then the crumpler bag is like $89.90... so i'm a bit hesistant...my dad finally said my weakness lay in shopping... so well.. i'll hold back...sigh

started reading "The Rule of Four", (J. Khoo told me not wait for the paperback versh but I was too impatient liao.. aniwez, hopefully can form a book-swapping club with him) and well, I'm pretty much caught up in the book... and one thing i keep envisioning is the Princeton environment... yes, I've heard how Princeton only allows ONE MEASLY ASIAN STUDENT to enter per year.. but i wistfully wish i could enter... cos the descriptions of the dorms, the colleges, the eating clubs all seem to create a wholesomely fun and cool place to be in.. sigh.. wanna go America to study... (yeah.. maybe i'll really finally decide on America)..


yeah... cool pictures of Princeton

speaking of which, I wish books describing universities could be written in the way like that in "rule of four", instead of the bookish way in "Kaplan"... i feel like I'm really going on a visual tour in the former, whilst the latter just bores me... sigh.. BUT unless I can find books set in CMU, Cornell, and so on so forth, Kapaln's the best thing around...

or maybe i shoudl try Princeton just for good measure.. hehe.. WHATEVER..

Brunei's drawing closer and well.. I'm not feeling exactly prepared... MUST remind myself to bring back the survival handbook to mug next weekend!!!

regards..
FrAnk

Tennis Babes Galore!

"Myskina Alive in L.A., Stuns Davenport in Straights
With a loss already to Serena Williams, another loss in her second match at the WTA Tour Championships presented by Porsche may have seriously jeopardized Anastasia Myskina's chances of reaching the semifinals. But Myskina's chances greatly improved on Friday after her 7-6(5) 6-4 victory against world No.1 Lindsay Davenport."

Yipee!! The Russian women prove their worth again and well, it seemed quite disappointing initally when Vera Zvonareva, Elena Dementieva and Anastasia Myskina lost many matches but oh well... hopefully this will turn their fortunes!!

Given up on Capriati btw... and the sore disappointment of Andy Roddick in men's tennis... gosh.. just go be a male versh of Anna Kournikova.. sheesh

fraNk

Frank's Buying List and Movie List

To Buy --

1. Crumpler Bag (Weenie) -- $79.90?

2. Choker-ish type necklace thingy -- around $5 - $8?!
3. NICE Adiddas Polo Tee -- $40.00?
4. Nice shirt from Gio/U2/Bossini?
5. Tee-shirt from Billabong/Quiksilver




To Watch --

1. The Forgotten -- BUT 2 1/2 stars!?

SIAN... all my med fac frens hibernating to mug liao... no one to accompany me out =(... and den my ocs frens like all so busy one... hmpf! wadever.. i'd entertain myself and improve on my com knowledge!

To Do in the Next Yr or so --

1. Learn computer designing programmes like Adobe Pagemaker, Photoshop, Premiere, Flash, Dreamweaver
2. Learn to drive
3. CHOOSE what school i wanna go to
4. Learn tennis WELL

booking in in around 3 hours or so... what did i do today.. err.. nothing much.. but forget it lah.. as long as i rest its fine.. and well.. hopefully the cheerful vibes im getting fm OCS doesn't stop... then it'll be pretty fun.. TIL brunei that is..

frANk

Survivor 9 and AMI

Yes.. I'm thinking of something EVVILLE!!

Was reading the mess boards, where EVERYONE has been talking about Ami's gameplay and how she is a man-hating bitch and so on.. oh well (roll eyes)... I'm interested thou... cos she's the first most powerful Alpha-Female to grace the screens since Jerri and Tammy... and Jerri/Tammy both died out pretty quickly... with Jerri descending to levels of self-pity in the ASS.. oh well..Jerri struck off Kel, then Maralyn and almost got Keith... similarly, Ami has effectively and clinically removed Bubba, Lisa and now Rory out of the game.. interesting eh? and both of them have lap-dogs, the likes of Amber and Leann... SIGH.. but aniwez i do admire Ami's play.. but her frank-ness could cost her the game..

i mean, she hasn't been badmouthing contestants and having arrogant confessionals and so on, neither has she been bad-mouthed by the female contestants, and the guys can't stand her cos she's so powderful now.. hehe... she's playing a good game.. but somehow editing has exposed her gameplay too early.. thanks to rory and so on... dun think she'll win.. but hope she lasts long...

aniwez.. this was an interesting post..

"Re: Is Ami the first female mastermind?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What has this woman done to earn everyone's hate? The only thing she did was get people booted who were a threat to her and her alliance. The last time I checked, that is what people have to do to win this game. She hasn't had any gloating, arrogant confessionals (like Hatch and Heidik). She hasn't lied about a dead grandmother (like JFP). She hasn't lied about anyone having beef jerky to get them booted (like Jerri). She hasn't been mean to anyone in the game, unless you think telling Lisa to her face that she didn't trust her and would be voting against her is mean. I don't. I think it's direct and confident and somewhat risky, but definitely not mean. Maybe you think telling Rory she would not align with him was mean. Would you have preferred that she lie to him and stab him in the back later? (like Rob and Amber) Besides, Leeann also told Rory to his face that he was not going to be part of the women's alliance and no one is vilifying Leeann. Leeann also voted against Lisa, and no one is vilifying Leeann.

So let's see, what could it be that makes people hate her so much? Well, perhaps it's because she's a out lesbian and unapologetic about it. How dare she be beautiful and confident and secure about herself. You're right. What a bi***!"

it gets WETTER

As Jer Husan put it aptly whilst we were doing the OCS Challenge today, (BLASTED HOT SUN) we have been pretty much operating in wet soggy boots for all our outfields in the past month... EX Castaway check, Ex Robinson Crusoe check, Ex River Cross duh!.. and now Ex Coastal Hooks... bleah..

We went to Seletar Camp yesterday (fricking whopping big labyrinth with many open spaces and dilapidated-looking houses... one looked like an old school side tuckshop which was actually the engineer officers' mess... bleah) and well did our Coastal Hookie thingies lah... the inital excitement and mild euphoria about being out at sea and jetting towards the open sea in little boats, seeing Singapore in a radically different way and relieving memories of OBS whilst passing through Coney Island and Punggol Jetty, very soon faded into sian-ness at being in the boat for so long, sitting till our butts hurt (why they don't build seats i dun get), getting whacked by the sea spray every second and being worried that your weapon and rusting minute by minute as the saltwater tarnishes it...

To top it all off... CAT 1 soon came, and we got stranded on the bloody Coney Island.. I remember myself kayaking round Coney Island few years ago during OBS and wondering which bloody lunatics would go to a deserted island and build some stone benches for picnics and so on... so yeah.. we're the lunatics that got beached up... and having to take cover in some mosquitoe infested nearby forest-shelter where we soon fell asleep after waiting and waiting like 3hrs++ for the CAT 1 to clear... it was Microwave all over again... bleah..

at least the pple around weren't that bad company.. and got to noe Teen/Tristan slightly better... somehow Plt 3 seems to have the more garang-ish pple whilst Plt 1 just seems like a a joke sometimes... i mean.. Boon Peng? me? Linus?.. oh well... there's Loy in Plt 3 at least.. =)

at night we did our beaching manouvres which were well.. pretty decent and thank goodness dun have to samulah.. went back to keep the boats, scrub them and clean them etc... for the first time i think the instructos and cadets really worked together and got things done... pretty chop-chop..

point is, we returned to camp late and dead tired by all the stiff sitting and salt water splashes... and we slept EVEN later at arnd 0230hrs... and yeah... Delta Wing continuing its tradition of not making sense, plans it such that this exercise preludes OCS Challenge the next day... sigh.. either someon'es really not using his upper facility or its just one whole big irony... i mean.. u want us to win the OCS Challenge, get a streamer for our increasingly pitiful flag.. but yeah.. the day b4 u send us outfield which makes us whacked left right center by sand, sea and mud... then have to return camp to deal with the new horrors on our weapons and clothes--> SALTWATER AND SAND... (esp thru proning on the beach), then finally give us 3hrs of sleep and expect us to perform.. haha... BLEAH.. might as well don't participate liao

turns out the OCS Challenge was pretty much a washed-out thing for Delta.. only Ning Yan's detail came in a respectable 13th.. and the rest of us were too wiped out and tired to show some interest... then came the next bombshell --> lunch on sat @ the cookhouse... chomp chomp BLEAH... what stupid cock-ster would indent lunch for no good reason.. it's so darndedly dumb and waste of time lah! sigh.. Delta wing really... nothing much more to comment lah.. 11 more weeks.. then no need to suck so much thumb liao..

just a side note.. yi hao's a pretty good buddy to pair with for stuff... anything lah... i'm NOT going to bitch abt my buddy.. i just wished.. well.. my buddy would develop an overnight sensibility to clean up the room when it's truly filthy and not just keep halting in his tracks and checking his handphone for new messages 24/7!!! i mean.. it doesn't take much more effort to just put the SBO/field pack and other barang barang into the shelves and at least keep the floor walkeable and not strewn with anything and everything... and the blatant eating in bunk and handphone usage is getting on my nerves as well.. SIGH... give me back Gangwei!!...

as Jeff Probsts says.. it's time for a reshuffle...yah rite!

cya!
frAnk

another wet weather, another IPPT

funny how when you want it to rain it never does? well in singapore somehow the rain this week has gotten into some sort of a schedule--> morning bloody hot such that we will be broiled for OCCT, then the dark ominous thunderclouds appear mid-afternoon and then the tempest arrives round 3 - 5... so the instructors, finally finding some intelligence, (or am i giving them too much credit again?) places IPPT right smack at 1800hrs... and the Cat 1 status ended at 1715hrs... boo... but well, not to be deterred, I straight away complain about my hurting right feet and swiftly become the sai-kang party.. =).. ok.. bad point is that when i was helping out, the instructors once again banded round me and started suan-ning me about my IPPT chao-keng-ness, saying i've only done it 3 out of 10 times, then mimicking some sort of whining that seemingly comes from me when i give my excuses and so on... blea.. WHATEVER.. honestly, it's not that i'm not bothered or what.. but i don't see the point.. if u want me to improve my fitness, i'ld gladly oblige, but if it is just about statistics and bloody getting some stupid goal that seemingly boosts your manliness and ego by 250%... then piss off man... honestly.. i'm satisfied (this is about the 1500th time i'm saying this).. and it doesn't matter... i'm glad i've imporved so much and nadda-nadda.. so yeah.. thank god for making me get through this so far..
(btw.. seeing En Ping get gold did make me tingle just a bit.. but let's see lah heh?)

Back from Tekong! (and enjoyin' it!)

Ok, so my expectations of a survivor-style escapade to Pulau Tekong "resorts" turned out to be pretty dreary and WET.. stupid monsoon season... but oh well.. knowing myself, any outfield is seemingly better than having to endure through endless of IPPT training and horrendously long 5AXes every day.. i mean.. running 8 rounds round the track before the sun has risen (which i did in the morning today) doesn't really sound like a very appetising way to start a morning.. =( and aniwez in outfield, everyone suffers and as long as you have your mentality set in "jungle" mode, then it is pretty ok lah..

So the first thing we did was to cross some pretty murky waters first via combat swim, then by pulling yourself over with a rope attached.. and well.. it was pretty fun and relaxing doing so -- just that by then you are completely soaked through and through and well.. somehow EVERYthing in army needs timing --> which takes the fun out of most things when u noe if u can't do it in time, you have to sa-mu-lah.. BLEAH.. which reminds me of a survivor challenge i devised whilst listening to Cpt Chua blab on and on about the greatness of SAF..(and his original topic was watermanship.. =()