Disclaimer:
This is a personal blog and should be taken as such. So don't sue me if what I write pisses you off. Or if I write lies. Or if I give maladvice. Or if you fail to read through my sarcasm. Et cetera.
I like stalkers.
Is it in bad taste to quote one's self?
"The greatest of debaters are not only the most eloquent -- they are the most bruised, the most resilient, the strongest of heart." -- Andrew Loh
Quotes "How many times have you chickened out?" - Qu Hsueh Ming
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile - hoping it will eat him last." - Sir Winston Churchill
"Affirmative action is something the good don't need and the bad don't deserve" - A wise man
"The men who create power make an indispensable contribution to the Nation's greatness, but the men who question power make a contribution just as indispensable, especially when that questioning is disinterested, for they determine whether we use power or power uses us." - John F. Kennedy
"The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were." - John F. Kennedy
"I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually." - James A. Baldwin
"Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is but a broken winged bird that cannot fly." - Langston Hughes
"Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference." - Sir Winston Churchill
"Dreams are true while they last, and do we not live in dreams?" - Alfred Lord Tennyson
"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race." - John Calvin Coolidge
"We will either find a way or make one." - Hannibal
"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake." - Napoleon Bonaparte
"For evil to triumph, it is only necessary for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke
"War begins in the minds of men, and it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must first be constructed." - UNESCO Constitution
"The proper study of mankind is man." - Alexander Pope
"My kind of loyalty was loyalty to one's country, not to its institutions or its officeholders. The country is the real thing, the substantial thing, the eternal thing; it is the thing to watch over, and care for, and be loyal to; institutions are extraneous, they are its mere clothing, and clothing can wear out, become ragged, cease to be comfortable, cease to protect the body from winter, disease, and death." - Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens): A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
"Patriotism is to support your country all the time and your government when it deserves it" - Mark Twain
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world. The unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man." - George Bernard Shaw
"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." - George Bernard Shaw
"Democracy is a system ensuring that the people are governed no better than they deserve." - George Bernard Shaw
"If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all." -- Noam Chomsky
"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act." - George Orwell
"When the people fear the government, you have tyranny. When the government fears the people, you have freedom." - Thomas Paine
"I sense a learning: that much dumber people than you end up in charge. Look at the way things are. I'm no fucken genius or anything, but these spazzos are in charge of my every twitch. What I'm starting to think is maybe only the dumb are safe in this world, the ones who roam with the herd, without thinking about every little thing. But see me? I have to think about every little fucken thing." - Vernon God Little, Act II
So, Venice, California is this small semitown which used to have many canals but now only has a few because [Disney bought it over] (edited 26 May: Los Angeles annexed it), according to Wikipedia.
Pretty, nonetheless, but not breathtaking.
Venice Canals
If you look really closely you can see a woman walking a dog over the bridge.
I used to think LA was dirty and polluted and smelly and all that.
I was wrong.
Only in parts.
LA beaches = salivatorily pretty = funfun.
My feet touched sand for the first time in forever. And fine, powdery, beautiful sand too, mind you.
V for Venice
Miles and miles of beach on end.
Pimple.
(Seriously, your skin looks like that - under a microscope.)
Windsurfing.
Check out the mist. Of ALL THREE DAYS in LA, there have been NO sunsets by the beaches. Because of the mist. Freaky weather - it's 10+ degrees Celcius at night, which is unnaturally cold.
This mist also exists when you take long distance pictures under the blazing California afternoon sun which has given this Malaysian a quasi-sunburn of the face.
I waded by the tide - the water was freeaaaaking cold.
But extremely rejuvenating.
Walking on sand trains your arches.
I like.
Haha the kid on the left was posing for me. He purposely, fakely fell down to get my attention.
Awwwwwwwww shooo cuuuuuute.
Public graffiti outpost.
Okay, so Venice is supposed to be very bohemian, or aka weird. So they have this Muscle Beach where beefy guys are supposed to work out in their swimsuits. But no one was there. Guess bodybuilders are shy too.
And yes that guy's wearing a thong that's less thick than the bicycle handlebar.
Venice Boardwalk is also supposed to be filled with weird people selling weird stuff and doing weird things.
However, I wasn't too impressed lah. I felt that it was overrated. After pasar malam, not many peddlers can surprise me.
Moral of the story: pasar malam prepares one well for shocks in life.
I have to bring my camera to pasar malam to take pictures.
In California, they lock their bathrooms. Supermarkets, stores, public libraries.
I think it's because there are so many hippies here right by the beaches.
You have to ask for the key to pee. So ma fan.
(I've been putting on a British accent to get better service -- even when asking for directions.)
Next stop: Santa Monica.
OMG oooooooohlala tres belle tres beau tres bien.
Santa Monica muy bonita.
Advertisement shooting on Santa Monica beach. The retro springy abs-muscle training thingy -- I can't believe people still fall for those things. Dangerous and it kills your back because 90% of all people don't use it properly.
Santa Monica also has its "world famous" pier cum amusement park which was closed for a private engagement (read: rich brat's birthday party).
"My momma always said, 'Life is like a box of chocolates.'"
Inspired by a movie.
Where surfer dudes go to surf...
(Ya the black thingies aren't penguins/seals/dirt on your monitor. Dudes are surfer they.)
...and the rich have their beach houses.
(See the annoying mist AGAIN? No sunset in three days. Tsktsktstk)
Because the waves are super duper high, as compared to the other LA beaches. Oleh itu, ianya (which is not an accepted Malay word) conducive to surfing. Because Malibu beaches face south, while all other LA beaches face west.
