hello there everybody...

i'm back for the night... came down with a fever this morning...
will be going back in tomorrow evening...

ah...i suppose there's one thing i gained from army... a newfound appreciation of the little comforts that we all take for granted...
like tv and chocolates... for example...
like my own bed...
and the chance to laze around...
how i miss lazing around...

in addition to a splitting headache and an overwhelming sense of vertigo... it seems i also have a bad case of writer's block...

ah well...

i think i'd better go space out in front of the tv...

i daresay it's therapeutic...

the most spectacular display of stars that i have ever seen in this country... a night sky for once unhindered by any light of man...

and i have to witness such beauty accompanied by the horrific bark of rifles...

there are places where man's influence is subtle, insiduous... here, little sign of man's corrupting touch upon nature can be seen... save for the small coastal area that bridges the island with the mainland...
yet it is also here that man's indomitable spirit is manifest...
it is within these shores that i have come to witness the spirit of conquest... the pursuit of power...

and the lengths to which we as a race can go to achieve that...

hello everybody...

well i thought at first that blogging from camp would be a good idea...
yes... sorta like fresh inspiration from the activities (read:shit) i'm going through yes...

but well...

if i write exactly what i feel sitting here in the bunk...
eveybody can just go visit me in jail...

haha very funny yes... if there's one thing good about the past few weeks i think it's the sardonic humour that i seem to have acquired...
otherwise known as dry, pessimistic wit...

oh yes... before i forget...
to all those poor souls joining me in this barbarous isle...
Welcome!

so shoot me...

come let me prepare you for all the arguments presented... sometimes rather puerilely.... by the people here...
and so the big question is...
why are you here...?

model answer:

It's not the government, it's not your parents, and it's not society.
It's yourself.
At the end of the day, the reason why you are here is simply that you will come to fulfil your calling as a defender of the nation. You will defend the nation and ensure the safety of the people you love. In essence, you may feel nothing for the country, but it is for those you love that you will fight.

how very lovely, patriotic and touching...
everybody look at me... i'm spouting propaganda...

(note to self: please review next section... potentially incriminating content...)

hello...? knock knock...?

there's this little thing known as the Constitution...
yes...?

and by some chance of fate i had to be born just one degree north of the equator...
and thus i am bound...

i quote, "did the government point a rifle to your head and make you serve? No!"

excuse me...? Enlistment Act...?

well maybe a rifle isn't in the picture but the prospect of fines, jails and time in detention barracks comes pretty darn close in my opinion...

am i resistant to propaganda...?
well actually no... true propaganda would capture my attention and win my support...
but well... true propaganda also had a touch of subtlety within it...

and screaming at the top of your voice, "loyalty to country" everytime the whole platoon takes a drink is...
well...
anything but subtle...

ah i think i've raved enough for the day...
oh yes... i'm writing all this down frantically between training sessions... i hope this output of mine will keep my mental faculties intact...

the Jester shall yet sing again...

'ello there everybody...

i have seven hours and forty-five minutes before i go back in...
what a sobering thought...

ah well... suddenly everything doesn't seems so bad after all...

let's see now... i'm three weeks into this thing... which means i'm out in ten weeks time...
and the next thing to look out for after that is the tenth of december 2006...

we all need to hope now don't we...

bwahaha...

and look on the bright side... by the time i'm out there's throngs of people who are going in...
who i can point at and laugh...

yes i feel so evil...

ah whatever...
i'll be off to get some rest...

i dunno if it works that way but i sure hope sleep can be accumulated and stored...
and used in times of dire need...

like tomorrow...

bwahaha...

hello everybody...

it's the new year...

time does fly now doesn't it...?

well well...

lemme see now... new year resolutions have become an obsolete part of my life...

i think that the only people who can keep to new year resolutions are those irritatingly and unbelievably strong-willed and tenacious people...

and five year old kids who can't remember what they said two days ago let alone keep in mind a to-do list for an entire year...

seriously... i don't really get the point of this...

does the first of january every year really symbolize a new beginning...? can't we learn to appreciate the gift of a new day everyday...?
whenever we want to... we can always find new beginnings... there's is really no need to wait for an arbitrary marker at a certain point in time to remember the freshness and newness of life...

but i'm not complaining...

anything to get me out of that island for a few days...

is a decidedly good thing...

anyways...
rambling on...

i can feel my brain shrivelling up... i need to write more...

seriously...

one week in that place and i can feel my mental faculties beginning to dull...
i start stuttering when i speak (to people outside... that is...) because i'm not used to conversing at that intellectual level...
i lose the ability to use simple words...

case in point...
it is "unconducive" not "inconducive"...

yes i admit i'm wrong...

argh...

but on the other hand...

it was the experience of being confined to the barbaric isle for two weeks that has allowed me to greater appreciate my music...

i never played like i did when i just got out...

ah well...

tutti flutti...