THE LAKE HOUSE .aka. "THE MAILBOX?"

the Lake House is soo boring! well.except for KEANU REEVES & SANDRA BULLOCK.hahas. i so couldnt understand the whole movie! Went to Marina to watch with
Ade, Meiwen, Mohd, Huiy, Clifton, Ruth and Qixian.

yups! the movie had like 4 1/2 ratings and TOP in UK charts but still..i nearly fell asleep.hahs!Well, at least i cried so there's some kind of reaction from me yah.tsk

the three bitches.

erm...okkaaayyy??

three wierdos & THE PAN PACIFIC (:

LOVE ;

FROM JON :)

Hi there!

Good morning!

First and foremost, forgive this very 'unpersonalised'/'mass' email. Believe me, i would if i could, reply to every single email but time is so not on my side. :( You really won't believe how MAD (!!!!!) the schedule is. Everyday we wake at an UNGODLY hour and have TONS of stuff going on all the way till midnight! These 'stuff' include interviews, vocal trainings, roadshows, more interviews, mtv shoots, photo shoots.... COUNTLESS of them. Fun as it is, but it's also extremely draining! As a result, this has taken quite a toll on my health (especially the oh-so-important throat) due to the lack of sleep and a culmination of other factors. All right, enough grumbling. Haha..

You guys are what's keeping me going and thus, I decided to take some time off to send this mail. This is just a short little something in addition to my blog. Oh, speaking of blog, thanks for reading it! Haha... Yea, i'm really quite random i think... as you can see my chain of thoughts span pretty quickly from one topic to the next. Hahaha....Just a quick mention that i check the blog comments more regularly than friendster and this email... so anything urgent, just leave a msg on my blog yea? And on MSN, honestly, i have absolutely no time to log on at all... so yes... such is the life of a surviving artiste... hahahha... hmmm...far from being an artiste actually.

Ok, i really need to do this: THANK YOU SO MUCH YOU ALLLLLLL!!!!!

I look forward to the roadshows every week! Of course the beautiful gifts and heartfelt letters are encouraging and heartwarming and definitely a bonus so to speak. But it's the endless support and painstaking efforts that is so precious! I feel so bad that you guys go through all that to make the gifts, put together pictures as collages (smth i can never achieve), write the letters and notes or even take time off to come down to support. For all the thoughtful gestures, i must say i'm truly, truly grateful. :)

What's more important are the comments, encouragement and long emails which I receive everyday. I am so thankful for the kind words, it's really a driving force for me in this competition... to know the very least that i have people appreciating the music i deliver. :) I do aspire to improve each week and give the best performance i can. Speaking of which, I'm really excited about this wed's performance! Classicss... ooohhh so very difficult but so very fulfilling if i can put up a good one. I hope you guys are going to enjoy it!

I think i told some of you all that we're staying at Mt Sophia, well actually it's MT EMILY... got a bit confused. Haha.... Mt Emily is just behind Mt Sophia... a really nice and serene area... For those who are still in the dark, haha... we're staying at Hangout, this very nicely done up and comfortable youth hostel set against the backdrop of lush greenery and rolling hills... haha now i sound like a travel brochure.

As the competition goes on, there'd be less and less time for me to keep in constant contact with you all... so do bear with the delayed responses and blog entries... i will try my best!!! I would love to visit your blogs as well and will leave a tag... hopefully i can do it sometime soon.... Whatever it is, just to assure that i do read the comments, mails and messages, so keep them coming! :)

Once again, thank you for all the luuuurrrrvvveeee... :) It doesn't matter if you voted or not, it doesn't matter if you're supporting other contestants as well! At the end of the day, I just hope you all enjoy my performances and the tunes i sing. I think that's the ultimate satisfaction of any singer... to engage you audience in your music and to give and earnest performance.... :) If you're having a bad day, i hope my music can be uplifting and if you're having a good day, why not make it better! :) For all you people out there, whether you're working, schooling or bummming (hahaha...), keep going at it ya... seek that passion and pursue it. Your belief in your dreams will bring you somewhere near the ultimate goal. :) Those at school especially, study hard ok? Sometimes, you only get one shot at things...so make the best out of what you have. Just bear with the assignments, tests and projects, there'd be over before you know it and soon, it'll be the holidays! That's how i psycho myself last time... hahaha... Trust in the man above because when you do your best, God will do the rest. :)

All right... enough said. Phew! I hope you all get to watch this wed's performance and be prepared to be serenaded by beautiful music and beautiful people. :)

Have a fantabulous week ahead and many hugs....

Love,
Jon

GAYLE IS OUT.

Okay.to be honest, i wouldnt think that Gayle would be out so quickly with the many supporters she had and the so-lively cheers. (GO GAYLE.., GO GAYLE.., GO GAYLE.., GO GAYLE.., GO GAYLE.., GO GAYLE..) .

I still thought JAY would be out!serious.well, he does have a good, strong voice but the supporters..?lets say, not much! Its only like his gf, gf's sister or whatsoever gf's dance students?!! Fine.nvm.none of my business :)

Okay.thats about it then.
I JUST SIMPLY HOPE JONATHAN
WOULD BE THE NEXT SINGAPORE IDOL! :)

CHEERS!

SINGAPORE IDOL LIVE.

all thanks to my "cousin" to get stage passes!love you for that ONLY.tsktsk.thanks alot pal.we got to stand next to the idols during the show.it was awesome! my crazy GUY "cousin" kept screaming at the top of his voice that even the idols were amused at him.hahs.i was embarrassed to let people know im with him.hahahas!
well and before the show started, the idols came and shaked hands with the stage people.when jonathan shaked my hand, I TOTALLY NEARLY MELTED.hahas/. Paul was awesome and super funnny.he couldnt sit straight on the chair..kept moving around till the crew member had to ask him to focus.hahs.

i love
JONATHAN LEONG!!

ITALY 5-3 a.e.t FRANCE

This cant be!
there goes the WorldCup'06
and there goes
FRANCE!

darn italy.

WOAH! JUST 5MINS OF THE GAME AND ZINEDINE ZIDANE SCORES IN A PENALTY SHOT! <<SUCH A NICE GOAL I'D SAY>>

italy 0-1 france.

I TOLD YOU FRANCE IS GONNA WIN :)))

PORTUGAL 0-1 FRANCE

Zinedine Zidane will finish his career on the greatest stage of all after his first-half penalty proved enough to take France past Portugal and into the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ Final as 1-0 semi-final winners in Munich on Wednesday, 5 July 2006.

Zidane scored two headers to help France beat Brazil in the 1998 Final and eight years later, in his final match before retiring, he has the chance to bow out with a second winner's medal in Sunday's Final against Italy in Berlin.

France's winning goal came when Thierry Henry went to ground under a Ricardo Carvalho challenge after 33 minutes and Zidane struck his spot-kick low to Ricardo's right. They defended their lead comfortably save for one heart-in-mouth moment in the second half when Fabien Barthez spilled Cristiano Ronaldo's free-kick and Luis Figo headed the rebound over.

Portugal, semi-final losers here just as they were in 1966, will contest the play-off for third place with Germany in Stuttgart on Saturday.


RIGHT ON!! DONT YOU JUST LOVE FRANCE :)) __ZINEDINEZIDANE

FRANCE
WILL WIN
THE
WORLD CUP'06!

GERMANY 0-2 a.e.t. ITALY

German dreams of reaching the FIFA World Cup™ Final on home soil died in Dortmund as two goals in the final moments of extra time carried Italy into the Final as 2-0 semi-final winners on Tuesday, 4 July 2006.

With a penalty shoot-out looming, Fabio Grosso broke the deadlock in the 119th minute as he curled a left-footed shot past the despairing dive of Jens Lehmann from the right side of the penalty box. Substitute Alessandro Del Piero made sure of Italy's place in the Final when he beat Lehmann from close range in added time at the end of the extra period.

Italy now advance to their first FIFA World Cup Final since 1994 and their sixth overall. They will face the winners of Wednesday's Portugal-France semi-final in Berlin's Olympiastadion on Sunday, 24 hours after Germany have contested third place with the losers of that match in Stuttgart.

the picture looks kinda "sick" :))

Offside (football)

Offside is a Law in football (soccer) which effectively limits how far forward attacking players may be when involved in play. Simply put, a player cannot gain an advantage by waiting for the ball with only the goalkeeper or last defender between him and the goal.

Application

The application of the offside rule is best considered in three steps; Offside position, Offside offence and Offside sanction.

Offside position

A player is in an offside position if "he is nearer to his opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second to last opponent," unless he is in his own half of the field of play. A player level with the second last opponent is considered to be in an onside position. Note that the last two opposing players can be either the goalkeeper and an outfield player, or two outfield players.

It is important to note that being in an offside position is not an offence in itself.


Offside offence

A player in an offside position is only committing an offside offence if, "at the moment the ball touches or is played by one of his team", the player is in an offside position and in the referee's opinion is involved in active play. A player is not committing an offside offence if the player receives the ball directly from a throw-in, goal kick or corner kick.

In order for an offside offence to occur the player must be in an offside position when the ball is touched or played by a team-mate; a player who runs from an onside position into an offside position after the ball was touched or played by a team-mate is not penalised. Similarly, a player who is in an offside position when the ball is touched or played by a team-mate may potentially commit an offside offence even if they run back in to an on-side position before receiving the ball.

Determining whether a player is in "active play" can be complex. FIFA issued new guidelines for interpreting the offside law in 2003 and these were incorporated in law 11 in July 2005. The new wording seeks to more precisely define the three cases as follows:

* Interfering with play means playing or touching the ball passed or touched by a teammate.
* Interfering with an opponent means preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent's line of vision or movements or making a gesture or movement which, in the opinion of the referee, deceives or distracts an opponent.
* Gaining an advantage by being in an offside position includes playing a ball that rebounds to him off a post or crossbar or playing a ball that rebounds to him off an opponent having been in an offside position.

In practice, a player in an offside position may be penalised before playing or touching the ball if, in the opinion of the referee, no other team-mate in an onside position has the opportunity to play the ball.

The referees' interpretation of these new definitions is still proving controversial until this day, largely over what movements a player in an offside position can make without being judged to be interfering with an opponent.

Offside sanction

The sanction for an offside offence is an indirect free kick to the opposing team, at the spot where the offence occurred. Most referees use their discretion and let play go on if the "offended" team already has the advantage or ball, in order not to slow down play with redundant free kicks that achieve the same purpose of giving the advantage or ball back to the "offended" team.

Officiating

In enforcing this rule, the referee depends greatly on an assistant referee, who generally keeps in line with the second last defender in his relevant end (exact positioning techniques are more complex). An assistant referee signals that an offside offence has occurred by raising his flag in a manner that signifies the location of the offence:

* Flag pointed downwards: offence has occurred in the third of the pitch nearest to the assistant referee.
* Flag horizontal to the ground: offence has occurred in the middle third of the pitch.
* Flag pointed upwards: offence has occurred in the third of the pitch furthest from the assistant referee.

The assistant referees' task with regards to offside can be difficult, as they need to keep up with attacks and counter attacks, consider which players are in an offside position when the ball is played, and then determine whether the offside positioned players become involved in active play. The risk of false judgement is further enhanced by the foreshortening effect, which occurs when the distance between attacking player and the assistant referee is significantly different from the distance to the defending player, and the assistant referee is not directly in line with the defender. The difficulty of offside officiating is often underestimated by spectators. Trying to judge if a player is level with an opponent at the moment the ball is kicked is not easy: if an attacker and a defender are running in opposite directions, they can be two metres apart in a tenth of a second.


Offside trap

The offside trap is a defensive tactic. When an attacking player is making a run up the field with a team-mate ready to kick the ball up to him, the defenders will move up-field in order to put the attacker behind them just before the ball is kicked, hence putting the attacker in an offside position when the ball is kicked. Defenders using this tactic often attempt to bring an attacker's potential offside status to the attention of the assistant referee, typically by shouting or raising their arm.

The use of the trap is often derided as making for boring football. However, it can be a risky strategy as all the defenders have to move up together, otherwise the attacking players will not be in an offside position; if the offside trap fails, the attacking players will have an almost clear run towards the goal. The 2003 rule changes have made it even more perilous as a tactic.

One of the best-known defenders to employ the offside trap was Billy McCracken of Newcastle United. It is claimed his play pressured officials to modify the laws in 1925, reducing the required number of defenders between the attacker and the goal line from three to two.

The offside trap has become riskier since the 2003 law interpretation in which the definition of active play was made more stringent. Thus, teams attempting an offside trap are less likely to have an offside offence called when they have caught a player in an offside position if he was deemed to be not in active play.