TwIsTeD Reflections

Jesus Christ! My oh my how the lakers have grown. I expected them to be good... but to be this good? it is downright surreal, almost unfair.

Almost.

This lakers squad is a many-headed hydra, with as many weapons as America has nuclear warheads. You cut away one head, 2 more grow in its place. Whats more, the biggest, most horrifying head that would turn greek heroes into stone instantaneously has been developed: defense. What defense!

Sorry, im nt used to swooning, bt it was not long ago the lakers was just a mere struggling team in the middle of the league, with some predicting not to mak the playoffs last year.

And they did mak the playoffs. And the finals. Without their starting center. Without their key defensive small forward.

And this year, they are back... with a full roster.

1st game: Against an up-and-coming team of the portland trailblazers. They are trying to integrate a budding, talented center in Greg Oden. Nonetheless, the team of Brendon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge and co. put up quite a fight last season, winning 2 games in their home court and losing to games to the lakers at the Staples Center, the lakers home court.

Finals score: Trailblazers-76, Lakers-96

Analysis: DEFENCE!!! Shit, when was the last time the lakers held a team below 80? Millennia ago. With trademark balanced scoring (almost every lakers scored) and some help frm kobe(23 points, 10 boards, 5 assists), the lakers were dominant from start to finish. Definitely worth skipping International Relations for this.

Highlights



2nd Game: Another team many claimed will be the dark horse this year (I dont buy it). They lost Elton Brand, there all-star forward, but got Baron Davis, an all-star calibre point guard. They lost Corey Maggette, their leading scorer last season, but got bac Marcus Camby, once named Defensive Player of the Year. This team is, to me, a total enigma. And while they would be decent, they have not played enough together to reach .500, much less mak the plaoffs in the west.

Final Score: Clippers-79, Lakers-117

Analysis: Shit, i thought they were going to be bad... but not this bad! This was a 38 point thrashing, the most in any lakers-clippers confrontations. And another game holding the opponent under 80. If this defense continues, the league might feel a purple-and-gold chill up their spine very soon. The Clippers, to be fair, did hold on for the first quarter, losing by onli 3 points, and even took the league early in the second. Bt then the Bench mob from the lakers came in and 'Boom' the game is gone.

Highlights



From what Ive seen... the lakers have a really deep team. How deep? They have a second unit that would be the starting 5 for many teams in the league. Lets take a look position by position.

Point Guard: 3-4 players--Derek Fisher, Jordan Farmar, Lamar Odom(point forward), Sun Yue.

Shooting Guard: 3 players--Kobe Bryant, Sasha Vujacic, Sun Yue

Small Forward: 4-5 players--Lamar Odom, Trevor Ariza, Vladimir Radmonovic, Luke Walton, Kobe Bryant

Power Forward: 3 players--Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Josh Powell

Center: 4 Players--Pau Gasol, Chris Mihm, Andrew Bynum, DJ Mbenga

If you noticed, some names are repeated, showing the versatility of the players to play multiple positions(Just look at Lamar Odom). So each position is covered at least 3 times by COMPETENT players, much more than any team, including defending champions Boston Celtics) can boast.

Yea. I know it is onli 2 games in with 80 more games to go. But which hot-blooded lakers fan cn stay calm now? Of course, i will reserve my judgements till we thrash the damn Celtics empty.

Oops.

I enjoyed telling this scenario to a few close friends of mine.

Man A punches Man B and walks off. Whose fault isit that Man B is on the ground?

Yes, it was Man A's fault.

Now Man A returns after an hour, and saw that Man B is still on the ground. Now, whose fault isit that Man B is still on the ground?

Right again. It is Man B's fault.

A simple scenario describing one of Men's deadliest sins: Apathy. By now, you may be thinking, i'm not Man B. What makes you think I wont get up, after being hit?

Then, if this is so, let me ask u this: Do you have a weakness? Ans: Yes. If the ans is 'no' then you have some serious ego problems.

Second qn: If you know your weakness, then are you doing anything to confront that weakness? A yes or no question, no strings attached.

That is when the ans starts to change, depending on whu u are. There are many of us, myself included, who would go to people and say 'haiz, i wish i was more knowledgeable.' Or, 'haiz, I wish i was more adventurous' Such complaints are usually under the control of the complainer. If you want to be more knowledgeable, go read up or do some research. Want to be more adventurous? den go and enjoy urself in a radically different fashion.

That is when the excuses come in. Want to go skydiving? Nah, im nt that adventurous. Go and read? I cant, I'm too stupid.
Most of the time, we justify apathy with excuses of our nature. Or what i would like to call it, the 'Im-just-like-that' excuse. Fail a test? Im just not the studying type. Refuse to play defense in bball? Im nt the defensive type, and ive got no stamina.

We dont face the truth. And the truth is that we know that we r capable of doing these things to mak ourselves better, no, greater than we are now, but it just seems so damn difficult. So we avoid that path by saying that the path doesnt exist in the first place. That, ladies and gentlemen, is apathy.

Now, if you are guilty of this, as i am, lets all do something about it. Stop making excuses, go and train, go and read, go and explore the world, go and make friends. And we can all mak ourselves truly great.

All it took was one game. One single game. In fact, it wasn't even a whole game. It was half a game. A game I didn't plan to watch, bt accidentally switched to as I nonchalantly flipped through the channels with my brother. Yet, that was what turned me into a Lakers fan for LIFE.

Year 2000, Los Angeles Lakers vs Portland Trailblazers, Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. We were just switching through the channels until we chanced upon the game mid-way through progression.

At that time, my brother and I were already heavily bballing in the neighbourhood, thus the interest for the game was already there. We just weren't watching NBA. So when we flipped to that very game, we had no favourites. Hell, we did not even know who was Kobe Bryant till then.

At that point of the game, the lakers were down by 15 points. Being the guy who always chooses the underdog, I chose to side with the lakers (Ironical, isnt it). The tension in the air was unmistakable in the staples center- it was game 7, meaning a loss for either side will send the team out of the playoffs. So it is a must-win game for the lakers.

After choosing a side, i prayed for the lakers to catch up. And catch up they did, in a superbly thrilling fashion, capped off with a alleyoop pass from kobe bryant to shaq. The rest, as they like to say it, is history.

Now, i invite you, basketball fans and non-basketball fans, to enjoy the youtube videos below and understand how wonderful this game can be for an impressionable 15-year-old.

Enjoy.



Introduction





Part 1




Part 2




Part 3




Part 4




Part 5




Part 6




Part 7




Part 8




Part 9




Part 10




Part 11




Part 12




And therefore...
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So far, if you have seen the previous posts I hav written, you would notice certain headings connected to each post. Such as TwIsTeR Insights, where i would discuss the way the world or society works from the bottom of the well as seen by a frog. The said frog also comes up with posts such as TwIsTeR's Lakers, a more light-hearted reading on basketball.

Now, this type of blog post, which i have called TwIsTeR Truths was meant to be a revelation of how I am, how i operate, kinda lik a weird wenjie expose. therefore, I. am. VERY. hesitant about this idea. For fear of ridicule, for fear of letting people see through the masks, for fear of just muttering incomprehensible bits and boring everyone out.

Ridicule, you say? Yes, ridicule. Why? Because I have a belief that I m unique as a human being (or try to be, at the very least) and therefore grossly misunderstood by even the closest of friends. I do not mind being misunderstood, therefore the hesitation of this post, but it would be... interesting.

I am born on 26th May, 1986. Which, according to the astrology zodiac(ang moh version), I am a Gemini. No big deal to some, including myself. Im not superstitious, so zodiac signs are just a passing interest to me. And i do not agree to certain parts too.(i.e Gemini are supposed to be intelligent. Yah, many of you are laffing now)

Yet i found something within the Gemini's essence to be true in describing me. The paradox of duality. I find myself a strange fusion of 2 extremes in terms of personality.

My temper, is a good example as what i mean. Many think im a good tempered, shui bian kinda fella. And they are absolutely right. Until they talk to my brothers or my girlfriend, to whom, sadly so, I have a shorter fuse. And yet, even she doesnt noe the full extent of my anger yet. Not even I do, since i have never let that monster out of the cage, but i know it is terrifying.

Or perhaps the question of whether im extroverted or introverted, as debbie has asked me b4. I can boisterously loud, shouting and laughing like nobody's business. I have, on numerous occasions opened my mouth when nobody else has dared to. On the other hand, i have a meek personality, especially around girls(topic for another time). Sometimes i clamp up with a group of friends, preferring to fade in the background. And i also enjoy being left alone to my own devices.

The duality takes its form in many other areas that make up a personality. Cold logic vs thoughtless art, heart vs head, order vs chaos, stingy vs generous, kindness vs cruelty, etc... To explain each duality would take a post as long as a thesis. Yet, it is present and existing in me. Which why some of you receive mixed signals, despite my careful treading of concealing this.

Duality exists perhaps in every person, yet I feel that, as a fact, it exists in a larger scale than most.

There, my first post of TwiStEr Truths, and hopefully not my last. Shit, i hope i don't regret this.

This is for those who have read my storyblog.


my brother has written a small side story to the one we are writing currently. Same setting, different timeline. I'm wondering if he is going to continue on it. Highly doubt it though, considering the slacker that he is. But the character is different, i guess because it was my brother's concept unlike the rest of the 13 (sorry, bro. Dont mean to brag).

OH MY GAWD!! WHAT THE F@#$ DID HE JUST SAY??

Yea, whatever...

Sex is overrated. Yah. A shocking title followed by a shocking statement. Spoken like a true blue 22-year-old virgin. You there, not funny.

But yes, ill say it again. Sex is overrated, over-sensationalized and over-promoted. it is, as a result, inextricably woven into our society's very being. Sadly, sex is perceived as a representation moral-erosion of the youth, crime, a form of spreading disease or even entertainment. It is seen as a delicate or even complicated matter, often an irritating but necessary issue.

My question is: Why? Why does it have to be seen as that? Sex is not complicated. Ill leave all the mating fr the sake of the species thing aside, since no one has that in mind when performing the dirty deed. Sex is a beautiful act of love, at least to me and many others. Yet, it is seen as taboo. It doesn't equate.

I agree that we should not ignore sex crimes and promote the protection of women. But thats the thing, protection of women does not equal that sex is bad. The crime does not mean the act itself is not pure, it is the person that is screwed up. For example, if a basketball player whips up a knife and murders someone on the basketball court after losing his temper, does that mean the sport of basketball is the representation of the devil?

That is one problem with us human beings. We like, no, love associations. One mistake a person makes, and we see the person in a different light. One action by a country's government, and we view the people in the same manner. Crime is normally indicative of the person's nature or upbringing, but instead we condemn the act more than the person, unconsciously so or nt.

Now, im going to list a few things that bring sex, or a form of sex, into mind almost instantaneously, albeit seemingly harmless without such a tag.

Statement: A guy and girl sleeps under the same roof.
Assumption: SEX!

Phrase: Naked women
Thought: SEX!

Scenario: Old man marries a younger woman
First thought: SEX! and money

Country: Amsterdam
Wait, lemme guess: SEX!

Food: Chocolate
What the...: SEX!

Scene: 2 women walking hand-in-hand
thought: LESBIANS!

Person: Virgin
impression: you are such a good boy... and LOSER!

You get the idea. Forget art, which a long, long time ago, a woman's body is perceived as. Forget sexuality, as being gay means you are no longer human, even if the person does not have a choice in his/her nature. forget meritocracy, for it is sex that validates a person. Forget platonic friendship, as it is no longer possible under the current rules of society. Hell, lets all forget about love, since it is no longer possible to love without sex.

Honestly, im sick of it. And it is not going to change. Somewhere along the line, the meaning got transformed, the value, eroded. to the extent that it has become taboo. Well, i dont know about you, but im nt going to follow the trend. Ill view sex in my own way and follow suit with my actions, general perception be damned.

seriously sick. Seriously. Sick.

"The only thing that I know is that I know nothing."

This was a quote from the Socrates. Or so it may seem as there was never any written record of what socrates really said, only through heresay and plato's impression of the man. Plato, Socrates' disciple, relates to us how socrates would associate with the people around him. For one, he was never afraid to tell the truth of how little people knew, especially to 'Sophists'. Or what we like to call them - the Experts.

How he would do so, according to plato, was to pretend, or act, less knowledgeable than the other person. This causes the person, or Sophists to ramble on, when they sense weakness. Complacency typically leads to mistakes and socrates would trap them using their own words and by questioning them. He never told them they were wrong in the face, but by questioning them, let them realise themselves that they were wrong.

This was called socratic irony. By pretending to be less intelligent, you prove the other that they are not as smart too. Which brings us to the opening quote, one of my favourites from Socrates. His belief was that intelligence and knowledge was overrated. people who knew more than others tended to stop learning and give advice, such as the Sophists, when in actual fact they know nothing. In fact, he knows nothing; we know nothing. Cos in relation of what we know, to the information around us, is small and insignificant.

How many of us, take advice from experts and blindly accept it as fact. If the answer is yes, then it is akin to walking around with your eyes closed, relying on 4 senses instead of 5. This blind acceptance, from these so-called Experts, leads us to accept fact too quickly. We do not stop to question if the fact is actually wrong, or if the fact is partially wrong.

How does the scientific community create fact? It goes frm observation to hypotheses to theory and finally a law. In between each stage is many years, and accepted as truth when nobody QUESTIONS the theory.

So when you come to me and have a friendly debate, and pull an expert's opinion out, expect me to say: how do you know he is right? What makes you think he wont make mistakes? Do not read books and pretend that thats the end of the story. For example, do not read psychology books of freudian concepts and accept that it is the only theory around- go into the field, test it.

This is a long post already, and yet i still have tons of things to say on the subject. I am exasperated by people's ignorance, by my friends' ignorance. Why are you so eager to prove the other person wrong based on what little you know? why not keep quiet and question his reasons? And if you have no questions, no REAL questions, then kindly accept it until you have reached a better hypothesis. Knowledge is fluid, not solid. It is changed and affected by people's bias, ignorance, assumption and opinion. Which is a reason why facts change everyday.

Thus the reason to add a widget called 'useless facts' to remind us to learn more, but also understand that facts can be useless. Have fun.

Welcome to Twisted Reflections, a blog centered upon the most important subject to me: me.

My name is Tay Wenjie. That's it. No christian or English name. Twister was a nickname from my early days on the basketball court, attributed to the fact that i loved to spin and pivot, perhaps a tad too much at that point. Thus explains the first word of the blog title 'Twisted'. Nothing to do with how sick and demented I am, though some may agree that it is so.

Reflections is what it is, reflections. It is thoughts, theories and observations to how my mind works, how the mechanisms around me operate and how the world works. It is an establishment of my philosophies. Takes on my daily life activities (i.e today, i woke up and brushed my teeth) will be few, if any. Which is the reason why i may seem conceited, self-centered in this blog. Because this blog is really essentially about me.

The writing process, or blogging, is therefore for my sake.It is open to readers as writing without readers is, to me, like cooking without anybody to eat it. My opinions is going to be my opinions, so it is not in any intention of mine to insult anybody's ego. However, I'm going to be frightfully blunt. about my friends, my family, my girlfriend and other matters. Therefore, readers should either accept my views or quietly disregard it. Updates will vary - I will write when i feel like it.

Punctuation and english is also going to be inconsistent. This is not a school assignment. So short forms and singlish will come whenever i feel like it, same as spelling errors and capitalisations. Those readers who insist on reading pristine english, which I am very welll capable of, must therefore take note.

This take on writing is actually wholly different from my storyblog, which i am now co-writing(although it is beginning to feel as if i m the primary author already, dammnit).

Those who know me know that 2 sports have been the center of my life: Basketball and swimming. And for 2 very different reasons too.As a result of my obsession with basketball is my obsession with the NBA, particularly the Los Angeles Lakers. Therefore, some of my posts will feature my thoughts, frustruations and my views of the nba and basketball in general.

other notes of myself are:
age:22
siblings: 2 younger brothers
country: Singapore
School: Singapore Institure of Management under University of London (Banking and Finance).


So let the fun begin.