The Walls of Sorrow

The Walls of Sorrow

by John Lee

There was some sorrow lurking round the corner the other day,

It was the colour of mould - rich, but dull;

It fed on the bright colours the walls had,

It grew and eventually clung to the very walls that it fed on.

The colours on the wall melted, sprouting into beads of moisture,

They dripped and flowed - like tears that had no end;

The mould thrived and spread like fire across a golden field,

The dull colour, no longer rich, but ugly now clung tighter, reached further.

Things all fall apart, as the bright-coloured walls began to,

They fall, and crash unto the floor;

Leaving the resounding roar of silence,

ricocheting off the walls, smashing into grief, breaking it apart.

Sadness is a season that will pass, they say,

Nothing is further from the truth;

Sadness will remain inside eating from within, clinging, spreading,

It will never stop, until you fall apart.

A Review

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS to a good friend of mine named Soraya Sunitra Kee on having your review on the latest Harry Potter book published in the Sunday Star. It was a lovely piece, and I certainly enjoyed it. To read her excellent review, click here.


Well, it was her superb review that caught my attention, and gave me a little inspiration. Seeing how many waves 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' has created, I decided to do a little review of my own. However, let me do it in a different way. I'll list three reasons why I love it, and three reasons why I don't. Readers BEWARE: Harry Potter 7th book spoilers ahead!

I have to be honest, I didn't LOVE the book. I didn't go gaga over it. And I certainly wasn't one of those standing in a mile-long line at TESCO and Carrefour at 5 in the morning to get my grubby hands on a copy. It's not that I'm not a fan, it's just complicated. Let's just get on with it, shall we?

I shall begin with the good things.
3 reasons why I loved 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'


1. The fast-paced storyline - I must say, I'm impressed. While Rowling did have a weird habit of being over-descriptive at the first few chapters of her last 3 or 4 books (thus making the book a tad too draggy) she didn't overdo it this time. I was given a pleasant surprise as she jumped into an exciting incident within the first 50 pages of Book VII. The idea of identical Potters zooming around on magical modes of transportation did provide an adequate kickstart to the story. *Nods head in approval*

2. The deaths - No, I'm not being sadistic here. I don't enjoy death, (don't take it too literally) but the swift elimination of characters such as Mad-Eye Moody, Dobby and even Hedwig did give the book a realistic feel to it. This was what I did not like about the previous books. It was as if Rowling was stretching the fabric of her story to keep as many of her main characters alive. I see that in book VII, her tight clench on whether the key characters live or die loosened somewhat. This is a good thing, people. I don't think we should spare characters just because we like them. To only kill them one by one, so that we don't suffer too much grief reading the book doesn't work either. Her practice of killing off characters sparingly created plenty of speculation that Harry Potter himself will die prior to the book's release. Well ironically, the occurence of 'death' involving the main character is one of the reasons I hate the book. Read on to find out more reasons to dislike the book.

3. The revelation of Snape's past - This one was the bombshell for me. Seriously. Who would have thought? I did expect some sob story that would redeem Snape from the passionate hate everyone had for him since the first book of the saga, but I did not expect the story of his past to be this juicy. Think about it, Snape being capable of love, and his unrequited love for Harry's late mother, resulting in a love triangle between Severus Snape, Lily Potter and James Potter? Twisted, but sweet. It was ingenious of Rowling to have thought of it.

3 reasons to hate the book

1. The relevance of the title - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. That was the title. Ever wondered when the mysterious 'deathly hallows' appeared in the book? really late. Really, REALLY late. If it was so insignificant to the storyline that you could postpone the introduction of the deathly hallows to the very-extremely-far-from-the-first-chapters, why make it the name of your book, Rowling? Perplexing and confusing. I finished the first chapter, and the second, and the third, and the........ and a nagging feeling at the back of my head reminded me 'deathly hallows? what the heck is that? did I miss the introduction of such an integral part of the book? It is the title of the book, after all, isn't it? Thought the title didn't tie in well with the story. Relevance, please, Relevance.

2. The love stories - Harry and Ginny. Ok. I didn't think it was a very interesting couple to begin with, but I digressed. Book VII proved my suspicions - the love story just wasn't good enough. It was irritating even. (No, Soraya, I did not hope fervently that Draco and Ginny would one day fall for each other ;P) The sad, brooding longing Harry had for Ginny from the beginning of the book was corny, bordering on ridiculous/ludicrous, the conversation between them made me wish I was watching paint dry instead, and the snogging on Harry's birthday created the nauseous sensation to perfection. 'She kissed him like she never did before.' To quote the book. Sigh. Rowling, Rowling. Please refrain from using cliched, overused phrases from the passionate, lusty romance novels in the Harry Potter series. It just wouldn't do. I don't need to reminded that you could have gotten the same description from a book entitled 'Desire: Mr Seduction' that laid in the shelf of a thrift store for the past 50 years because nobody wanted to know in the remotest instance what the book contained. (the marriage between Ron and Hermione came across as desperate as well. The falling in love, courting, flirting was not developed in the previous books. I think Rowling was just trying to appease the readers by throwing them together under the names Mr and Mrs Weasly. *shakes head in disappointment*)

3. The epilogue - Oh puh-lease! Oh My Gosh. The epilogue STANK. I can still shudder thinking of it. The epilogue didn't cut it. I really think the book would have been much better without it. Let me tell you why. It had loopholes the size of a sumo wrestling rings. Read closely, people. While waiting at platform 9 and three quarters, the Hogwarts alumni, (at least the key characters, anyway) all end up MARRIED. Come on... what about bachelors and spinsters for life? Marriage isn't just so easily arranged you know. The era where mothers employed matchmakers to execute pre-arranged marriages is long over. Why would all of them end up married? Why would they have reason to, anyway? What about the rampant occurence of divorce? Why are they all happily married?all of these very same key characters end up married TO EACH OTHER. Come on... (second time) What are the odds that high school sweethearts end up hitched? Must they be tied down with the same person they dated in Hogwarts? After NINETEEN years, they remained faithful to that very same person they sat next to in the classroom. Believable? For one or two occasional cases, maybe. But for ALL the key characters? Very unlikely. ALL of these key characters appear at King's Cross because they decide to send their children off. Come on.... (third time) All of them had children? ALL?Have they heard of sterility, or difficulty to conceive? What about family planning? Be realistic, people. Many couples remain childless, you know. Some choose to, and others cannot due to natural reasons. there's never such an idealistic situation as painted by Rowling in the epilogue. What about the fact all of their children are about to begin their first year at Hogwarts? This tops the list of ridiculous situations. ALL of them had children, and HAD THEM AT THE SAME TIME? I am too lazy to repeat the two words 'Come on...(fourth time)'. What are they? Beings who have reproductive systems that functioned like clockwork? Potter, Weasly and even Malfoy having children in the same year? Coincidence or what?

Ok. So did I love or hate the book? This book is not my favourite, but it wasn't all bad. I give it a 6.5 out of 10, maybe a 7 on a good day. After all, it IS the last book of the installment. I think some 'close one eye' to the gaping flaws of the book is in order here.

I apologise if I offended any Potter fans. I would welcome some of your views. This blog post of mine is just my opinion. Don't let me spoil the Potter experience for you.

For your information, I was a hardcore Potter fan 4 to 5 years ago. I memorised all I could about the series. I knew the spells, the characters, what happened, mounds of speculation, the whole I'm-such-a-fan attitude. The end of my potter obsession came when I got sick of the series. I bought some of the books and read them over and over and over and over. And over. And over. And I just couldn't have taken it anymore. Sad, isn't it?

There you go. An objective review of the last book in the Harry Potter series. I took in the two sides of a coin, the two sides of the story, the reasons to love, and the reasons to hate Harry Potter.

The 'When You Were Young' Phenomenon

I cannot believe it, I simply can't! How could I ever have let such an important detail pass without noticing it? Well, no point dwelling upon my mistakes. Let me make things right from this moment. What happened was this: I was surfing through Youtube, and I noticed that under the search for 'When You Were Young', the videos listed included 'When You Were Young Alternate Version'. I started thinking. As far as I knew, The Killers only had one single named 'When You Were Young' taken off their sophomore album 'Sam's Town' (Which I now have two copies of, big thanks to my sister and Mark & Kevin!), and I have only watched one and only one video, so where does this alternate version fit in?

Out of curiosity, (Come On! when have I ever said no to THE KILLERS??) Anyway, I clicked on it, and watched it, and noticed a very, very important thing: there WERE two versions of the music video for this very same song! And BOY, what a difference this was!

I have the evidence to demonstrate the stark difference between the two videos. This is the version I watched umpteen times over. Note: this is also the only version Malaysia airs. They censored the love scene in this version as well. Exhibit A:



This is the alternate version I was fussing about. I can't believe it took me this long to realise there was a difference! I've included the lyrics for your reference ;) Exhibit B:


When You Were Young
You sit there in your heartache
Waiting on some beautiful boy
to save you from your old ways
You play forgiveness
Watch it now ... here he comes!
He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
But he talks like a gentleman
Like you imagined when you were young
Can we climb this mountain I don't know
Higher now than ever before I
know we can make it if we take it slow
Let's take it easy Easy now, watch it go
We're burning up the highway skyline
On the back of a hurricane that started turning When you were young
When you were young
And sometimes you close your eyes and see the place where you used to live
When you were young
They say the devil's water, it ain't so sweet
You don't have to drink right now
But you can dip your feet
Every once in a little while
You sit there in your heartache
Waiting on some beautiful boy to
To save you from your old ways
You play forgiveness
Watch it now here he comes
He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
But he talks like a gentleman
Like you imagined when you were young
(He talks like a gentlemen, like you imagined when)
When you were young
I said he doesn't look a thing like Jesus
He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
But more than you'll ever know

Well, now that you've watched it, what about it? (Yes, the song's great, the video original and entertaining) Let's cut to the chase. Both videos featured a young couple. I have no idea how accurate this story is, but I plucked it off Songmeanings.net. The video, according to these people is supposed to tell the story of this young couple. The man is a pimp or a cheat of some sorts, and the young woman was charmed by him and married him. After marrying him, she didn't give up hope on rehabilitating him, and prayed hard for his change in behaviour in church (hence, the rosary and the church scene). She returns to her home, finding her husband cheating on her, was devastated, and went all the way up to the hills where the huge white cross was, to contemplate suicide.

Now, the difference here is that in the version I have watched umpteen times, the husband goes frantic and searches for her, finds her at the hill, and comforts her there while she sobbed. In the alternate version, at the beginning of the video, the husband was just about the reach her at the ledge of the cliff, but she jumps off first. The alternate video ends with the husband lamenting his loss.

There you go, a very interesting detail there, eh?

By the way, the frontman of the Killers, Brandon Flowers and his wife, Tana Munblowski had a baby very recently (16 July, if I'm not mistaken), and if I'm not mistaken, the baby boy is named Ammon. Congratulations, Brandon!

Random things - Things I feel like talking about

I really hate it. It's supposed to be the day 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' is released. It's supposed to be the 7th and final book of the phenomenally successful Potter series. I was looking forward to getting hold of a copy and to reading it, so I could find out what the whole hype was about. I just decided that I didnt' have all that much time to grab a copy at the bookstore today, and made a mental note to do so later this week. Guess WHAT. I recieved 2 text messages, and more than 5 people on my msn messenger list telling me what the ending was today. To all those involved, I'm not pleased. At all. Talking about major CHEEEEESING off!

My dog is growing old. She is. The vet said so. That's not good. :(

I'm pretty hooked on the song by Amy Winehouse 'Rehab'. Found the song quite cute and catchy. Must be the old feel to it.

I was reminded that I missed out on a lifetime of entertainment by my friends today. Everyone was discussing how the movie 'Transformers' was uber cool (to quote Soraya and Yi Lynn) how 'Die Hard 4.0' was action packed enough to keep you at the edge of your seat, and how the latest Harry Potter film just didn't cut it for the hardcore Potter fans. Well, too bad for me if I'm not kept up to date in the movie scene.

Quite a few friend of mine left or are leaving for the new college term at various locations. They had/have to because they were/are being sent there by the scholarship bodies that they are bonded to. To Tian Huey, Jonathan Hiu, Fu Han, Jian Wei, Lixian, Sze Mei, Zhi Wei and whoever else I forgot to mention, hope you're all having a great time!

I really think that certain songs just HAVE to be heard. I HAVE to share them with you because they're just THAT good. After all, sharing is caring!

1st up: U2 singing a song they made popular - this time in collaboration with queen of hip-hop Mary J Blige. This song is way cool. Love the tune, awesome lyrics, what's there not to like? The song's called 'ONE'



2nd on the list: I like this one. By the jazz crooner Michael Buble, taken off his latest album 'Call Me Irresponsible', this is 'EVERYTHING' (in case you're wondering, this is a very very very obvious hint to anyone reading this that you should buy me this particular album because I very much want it)




Number 3: I found this song haunting. The video was a little, well... just a little confusing. The song's good. You'll realise it once you take a listen to Muse's 'UNINTENDED'

Walk for the Right Reasons

There's an event coming up, and it's an event worthy of your attention.

This event is called the WALK IN AID OF THE PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED.

As you can guess, it's a sport event, a fun one in fact, that is held for the benefit of those less fortunate.

The charity event is organised by the Bukit Kiara Riding for the Disabled Association. The Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA) is an association where they seek to help the disabled. Those who genuinely need our care and attention.

This event is held to raise funds for this riding programme for these disabled individuals. Why riding, you may ask? Well, this is what the Association does.

The following piece is extracted from the RDA Malaysia website

'The RDA is a charitable organization that helps disabled children learn to ride. The horse’s
movement is therapeutic and improves the child’s balance, co-ordination, concentration, self-esteemand muscle development.
For the more severely physically handicapped, hippotherapy providescrucial physical benefits they cannot receive in any other way. In other words, it is like putting achild into the gym.
The warmth of the horse’s body, with the three dimensional movement, and rhythm relaxes spastic muscles and stimulates muscular development.
Disabled riding is a two pronged approach, therapy riding then moving on to normal riding skills. Only very special horses, with broad backs, unlimited patience and deeply giving natures, can perform hippotherapy.
RDA Malaysia relies on volunteers for its operation and community support for its funding. There is a constant need for motivated, cheerful, and reliable people to help. It is not necessary to know anything about horses, or disabled children, to make a big difference in the lives of these riders.
RDA teaches its volunteers what they need to know in order to lead a pony or walk by the side of a rider. For those who develop a serious interest in the activity it is possible to train for, and earn, internationally recognized credentials in Riding for the Disabled.
RDA also welcomes other kinds of support, from individuals, groups and corporations. Keeping the classes going requires a steady stream of resources, from boots and hats for the riders to sponsorship for the ponies.'

So now that you're know what your walking/running for, to the details

the 5.5 km charity walk will be at 7.30am in the morning on the Sunday, 5th of August 2007, the venue being the Sports Complex Buukit Kiara Equestrian & Country Resort.

The fees are as follows
Ladies'/Men's Open - RM50
Corporate (max 4) - RM300

Attractive goodie bags, a t-shirt and breakfast will be provided on that day to all participants.

It's not about the fee, It's not about the fact you have to spend time doing something you'd rather not do on a Sunday, It's not about being lazy to walk 5.5 kilometres, or the goodie bags and breakfast. It's about the disabled. Those who need your help and support. Remember that before ignoring this plea for help altogether. YOU have the power to decide. The power to give these members of the society the best that you can offer, because this charity walk is OPEN TO ALL. The charity walk registration is open to you, is your heart and soul open to assisting the organisation and the people they're helping?

I urge you to walk, and to walk for the right reasons. This event is reason enough for you to join the walk.

To register/for more information, call Sannie 016-3236551 or Cecilia 016-2759329

Consider it. Seriously.

Tagged

I just read Soraya's blog, and I realised she tagged me! Sorry! was away, so forgive me for taking so long to do the tag. I hope I don't fall short of Soraya's expectations. She expects 'uber cool answers' from me, to quote her blog post. Hmmmmm... I'll see what I can do.

Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4.
'symbol of Aes Sedai, before the Breaking, but this disc was a seal on the Dark One's prison'

Stretch your left arm out as far as you can.
Unfortunately, I did not have a camera in my left hand. Otherwise, I daresay I could take quite a good picture of myself from this angle ;P

What is the last thing you watched on TV?
The 4400 on AXN. Something about a guy who has the ability to read people's minds. (Sounds an awful lot like something you watch on Heroes)

Without looking, guess what time it is.
8.48pm

Now look at the clock. What is the actual time?
9.02pm

With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?
'Midnight Show' and 'Why do I keep counting?' by the Killers. 'Why do I keep counting?' is playing on my media player, but 'Midnight Show' is playing in my head.

When did you last step outside? What were you doing?
It was around 6pm or so. I was feeding my dogs.

Before you started this survey, what did you look at?
Soraya's blog

What are you wearing?
SMK Damansara Jaya Rumah Hebat T-shirt! woohoo! and a pair of slacks.

Did you dream last night?
No, I don't think I did. But scientifically speaking, people always dream when they're asleep. If they don't, they haven't achieved rapid eye movement (REM) or something like that, and they would have had practically no sleep at all. Since I slept well, I'm guessing I forgot what I dreamt about.

When did you last laugh?
Not too long ago. I can't remember exactly when. What's the point of these random questions? to test my memory? No, I'm not suffering from amnesia, or from any mentally degenerative disease eg. Alzheimers or dementia...

What are on the walls you are in?
A family portrait. An old one. I was only eleven then, I think.

Seen anything weird lately?
I've been to Korea and back, and attended my first day of college today... There's nothing I haven't seen anymore. Nothing's weird to me now. Nothing can touch me anymore...lol

What do you think of this quiz?
I'm not thinking right now. Ask me in an hour, you'll probably have better luck getting an answer out of me then.

What is the last film you saw?
Drumline. An old movie (made in 2002). About a varsity band and the life of one of the drummers in that very band. Watched it on television in Seoul.

If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy?
hmm.. The Killers' albums, their concert tickets, their fansite membership (members get priority when it comes to ticket sales!), the plane tickets to get to the various venues. I would also like to pay for the registration to attend the next World Schools Debating Championships in Washington!

Tell me something about you that I don't know.
I love 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte.

If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?
I would seek justice for those who truly deserve it, I would clean the air and water to maintain the greens, hills and valleys, and I would vote for world peace! Wait, I was only supposed to name one right? scroll up and pick one.

George Bush:
Makes very stupid but funny remarks in his speeches (eg. Talking about how he was 'trained by the Al-Qaeda, Talking about how 'Single mothers struggle to put food on their families, and on how 'humans and fish can coexist peacefully'. LOL

Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?
Tatiana

Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?
Constantine

Would you ever consider living abroad?
Yes, I guess I would... This proposal is worth considering.

What do you want God to say to you when you reach the pearly gates?
'Come in! The pearly gates are now wide open for you!' I mean, that's the most important thing isn't it? being at the pearly gates doesn't necessarily mean you get to enter through them. Gosh, imagine reaching the gates to find it closed to you! horrors of horrors! choi choi choi... Touchwood, touchwood

I now tag:
Pui Yean
Zhi Wei
Mark
Suh Ming
Jian Wei
Sze Mei
Eswhy
Xin Dee and Yi Lynn

You all have seriously got to watch this. This is 'Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground' by Chris Thile. In case you're wondering who Chris Thile is, He's one of the three members from Nickel Creek. (they were featured in my last blog post) He makes amazing music!

Continuum: Seoul Part II

Well, to appease my friends, who think I didnt' describe Seoul in enough detail (read: OW XIN DEE) I'll spend some time elaborating more things.

Well, I didn't really enjoy the kimchi there. There are many kinds of pickled vegetables in Korea, but the most basic kind is the pickled cabbage in red sauce/soup/juice. This is how it looks like.

Things were pretty expensive. Cheapest meal you can get there is worth 5000 Korean Won. That is equivalent to RM20. I'm no rich kid, so naturally, I pinched my pennies, and I pinched them hard. Pork (no offense to my muslim friends, this is a purely neutral discussion about Korean delicacies) and beef are Korean specialties. They like to cook it in a stew/casserole, where they boil it in this red, hot, spicy soup:

Or you have slabs of chilled/frozen pork/beef barbequed on a hot plate:

As I said earlier, the hotel that we stayed in was really pretty. They had traditional Korean folk music played live at the lobby by Korean costume clad musicians during the daytime. At night, there's a live jazz band at the lobby instead.

On the night of the first day of debates, there was a gala dinner. Some sort of opening ceremony. Took some pics in the Imperial Palace Hotel's Dubhe Hall, where we had the dinner. If I'm not mistaken, they served cream of mushroom soup, rib eye steak and ice-cream roll. I have not seen an ice-cream roll before. It's actually this slice of swiss roll cake, just that it had 3 flavours of ice-cream in the middle. After dinner, there was this exciting performance by the local breakdancing group - B Boyz! The way they contorted themselves, and spun at breakneck speed was entertaining in every sense of the word. They danced to loud rock and techno themes, accompanied by skilful traditional Korean drum beating. The performance featured a fantastic beatboxer too!

Well, we had debates for the days after that. They were held at various venues. Some at Jongam Middle School, Korean International School, Seoul English Village and Chong Ang University

On the last day, we watched the final round of debate between Singapore and Scotland. Just in case you were wondering, SCOTLAND WON!!!!

That very night, was another gala dinner. The closing ceremony, I would say. After dinner, there was a performance called 'nanta'. It was basically a musical show, where 4 people playing comedic cooks made percussion instruments out of cooking utensils.

The morning we were about to leave Korea was hellish. We had to wake up at 4 am because we had to catch the 5 am bus to Incheon International Airport. We had to WAIT there till 11 am, the time our flight was scheduled. I just couldn't sleep well on planes, so I didn't sleep much. I came back looking like a washed out rag. Still haven't recovered from the lack of sleep! can you believe it! When I was at Korea, breakfast was at 6.30 am every morning. In case you didn't know, the difference in time here in Malaysia and in Korea is one hour. Korea's time is 1 hour ahead of ours, meaning I eat breakfast, when my mind is conditioned to the fact its 5.30am back home. Heck, I SLEEP at that time!

By the way, today, I attended an MPO show, where Joshua Bell performed. Yes, JOSHUA BELL, the legendary violinist. It was mind-blowingly amazing! He must have almost flawless technique. He's moves quite a bit while playing, I noticed. A lot of flailing of his hair. Forgive me, but this is my first time watching JOSHUA BELL, so I'm a bit jakun. ;)

I'll leave you with one of my favourites. The song's called 'This Side', and it's by a bluegrass band called Nickel Creek. A Must-Hear, I say!

I've got Seoul, but I'm not a Seouldier

Hi people, I'm back from Seoul, Korea. (Just to let all of you know: if you care, that is) That is why I have not updated my blog in such a very very very very long time. I didn't want to leave the blog dead and all, but I had to, you see? ;) In case you wondered what I would be doing in the land of kimchi, (Korean pickled vegetables), let me refresh your memory.

I was at Seoul from the 2nd to the 12th of July for the World Schools Debating Championships. Seoul was amazing. As bustling cities should, Seoul had wide streets and unending traffic jams. A total of 35 countries participated, and we all stayed at this fantastic 5 star hotel called the Imperial Palace Hotel. Beautiful place. Looked expensive, with all the wooden panellings, golden ornaments, and ancient paintings. Here are pics of the place:

Let me introduce you to the Malaysian team:

Andrew 'I will nung soong your boodle' (That was the name of a Korean restaurant, don't ask me why he used the name in this context)

Jian Wei 'I see, I like, I order *smiles toothily while rubbing his tummy* Prosperity!'

Zhi Wei 'You come and smell my feet!'

Mishyan (Words fail me when it comes to quoting anything Mishyan said, cos nothing he said is worth quoting lol)

and Me (You know me lah)

A picture of the entire team, I'm there: 3rd from left.

Well, it was a fabulous 10 days to spend in the company of the best debaters all over the world. We met teams from the Netherlands,

Hong Kong,

Romania,

Ireland,

Lithuania,

Canada,

Well, to cut a long story short, we didnt' win big in the tournament. We won some rounds, lost some others narrowly with some terrible split decisions from the judges. Despite all of that, I had a great time with the debaters of the WSDC, enjoyed Korea, and I greatly appreciate the invaluable experience it all gave me. Wow, the last sentence is perfect for a primary school english composition. ;P