My Very Own Glob {Curiosa Felicitas}

Migration

2005-08-27T15:32:00.000+08:00

It's time. This blog is moving to its own server at miyagi.sg. Please, please, please, please, please, please update your bookmarks and RSS feeds. Oh, and RSS feed for comments is also available. So cool, hor? Because I still support Blogger and how it got me started so easily, all entries before this post will remain here, though, but comments will be closed from now. (OK, yah lah, I can't be bothered to migrate everything over lah. I got a day job, ungderstang? Where got time?) At the new place, which is WordPress powered, you'll find categories like Ingterneck, Navel Gazing and Food & Beverage, and there's a nifty calendar thing as well as an assortment of things that will screw up my template. You'll find duplicate posts there from July to date, because I wanted to populate the site to see what it looked like, and now I can't be arsed to remove them. The other blogs I collaborate on will still be on Blogger:

See you over at the new place! This is what it looks like iTunes Party Shuffle is playing a copy of How Can You Keep Moving from the album "Into the Purple Valley" by Ry Cooder

I waited and waited and waited

2005-08-27T01:42:00.000+08:00

...and in the end, I had to open the door myself iTunes Party Shuffle is playing a copy of Red Slurpee from the album "Away With The Pixies" by Ben Lee

Technorati Tags: Singapore, trrd

A very engaging week ahead

2005-08-26T02:07:00.000+08:00

For starters, there's the humongonimous class at 6pm at Bishan Sports Hall on Saturday which NEEDS MORE VOLUNTEERS! Thank you again, Threez! If you like working with kids, and you should, you might want to come down at 5.45pm Saturday and let me tell you what's required of you. From 6 - 7pm, you'll enjoy one of the most fulfilling hours of your week, working with special needs kids as they're put through their paces by our head coaches. Email me here, and I'll put your names down for the hour. Thank you. --- Then, if you don't already know, there's the Singapore Writers' Festival, which showcases some non-Singapore writers, and Xiaxue, mrbrown and myself. The three of us have been engaged to conduct a talk and workshop about 'How to create and maintain blogs' on Saturday, 3rd of September, at the National Library Black Box on the 5th floor, then we're off to Rouge for some networking night, and then we'll be conducting another talk about 'Creating online communities through blogging' with Cory Doctorow! Cory Doctorow leh! Earlier this evening however, I was informed by Linda Chia that our first talk and workshop has been sold out! Free one also can sold out leh! Special Olympics

Technorati Tags: blog, gymnastics, Singapore, special olympics, writers' festival

Copywriters from hell

2005-08-25T23:14:00.000+08:00

Dangerous to drive behind taxis with stupid ads... will laugh until nearly accident

Less of fat, less of you!

No, really, that was the tagline for Caffe Roma that was on the taxi bumper.

Technorati Tags: Singapore

Help needed!

2005-08-24T13:59:00.000+08:00

This is the kind of news I like to make! Thank you Threez for the article in today's Straits Times' 'Mind Your Body' section. The phones have been ringing off the hook, and we've been taking names for our special needs gymnastics class on Saturday. Anyone who wants to volunteer to be a coach's assistant on Saturday at 6pm, please come to Bishan Sports Hall. But oh wait, emu me first: bsylee@gmail.com

Technorati Tags: gymnastics, Singapore

TODAY: When a company met angry blogger

2005-08-24T11:45:00.000+08:00

Excerpt:

In the age of the Internet grapevine, know your stuff before tackling customer complaints on the Web IT HAS been said, and quite often by bloggers, that businesses ignore blogs and online discussion forums at their peril. (Try a Google search with the term “businesses ignore blogs at their peril”, and you will see what I mean). News sites abound with tales of companies which either ignore, or do not wake up to, the extent of customer dissatisfaction until it is too late. But what happens in the rare case — at least in the local experience — that a company actually responds to rumbles of consumer discontent online? Judging by the reaction when one company did so last week, is it a case of “damned if you don’t, damned if you do”? One apparently disgruntled customer of a company that provides protective wrapping for mobile phones, PDAs and other similar devices posted his complaint on a discussion forum. Now, what typically happens in an instance like this, is that other forum members might commiserate or disagree with a customer’s complaint, or share their own experiences. But what happened this time was that a representative of the company decided to respond to the allegations by emailing the original poster — with interesting results.

Read more here.

Technorati Tags: blog, Singapore, TODAY

Monday macchiato nosso good

2005-08-23T02:37:00.000+08:00

There's a scary looking mechanical tiger in United Square at Novena that has scary bloodshot eyes and wheels on its paws. Apparently the handlers of this tiger charge $5 for a ride on it. Siao! Then there were the staff of the Haagen Dazs cafe who said they couldn't serve me a double shot macchiato because it wasn't on the menu, even if a single macchiato was. Even after I explained that a double macchiato was like a double espresso, only you put a small spot of foamed milk to mark the espresso, making it a macchiato, because a macchiato in Italian means 'spotted'. I even offered to pay 50 cents for the spot of foamed milk. But, cannot, said the waiters. To their credit, the waiters told the cafe manager, who suggested I order a cappucino instead. I said, 'nair mind, I'll have a double espresso'. To his credit, the manager asked again what it was I really wanted, and I said 'double macchiatto, which is like a double espresso, only you put a small spot of milk to mark the espresso, and I'll pay 50 cents for the milk'. And the manager said 'ok', and instructed his waiters to make me a double macchiato with no extra charge for the spot of milk. Good job, manager of cafe! 100 points for effort. Zero for the waiters who served me a double macchiato with enough foamed milk to spot twenty espressos. Dude, where's my coffee? iTunes Party Shuffle is playing a copy of The Look Of Love from the album "Music To Watch Girls By (Disc 2)" by Dusty Springfield

When salespeople take the window out of window shopping

2005-08-22T03:06:00.000+08:00

Bad day, bad coffee, bad mood When you don't have much money, like me, you'd sometimes like to do a spot of window shopping, which I tried to do today. It wasn't a very good spot of window shopping, given the Sunday crowds and the rain which forced the Sunday crowds into the malls. Still, I managed a good coupla minutes looking at shop windows dressed to entice people to buy things. But only a couple of minutes. Because every shop contained shop assistants who'd spy me looking at their shop windows and then creep up on me outside and say something to the effect of 'Hi, would you like to take a look at some of our fine merchandise, like the one you're eyeing, as we're also having a special discount on these items', only, this being Singapore, sounds more like, 'Arh, we got terty pessand sales on slackted item, come inside and see more lah'. My responses were to the effect of 'Nabeh, scare me! Fuck off! Leemee lone!', but me being the polite gentleman that I am, sounded more like, 'Er, no tankew, just looking'. Vale, Hunter S. Thompson (again) iTunes Party Shuffle is playing a copy of Black Is The Color Of My True Love's Hair (Jaffa Remix) from the album "Verve Remixed 2" by Nina Simone

Please don't flambée my backside, the food's quite good

2005-08-18T01:04:00.000+08:00

I am thankful for a lot of things, really. Like having enough money to give myself a treat after a reasonably crappy day at work. And what treat did I have enough money to give myself, you may well ask? Well, I went and had dinner at that venerable Russo-Hainanese institution that serves the best borsch bar none: Shashlik Restaurant. If you've been there, you'd know the food's real good, and you'd immediately forgive the late 70s lighting, the late 70s furnishing, the late 70s crockery and the late 70s waiters. I've heard before about how rude and brusque the waiters at Shashlik were, and I'd like to clarify one thing: the waiters aren't rude, they're just Hainanese. They'll stand around the bar and talk loudly in Russian because they think they're the best Russian restaurant in town, and they'd be right. And one of the fabulous things about the brusque borsch serving waiters is that even when there's a bunch of them talking loudly in Russian at the bar, there's still a couple of them brusquely pushing borsch, shashlik, and all manner of flambé on squeaky trolleys around the restaurant. If you were to go there, on the 6th floor of the Far East Shopping Centre (not Far East Plaza, which is the cool and funky place with the funky clothes and the funky people selling funky clothes to funky people), I'd recommend you have the borsch to start with, then the shashlik beef/lamb, and then the flambéed banana/cherry/alaska for dessert, topped off with the best Hainanese Russian kopitiam coffee this side of Ya Kun's. I really think this is the best Russian restaurant in town, and I'm not saying this because I'm afraid the Hainanese waiters might flambée my backside if I said otherwise. Dinner was good enough for me to want to dine there again soon, which is significant in itself because before tonight, the last time I dined there must've been twenty years ago. Got dress code one leh Quite dark, until the flaming trolley comes by Then they take the stuff off the flaming trolley onto your table: Banana Flambé The coffee's nosso good if you're expecting espresso Must be nice to the waiters, else they flambée your backside Surf stop: Majulah Singapura's Journal iTunes Party Shuffle is playing a copy of Smoke from the album "Whatever And Ever Amen" by Ben Folds Five

Technorati Tags: food, Russian, Hainanese, Singapore, Shashlik

It is Wednesday and the weather is gana sai

2005-08-17T18:13:00.000+08:00

So my blains been boiling the past two days on account of the weather. It was also good to know I wasn't the only one. Overheard in the lift of my office building was this exchange:

"Gana sai" "Simi gana sai?" "Wedder lah" "Orh. The heat" "The heat is sibeh hot" "This morning got haze some more" "Got meh?" "Gort!"

It really, really isn't conducive for work, this weather. Or for decent conversation either. Or for blogging. The Imperial Cafe & Pub, MacCallum Street. Hot place. No, really. Surf stop: Sangsara.net iTunes Party Shuffle is playing a copy of And So It Goes from the album "Greatest Hits Vol. III" by Billy Joel P.S. Yes, I know there was an earthquake in Miyagi.

Technorati Tags: blog, weather, Singapore

TODAY: All abuzz over no poll or no holiday?

2005-08-17T11:33:00.000+08:00

Excerpt:

This week opinions and impressions of the Singapore Presidential candidates made up quite a few blog posts, with sites such as Newsintercom (www.newsin tercom.org) even creating a mock-up online polling system, complete with buttons and live results — albeit with only one candidate for readers to "vote" for.

Read more here.

Technorati Tags: TODAY, Presidential , Singapore, Elections

Unfunny Tuesday

2005-08-16T18:23:00.000+08:00

Don't have time to blog! Don't have time to blog! Life is so hard! But no matter, I still managed to squeeze lunch in with mrbrown, who was also in a jam with work. We talked 23 to the dozen about everything in a half hour, hoping for a coupla blog ideas to come up. Don't have! Don't have time to blog either! But maybe there's a funny somewhere in the groups of anti-terrorist policemen patrolling the CBD these days, carrying machine guns, and making their presence felt. 'There was one fat policeman in the group of four', said mrbrown, 'I think he's the designated grenade boy'. Grenade Boy, meaning, if there's a grenade, he tells his mates to run first, and then he saves everyone except himself, by jumping on the grenade. Funny leh. Laugh lah! Nabehcheebye! One work day drags into another. How much more can a Koala Bear? Surf stop: Blog Timeline.SG iTunes Party Shuffle is playing a copy of Cuban Overture for orchestra from the album "Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue/Cuban Overture/Progy and Bess Suite/An American in Paris" by George Gershwin

Technorati Tags: blog, bombing, mrbrown, singapore

We are Singapore: Doing the Sub-Continental

2005-08-15T01:33:00.000+08:00

It's always good to be able to wake up late at 1.30pm on Sunday. Especially if you've only gone to sleep at 8am on Sunday. But you have to wake up early enough on Sunday afternoon, because you'd waste your whole weekend if you slept in. So, cannot sleep in. So that can go out. So that can you can spend a whole hour deciding what to do while on the way out because you didn't decide what to do beforehand. Y'know? On the way out, I passed by the guardhouse outside some Cabinet Minister's house, and outside the guardhouse stood a Gurkha guard in his distinctive Gurkha hat and equally distinctive HK-MP5 sub-machinegun. (He had some clothes on of course, but they weren't that distinctive). I waved, but he didn't wave back, and I decided I'd go for some Nepalese food for lunch. I had previously driven past a Nepalese restaurant called 'The Yak & the Yeti' somewhere behind Race Course Road in Little India, so I thought that might be the place to go to, but alas, don't have. No more Yak, and the Yeti disappear liao. But there was a restaurant called 'Gurkha Palace', and the menu placed outside listed Nepalese as well as Indian fare. I ate myself to death. So much that I don't remember much of it except that I have savoured the bestest naan in the universe. Then I rolled across Race Course Road to Farrer Park, because from across Race Course Road, there looked like there were games of rugby and cricket going on in the park. If you don't already know, these are the two games played in heaven. Rugby in winter and Cricket in summer. I had previously read about migrant workers from the sub-continent using this patch of grass on Sundays for makeshift cricket games, and it was good to see that it was everything I expected: the dusty wicket, the quick bowlers wiping sweat from their brows before trundling in, the barefoot batsman swinging and missing, and the fielding team raising half-hearted appeals. It doesn't matter if you don't understand a single thing about cricket because to see this game is to see real sport. (EPL, Manchester United and S-League's not sport, it's business.) I don't know how many batsmen got out before me and my companion decided to go do something else, like having coffee in an air-conditioned place, like a shopping mall. Howzat? Cricket at Farrer Park Don't mind us looking like Ang Moh ok? We're Singapore, you know? Surf stop: Nibble & Scribble iTunes Party Shuffle is playing a copy of Locked Out from the album "Recurring Dream: The Very Best of Crowded House" by Crowded House

Technorati Tags: gurkha, Little India, National Day, nepal, cricket, singapore

Die die also must blog

2005-08-14T19:30:00.000+08:00

By golly, there will be a blog post tonight. And here 'tis. Tankew. Got lah. Coming soon. Spend enough time offline, sure got things to talk about one. iTunes Party Shuffle is playing a copy of Paper Thin from the album "Slow Turning" by John Hiatt

Dim Sum Dollies

2005-08-12T00:34:00.000+08:00

I'm tired. But I did go and watch 'Dim Sum Dollies: Singapore's Most Wanted'. And it was good fun. The 'Food Court Aunties' item was worth the price of admission enough, although I didn't pay to watch it. OK. Thank you. Make no mistake. This is the safest city in the world. iTunes Party Shuffle is playing a copy of The Impression That I Get from the album "The Impression That I Get" by Mighty Mighty Bosstones

Technorati Tags: Dim Sum Dollies, trrd, singapore

Silencio

2005-08-10T15:12:00.000+08:00

Silencio Vale, Ibrahim Ferrer, 1927-2005

TODAY: What's your One Singapore Minute?

2005-08-10T11:51:00.000+08:00

Excerpt:

It is this sort of thing happening in the blogosphere that counters the other, blase attitude towards the celebration of National Day, which might best be summed up by blogger Mr Dew (www.beconfused. com). He writes: "National Day's great because it's a day we can all rest after working and getting the same pay after 10 years and realising that the chicken rice has magically increased from $2 to $3 over the 10 years ...

Read more here.

I am honey bees. Not flies.

2005-08-08T17:22:00.000+08:00

Just so you know. So that when you see me hovering around this fruit juice stall at Newton Hawker Centre, you won't tell your friend you're dining with, 'Yeee, this fruit juice stall got flies, so disgusting'.

I am honey bees. Make no mistake. Can?

I am honey bees. Not flies.
Originally uploaded by Mr Miyagi.

One Singapore Minute

2005-08-05T13:48:00.000+08:00

I've gone and taken seven phonecam shots within a minute from 12.39 - 12.40pm for the One Singapore Minute meme. Flypast See the other six photos here. See everyone's onesingaporeminute tagged flickr photos. iTunes Party Shuffle is playing a copy of Annie Waits from the album "Rockin' The Suburbs" by Ben Folds

Technorati Tags: National Day, onesingaporeminute, singapore

I heart Singapore and her peoples!

2005-08-05T11:23:00.000+08:00

Got lah! Singapore got caring people one! I knew someone would offer their National Day Parade tickets to Madam How Cheon Mui. She's the almost-centenarian Samsui Woman who wanted to watch this year's parade at the Padang but couldn't get a ticket and all the King's men and all the King's horses couldn't do squat about it. And someone did. Bless yer heart, kind sir. I've always been tickled by the word 'bunting' iTunes Party Shuffle is playing a copy of Cigarettes Will Kill You from the album "Breathing Tornados" by Ben Lee

Technorati Tags: National Day, singapore

YOU KNOW NATIONAL DAY IS REALLY NEAR WHEN YOU GO DEAF

2005-08-04T00:03:00.000+08:00

Control, this is Blue Leader, we are approaching the Padang for flypa... oops overshot, let's go arou.... oops, we're over Batam, going arou... oops, we're over Woodlands, turning agai.... shit, we're past Tuas... coming round to the Padang agai... shit! Changi liao!

Above all, noisier than all, thems fighter jets and choppers have been making circles all over the island practicing and practicing so that they can get it just right. I've missed half a dozen calls on my mobile because of the racket they've been making, and I've been shouting more than I usually do. At the coffee shop downstairs of my office, a taxi-driver on a coffee break looked up at the be-circling jets and said, WAH LAO SINGAPORE! ROAD JAM NOT ENOUGH MUST SKY JAM! Economy Rice to the rescue. (Tsunami relief efforts, Jan 05) On a more serious note while my ears are still ringing, Serene Luo of the Straits Times called today to tell me of a 99 year old Samsui woman who wants to attend the National Day Parade, but who can't get a ticket. She says that she's tried calling everyone, but her pleas have fallen on deaf ears (see lah, fly aeroplane so often some more!) Serene writes:

She's Madam How Cheon Mui, a Cantonese woman from the Samsui province in Guangdong, China, came to Singapore in the 1930s, leaving her husband and children back home while she worked here. Distinguished by their navy blue outfits and bright red headgear, Mdm How was one of those women who helped build the DBS building in Shenton Way, and Changi Airport in the 1970s.  Her husband is long gone; the last time she went back to China was some 18 years ago. She now lives in Grace Lodge in the Sengkang area, after she took a nasty fall a few years ago.  A member of the public, Anthony, called up a colleague after she'd written an article last week about two samsui women in their 70s who will be taking part in the parade. Anthony is a distant relative of Mdm How's. He's appealing to us to help find an extra ticket to this year's parade for her. Because she's wheelchair-bound after the fall, he was hoping to get two or three tickets so his parents can take her to the parade, and explain it to her (she speaks Cantonese only). But if that's impossible, just one ticket will do, and Anthony will even pick her up from the home, take her to any meeting point and pick her up after.  If the ticket simply is an extra goodie bag for you, or if you really aren't a flag-waving, whistle-tooting, patriotic song-singing person, or if for whatever reason, you suddenly can't make the parade, please do try and make it a little different for someone else.  Dear Singaporeans, dear bloggers, I know you all don't like journalists very much. I also know it's a far shot, seeing that NDP tickets are highly sought after. But I'm hoping that perhaps from somewhere in your heart, if you might be able to help, please do!

Samsui city: These are the women that built Singapore I'd give up my NDP ticket to Madam How, wouldn't you? It would seem a little absurd that there are Samsui Women featured at the parade, but this one poor Samsui woman can't get a seat to watch it. How can? It's a blooming shame! What da heow? Who da blooming copy writer? iTunes Party Shuffle is playing a copy of 沉睡的珊瑚礁 from the album "Pbylmount Jazz Of Shanghai (Disc 1)" by Shanghai Old Pbylmount Jazz Band

Technorati Tags: National Day, Parade, RSAF, singapore

TODAY: Bloggers get a battering from mainstream media

2005-08-03T15:36:00.000+08:00

Excerpt:

IF you read the local newspapers over the weekend, you'd have seen many column inches devoted to blogs — how useless and inconsequential they are, and then how dangerous they are. A few bloggers' feathers were ruffled by one tabloid's investigative piece titled "Blogheads or what?", which drew a comparison of the contents of American and Singapore blogs. Blogger "Sheylara" (www.sheylara.com) retorted, "you can't help but sense the strong disparaging undertone just yelling out between the lines of this particular article … It is saying that Singaporean bloggers are second-rate compared to US bloggers". On top of that, there was the inimitable journalist Sumiko Tan weighing in on the Internet and blogs as well.

Read more here.

Orgasmic organic wholesome goodness

2005-08-03T00:01:00.000+08:00

It was my grandmother who introduced me to organic foods. She used to live in a shophouse in Seremban where she kept livestock together with my uncles and aunts on the 2nd floor, and where she also planted all manner of herbs and spices in little pots on the balcony. There was also a papaya tree on the balcony that eventually crashed, pot and all into the back lane below, but that's another story. Once, when I misbehaved (to a greater degree than I usually did), she put me in the cage that held the fiercest live gobbledegooking turkey on the planet. Imagine, if you will, a snotty, grimy four year old, terrified out of his wits, grabbing at the chicken wire, screaming for forgiveness, getting snottier and grimier and, not to mention, soiled, on account of fear-induced defecation, and you'd imagine a four-year-old me, being attacked from head to foot by Thanksgivingosaurus Max. In a cage. Watched by Granny and Uncles and Aunts. Like a Gladiator. Not. And so, it was with that happy memory that I was re-introduced to organic foods on Sunday at Bunalun (Chip Bee Gardens, opp. Holland Village). I can't remember exactly what I ate, only that it was good. The wild rice wild something something went really well with the wild pita bread with wild avocado and nabeh-sibeh hot wild chili padi, as did the wild olive wild puree wild dip. Only the coffee was a little tame. A few minutes after brunch, I felt this almost overwhelming sensation of goodness in my tummy. I kid you not. Your body likes this organic food, and this organic food likes your body back. I felt so good I even managed to read theNew Paper on Sunday and Sumiko Tan's Fear & Loathing in Blog Vegas word for word. I have decided. When I get married, the wedding fare will be from Bunalun. Ten course meal of wild something something with wild something somethings for everyone! Surf stop: Sheylara Everyone Loves You When You're Down from the album "Everyone Loves You" by Naomi

Technorati Tags: bunalun, Chip Bee Gardens, food, Holland Village, organic food, singapore

Special Saturday

2005-08-02T02:20:00.000+08:00

On Saturday afternoon, I was reminded why I like working with my business partners. After our regular schedule of gymnastics classes, I was just about to pack up my things and head home when I was told, 'Dude, you're up for the Special Olympics class at 6pm'. My shoulders dropped and I think I started sulking, because I was really tired that day, and I was looking forward to a Saturday evening off. A Special Needs gymnastics class was almost definitely going to chuck that out. Then the kids and their parents arrived and we started the warm ups. Within a couple of minutes, the enthusiasm of these children, aged between six and twelve, rubbed off on everyone - coaches, parents and everyone else watching. The parents were smiling, and I found myself smiling most of the session (except for when we were on trampoline duty, watching three autistic kids - quite stressful). I was less tired for the rest of the evening. (But still too tired to attend a big party on a yacht I was supposed to attend). My business partners and I have been running this gymnastics for Special Needs kids for three Saturdays now, and I've been so busy with work that I've only just realised that it's been more than half a year since we started trying to put this together. Thank you Singapore Sports Council for assisting in procuring Bishan Sports Hall for our program. And thank you to the various organisations who've been passing word around to parents of special needs kids. All we need now is some way to recoup our cost of hiring coaches and assistants (we're currently doing this pro bono). If you're interested in volunteering your services at our special needs classes, please email me and I'll put you in touch with my partners. I tell you, it's a much better way of spending your time than say, reading the New Paper. Saturday arvo at work Surf stop: threezframe Blue Moon from the album "Music To Watch Girls By (Disc 2)" by Mel Torme

Technorati Tags: mr miyagi, gymnastics, special olympics, special olympics, trrd

Press The Face: Interview II: Sumiko Tan

2005-07-31T16:06:00.000+08:00

No more piles in your mouth! OK, bluff you one. Sumiko Tan emailed recently to turn down my request to interview her because ":) I'm afraid I'm not good at giving witty answers at all, and so it'd be a very boring interview." And in today's Sunday Times, she talks a little about blogs and... oh wait.. oh lordy me, it's a whole column on page 12 of LifeStyle! She says:

...What scares me more is the personal smut that litters the Net, the vicious gossip, invidious hearsay and the big, fat lies you get on some websites, chatrooms and - with blogging the latest communication tool - blogs... ...Little wonder then that the Net has become a repository of all that is nasty and brutish in human nature...

Nabeh, all you bloggers out there! Why you scare Sumiko liddat? See lah! Now she scared until cannot and don't want to be interviewed by me. It would have been fun, and we might have been enlightened by such personal Sumiko details such as how long her hemorrhoidal surgery took. Oh wait, she already wrote about that. Some more got what ah? Maybe about the time she accidentally used Preparation-H as toothpaste? You vicious gossipers, invidious hearsayers and big fat liars! Let that be a lesson learnt! We bloggers cannot so anyhowly burn bridges you know? As Sumiko says,

'Surely one must be guided by some decency and decorum?'

Sumiko says a lot more. A lot, lot more. But not as much as today's New Paper said about blogs. I think because there wasn't enough soccer to cover, the nation's top tabloid decided, hey, you know what? I have a brilliant idea, let's talk about blogs! No one has done it before! Blogs are so, like, you know, new and hot and funky, like, new and hot and funky, like? And I'll tell you, they've prepared for this Sunday's coverage way in advance. There's this New Paper employee called Jean Skye Tan who called and emailed me a week ago with questions that I answered with:

1. Age 36, Occupation: Businessman 2. I've been blogging since April 2004, the earlier entries on my blog being cut and paste from long emails I sent to my friends. 3. There has definitely been a proliferation of new blogs in the last year and a half. Technological advances have definitely made blogging easier, so that could be a reason. It's now much easier to post photos and videos. I don't think there's been a change in text-based content, though. 4. I don't think there was any major turning point in my blog turning popular. I think consistency in content's the key. If people like it, they keep coming back to read, and they'll tell their friends about it. 5. The 'infantile' comment was a long, long time ago. Bloggers hold no grudges. I can't even remember how I reacted. 6. So many blogs out there, it's hard to say which, in particular, has a particular focus. If you were to read my blog for example, you'd find instances where there'd be issues which I care for and write about. So you could say I am sometimes socially conscious. A bit like everyone else in real life. We're not all serious all the time, and we're not all funny all the time. 7. Humour is definitely a way to get someone's attention to any issue. 8. We gaze much further down than at our navels. Toes are fun to look at sometimes. 9. Will we become 'more political'? For mine, politics is defined as whatever issues that concern ourselves and our lives. So you could say we are always political. Bus fares up? Complain. Political what. 10. Of course bloggers are exhibitionists. Blogging is publishing. Publishing is public. 11. Age will not weary us. The disparity in ages is probably because younger people are more native to technology, whereas older people have to 'migrate' to technological advances.

From what was printed in the nation's top tabloid today, it is of course obvious Jean Skye Tan hasn't read this blog much. I don't just talk about grocery shopping! I talk about other things, like the time my business partner got shat on by this huge assed mynah and forgot to go buy 4-D. Damned lazy, these media outlet employees! Ivan Fernandez, another New Paper employee, is also, like, you know, scared of blogs and bloggers, like? In another page on today's New Paper, he says:

'They are faceless. And largely out of focus (huh?)... They hide behind cyber masks, but bare their hearts of darkness'.

Don't say they nair warn you hor! Bloggers are damn danger one ok? Surf stop: Janice Wong's Cyberjournal It's Just Not Cricket from the album "The 12th Man" by The 12th Man

Technorati Tags: blog, mr miyagi, New Paper, Sumiko Tan, Straits Times, Sunday Times, terrorist

Missing in action

2005-07-29T02:27:00.000+08:00

So I haven't been blogging a lot lately. I haven't been online a lot lately either. So when I did get online the other day, the chao mrbrown noted the time and decided to buy 4D. Then LMD also said the same thing when I called her, so she got mrbrown to get a ticket for her as well. Don't think they won anything though, because neither of them have quit their jobs yet. Life's been good though, and I've been doing a lot of grocery shopping. Y'know, the type of grocery shopping that leaves you with your room looking like a grocer's? Yah. I nair buy from NTUC, because Cheetos cannot buy in Singapore one. Surf stop: Ahmad in Taiwan Three Coins in the Fountain from the album "My Way: The Best of Frank Sinatra [DJ Specialist]" by Frank Sinatra

Fresh Chicken Juice

2005-07-28T01:09:00.000+08:00

Is like a party in a bottle! I've been a little under the weather because of a very heavy weekend of birthday celebrations (that lasted until Monday, Yeehah!) So, it was very nice to come home and discover that my mother had stored some tonic-like stuff in the fridge for me to consume. I can't tell you what it tastes like, because it sorta defies description. Maybe the label might help:

This product is made from wild ginseng, cordyceps and fresh tender chicken prepared scientifically to retain its nutritious value. Recommendable for those physically weak. It alleviates fatigue, enhances appetite, accelerates growth, beautifies complexion, vitalizes and prolong life. Suitable to be taken by both sexes of all ages. Consumable hot or cold. Adult - 1 bottle, Children - 1/2 bottle (at a time). Contents: Wild ginseng liquid 10% Cordyceps 10% Extracted chicken juice (fresh) 80%

Freshly extracted chicken juice leh! Bei Mir Bist Du Schon (part 1) from the album "Clarinet a' la king" by Benny Goodman

Technorati Tags: food, trrd

TODAY: Peanuts and Marina Bay provoke bloggers

2005-07-27T11:56:00.000+08:00

Excerpt:

The other day while dining at Adam Road Food Centre, the fruit juice stall-owner served our starfruit and watermelon juice with her usual banter. She said: Last time small that time, buy kacang puteh only 10 cents. Now is $600,000.

Read more here.

Technorati Tags: Marina Bay, NKF, singapore, TODAY

On my birthday

2005-07-21T18:18:00.000+08:00

Some time ago, quite recently, Neil Armstrong pulled rank on Buzz Aldrin and jostled his way out the hatch of the lunar module, which was parked somewhere on the Sea of Tranquility. At round about the same time, at Mount Alvernia Hospital on Thomson Road, a mother recovering from a caesarian section contemplated naming her newborn first son after the lunar mission (Apollo 11 Lee), then after the rocket vehicle that propelled the nauts to the moon (Saturn V Lee), then after the lunar module (Eagle Lee), then the painkillers wore off, and she settled for a nice Hebrew name. (That nice name means 'Right Hand of God' in Hebrew, but that newborn first son turned out to be left-handed.) Thank you all who left birthday wishes on the comments system and email and sms. For those who share the same birthday, know this, you share your birthday with such people as Robin Williams and Ernest Hemingway. One is insanely funny, and the other shot himself. Today, I went to buy 20 bananas from Cold Storage Centrepoint, where I saw Chee Soon Juan stand on the five-foot-way selling his new book called 'The Power of Courage: You will never go hungry" (or something). I wanted to take a photo, but my hands were full with the bags of bananas and stuff. Instead, I stood mesmerised by his soporific chanting that went something like,

'Don't be afraid of the dark, gahmen intimidate us, transparency like NKF. Don't be afraid of the dark, gahmen intimidate us, transparency like NKF'.

I had to snap out of my stupor and continue making my way back to work. Birthday or not, it's still a work day, and a lot of work this work day has. It's not even over yet. Then I had to get to a computer fast, because I had to change all my passwords, which are all the names of my dead pets in reverse. If you don't already know, Xiaxue's Blogger and Gmail accounts were hacked into and their contents deleted. If you're reading this, hacker, don't worry, I am not threatening you. You'll get your comeuppance in due time. We're talking twenty years without probation, you chowcheebye! These are days. And they get a bit scary sometimes, so I'll paste this quote I've pasted a coupla times before:

Today, like every other day, we wake up empty and frightened. Don't open the door to the study and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument. Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground. ~Jelaluddin Rumi

Lau Pa Sat catch fire because my cake too many candles liao. Today, Tomorrow, Forever from the album "Through the Eyes of Patsy Cline - An Anthology Disc One" by Patsy Cline

Technorati Tags: Chee Soon Juan, mr miyagi, singapore

Pat yourselves on the back, but not too much, because sekali people don't like

2005-07-20T18:19:00.000+08:00

How do you volunteers do it? You've got day jobs and other things in your life you've got to contend with, and you still turn up and run the show like you've done Bloggers' Conferences all your lives. Damned good lor! Next time got international bloggers' conferences, you all have to volunteer again. I was so excited about the whole thing, I didn't know what to say to so many people who came, chatted, and went and chatted with other bloggers. Plus I did so little for the Conference, I feel terribly guilty. All I did was call Mindef to activate Daryl so I could take over the legal panel's segment, which was the best fun I've had in public in a long time. (Last time was when I had to take a dump on a traffic island in Loyang because there were no toilets to be found. Sorry, bougainvillea cluster, you been browned.) And what about Robert Goh being outed? Thank you Sunday Times! Anonymininity is for cowards! We are gonna run photographs of press reporters queueing to interview bloggers! So hor, since I'm so late (as usual) in writing about Bloggers.SG, I'll stop here now. Dowan people to call me Channel Newslater. Now, back to real life in meatspace and its attendant stuff to blog about. TODAY: Chip off the blog, 20 July 2005 Excerpt:

And, oh, to meet bloggers whose faces we've not known in real life, now that was a treat. Blogger Sarong Party Girl (www.sarongpartygirl.blogspot.com) turned up after the Sunday Times reporters left, which is a pity. Because, if they had stayed on, they might have had the chance to witness that the Sarong Party Girl without her sarong is still pretty much a Party Girl.

Read more here. PDF version P.S. Thank you Serene and Melissa for a fine job in Digital Life's coverage of the Con. Sunday Times people, learn from them can? Sometime Other Than Now from the album "Slow Turning" by John Hiatt

Technorati Tags: Bloggers.SG, blog, singapore, TODAY

Nabeh Sunday Times, you wait!

2005-07-17T17:38:00.000+08:00

Yawn ah? Har? Yawn ah? Fucking heow! You wait! Limpeh settle with you when limpeh finish limpeh's work.

Technorati Tags: Sunday Bloody Times, puppy, singapore

Bloggers.SG at DXO

2005-07-16T16:58:00.000+08:00

Prease go, hor?

Technorati Tags: singapore

An intelligent and articulate gentleman

2005-07-15T14:14:00.000+08:00

I don't usually gush about other people's blogs, but this one can't be ignored any more. I've been following the lunatic bengisms of Rockson Tan for a while now, mostly because I want to read what other nasty things he'll say about me. But this guy has gone from relative obscurity to the dizzy heights of mainstream media fame in less than two months. Blardy amazing, and I'm still not sure why, though despite the vulgarity and unavoidable use of the Hokkien vernacular, he is actually compellingly funny. Rockson's NKF post is in my books the best roundup of this our local scandal, and I am proud to say that I may be the only blogger among the ones I know to have met the man. A sample of Rockson's praise for Mr Miyagi:

Then I see the chao shortfuck playboy Miyagi at the party! He no need to work is it? Every day party here party there. Can see from his blog, he like to bluff young girl heart and steal their sex.

Rockson Takumi Tan, you rock! Rockson like, Mr Miyagi also like! Blinkymummy sibei yummy, hahahahahahaha! Surf stop: Talk Rock One Angry Dwarf And 200 Solemn Faces from the album "Whatever And Ever Amen" by Ben Folds Five

Nabeh! You pay me money to blog one ah?

2005-07-14T22:37:00.000+08:00

"Besides your weekly brag-post about your lil gig on Today and a few pathetic asides, it seems you don't have much to blog about lately..." -tosh

Sorry lah, cheebye. Got work ungderstang? But yes, point taken. I've been busy and trrd and sick and busy and trrd. Happy? Nabeh! Blue Charlie Brown from the album "Jazz Impressions Of A Boy Named Charlie Brown" by Vince Guaraldi Trio

Technorati Tags: mr miyagi, singapore, trrd

TODAY: Time for a trip, just to blog it

2005-07-13T16:28:00.000+08:00

Excerpt: A few months ago, a fellow blogger asked me if I wanted to take a road trip to Malaysia. I asked him why the sudden need for a trip, and he said, 'So we'll have something to blog about lah! Blog about a road trip, leh! Read more here.

Absolute cowardice

2005-07-08T15:58:00.000+08:00

You bombers are cowards of the worst kind. You murderous fuckers!

Technorati Tags: bombing, London, terrorist

TODAY: Go ahead, tick off your boss, rant about a date

2005-07-06T14:23:00.000+08:00

Excerpt:

Like how Evelyn (www.blackhighheels.blogspot.com) writes about her boss giving her a task and then correcting her work: "What's the point of me writing another 2 lousy programs when he could have done it so much better...(my 3 pages become 3/4 page when he "edited")? Do also die, don't do also die." Or how like Fat Fingers (www.ihavefatfingers.blogspot.com) has a "I want to..." list on the sidebar of her site that begins with "1. kill my boss".

Read more here.

联合早报：现在：2005年七月四日

2005-07-04T19:35:00.000+08:00

联合早报：现在：2005年七月四日 Excerpt:

Something something something MR MIYAGI something something something MRBROWN something something SARONG PARTY GIRL something something TOMORROW.SG something something something BLOGGERS.SG something something XIAXUE something something KENNY SIA something something SINGAPORE.

Surf stop: Cynthetickravings Silencio from the album "Buena Vista Social Club Presents Ibrahim Ferrer" by Ibrahim Ferrer

Technorati Tags: internet, kennysia.com, mr miyagi, singapore, zaobao

Silly goose

2005-07-04T00:28:00.000+08:00

It's not often one hopes that one is suffering from the flu. I was told by the good doctor at Thomson Medical Centre on Friday night that I had to watch for symptoms of dengue, seeing as I had a spiking fever of 40'C, on and off (and off and on again Saturday night and Sunday morning). The good doctor also warned me that the new batch of Voltaren injections didn't come with anesthetic anymore, so it would hurt a bit. It hurt a little, enough for me to mutter Phua Chee Bye (Phua Chu Kang's long lost brother) loud enough so that the people outside the consultation room could hear. Sunday afternoon was a woozy one, but I thought, what better than to see if I have dengue by going out to meet a friend for coffee and see if I last an hour. I lasted three, but that was a pretty dumb thing to do just to test if I had dengue. So, kids, don't try this at home. Raging fever still not half as bad as poor Uncle Lapan's fate Surf stop: life in shades of sepia On A Bad Day from the album "Barricades & Brickwalls" by Kasey Chambers

Technorati Tags: singapore, trrd

In sickness

2005-07-01T23:03:00.000+08:00

It was a heavy day at work today, and not a very good day for that. In between work commitments, I put my hands on my knees and tried to catch my breath. My legs burned, my back ached, and there was a pain in my chest. I drove to the servo, buying a sweet beverage and a Mars Bar, which was just as well, because it was a long, tiring drive home. Mars Bars are comforting stuff. When you're thinking about stuff and stuff. I came home and my legs burned, my back ached, and there was a pain in my chest. I put my hands on my knees and tried to catch my breath. There are more than a thousand different strains of influenza, and different strains affect people in different ways. You ache, your head throbs, your nose leaks, and your general feeling of malaise makes you indifferent to everything around you. Dining at the Imperial Cafe & Pub, McCallum Street I've Got You Under My Skin from the album "When I Look In Your Eyes" by Diana Krall

Technorati Tags: trrd

The unbearable lightness of nothing

2005-06-30T02:07:00.000+08:00

You know how some days, you come home from work, do more work, and then try to surf the net and find absolutely nuffin interesting? Yup. Link contributed by reader Chew LH Master of Disaster from the album "Master of Disaster" by John Hiatt

TODAY: Bloggers without borders

2005-06-29T12:20:00.000+08:00

Excerpt:

The winner of the Malaysian bloggers' Blog of the Year Award (www.petalingstreet.org) arrived here on Saturday, informing only a few trusted Singaporean counterparts of his visit. But it is quite silly to trust a blogger, Singaporean or otherwise, as Kenny found out.

Army love me long time

2005-06-28T00:31:00.000+08:00

It says here that I have to fast for six hours before 8am tomorrow, when I report to camp (again). The Army loves me. I can't really say it's an unrequited love, though. I'd fast for love, wouldn't you? It also says my employer is obligated by law to let me go back to camp. Gotta tell the boss. Boss say good, make him wake up earlier than usual for once. Damn far, can? It's Just Work For Me from the album "Chavez Ravine" by Ry Cooder Surf stop: aGentX Rambles

Technorati Tags: army, mr miyagi, reservist, singapore

Cross-Strait (not bi) relations: Kenny steals our thunder

2005-06-26T04:35:00.000+08:00

The hirsute Kenny Sia took a bus here from KL, wanting to meet mrbrown and me, because anyone who comes to town would want to meet us. But being the prima donnas that we are, we were terrible hosts. I had work till 8, mrbrown had to make sure his kids were tucked in, and who meets up before 9pm on a Saturday night anyway? But Kenny, being the resourceful bugger that he is, and being the swinging, young, single lad that he is, managed to find his way to Hideout, where I found him talking twenty three to the dozen with the beautiful co-owner. I also found that he wasn't as easily swayed as I. Belinda had only managed to get him to buy one beer while he waited for me to battle traffic. Then, all hell broke loose, and a dozen bloggers, following some rumour that he was at Hideout, arrived soon after, clamouring for Kenny's attention. We'd have partied and supped till dawn if not for Xiaxue managing to persuade Kenny to karaoke with her. Without us. Go back to Malaysia, Kenny! The limelight's ours, you hear? Don't come here and anyhowly potong left, right and centre. (Kenny's here till Monday. Interested parties can take him to the night safari Sunday night. Feed him to the hungry animals). Kenny takes time out from the screaming girl fans to take a pic with the boys Soy Luz Y Sombra from the album "Chavez Ravine" by Ry Cooder

Technorati Tags: hideout, kennysia.com, singapore

Demolished

2005-06-25T11:40:00.000+08:00

Tonight I am levelled, floored by this awesome new album by Ry Cooder. Here's the blurb on Amazon.com, and you'll know why I already liked it even before I heard one track:

Album Description Ry Cooder's Chavez Ravine is-a post-World War II-era American narrative of "cool cats," radios, UFO sightings, J.Edgar Hoover, red scares, and baseball.Using real and imagined historical characters, Cooder and friends creates an album that recollects various aspects of the poor but vibrant hillside Chicano cummunity, which was bulldozed by developed in the interest of "progress." Ry Cooder might have been tempted to bill this as the Chavez Ravine Social Club. After generating such popular and critical interest in Cuban music of decades past with the Buena Vista Social Club, Cooder applied a similar approach closer to home, extending his fascination with the Mexican-American culture that flourished in 1940s and '50s Los Angeles. The result is an CD that sounds like it's aspiring to be something far more ambitious: a DVD, a theatrical production, even a time machine. Cooder and a cast of seminal Chicano artists present a song cycle that conjures an era of UFOs, the Red Scare, and political machinations that leveled the Chavez Ravine barrio to lure the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles. In his celebration of a vibrant community that doesn't know it's on the verge of displacement, Cooder enlists Thee Midnighters vocalist Little Willie G. (whose songwriting collaboration with Los Lobos's David Hidalgo on "Onda Callejara" highlights the album). and Pachuco patriarchs Don Tosti and Lalo Guerrero, with the latter reviving his dancefloor favorite "Los Chucos Suaves." The accordion of Flaco Jimenez adds conjunto flavor to "Barrio Viejo." Throughout the album, Cooder plays a typically tasteful, understatedly virtuosic guitar, assumes a variety of vocal roles--including a cool Chet Baker homage in duet with pianist Jacky Terrason on "In My Town"--and provides the provocative social context. --Don McLeese

Onda Callejera from the album "Chavez Ravine" by Ry Cooder

Technorati Tags: music, chavez ravine, ry cooder

I am Spider-Man

2005-06-24T04:48:00.000+08:00

Four shots of espresso. Four! Not all at once lah! But four! Plus two kopi-pengs! The walls aren't high enough. Turned out to be a really nice day despite 3rd Base, Dodger Stadium from the album "Chavez Ravine" by Ry Cooder Surf stop: whatever

Technorati Tags: mr miyagi, espresso

A boy's gotta look nice too

2005-06-23T00:00:00.000+08:00

This going on leave business gave me back my life this week and I still don't know what to do with it. By the time I figure it out, it'll be back to work. Getting increasingly frustrated and saddened by matters of the heart and other parts, I did what any boy would want to do - I went and got a haircut. Actually, what prompted the emergency haircut was the TODAY artist's caricature. That upset me a lot this morning. I couldn't eat my breakfast after looking at it. Cheryl the Chio Stylist was too busy to take any appointments, so I settled for Jonathan the guy stylist. Cheryl did say hi and thank me for saying nice things about her (on this blog! she read!) though. Izorg the shampoo boy / apprentice didn't seem as happy. Jonathan ran a comb through my hair and said, 'are you balding or do you have a receding hairline?' So I showed him the TODAY caricature and said, 'See this? Fix it'. And he said, 'OK, I'll give you a fringe'. Having a new, unfamiliar stylist makes you make the obligatory small talk, and today, I offered, 'yeah, my hair is confirm very messy one, and stubborn, because it's the curse of being a Hainanese man'. Jonathan says, 'You Hainanese? Me too? See?', and he takes off the beanie he's wearing to show me his unmanageable hair and receding hairline. You know he's earned his customer's confidence by doing that, and he gets me a pretty decent upgrade on my hairstyle, which I am now still wearing proudly before I sleep and flatten the parts that aren't supposed to be flat. Hopefully I'll still look like Sonic the Hedgehog tomorrow morning. So stylo. Polaroidonizer Sweetest Thing from the album "B-Sides 1980-1990" by U2 Surf stop: textSOAP

Technorati Tags: mr miyagi, Next Salon, singapore

Debuting at your neighbourhood 7-11

2005-06-22T09:57:00.000+08:00

Don't go to the 7-11 to pick up a copy of TODAY, because the caricature damn argly, can? Excerpt:

Most blogging services have comments systems which allow readers to leave comments. And some of the comments sections have taken a life of their own, and take up more space than the actual blog entry itself. For example, blogger 'Finicky Feline' (www.finickyfeline.liquidblade.com) talked about her grouchy Sunday, and garnered thirty six comments. I expect even more comments on a later post, one about her wondering 'how come 30+ year old men have mentalities of little kids'. I'm tempted to leave a comment there myself!

Read more here. TODAY newspaper artist/cartoonist nair die before! Paper Thin from the album "Slow Turning" by John Hiatt Surf stop: Talk Rock

Technorati Tags: mr miyagi, TODAY, singapore

If tomorrow's sun doesn't shine

2005-06-22T01:40:00.000+08:00

I'm a-kinda at a loss right now as to what to do next. Sure there's work waiting, but I'm on leave, and shouldn't even be thinking about work. I shouldn't be thinking about a lot of things, actually, but you know the ol' blain. The heat's boiled it good and proper. There was that aborted trip to Malaysia with Dad. I enjoyed that. I spent the day in Singapore running errands for Mum, doing some work, and then spending an inordinate amount of time shopping for clothes. I didn't buy any, but my shopping partner did. Just as well, because the clothes she bought just looked like they belonged on her. I really shouldn't be thinking of that beach holiday I can't have. No matter what else, I should still be this cool when I'm 64 if I keep using a Mac Clémentine from the album "Hang On Little Tomato" by Pink Martini Surf stop: Dan Washburn's Shanghai Diaries

Technorati Tags: singapore, trrd

Best laid plans

2005-06-21T10:58:00.000+08:00

So Dad says 'No', when I ask him, 'ready to go to Malaysia'? Lucky I have things to do and people to meet. I live with such an impromptu family. Take time out and you'll see beautiful things

Million Miles from the album "Time Out Of Mind" by Bob Dylan Surf stop: Beautiful Amnesia (because got nice photo of me)

I want everyone to like me

2005-06-18T11:34:00.000+08:00

I am on leave! This is the first break I've had in a long, long time, and I've been so busy for such a long, long time that now, there's so many things I want to do that I don't know where to start. So, blog lor. The past coupla days have been a whirlwind of work and after hours activities, so much that I don't think I've met so many different new people in so short a time. And here's the rub. Ordinarily, you wouldn't have been able to follow up on a first meeting with so many people. But y'know, nowsaday, after you've gone out and met so many people, you come home and you check your blog subscriptions to see what they've said about meeting you, so you're able to gauge if they like you or if they think you're a complete wanker. So far, I haven't found any blog post that says I'm a complete wanker. In return, I'm not going to describe anyone I've met recently as a complete wanker. Dannybunny describes me as 'pint-sized', though. Nabeh. The last person I heard described as 'pint-sized' was Kylie Minogue. I'll have you know, I'm over 5ft tall, can? As it is with most meetings of people lately, I met a lot of people at Hideout in the last two nights. It was good seeing some friends lose their inhibitions and dance like there was no tomorrow. Alvin Chan, your lisco lamsing very solid. People will pay money to come watch you. You should lams more. So many things to do. But yay, I am on leave. The mic is too high, kenah poke in the eye... (before you know it, I'm a poet)

iTunes is playing: I Want Everyone To Like Me from the album "Bad Love" by Randy Newman Surf stop: SMLXL

Technorati Tags: complete wanker, mr miyagi

Snippets from a stint at a talent and event company

2005-06-17T04:44:00.000+08:00

Lately, more than one person has asked how come I don't run an events company or consider working in one, seeing as I've got the network and the skill at bullshitting. I did work at an events company. It was an events company that was also a talent agency. I liked some bits of the work, and didn't like some others. And tonight, I found this which I wrote a while ago: Very early into my job at the company, I was tasked with the menial chore of compiling on the computer the information from all business cards of all the journalists that one of the directors of the company had met. No mean feat despite the fact that there aren’t that many publications around. Bleary eyed and plugging away, I overheard (speak softly and you tend to be a good eavesdropper) a loud, low but grating voice talking about ‘The Merchant of Venice’. It was a ‘business contact’ talking to one of the directors about the possibility of adapting the play into a local film tentatively (but frightfully) entitled ‘The Merchant of Venice of the East’. The voice continued to speak of the merits of such a project, given the alleged ‘similarities between Jewish and Chinese merchants’. Such a project, he said, would then ‘also sell Singapore as a tourist destination’, and we could thus also ask the Tourism Board for funding. What amazed me was that my company director entertained this idea and sounded genuinely interested in participating. I should have resigned on the spot, but even more amazingly chose instead to give the company the benefit of doubt. On hindsight (you can see forever), I realise now that there have been many more dud ideas that don’t even reach half-baked status. Sure there’s a sucker born every minute, but the alarming regularity at which these ideas conceived by the company are actually sold to clients defies comprehension. Take the ‘Shopping King and Queen’ promotion at the Causeway Point Shopping Centre. We ‘conceptualised’ a shopping ‘king and queen’ contest and publicised it over several weekends using ‘silver-painted human statues’ that rode on crowded MRT carriages, inadvertently smearing sweaty silver paint all over trains and commuters alike. Seeing as most carriages are painted silver already, the commuters were the ones that came off second best. The ‘event’, as the company calls these projects, culminated in a twenty minute ‘stand-up comedy performance’ which, for mine, seemed rather more stand-up than comic, by one of the company directors who happened to also be a ‘celebrity’. What happened was really one snafu after another. The stage area was supposed to be ringed by sets of ‘human statues’ (which, by the way, was meant to symbolise the ‘kings and queens’, although I cannot comprehend why people would use ‘human statues’ instead of statue statues, since the latter can keep still without much effort) before the comedy performance began. Obviously, no one foresaw the delays caused by weekend crowds on the MRT, and that it would take at least an hour for a round trip on the trains from Orchard to Boon Lay and back to Woodlands, whether or not you were a silver painted statue in a silver toga and silver pvc cape. So, the comedian/director was on stage performing the usual inane prattle to a crowd more interested in the free gifts than in whatever she was saying, and one by one, the zombified statues, looking worse for wear and staining all and sundry silver, dragged themselves to the stage area, where they promptly went into statue mode, and, I swear, started dozing off while standing up. One of the models/statues woke up just in time or he would have fallen on his face and left a silver silhouette print of himself on the floor. He then absent-mindedly rubbed his eyes with his silver painted fingers and blinded himself, but to his credit, still managed to maintain some composure, albeit with tears streaming down his face and threatening his make-up. (I thought it added to the authenticity of the statue, what with the tears looking as if a bird had defecated on his face, something that real statues have to put up with). Unforeseen (and this should be the company motto) by all in charge of the ‘event’, most of the models/statues were Muslim, and it was halfway through Puasa, and this had to be the hottest afternoon that month. The poor statues were dehydrated, exhausted and famished, and worse, had their collective dignities stripped bare and painted silver. (The ‘event’ ended in chaos when a member of the audience was hit in the head by a flying free gift thrown by the comedian/director, but that’s another story.) Philosophers Stone from the album "Wonder Boys [Soundtrack]" by Van Morrison

This comic life

2005-06-16T00:15:00.000+08:00

This piece of software's been around for a bit, but I've just downloaded it, and maaaaan, no need to sleep already! Comic Life is da bomb! Here's what happened last Saturday at Hideout, comic-style:

Surf stop: The Sari Party Girl

iTunes is playing: Why Don't You Try Me from the album "Borderline" by Ry Cooder

Technorati Tags: hideout, comic life, singapore

The Electronic Nipple

2005-06-14T17:56:00.000+08:00

Some bloggers and non-bloggers have been asking me what I made of the fuss about Sarong Party Girl's nude pictures. There has also been a flurry of emails exchanged talking about what her nipples look like. Serious discussion, mind you, not the infantile stuff. (Aunty Lily for one was pretty excited about the story in the papers, and went, 'Wah, this ingterneck, terok. Can post all kinds of neh neh.') The Straits Times called me a few days before the story was published, and asked if I had read and seen Sarong Party Girl's breasts and what I thought of them and her and how and why. Sadly, when it comes to breasts, I'm usually gobsmacked, so there was no quoteworthy response from me. Instead, I asked the Straits Times to contact mrbrown and Agagooga, thinking they'd be more familiar with the topic, and would give a more intelligent response than the one forming in my mind. (Which went along the lines of 'Eat Drink Man Woman'). So anyway, I'm excluding myself from weighing in on the discussion because I'm a consumer, not a commentator. I have two really nice ones

Surf stop: For want of a better title

iTunes is playing Till the Heart Caves In from the album "Drag" by k.d. lang

Technorati Tags: mr miyagi, nude, internet, singapore, singapore

Uniform Saturday

2005-06-12T10:51:00.000+08:00

Me and the boys were so looking forward to it. Right after our phones rang, beeped and crackled with the recorded orders (Personnel with the following code words.... 'Silent Panty'...) to report back to camp, we started making arrangements to meet up for coffee/beer/chat after reporting. Meeting up in reservist camp is always great fun on a Saturday afternoon, even more so when it's a hot Saturday afternoon, and you've been told to report in Full Battle Order. Me and the boys lugged ourselves and our gear up and down several flights of stairs, complaining as we went along, then making post-mobilisation beer arrangements while we queued to in-process and out-process ourselves. As with the best-laid reservist plans, this is what happens: All of us suddenly remember we have our separate civilian lives, and don't actually meet up for beer after. And I don't have a bad separate civilian life either. Saturday 5.30pm, Mobilisation Exercise: Classified Location Saturday 6pm, Post-Mobilisation: Location Classified Saturday 10.20pm, ZaobaoNow interview, TCC Circular Road Saturday 10.45pm, putting on the uniform, TCC Circular Road Saturday 10.45pm, dunno how to tie, TCC Circular Road Saturday 11.35pm: worth dressing up for, Hideout Sunday 1am? Hideout Surf stop: Blinkymummy 夜上海 from the album "既興皇后 Night Queen" by 上官萍

Technorati Tags: mr miyagi, hideout, singapore

I am still myself

2005-06-11T20:01:00.000+08:00

Mad Malaysian blogger Kenny Sia keeps up the Malaysian obsession with Singapore blogs. (Quick, Malaysian hate mail, please). I tried my darndest to escape myself on his quiz, but what to do? Personality so strong, how to run away?

Congratulations , you are... Mr Miyagi of myveryownglob.blogspot.com You are witty, and you know people from places. Those two qualities and others make you a very popular person among your peers, because they want to hear you dish out filthy backstage gossips. You also have a knack for inventing new words to suit yourself. You are a very loyal friend, and would jump into the ocean if your friend asked you to. And that's probably gonna happen if your friend gets too jealous of you getting all the girls/guys. Which Singaporean Blogger Are You?

Surf stop: kennysia.com

Come Home To You from the album "The Tiki Bar Is Open" by John Hiatt

Technorati Tags: mr miyagi, kennysia.com, singapore

A sense of wellness and security

2005-06-10T22:52:00.000+08:00

It's not often you eat a pizza and feel good after. It is Friday night, and I've just finished work for the day, and I've driven to Sixth Avenue, parked the car, walked in the drizzle and plonked myself outside Pizza da Donato's hole in the wall. Dinner for one Life's pretty good, because someone saw me with Adri at Orchard Cineleisure. You don't deny something that good. So I won't say I wasn't with Adri at Orchard Cineleisure. I also won't say I don't have this 'super cool look, and I mean grunge kind of look'. 'Grunge kind of look' leh! I wonder what the Regimental Sergeant Major will say if I report for tomorrow's Mobilisation exercise with a 'grunge kind of look'. That's right folks, it's one of the two weeks in the year where our nation's security is in the hands of Mr Miyagi and his mates. We will keeping you safe.

Surf stop: Sarong Party Girl (oh my...)

Solo Flight from the album "Clarinet a' la king" by Benny Goodman

Technorati Tags: mr miyagi, popagandhi, donato pizza, singapore

Don't know how to play hijack

2005-06-09T11:31:00.000+08:00

Last night there was only me and Dad at home. It was a good, quiet dinner with a good chat about everything we could muster, seeing as we get to talk maybe only once a week at best. We talked about how tired I was, and how I was 'cannot go on like this', and 'cannot go on like this still want to go out at night', and 'you go out at night do what', and 'must be careful go out at night a lot of gangsters'. After dinner, we chatted some more, about business, and how I should 'set up a school teaching people how to gamble' because 'casino coming up'. I told Dad that would be the funniest idea, seeing as I don't gamble, don't know how to gamble, and won't even touch playing cards even if we're not playing for money. His eyes lit up as he told me, 'I also! I don't even know how to play hijack!' Elvis is safe

Surf stop: Are you going to Bloggers.SG?

iTunes is playing It Feels Like Rain from the album "Warm Your Heart" by Aaron Neville

Technorati Tags: mr miyagi, casino, singapore

Being on the move is da bomb

2005-06-08T19:07:00.000+08:00

This mobile computing shit is da bomb. Dunno how I managed before this. As recent posts show, I've been really busy and really tired, but with this brand-spanking-new computer of mine, which is small, but which has all the mod cons built-in, I'm able to like do a lot of stuff while I'm away from my office and home. There are so many things I could do that I don't know where to begin. So, blog lor. This wi-fi thing is also da bomb. I'm having a double-mac and a muffin while logged on to Starhub's wifi thing at The Coffee Leaf & Tea Bean, which is also da bomb. The other thing you can do at The Leaf (Guthrie House) is people-watch. There are nice people to watch today, two of whom are sitting across from me. I know them. They're from my junior college. They must be quite eng, being at a cafe at this hour in t-shirt and shorts and gucci bag and all with kid in tow. Good thing they only almost recognise me (stare and stare but don't register, y'know). Din dare take photo of chio bu behind Powerbook, cos sekali kenah whack

Surf stop: betterdays

iTunes is playing: Before I Go from the album “Crossing Muddy Waters” by John Hiatt

Technorati Tags: mr miyagi, powerbook, coffee+bean+tea+leaf

Diary of a (physically) broken man

2005-06-08T11:10:00.000+08:00

I've said this before already, and I'm tired of saying I'm tired, and some more, this new computer is not giving me the chance to catch up with sleep yet.

I owe, I owe, it's off to work I go.

Getting one of these first, of course

Surf stop: Expat at Large iTunes is playing 千言萬語 from the album "鄧麗君漫步人生３步曲 (1)" by 鄧麗君

Technorati Tags: mr miyagi, trrd

So Brand New

2005-06-07T11:31:00.000+08:00

No need to sleep liao. New computer. New software. New blog editor software. But don't worry. Old blog content. Come fly with me, she said. Ok lor, I said

So Brand New from the album "Angel Blood [UK]" by Leonardo's Bride

Technorati Tags: powerbook, mr miyagi

Press the Face: Interview I: Janice Wong

2005-06-06T00:05:00.000+08:00

You know how the newspapers have been full of stories about blogs and bloggers and this thing about blogs being online diaries? Well, it's time the tables were turned, said a friend of mine. So, I turned the table and nothing happened and everything looked the same. So my friend told me, no dude, I didn't mean turn the table clockwise or anti-clockwise. Turn the table upside down, like this. Press The Face is a series of interviews with real-life news journalists. Yes, you heard me. Real journos. For real newspapers. Not bloggers and not wannabes like ourselves. Also, being the really honest feller than I am, I have to tell you the title comes from a segment of a comedy skit programme in Australia called 'Full Frontal' (where Eric Bana made his name). Also, the style of the interview mirrors that of the Sunday Times' email interview, y'know, the one where they give you questions to sabo yourself? That also means that it is not quite the same as a real back and forth conversation. The questions are composed, emailed, and the answers are emailed back. No follow up questions. So, anyhoo, the subject of the maiden Press The Face interview is Janice Wong, formerly a journalist for the top broadsheet and some of the top tabloids in Singapore. She has written for Streats, The Straits Times and The New Paper. Like you, Janice has also asked why she, of all the top journalists in Singapore, is being interviewed first. Simple. Janice has written for three, not one, newspapers. How many top journalists can boast that? So what if she's no longer a journo? She's been there, done all that liao! Actually, Janice was the first journo to say yes, and I've yet to receive a response from any of the others I emailed. As you can already tell, Janice is a real sport. More importantly, Janice has a "cyber-journal" too, where she keeps copies of some of her favourite articles as well as a frequently updated "random thoughts" section. And since it's already there, we'll jump right into the interview now:

What do you like for breakfast?
McDonald's Big Breakfast, if it's a non-working day and I can wake up by 11am (which is rare). And no, it's not for the Happy Meal toy. It's for the fibre content.
You are Hakka by dialect origin. Transcribe phonetically in Hakka the following English sentence: "Hi, I'm Janice, and I'm a 28 year old Scorpio who once was one of Female Magazine's 50 most gorgeous people."
Sorry, I can't speak Hakka but I can swear in Hokkien. Do I get some brownie points?
On your 'online journal', you write that you want to publish a book 'about a twenty-something career woman like me and her unceasing search for love'. Would that woman actually be you? Would the book elucidate why love is so elusive for you? Are you a bitter woman?
Yes, the book is autobiographical. Mr Miyagi, that's quite a no-brainer guess, eh? The book traces my columns over the last 5 years and my new thoughts relative to my old opinions. There are other topics besides love, like career and friends. Actually no publisher has inked a deal with me (yet?), so this discussion is a little premature. My book may never see the light of day. I think I am bittersweet, like Valrhona dark chocolate - enough sugar to be palatable, and enough cocoa to be sophisticated.
Would your benefactor - the one who wants to finance your book, and who shall remain unnamed - be one of your suitors/admirers? Is he the same person who proposed to you and got rejected?
He's just a friend. (Why do I feel like Fann Wong talking about Christopher Lee?!) And, no, different guy.
How many times have you been proposed to? Have you ever said yes? If yes, when? If no, why not? And don't lie. If Mr Miyagi can find out the truth about Steph Song, Mr Miyagi can find out anything!
Four times, but never formally, like with a diamond ring, if that is what you have in mind. Not that a ring makes a difference to the decision. The first two times, I felt that I was too young to settle down. The last two times, I wasn't in love with the men. It boils down to mismatching rather than a lack of desire. At 28 (I am really 28!), I feel that I am finally ready for the commitment. Now all I need is someone to fall in love with.
You'd read the instructions on a tampon box if you couldn't get hold of a book. Have you found inconsistencies in instructions between different brands of tampons? Has your life improved after reading these instructions?
No, the last time I read, all brands still advise not flushing a used tampon down the toilet bowl. Of course, my life improved. No more choked pipes.
Just yesterday, you were a cyber-bimbo, today, you have an online journal. Do you know what an RSS feed is? (You are not allowed to Google this one, or ask your friend Ash, 'the creative brain behind your website')
Since I can't call a friend, can I go for 50/50? Seriously, no.
One day, you were an 'air-stewardess, then a journalist the next, and now, a marketing executive'. Are you upset at this rapid regression?
Not at all. After the neuron-burning intellectual activities associated with being a cabin crew, my brains, or what passes for my brains, needed a break. So I went into journalism. But my brains still couldn't cope, and I moved down the food chain again. The rapid regression was necessary. I have settled nicely into marketing and have no regrets experiencing such vastly different professions.
"I must do one kind deed a week without telling anyone about it. I must dance more, eat more vegetables, chew slowly, complain less, gossip even less and be unreservedly patient with people who are stupid. I must be more organised and keep in touch with my contacts. I must wake up early every day to exercise and read the newspapers leisurely. I must believe that I was created for a purpose, however insignificant, and seek to fulfil that purpose." - How are the New Year's resolutions doing? Good?
I can't speak about the first resolution cos I will be contradicting myself if I do, no? Is yoga a dance? Is French fries a vegetable? If so, checked, checked. I have been very patient with you so far, haven't I? *grin* Like everyone, I have good days and bad days in terms of self-discipline. The last resolution was put in as a reminder to myself. My mood tends to become pensive, especially on rainy days. I question life's purpose, the existence of God and hit nihilism. Life can seem so pointless, if we think deeply enough about it. Do you get what I mean? Never mind.
What do you think of Xiaxue?
She is clearly a talented blogger with a strong command of the language and a rare populist touch. I like her frankness but sometimes she can get a little overboard. There is a fine line between dry wit and wicked sarcasm. If she can temper her style (without losing her original identity that makes her so refreshing and disarming) and seize the right opportunities, she will go far.
What do you think of Sumiko Tan?
I interacted with Sumiko briefly when I was working for The Straits Times' Life section. She struck me as capable and hardworking, single-handedly leading a team of about 30. That's a heavy responsibility. Unknown to many people, she is also the author of some 10 books, ranging from crimes to politics. I am impressed by how prolific and versatile she is.
What do you think of Mr Miyagi? [Ed: This question was appended by Janice, who didn't know you cannot anyhowly add your own questions to a Press The Face email interview.] I think it is sweet of him to ask me for an interview, considering that I am not anywhere near the same top league as Fiona Xie, or even Steph Song. Thank you. And judging from pictures, he is marginally better looking than Mr Brown.

Janice Wong's 'cyberjournal'

Technorati tag:Janice Wong

Surf stop: SSSnakeByte

Online diarrhea

2005-06-05T00:05:00.000+08:00

I learnt something at work today. The ink from the inkpad for the Pocahontas rubber stamp is very difficult to wash off. I now have two smudged Pocahontas tattoos on both feet, it's gonna take several showers before it's washed off completely. Life could be worse though. There could be another newspaper article in the morning that calls this an 'online diary'. I can't imagine how anyone could possibly think this an online diary. The original Sarong Party Girl

Surf stop: Beautiful Amnesia

iTunes party shuffle is playing a copy of: While My Guitar Gently Weeps - The Beatles - 1967-1970 Disc 2, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music

Bloggers.SG venue being prepped

2005-06-03T23:45:00.000+08:00

The place is almost ready. The ~~interrogation~~ convention hall has been furnished. Don't worry. The air-con will be strong, and refreshments will be provided. Convention Hall 1

Surf stop: Technorati tag: sgblogconspiracy

iTunes party shuffle is playing a copy of: These Are Days - 10,000 Maniacs - These Are Days [Single], of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music

Trackback has been added to this glob

2005-06-03T11:41:00.000+08:00

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog. Yes... trackback. All your comments are belong to us.

sgBlogConspiracy: Chapter 3: Enter the Silencer

2005-06-02T00:17:00.000+08:00

It has begun. A few days ago, I was summoned to synchronise the start of Operation Blogger Con. It has been brought forward a few weeks because there is a mole among us. But not to worry. He will be flushed out and silenced like the sick dog that he is. I will make it so. Training for my purpose began a long, long time ago. Sometimes in far flung places. Sometimes right under your noses. I was chosen for my traits. I am a small, quiet, killing machine. Now that the Operation is in full swing, you will say what we want you to say. Those that don't or won't, you know who you are. I know who you are. Blogicides will be rife. Blogicides are already rife. Now you know why.

~~Popagandhi~~ ~~Life at Ngee Ann~~ ~~Bubblemunche~~ Idle Days Ma vie en direct Steven McDermott

Agent Miyagi, Recce Trooper, Attila Recce Team, circa 1990
Originally uploaded by One Niner Charlie.

Surf stop: Technorati tag: sgblogconspiracy

iTunes party shuffle is playing a copy of: Spy Boy - John Hiatt - Living a Little, Laughing a Little (1974 - 1985), of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music

Still tired

2005-06-01T02:27:00.000+08:00

The moral of tonight's story is: do not have any alcohol when you're suffering a little heat exhaustion and sunburn.

And even though you've only had one beer and one whiskey & water, it is good to have a coupla friends come over and drive you home.

They're very insistent, these friends. They go like 'No, no, don't worry about it. We drive you home, then we drive him to his car, then he drive home', and make you feel so bad, you swear never to drive to a pub again.

Tired face again
Originally uploaded by Mr Miyagi.

Surf stop: Mezzalaneous Equation

iTunes party shuffle is playing a copy of: Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup - Natalie Cole - Unforgettable: With Love, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music

There's life outside of this blog

2005-05-30T16:26:00.000+08:00

The good thing about not having your own computer is that it forces you to go do things other than 'computing'. I'm very happy that I've been loaned a notebook to use for work, which there seems to be more of, until I get back on my feet, get some cash, and buy myself an iBook. Or a Powerbook. Because they are nice. Them Apples are nice computers

Surf stop: Madame Chiang

iTunes party shuffle is playing a copy of: How Deep Is the Ocean - Ella Fitzgerald - Quiet Now: Ella's Moods, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music

Push button commentary

2005-05-29T00:01:00.000+08:00

Straits Times Interactive finally spells my URL right. If you've just come over from STi, welcome. All two of you. This is an 'online diary', this blog. Keepers of such online diaries 'can wax lyrical about anything they want'. So hor, you suck! All of youse! Quite lyrical hor?

'Few policies and political happenings escape the sharp eye, keen debate - and acidic criticism - of blogs'.

Blogger.com don't have such buttons leh. Press here click there, still haven't caught these policies and political happenings. Maybe I've to 'migrate' this blog to Wordpress or Movable Type. mrbrown tells me that Wordpress has a 'Politics' button and a 'Policies' button. Movable Type even has a 'What blogs are saying about me' button. I've tried out these other blog engines before and tried pressing these buttons, but the chio bu pictures disappeared. Now, I don't want that to happen to this blog. You don't want that to happen either.

Surf stop: Still spoyr lah, cheebye! iTunes Party Shuffle has no music because notebook spoyr, ungderstang?

Must. Get. Away.

2005-05-28T05:56:00.000+08:00

"Come, my friends,

Tis not too late to seek a newer world.

Push off, and sitting well in order smite

The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds

To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths

Of all the western stars, until I die

It may well be the gulfs will wash us down:

It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles"

- Tennyson, Ulysses

My Happy Isle

Trrd

2005-05-27T01:35:00.000+08:00

There were so many bloggers at Hideout tonight that when I was looking worse for wear from an increasingly annoying stomach ailment and tiredness, one of the Sarongpartyfrens asked if I was ill, and that if I were, and if it were contagious, he'd have to kick me out of the place. Because he was afraid the whole Singapore blogosphere could be struck down with illness. In other news, I am very, very, very tired, and quite ill. So it wasn't 'quiet confidence' or 'aloofness'. It was 'my stomach is in the third washing machine cycle'. The notebook's totalled, so I'm typing this directly into blogger instead of using an offline client. No surf stops, no iTunes info. This post is brought to you courtesy of a five year old Celeron with a dodgy keyboard. Break coming up, and this is where I want to be

My world's come a-crashing down

2005-05-26T01:07:00.000+08:00

OK, my notebook computer spoyr. I cannot function normally. All my files. Photos. Can't think! Can't write! Faaaaaaark!

Quite contrary

2005-05-25T01:05:00.000+08:00

When your opinion is contrary to a newspaper reporter's angle on a story she's doing, there's a high chance your opinion won't be seen in print:

Hi Mr Lee, I'm doing an article on the influence of local bloggers and I just have a few questions. Local bloggers like yourself, mrbrown and Wendy Cheng are treated like mini celebrities, in that your readers are loyal to you and are influenced by your opinions. - do you think this is a purely local situation, because of Singapore's size? - could you tell me one or two instances in which you realised that you were able to influence people? - do you ever get special treatment at events, eg VIP passes? I hope you can get back to me really quickly! Thanks so much for your help, I really appreciate it :) -jennani Regards, Jennani Durai The Straits Times (Digital Life) Hi Jennani, Thanks for emailing. Let me qualify your statement and question: No, I am not treated like a celebrity, mini or otherwise. But there are other bloggers who can be seen to be. Xiaxue, for instance. - do you think this is a purely local situation, because of Singapore's size? No, there are bloggers in the US who are celebrities. Singapore's size helps make it seem as if it is easy to bump into a familiar face. - could you tell me one or two instances in which you realised that you were able to influence people? Yes, a few other bloggers started misspeowling words like I did. Other than that, my (very few) opinions count for naught. - do you ever get special treatment at events, eg VIP passes? I once told a bouncer that I had 2000 visitors a day at my website, and he told me, 'so do we, get back in line'. So, no. Let me know if you have other questions. Xiaxue and mrbrown are on the cc list. So, consider them asked as well. Cheers,

Kwai Lan some more lah! Press cut you out totally den you know!

Surf stop: being jennifer garrett

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: Jericho - k.d. lang - Hymns Of The 49th Parallel, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

Song to the moon

2005-05-24T02:11:00.000+08:00

When I used to get all bogged down with dunnowhat, I'd drive to listen to the waves crash on the rocks, accompanied by Dvorak's Song to the Moon, from the opera Rusalka. But it's a long way from Clovelly, and East Coast Park just doesn't do quite the same thing, so what's a feller to do but to go down Dunlop Street and spend a whole afternoon at Blu Jazz, where one finds that someone else also thinks the Song to the Moon rocks. Well, not quite, 'cos Rusalka's like, y'know, opera? So, anyway, Blu Jazz rocks. Well, not quite, 'cos Blu Jazz plays like, y'know, jazz? But the food's not bad, and so's the coffee, and I'm thinking it's a great place for to hang out at even if you don't have grand company like I did today. 71 Dunlop Street. Good food, good music. BYO Chio babe.

Surf stop: Let there be light, blue skies and wind

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: Song to the Moon {from Rusalka} {from Driving Miss Daisy} - Lesley Garrett - Diva, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

We own this language and it owns us back

2005-05-23T00:01:00.000+08:00

Aunty Lilly got all excited on Sunday and yelled up and down the terrace house, waking Uncle Albert and my cousins with:

Ben's face come out newspaper! Ben's face come out newspaper! Ben's face come out newspaper!

My grumpy cousins grunted their replies, hoping she'd leave them alone so they could go back to sleep. But Aunty Lilly, all essited and more repetitive than the karang-guni man, persisted:

Ben's face come out newspaper, you know?

Aunty Lilly won't know what it's all about if you told her this pidgin called Singlish is to be strongly discouraged. Or that schools will have to buck up and teach proper English, they say. Or that simply passing English exams at Cambridge GCE O and A levels isn't good enough now. Just when (linguists and linguistic hobbyists please correct me - yes, Daryl, you) this pidgin was on the cusp of turning into a creole, a veritable language of its own. And they're kewwing it! The fuckers! Just when we've almost acquired a real mother tongue and a national language that's congruent with our migrant heritage. Nabeh, our forefathers (limpeh) came here, appropriated everything and made it their own, ok? Ban Singlish and you might as well ban chicken rice, kaya toast, hainanese coffee, satay, mee siam, laksa, rojak and ice-kachang. While you're at it, this purist binge, you might as well tell everyone the real reason for the crescent moon on the national flag. Not the 'young nation' and the Jackson Five spiel. Aiyah, dunno lah. All's I care about is that there are etymological gems like the following floating around: During 'live-firing' range training in the Army in National Service (another national institution, hey, why not ban this too?), soldiers who are really, really bad shots are called 'Bobo shooters', by their instructors and comrades. Now, I used to think that the word 'Bobo' came from the Hokkien ~~rude~~ root word, 'Boh', meaning 'don't have', 'don't got', or 'nothing', but an old Army hand recently left a comment in my Army team blog and explained otherwise:

BOBO is an adulterated version of WOWO. WO stands for 'Washed Out', i.e., hopeless in shooting (like our national soccer team), can't get a single hit. During those days, there were the english educated and the chinese educated. There were even the Hokkien platoons (where they can't even converse in Mandarin). There were malay, tamil and other language speaking soldiers.Those days ===> 60s and 70s. We wore name tags with different coloured backgrounds from 1975. Green for English, orange for Mandarin, red for Hokkien, yellow for Tamil, blue for Malay and purple for others (like Teochew speaking). The background colour is for your main language. It would be green if you are english educated. Then, if you could also speak mandarin proficiently, a little orange colour is added to the right end of the tag. You could add several colours if you speak several languages proficiently. Back to BOBO. As the chinese helicoptered (derogatory term to describe the chinese educated by the english educated) usually mispronounced english terms, they pronounced WOWO as BOBO. We used to joke about it but somehow the term appar to stick since. Trust me. I enlisted in 1973.

Orange for Mandarin. How cool is that?

Surf stop: wurh.com (because easy to remember URL)

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: Lookin' Through the Windows - The Jackson 5 - Number One Motown, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

Makin' the Sunday Times

2005-05-22T14:21:00.000+08:00

Blogs are come alive everywhere, crawling off the primordial cybersoup and onto dry paper: Story about Tomorrow.sg and the Blogger Conference, Sunday Times p38. The Email Interview, Sunday Times p40.

And not forgetting this week's Hot Blog: my name is faith

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl - Nina Simone - The Essential Nina Simone, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

Mr Miyagi makes the sports pages

2005-05-21T12:46:00.000+08:00

It's not every day you get featured in the sports pages of the newspaper. Unless of course you're a sportsperson. Or someone who's just lost a lot of money betting on soccer. Heck, I don't even blog about sports. So that's really a first. Stevie Wonder talks about Singapore politicians

Surf stop: wuyuetian

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: What a Difference a Day Makes - Dinah Washington - Compact Jazz Sampler, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

Never been Sithed

2005-05-20T23:31:00.000+08:00

I have not watched Episode III, Revenge of the Sith yet, and I'm not sure if it's all that good, as a movie. But I am taken in by the hype of it all, as I was when I first watched Episode IV, which was just known as Star Wars then. Way back then. Long time ago... far, far away and all that. My older sister, my younger brother and myself were deemed old enough by our parents to go watch a movie all by ourselves for the first time. So, one fine Saturday afternoon, my parents dropped us off at Bras Basah Road, and we walked to The Odeon, which is now some funky arty building selling arty funky stuff, right opposite the Raffles Hotel. Being able to watch a movie without parental supervision was a thrill in itself, though we weren't the only unaccompanied kids in the theatre. The area around Bras Basah Road contained many mission schools at the time, and the students from the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus, Catholic High, St Nicholas (not Santa Claus) Girls', St Joseph's, St Anthony's Convent and the Methodist Girls' School used to congregate around what's now the Museum and University district of town. Schoolkids dashing across roads and sometimes getting into the nastiest accidents was quite the norm then. I had this classmate who had a habit of falling into construction pits while waiting for his parents to pick him up. I don't remember watching many movies when I was a kid, which means I mustn't have watched many movies at all, because, as you can imagine, this was the age before the DVD, or the VCD, or the LD. We did have electricity though, and a very expensive Betamax VCR, but video pirates weren't so easy to find then. So, yes. I don't think I watched that many movies except really old ones they screened on the television. We did have television. Colour one too. But back to the cinema, or the theatre, as they were more popularly known then. Apart from being the analog age, this was also the time before cineplexes and multiplexes. Each 'theatre', had just the one screen, and usually a huge one. I think the largest one must've been at The Lido. The one at Capitol Theatre used to be stained with shit from the pigeons which roosted in ledges near the ceiling, so that the likes of James Bond and Rambo would often appear speckled with birdshit. Most of the cinemas were owned by Shaw Brothers, (except for The Cathay, which was not), and they'd decide which of their establishments would host which movie franchise. I remember The Lido hosted the early James Bond and Bruce Lee films, while The Odeon did Star Wars and The Capitol did Jaws. So, at The Odeon, my sister peered into the box office and picked our seats from the grumpy auntie with the horn-rimmed glasses who marked the seating sheet with her red crayon, or was it her lipstick? Looked the same. Sis bought me and my brother a cone of kacang-puteh each, which even in those days, would've been considered cheap, at 10c, as compared to today's popcorn fare. You need to strike lottery before you can afford both a movie ticket and a tub of popcorn. My brother lost his cone of kacang puteh just when the lights were dimmed, and then the movie started. The opening sequence, the prologue and the music blew our socks off. Then, if I remember correctly, this must have been the first movie with one of those surround sound Dolby things, and the first movie to employ such stunning special sound effects. So special, and so loud, that when the first Star Destroyer loomed across the screen, my brother wet his pants. There were many more movies we watched together after that, but Star Wars was remarkable because it lent itself to a million possibilities in the games we played with each other, the cartoon drawings we did, and the number of new foreign toys which were beginning to find their way to Singapore, and for which we wheedled and needled our parents to buy. I've a friend who watched Star Wars at the theatre with her brother too, and she used to use Star Wars as a weapon of blackmail every time her brother wanted to 'play Star Wars' after that. Once, she even convinced him to put on her swimsuit (one with a frilly skirt) before she'd play 'Rebel Alliance' with him. Me and my friends still hanker after Star Wars toys. And I'm sure some of them fight with their own kids for Star Wars toys too. And it started a long time ago, on a fine Saturday afternoon in Singapore in 1977. The Odeon, North Bridge Road The Capitol, cnr Stamford & North Bridge Roads The Cathay, Dhoby Ghaut The Lido, cnr Orchard & Scotts Roads

Surf stop: Jade*

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: Cigarettes Will Kill You - Ben Lee - Breathing Tornados, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

Musical Baton

2005-05-19T02:53:00.000+08:00

Wah lao. The Cowboy has very kindly passed me the baton because I haven't anything to blog about today. (Actually have lah, but editing). Total volume of music files on my computer:

10.50Gb - 3057 songs, 8 days 6 hours 55 minutes and 14 seconds of music

The last CD I bought was:

20:30:40 - Various (Soundtrack) For Xiaxue's birthday present

Song playing right now:

Prettiest Star - David Bowie - Aladdin Sane

Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me (actually the top 5 most played songs on my iTunes):

Little Wing - Hendrix, Jimi - The Ultimate Experience Love Is Everything - k.d. lang - Hymns Of The 49th Parallel It Feels Like Rain - Aaron Neville - Warm Your Heart Killing Floor - Jimi Hendrix - RADIO ONE ClÃÂ©mentine - Pink Martini - Hang On Little Tomato

The baton is now passed to:

mrbrown done. littlemissdrinkalot done. sarongpartyfrens daryl sng cour marly done.

"The other day, I meta babe like this one..." Siao ah? So many hyperlinks already still want to surf stop?! And iTunes party shuffle your head lah!

The day's wider than it is long

2005-05-18T20:41:00.000+08:00

It's only a work day. But it's been tiring nonetheless. I'm not a loser if I come home, log on, and see this in my email inbox. Definitely not.

Surf stop: SomethingStickyThisWayComes

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: Man of Constant Sorrow - Dan Tyminski, Soggy Bottom Boys - O Brother, Where Art Thou?, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

Camillus Parker Bowles? Dowan!

2005-05-17T18:28:00.000+08:00

I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains, I've walked and I've crawled on six crooked highways, I've stepped in the middle of seven sad forests, I've been out in front of a dozen dead oceans, I've been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard...

OK lah, not half so dramatic. But today I met a real estate agent named Camillus, and he and his colleague, with a name so normal I forget what it is, showed me and my business partners a few locations around Singapore for our business. They were a great help. So if you're thinking there's a funny somewhere in this, go back to the second sentence of this paragraph. Then there was the conversation between the coffee stall auntie and a customer at the coffee stall downstairs of my office building:

Uncle, want to eat what? Got what? Got Chee Cheong Fun Chee Cheong Fun dowan! Got Nasi Lemak Nasi Lemak dowan! Got Chai Tow Kuay Chai Tow Kuay dowan! Got Char Png Char Png dowan! Got Orh Kuay Orh Kuay dowan! Got curry puff Curry puff dowan! ... Got what other thing? No more already.

It's rough. Spare a thought for the coffee shop auntie. And spare a thought for the Prime Minister when he asks the populace what type of Singapore we want. No more already. Dowan this type of Singapore? Siao!

Surf stop: Getting all the Slack she can before the Real World intrudes...

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: New York State Of Mind - Billy Joel - Greatest Hits - Volume 1 (1973 - 1980), of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

Starry Night

2005-05-16T20:05:00.000+08:00

I don't remember many other names now, but I was numb from fatigue. So were Foong, Selvam and Ho Yeo as we lay on the top of our Armoured Personnel Carrier. Foong asked why. I said I didn't know. Ask the stars. A lot of them tonight. I must have been numb from fatigue, because I didn't feel much else while lying on the top of the APC. Foong asked again, what happened? Not sure. APC overturned. Bravo Company. Someone died. Why must people die like that? Foong asked the stars again. I thought of many things then. How the accident happened. How unlucky it was for Bravo Company to be switched to point (leading) company instead of Alpha. How dark it was at 8pm when the command for Order of Movement was given. How it had rained the two days before, making the dirt tracks all but muddy slosh pits. How we had always made fun of Bravo's incompetence. How I had spent the previous two days riding my recce bike behind and between the tanks and armoured carriers. How I had been tasked to mark out directions at track junctions. How I had seen the false track leading up a steep embankment. How I had judged that that false track would be obvious to all. How I realised I had made the assumption that it would be Alpha Company on point. How I realised that if another company had been on point, they might not have deemed the false track so obvious. How I realised what might happen when the Order of Movement was given. How I did not actually see the accident. How I realised exactly what had happened when the radio call came in to inform Battalion HQ personnel to collect the deceased's personal effects from Bravo Company. I thought of it all, but I couldn't tell Foong or the rest why and how. Maybe I was just numb from fatigue. And it was late, and kind of peaceful under the Kanchanaburi sky. It had stopped raining and there sure were a lot of stars that night. Then we fell asleep, and it must have been a good uninterrupted sleep, because we woke up only when the morning sun shone on our faces and threatened to bake us on the metal deck. PTE Teo Ho Yeo, CFC Tan, myself, CPL Koh, PTE Sng, SSG Ang, Kanchanaburi, Thailand, 20th Oct 1989

Surf stop: Fluffy Stuff

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: Night and Day - Ella Fitzgerald - Lady sings the Blues, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

A dunno go where dunno do what weekend

2005-05-15T15:46:00.000+08:00

Once a while, you get one of these particularly bleah weekends where work has occupied your mind so much you don't know what to do when you finally get a break. So, online, on MSN IM, as you would when you finally get a break, I was asked, 'So how? Go out? Where?', which started a half hour brainstorming session about where to go when one is tired from work and where one has already breached his weekly quota of alcoholic beverages. I even Googled for clues. Music too loud.

Surf stop: zeenie's bean bag

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: Cuban Overture for orchestra - George Gershwin - Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue/Cuban Overture/Progy and Bess Suite/An American in Paris, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

I'm not the one appealing to your conscience

2005-05-13T22:19:00.000+08:00

When the trap springs the prisoner dangles at the end of the rope. There are times when the neck has not been broken and the prisoner strangles to death. His eyes pop almost out of his head, his tongue swells and protrudes from his mouth, his neck may be broken, and the rope many times takes large portions of skin and flesh from the side of the face that the noose is on. He urinates, he defecates, and droppings fall to the floor while witnesses look on... A prison guard stands at the feet of the hanged person and holds the body steady, because during the last few minutes there is usually considerable struggling in an effort to breathe.* ~p.87, The Justice Game, Geoffrey Robertson QC

from material previously posted 28 October 2004

Steppin' out with Pig's Pettitoes

2005-05-13T03:43:00.000+08:00

I was hungry last night after not having dinner. So around midnight, I drove around in search of food, and there was this place on Balestier Road that looked crowded. Had to be good. Only thing was, they served 'Pig's Pettitoes'. Now that's a word you don't see very often. Didn't eat that though. Tirh Kah, right?

Surf stop: Stripped Bare

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: I Shall Be Released - Nina Simone - The Best of Nina Simone [RCA], of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

Another lesson about making your words public: Traditional Media 1, Mr Miyagi 0

2005-05-12T15:24:00.000+08:00

I was really angry this morning when I heard how I was quoted by Today: "I am aware that the laws of defamation apply whether online or offline, and A*Star has a legal right to sue for defamation"
Other than that, my captors have treated me well since I was shot down while flying a combat sortie over Iraq. While I don't know if the journo was really at fault for chopping the quote to that size and slant, it is nonetheless an obvious lesson which you'd think I'd have learnt ages ago. Everyone has a motive and an agenda. You will be used. Question their motives first before talking. The spiel on my side of the phone had gone like this (in response to the question put to me about what the ramifications for bloggers were), and I paraphrase myself (because nair record down): The lesson to be learnt here is that the laws of defamation apply to all publications, online and off. Bloggers would hopefully have learnt that once you've blogged, you have published, and a publication is public. A*Star or anyone has the right to sue for defamation if they have been defamed by a blogger. As for the AcidFlask-A*Star matter, he [AcidFlask] may well have defamed A*Star, we don't know, but I think the agency's response smacks of bullying. I mean, come on, the fella is just one student, you are an [govt] agency, and I think you can't possibly have protected the 'reputation of your agency' and your country by threatening to sue the one student who mouths off'.
Us 'veteran' bloggers have egg on our faces now. The fuckers. Like that how to be cool anymore? I couldn't possibly stay angry all day with this around

technorati tag: singapore blog

Surf stop: SarongPartyFrens

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: Never Make Your Move Too Soon - Ry Cooder - Borderline, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

Deejay Slapdash is da bomb

2005-05-12T03:29:00.000+08:00

Or however we're supposed to say it in this day and age of Music Television. There's this extremely nice place on Circular Road (which we're told, is like the new Mohammed Sultan Road, only for older people, so we have to go there now) called The Hideout, which we managed to find after discovering that Circular Road did not live up to its name. DJ Slapdash (Daryl Sng by day) spun a darn good set, or however we're supposed to say it, comprising many nice songs, most of which I didn't know, except for one David Bowie track, a Velvet Underground track, and a track by The Strokes, who I have one CD of. I am so hip. Just as good was the fact we were greeted at the door by one of the SarongPartyFrens, who happens to be a good friend of one of the owners. Further conversations over a girly cocktail revealed that I am friends with friends of their friends. You know how it is. I am going to go back there to chew out, or however we're supposed to say it. Y'all should too. Just make sure you don't nurse one drink for three hours. Belinda (who happens to be quite the babe, and who bellydances as well) will be mighty pissed if you do. DJ Slapdash chills out after his set

Surf stop: The Adventures of Princess Dominique

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: Soma - The Strokes - Is This It?, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

Life really has to move on

2005-05-11T19:10:00.000+08:00

LMD was on MSN IM earlier and she asked me, 'i shouldn't get into trouble for writing things like "fuck you yellow pages" on my blog, right?' I said no, because to say 'fuck you yellow pages' isn't that bad, unless LMD accompanies that statement with an appropriate gesture and Yellow Pages and its employees truly believe that she is truly about to fuck them. So she had better keep her hands to herself. Moving away from this sorry (and quite boring) chapter in blogdom, we're gonna go watch Daryl Sng spin tonight at this place called the Hideout. Hope we can find it. So we can learn a thing or two about DJing. 'Cos we wanna be hip too. We used to be, y'know? "Lately Ive not slept a wink Since this half-pint imitation Put me on the blink"

Surf stop: Let that be enough

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: Bewitched - Ella Fitzgerald - Quiet Now: Ella's Moods, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

Hurrah, the world is a safer place now

2005-05-11T03:29:00.000+08:00

So, the fella apologizes unreservedly and A*Star decides not to sue and puts word out that they have decided not to sue. And boy, has word been put out. The Rest of the Free World will now know that we're all happy once more:

...This is an invitation Across the nation A chance for the folks to meet There'll be laughin' and singin' and music swingin' And dancin' in the streets Philadelphia, P.A. (Philadelphia, P.A.) Baltimore and DC now (Baltimore and DC now) Yeah don't forget the Motor City (can't forget the Motor City) All we need is music, sweet music There'll be music everywhere There'll be swingin', swayin' and records playin' And dancin' in the street, yeah Oh, it doesn't matter what you wear Just as long as you are there So come on, every guy grasp a girl Everywhere around the world There'll be dancin' They're dancin' in the streets Philadelphia, P.A. (Philadelphia, P.A.) Baltimore and DC now (Baltimore and DC now) Yeah don't forget the Motor City (can't forget the Motor City) All the way down in L.A. California Not to mention Halifax Nova Scotia Manchester Alexandria, Virginia, Virginia ~Dancing in the Streets - Martha & the Vandellas

All the world's talking 'bout us. We're so hip it hurts! This is what it's about, folks, Grober Buzz. Hallo? It's all happening here. Faster come.

Surf stop: Hand of Gory

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: Dancing in the Street - Martha & the Vandellas - Number One Motown, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

A bit late, like Channel NewsAsia, but Happy 21st, Wendy Cheng!

2005-05-10T11:16:00.000+08:00

We wuz honoured to be invited to Xiaxue's 21st birthday party at Changi last last week, and I even got to wear her tiara. Queen for the night. Doesn't get any better than this, this blogging life. By the time we got there, the birthday girl had turned 21, washed her makeup off with tears and champagne, and was ready to turn in early because of early morning media engagements, but she still managed to be the consummate hostess. What a gal! Royal wave more like royal flush

Surf stop: What's wrong with worshipping the ground she blogs on?

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: Argwydd Dyma Fi - Cerys Matthews - Cockahoop, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

Your grandfather tattoo

2005-05-10T01:13:00.000+08:00

The ST article on Tomorrow calls this an online diary. So hor, yeah, I woke up with a blinding headache today because it was way too hot. It is a really slow blog day, what with all the media attention on Tomorrow. So hor, here's a funny I've been saving: I have a friend who saw my tattoo and decided he wanted one also. So I said, go get one lor. And he said, 'but I want one that's meaningful'. 'Nabeh, mine not meaningful lah?' 'Yours is a dragon'. 'Then what do you want yours to be? Dragon with a thought bubble saying something meaningful? Painful leh!' 'I want something that reminds me of my grandfather'. 'Can! Got!' 'Got meh? Like what?' 'You ask the tattoo artist to tattoo your backside: "Ah" on left buttcheek, "Kong" on right buttcheek'. If that's what's underneath the Wookie suit... whoa. Brain cramp.

Surf stop: The Lovers and the Dreamers.....

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: Don't think twice, it's all right - Bob Dylan - The Best Of Bob Dylan, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

My mother is meaner than yours

2005-05-09T00:03:00.000+08:00

My mother was expecting us to take her out to a good meal. And though she didn't articulate that expectation, her children had to meet it. Nothing less. Nothing less is what my mother expects. And it has been that way all her life. From jostling for the littlest bit of attention in her childhood, among 13 siblings, in a small shophouse in Seremban, right to where she is now: A successful businesswoman with three grown children who struggle to know anything about poverty. And though she doesn't talk much about her childhood and how she suffered, I've had the benefit of my other relatives telling me horror stories of Lembok and Cameron Street, Seremban. And that's where she honed that strength and grit of hers. One morning last year, my mother fell and broke her leg in two places. Hip and knee. She lasted the afternoon on two panadols, after one GP visit, and before a trip to the hospital, where she stayed for six weeks. My mother can kick all of your asses. With her bad leg. And that's why my brother and I thought it was ok to buy her dinner at the cafe at the Four Seasons. Mother wouldn't approve of this one? That must mean she's hot!

Surf stop: f*! ass+ablishmen+

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: Handle With Care - Traveling Wilburys - Vol. 1, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

Satellite of love

2005-05-08T09:38:00.000+08:00

One of the reasons why people have been saying that the Singapore blogosphere has a 'sense of community' is that we all work and play very close to each other. We're only inches apart, most days. Here's a satellite image of part of the Singapore Central Business District (like those Google Maps), and I've marked out where some of the bloggers work (Cowboy Caleb won't be too happy I'm revealing his workplace, so, don't tell anyone ok?): Doesn't mean we'll all say the same things about the same things

Surf stop: The Re-Education of a Certain Miss A^TM

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: Satellite Of Love - U2 - One (CDMIX), of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

They really mean it when they say 'this is the late news'

2005-05-06T00:45:00.000+08:00

For bloggers who kenah asked to take down more than 10 posts Over at our regional (and some say almost global) news network, a story broke yesterday about A-asterix-STAR sending a warning letter to a student.

On Wednesday, Channel NewsAsia broke a story about how the Singapore student, who is pursuing his Masters degree in the United States, shut down his blog after he was threatened with legal action...

Broke a story indeed. Channel NewsLATER! Many people covered it already! Including Reporters sans Clue. One week is a very, very long time in cyberspace. (If CNL had waited a little more they might miss RSC wanting to give the closed down blog an award - the Freedom Flask.) The other thing of note is, if a coupla emails and a letter gets a blogger to close down his blog, what if you got a writ of summons? Habis lah? Close blog, close shop, close house? This award also can

Surf stop: Cokecat's Basket

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: Girl Crazy, musical: Overture - George Gershwin - Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

I am a weenner!

2005-05-05T21:22:00.000+08:00

I'm a poster boy for Reservist duty! Whaddya know? They ran my dulce et decorum est pro patria mori story on the National Servicemen's website (MIW - Mindef Internet World). Last month, I submitted one of my old posts from here as an entry in a contest organized by them. I was hoping for a big prize, like two years off reservist training or something. Instead I now have an MIW water bottle, a CD of Army songs by Jack Neo, Dick Lee and Sheikh Haikel and a two week pass to California Fitness. As Cowboy Caleb said to me, 'what you think? They give you Toyota Camry ah?' Must tell them to buck up. Else every month, like this month, mine will be the only entry they'll receive. Wow, I won! Who'dve thunk it?

Surf stop: Catch a falling star

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: Helpless - k.d. lang - Hymns Of The 49th Parallel, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

Straits Times does Tomorrow.sg

2005-05-04T23:58:00.000+08:00

A flurry of emails and phone calls and the press room at Tomorrow.sg has been buzzing. Yes. Two weeks after launch and Tomorrow's scored it's first press engagement. A very funny photoshoot took place at Boat Quay earlier this evening, where the ST photographer made mr brown, myself (representing the Editors at Large) and Adrian Loo and Agagooga (representing the contributors) pose with a laptop while standing in a pedestrian underpass. The laptop's browser was open to show Tomorrow.sg running a story on the Straits Times running a story on Tomorrow.sg. ST photographer sets up shoot in the tunnel, because bloggers hang out there. ST photographer asks tomorrow.sg contributor Agagooga to pose with a laptop. In a pedestrian underpass at Boat Quay. With a licenced busker in the background, singing for his licence fees.

the mr brown show 4th May 2005. Or via subscription here.

Surf stop: The Drunken Taxicab

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: S'Wonderful - Yehudi Menuhin & Stephane Grappelli - Menuhin & Grappelli Play Gershwin, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

More MSM (Main Stream Media)

2005-05-03T23:00:00.000+08:00

Some CNA producer thought it'd be a good idea to use a self-confessed (no need lah) technophobe to host a show about technology, presumably so that it'd be easy on tech-illiterate viewers. But then they got to see this on Monday night's show about blogs and podcasting, so I don't know how easy it was. Diana Ser did a Get Rea! show last October about blogging on CNA already, and besides podcasting, there wasn't anything new revealed in this That's IT show, except the fact that Timothy Go's just discovered Gizmodo and the like, and doesn't know how to pronounce Hanyu Pinyin names. There are a coupla slow news days coming up, so Main Stream Mejia's gonna wanna talk about blogs and the people behind them a fair bit. Stay tuned. Advice to bloggers: Get out there and get some sun. Writing about your navel can only take you so far.

the mr brown show 3rd May 2005. Or via subscription here.

Surf stop: the trouble with life is

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: Real Fine Love - John Hiatt - Stolen Moments, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

Ab Origine

2005-05-02T20:51:00.000+08:00

The whole debacle was over a racist comment, wasn't it? Because E@L is Ang Moh, and I had used the word Ang Moh to describe, well, Ang Mohs, he's taken offence but also kindly pointed out that Ang Moh is also a racist tag. Any nickname derived from the physical attributes of the members of a race or an ethnic group is a racist tag. And racist tags are bad. It is going to be a difficult change to eradicate this racist tag from my vocabulary because my Hokkien grandmother is going to have to make do with my explaining that my business partners are from overseas, from America. She's going to ask in Hokkien, 'So, they are Ang Moh, lah?' And I will have to say, 'No, actually, their Moh is not that Ang, but they are from America'. But she will probably say something like, 'American people are Ang Mohs, what!' And it will go on. Then the cows will come home. Then a new advertising company will be formed amidst pledges that the rights of workers remain paramount throughout decades of change and advancement. (Actually, E@L is not so much an Ang Moh as he is a Boh Moh. With my fragile patch slowly but surely growing, I'm a-gonna be one too. So, we're gonna be brothers, he and I! It's gonna take some time, but it'll happen. I'm already made of 10% beer, and closing in on his composition too.) Her Moh also quite Ang, what!

Surf stop: Val

Vale, Wee Kim Wee; Vale, Krishen Jit

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: Caught in the Middle - Cerys Matthews - Cockahoop, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

Hot blog for a hot day

2005-05-01T23:09:00.000+08:00

Thank you Rory Daniel and the Sunday Times for featuring this blog on this week's Hot Blog, which is like, the new Blog of The Week section of Tuesday's IT Life, which, like, died out after four weeks, like. So, like, welcome all new readers who had to type in the URL manually, and to the 11 ST Interactive subscribers who clicked on what I assume is a hyperlink there. I've nair seen it since they made us pay. Given the situation, I'd rather be Boinged, so I can give y'all a Smashed Chicken treat. But here can read for free hor. Until they hantam me big big and ask me to take it down cos I've infringed their copyright. But this is what it's all about isn't it? Getting traffic? Getting attention? So, while on the topic of hot blogs, I've sorta kinda found a solution for bloggers who've been under the microscope recently and who may have had to close down their blogs because of the heat they've attracted. This blog service is slightly harder to tweak and edit, but I tell you, your anonymity is so much more easily protected. Thing is, laws of defamation still apply, as they do with every type of publication, online and off, and there's the added burden of attracting penalties for damaging public and private (not yours) property, if you're still not careful about protecting your anonymity. (Y'know, like, give you all sorts of firewall and anti-virus shit, and you still go and click on that porn link, your pasal, man). But anyway, I give you Graffiti^TM (different colours and sizes available): Remember to leave some space for comments and trackback

Surf stop: Black High Heels of Euphoria

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: Pocket Of A Clown - Dwight Yoakam - Last Chance For A Thousands Years - Dwight Yoakam's Greatest Hits From The 90's, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

Kinda hot?

2005-05-01T01:50:00.000+08:00

On a really hot day like Saturday was, you'd expect things to go wrong, and you'd get cranky as a result. Many things went wrong, and I got cranky. I even wanted to smack some people around good. Then I came home and my father waved an envelope at me, and waved and waved and waved before he placed it and his hand behind his back so I wouldn't see him waving the envelope. He then said he wanted to go to the post office to post something. I drove us out to the village and we bought some bread, a jar of peanut butter, a packet of M&Ms and a box of biscuits. Then we found a post box to put his envelope into. Then I found an AXS machine to pay my parking fines through. Then I drove us home again. And in that half hour, I contemplated talking about his having Parkinsons again, but didn't get round to talking. I don't think he wanted to either. Blazing saddles Thankfully, it got cooler. But it was stew very hot at sunset.

Surf stop: kissui.net

iTunes' party shuffle is playing a copy of: I've Got You Under My Skin - Diana Krall - When I Look In Your Eyes, of which I have the original CD and therefore didn't steal music.

My Very Own Glob {Curiosa Felicitas}

Migration

I waited and waited and waited

A very engaging week ahead

Copywriters from hell

Help needed!

TODAY: When a company met angry blogger

Monday macchiato nosso good

When salespeople take the window out of window shopping

Please don't flambée my backside, the food's quite good

It is Wednesday and the weather is gana sai

TODAY: All abuzz over no poll or no holiday?

Unfunny Tuesday

We are Singapore: Doing the Sub-Continental

Die die also must blog

Dim Sum Dollies

Silencio

TODAY: What's your One Singapore Minute?

I am honey bees. Not flies.

One Singapore Minute

I heart Singapore and her peoples!

YOU KNOW NATIONAL DAY IS REALLY NEAR WHEN YOU GO DEAF

TODAY: Bloggers get a battering from mainstream media

Orgasmic organic wholesome goodness

Special Saturday

Press The Face: Interview II: Sumiko Tan

Missing in action

Fresh Chicken Juice

TODAY: Peanuts and Marina Bay provoke bloggers

On my birthday

Pat yourselves on the back, but not too much, because sekali people don't like

Nabeh Sunday Times, you wait!

Bloggers.SG at DXO

An intelligent and articulate gentleman

Nabeh! You pay me money to blog one ah?

TODAY: Time for a trip, just to blog it

Absolute cowardice

TODAY: Go ahead, tick off your boss, rant about a date

联合早报： 现在：2005年七月四日

Silly goose

In sickness

The unbearable lightness of nothing

TODAY: Bloggers without borders

Army love me long time

Cross-Strait (not bi) relations: Kenny steals our thunder

Demolished

I am Spider-Man

A boy's gotta look nice too

Debuting at your neighbourhood 7-11

If tomorrow's sun doesn't shine

Best laid plans

I want everyone to like me

Snippets from a stint at a talent and event company

This comic life

The Electronic Nipple

Uniform Saturday

I am still myself

A sense of wellness and security

Don't know how to play hijack

Being on the move is da bomb

Diary of a (physically) broken man

So Brand New

Press the Face: Interview I: Janice Wong

Online diarrhea

Bloggers.SG venue being prepped

Trackback has been added to this glob

sgBlogConspiracy: Chapter 3: Enter the Silencer

Still tired

There's life outside of this blog

Push button commentary

Must. Get. Away.

Trrd

My world's come a-crashing down

Quite contrary

Song to the moon

We own this language and it owns us back

Makin' the Sunday Times

Mr Miyagi makes the sports pages

Never been Sithed

Musical Baton

联合早报：现在：2005年七月四日