The Island versus Never Let Me Go

I am in the midst of preparing to head out to Mushroom Pot for dinner. And probably get more STIKFAS figures. Muahahahaha.....

Just caught The Island. Not a bad movie. There is a lot of potential for the story to break away from the normal vehicle bang up and parades of arsenal. BUT this is a Michael Bay movie. So....the second half of the movie became something like Bad Boys but with a fine pair of caucasians of both sexes.

Anyway, no time to do this now. Would want to compare the movie with another similar novel i read recently about cloning. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I have procrastinated for too long and never really gotten down to blog about the book...

after dinner. and more stikfas later.....

-------------------------------------------------------
No STIKFAS figures. Dinner at Mushroom Pot wasn't as fantastic as I thought. we should stick to zi char stuff. not expensive, quality can't be too much off.

anyway....i'd like to blog about cloning. not about the ethical issues. but about the book i read (Never Let Me Go) and the movie i saw (The Island). first, let me say that Scarlett Johansson is
so beautiful. she and natalie portman epitomise the whole woman/girl thing. there's kirsten dunst as well. and julia stiles. okie. better not wax lyrical on them. v will not be happy.

Never Let Me Go is actually the title of a fictitious song from the album Songs After Dark by this female songstress named Judy Bridgewater. Don't bother googling for the song. There isn't. The story revolves around three main characters. kathy h, tommy d and ruth. in my mind, if this novel was ever to be made into a movie, i'd have kirsten dunst to play ruth. kathy h will be scarlett johansson and tommy d, well....probably Gael García Bernal. ron howard or robert zemeckis can direct (sticking with hollywood). james ivory who did remains of the day (also by kazuo ishiguro) can do the honours as well. if wong kar wai or zhang yimou helms it in an asian version, please let christopher boyle do the cinematography. but would really rather lee ang do it. or stanley kwan. ruth will then be Zhang Ziyi. kathy h will be Angelica Lee. tommy will be daniel wu.

enough of the imaginary stuff.

There is a strong similarity between the novel and the movie. they are both about clones being reared apart from normal humans. both are sheltered. their ends are the same; death. the former has the clones being told since young that they will one day be harvested and then wasted. while the latter has the clones being tricked into thinking they are special people waiting to go to the last pathogen-free island once they win a lottery that picks the winners "randomly".

the novel was tragic. the sombre tone was carried throughout the book. the character development was so strong and you start to feel so much for kathy and tommy. they were hopeless from the start, two clones resigned to fate (did they have one?). they knew they will eventually be harvested for their parts. maybe once, twice, thrice even. but death was iminent. halfway through the story, they were given a glimmer of hope to lead normal lives together but as they pursue this track doggedly, they only met with disappointment and that death for them, was inevitable.

the movie had potential. the products were given hope so that they had an aim. albeit collectively. they will work hard, hope to win the lottery, so that they can be sent to the island which was the prize - utopia. they were special because they were able to survive this supposed "mass contamination" that occured on earth. the non-existent island was the impetus. they will work happily thinking that they will one day leave for the island. never questioning and always docile. if the movie's second half was coherent with the first and make the viewer grapple with tough issues concerning the right to live and ethical aspects of clients versus cloners versus products and such, it would have been great. but michael bay made the second half into bad boys and girls, with smokin' guns and flying motorcycles......it was like the potential was never fulfilled. I'm sure many liked the movie. it seemed to have many aspects. action, bits of sci-fi, morality, romance, blah....but, the topic was ripe for weightier issues. i'm just nit picking...

saw the trailer for the Corpse Bride. it's got the same animation as Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas, naturally, as he is directs this as well. helena bonham carter and johnny depp voice the main characters. one's his wife and the other is his onscreen hero. gonna be a blast. was there ever a better pairing in hollywood between a director and his leading man?

Much Ablog About Nothing

I have got so much to blog about but at the same time I don't have the energy to transpose my thoughts into words. Coherent words that form sentences.

They will come out like a string of symbols. like asterix:*, hex:#, tilde:~, exclamation mark: !, question mark: ? and other such symbols.

So if my thoughts collectively have a mouth, this is what it'd say: "*&@!$(#*@!)(92@()#(!*a(**%#!~>":|}{!!!!!!!!!"

I think I can better articulate them in Hokkien.
Which brings me to another point. Ever since Rockson Tan came into the scene with that entry on NKF, the singapore blogosphere seems to have grown looser in tongue. Expletives seems to be more readily uttered. Cusswords punctuate sentences. And body parts, especially private ones, and verbally expressing one's intention to copulate with another's mother who has a vagina that smells offal, they are becoming common.

Sleepy. Should sleep now....

Time

I have been listening to only three songs on Royal Gala 2 since Monday. They are in my On The Go 3 playlist and constantly on repeat all mode.

The first song I talked about in an earlier entry.
The second is a classic by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds: As I Sat Sadly By Her Side.
And the last is a cover of a classic also by Nick Cave and gang: Let It Be. Which of course is by The Beatles.

All these songs make more sense than ever. Especially Let It Be. There will be an answer. Indeed. The Beatles had a sense of their biblical knowledge I guess. Between Annunciation to my present stage of facing up to reality, there aren't any more wiser words of wisdom than let it be, there will be an answer, let it be.

Listening to more of Tori Amos' voice led me to more goodies from her album of covers which included this gem:
Time (originally by Tom Waits, who has a song called Singapore - stereotypical idea of the ex(r)otic far east)

The smart money's on Harlow
And the moon is in the street
And the shadow boys are breaking all the laws

You're east of East St. Louis
And the wind is making speeches
And the rain sounds like a round
of applause

Napoleon is weeping in the carnival saloon
His invisible fiance is in the mirror

The band is going home
It's raining hammers,
it's raining nails

It's true, there's nothing left for him down here

And it's Time Time Time
And it's Time Time Time
And it's Time Time Time
That you love

And it's Time Time Time

Well they all pretend they're orphans
And their memory's like a train
You can see it getting smaller as it pulls away

And the things you can't remember
Tell the things you can't forget that
History puts a saint in every dream

Well she said she'd stick around
Until the bandages came off
But these mamas boys just don't know when to quit

And Matilda asks the sailors are those dreams
Or are those prayers
So just close your eyes, son
And this won't hurt a bit

And it's Time Time Time
And it's Time Time Time
And it's Time Time Time

That you love

And it's Time Time Time

Well, things are pretty lousy for a calendar girl
The boys just dive right off the cars
And splash into the streets
And when she's on a roll she pulls a razor
From her boot and a thousand
Pigeons fall around her feet

So put a candle in the window
And a kiss upon his lips

As the dish outside the window fills with rain

Just like a stranger with the weeds in your heart
And pay the fiddler off till I come back again

And it's Time Time Time
And it's Time Time Time
And it's Time Time Time

That you love

And
it's
Time
Time
Time

Time that you love.....

moody Monday song for a rainy Tuesday

The silicon chip inside her head
gets switched to overload

and nobody's gonna go to school today
she's gonna make them stay at home

And Daddy doesn't understand it
He always said she was good as gold

And he can see no reason
Cos there are no reasons
What reasons do you need to be shown

Tell me why
I don't like Mondays
I want to shoot
The whole day down

The telex machine is kept so clean
and it types to waiting world

And Mother feels so shocked
Father's world is rocked

And their thoughts turn to
Their own little girl

Sweet 16 ain't that peachy keen
No it ain't so neat to admit defeat,

They can see no reasons
Cos there are no reasons
What reasons do you need to be shown

All the playing's stopped in the playground now
She wants to play with her toys awhile
And school's out early and soon we'll be learning
That the lesson today is
how
to
die

And then the bullhorn crackles
And the captain tackles
With the problems and the how's and why's
And he can see no reasons
Cos there are no reasons
What reasons do you need to die?

~ as covered by Tori Amos
orginally by the Boomtown Rats.

This track by the Boomtown Rats was inspired (lack of better word) by a 16 year old student who made headlines when she grabbed her father's gun and opened fire on her school from a house across the street, injuring eight students and killing the school's principal and custodian. When later asked why she'd gone on the shooting spree, she responded "I don't like Mondays."


Don't make me do it....

My Motorcycle Diary

was at the art house with v earlier to catch the motorcycle diaries.
i cannot remember if i told v but i had wanted to watch this when it was in the cinemas. it's always a case of the mind is willing but the body refuses. well, sorta. a movie that we both wanna watch usually will not materialise into actual buying of tickets and watching it in a cinema because, i dunno why either.

anyway......

i had wanted to watch it because of the glowing reviews it had received and wanted to find out more about the guy i see so often on t-shirts.
the movie started at 930pm and ended about 2 hours later. in between there was a trip and everyone missed a part of it.

sometimes i hate movies. movies like these make me sad sometimes. as the two main characters in the movie are preparing themselves for the ambitious tour de force, i can't stop myself from thinking, how recent was it that i secretly harboured similar thoughts albeit in another continent. to traipsed all over south east asia and indo-china. to take in the breadth and length of malaysia, indonesia, thailand, philippines, vietnam, cambodia, laos, myannmar, borneo....brunei did not really cross my mind.
i dunno when was it i started losing myself. perhaps to lose myself sounds rather worrying. i should use "getting jaded" instead.
i am no revolutionaire. i am but a person who once had different dreams from now. had different demands and was demanded differently. if finding neverland made me think about me losing my wide-eyed wonder, then surely, the motorcycle diaries was about me thinking about my wanderlust and lack of freedom at present to pursue as well as how the length of time does not matter when it comes to having your ideals degraded.

the characters were secondary. the message was the main driving force behind this fantastic movie. the sound editing was bad, the editing of the footages were pretty cock up too. but the energy and joie de vie of the two youths out to see the world for themselves right at the cusp of their last step out of dependence into full adulthood was not inspiring. rather, i look at my sad self and thought deeply.

there will be more things to think about...............


*why must they change the dinner to saturday instead?*

STIKFAS Flickr Group

I have been playing around with my STIKFAS BETA FEMALE quite a bit. Not the naughty sort of playing around.

And now it's happily having pyjama slumber parties with V. Girls. *roll eyes*

Made a number of posts in here about them. One was a series of amazing poses that was time-consuming to make but it was fun all the same. Another was just plain silliness - my way of introducing my new toy *tadah* The STIKFAS formerly known as Bernard *tadah*

And uploaded the pictures in my flickr account.

Was spotted by the other Martin Taylor who asked me to join a flickr group he set up.








Now I've joined the STIKFAS Flickr Group!


Martin's from Ripon. The city's website is currently under construction. It's in North Yorkshire, just like York.

Cool..

SHIT - Somebody Help! It's Tuesday

It's the 19th of July and it's V's birthday. I haven't really gotten her anything out of the ordinary this year so...it's like last year then? I guess we both look forward to X'mas more than our birthdays? I wonder if she agrees with me?

I don't want to go all contemplative and start on how we should look back on the past year on our birthday, more so than new year'd day because birthdays are more personal. ..... So I won't.

We checked out Baybeats 05 on Sunday. It was the final day and I was really eager to listen to Concave Scream again. If I am not wrong, the last time was at the Substation's garden when BigO was celebrating 10 years and counting. Caught Leslie Low (then of Humpback Oak, now of The Observatory) singing Normanton Park. Amazing.

But Sunday was Concave Scream's night. I only have their 3rd album -Three. They were still as tight as before. Gave an encore and really, all of us there wanted more. Swirling guitars and a interesting drumming....anymore downtempo and I would call them the Cocteau Twins of Singapore - minus the Elisabeth Fraser vocals of course! They played old tracks like Fiction - we'll get by,anyway, it's only fiction and Hold - passing days half sober, like a broken toy in motion as well as some new stuff which was "untitled". Anybody knows the last track before the encore? The lyrics contain rain rain go away?

Sean in the front.....Pann with the hair....


I tried getting the rest of their albums. Especially Erratic which I know is great. And even emailed the band when they had a proper website. They no longer have it I guess. But then again, I emailed Leslie before about getting older humpback oak albums. he directed me to Valentine's Music or DaDa records....that was in 2001 when I was still in Uni. I guess they were surprise to get an email from a york.ac.uk account. maybe not.

Well, anyway, Victor, who was from Concave Scream is now with The Observatory playing bass amongst other stuff (heard them live at Esplanade and also Leslie Low alone last year - thumbs up!). Evan Tan of the Observatory is a former Padres. Evan does keyboards and cool stuff with the Mac. Concave Scream has got a new bassist. Looks dynamic! Can't remember his name though. Tight!

Joe Ng aka meepok man aka padres lead singer blogs about great music amongst other stuff. I go to his blog to listen to really great music. Like kenny sia, he was at the Sarawak Rainforest World Music Festival. And THIS is his blog entry - joe's.

So when can I hear a truly Singapolloza? Kevin Matthews of The Watchmen singing My One and Only, Naked singing Don't Cry, Padres singing Radio Station, Lilac Saints singing Gina, Odd Fellows singing Unity Song, Humpback Oak singing EVERYTHING...... blah blah

I didn't want this entry to be about V's birthday. She has been really supportive of me these past weeks. It's been hectic, I can't even celebrate the most special day of my most special girl. Sigh.....~

V was with me at baybeats. she enjoyed Concave Scream's set as well. Yippee!
You can tell from here that she has picked up STIKFAS as well =)
We were at Outback Restaurant and she did so many poses with my Bernardette.
I am amazed. Pleasantly so.
Bernardette is now at V's place.

Harry Porter 2 and Transformers!

As promised:

Harry Potter: 163,080 posts

Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince: 15,201 posts

Amazing. The latter is up from 13,184 and the former from 156,381

Oh oh, exciting news!

I read this off sailor's log who is this guy whom I stumbled upon recently...

How exciting this is. Transformer Movie! Independence Day 07. Long way to go though.

There's a blog where everyone can read the progress of the production. Great... =)

Who's your favourite Transformer?

Mine's Soundwave!
There is even a wikipedia entry on him/her/it???

Soundwave is the least "human" robots cause of that voice...monotonous and metallic...wow...such a contrast from Starscream.

Soundwave has got the coolest bots. I mean, this Transformer was already heavily using target reporting units like Ravage, Laserbeak, Rumble (transformed from his cassette tapes). Over the horizon targeting and unmanned combat vehicles concept must have been present by then but Soundwave popularised it. And the ability to read electric pulses of brains.

How cool is that?

Harry Porter

As it is now (161400H Jul 05 - Greenwich +8h) there are 13,184 blog posts tagged Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince on technorati.com

156, 381 blog posts tagged with Harry Potter.

It was made available to Singapore at 160701H Jul 05. Even SingPost has gotten into the act. Everybody in the world got theirs at the same time.
Hence at a minute after midnight on 16 Jul 05, many people in the world finally got their hit.
It was British Summer Time (Greenwich +1h).

I will check at 171400H Jul 05 on the number of blog posts with the above tags.

View of the World and the Laws within

create your own visited country map


This is entirely quite pathetic. I understand. Not been to North or South America. Ditto for Africa. I don't wish to include Antartica. I was telling V we should highlight the countries we wish to go instead!

Was sent this list today. Amazing....

Modern Laws

1) LORENZ'S LAW OF MECHANICAL REPAIR: After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch. This is true. And to add to this, scalp will itch when you are wearing greasey gloves, your soles will itch the most when you are wearing socks.

2) ANTHONY'S LAW OF THE WORKSHOP: Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner. When bread falls off the table or your hand, it will land with the buttered side facing downwards.

3) KOVAC'S CONUNDRUM: When you dial a wrong number, you never get an engaged tone. (This is the typical truth. It is unlikely for you to know if you have dialled the wrong number if the phone rings but no one picks it up.

4) CANNON'S KARMIC LAW: If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the next morning you will have a flat tire. Not true. Otherwise, I would have witnessed several accidents along the Tanah Merah Coast Road and Changi Coast Road. But, actually, I did.

5) O'BRIEN'S VARIATION LAW: If you change queues, the one you have left will start to move faster than the one you are in now.This really depends on the type of queue system employed. Certain places have a single queue leading up to the counters. Others have multiple queues leading up to just as many counters. Absolutely think this is ridiculous. It's like a Lucky Draw when facing the latter system. Hate the smug look of those who came later but got to the head of their queue faster because the fucker in my queue choose to dilly dally.

6) BELL'S THEOREM: When the body is immersed in water, the telephone rings.Not gonna happen to me. No bath tubs. But this works the same for anything to do with being away from the phone and in an inconvenient state ie. pangsai-ing (shitting), pangjio-iing (peeing), etc.

7) RUBY'S PRINCIPLE OF CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: The probability of meeting someone you know increases when you are with someone you don't want to be
seen with.This happened to Mong before. Haha...must be true.

8) WILLOUGHBY'S LAW: When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will. You will always look silly when this happends happens (I have been spelling happen as happend throughout this entry.)

9) ZADRA'S LAW OF BIOMECHANICS: The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach.Refer to LORENZ'S LAW OF MECHANICAL REPAIR: It's quite funny to watch though.

10) BREDA'S RULE: At any event, the people whose seats are furthest from the aisle arrives last. This is a great cinematic moment. It's not hollywood worthy, just that it's has happened to many of us in the cinema.

11) OWEN'S LAW: As soon as you sit down to a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.Fuck right?

Interesting note

There's been a spate of deaths in the SAF recently.

The first involved a member of the Special Ops Force. That was on 15 Jun 05.
The second involved a Warrant Officer. That was on 22 Jun 05.
The third was a case of a senior instructor at Basic Military Training Centre over at Pulau Tekong. That was on 29 Jun 05.

The fourth and most recent case involved another commando who fell 20 metres down during heli-rappelling. That was on 13 July 05.

Know what is the most unlikely coincidence? It all happened on a Wednesday.

There were speculations going around by this time about Black Wednesday for SAF.

One of the Red Lions was seriously injured after a troubled descent followed by an awkward landing. That was not a Wednesday. But then again, the Red Lion did not die *touch wood*

Otherwise, it could have been 3 deaths in a month for the Best Unit in the Army.

Seriously, that term was used when the British Pound was dragged out of the Exchange Rate Mechanism in September 16 1992 after suffering round after round of heavy blows - left, right and centre - from speculative attacks.

Safety Time Out was called. A 2-day review of all procedures and processes went underway.

It is never easy to hear about training-related deaths. Especially so when they appear so unrelated and isolated in nature. Yet all were from the same organisation.

If we look at such deaths as the end result of errors, all we can do is to learn if they were systematic or random errors.

Systematic errors are harder to spot but can be minimised and managed with proper safety measures in place.

Random errors are easier to spot but really hard to minimise. Conditions are dynamic in the training environment. And to cope with these conditions can sometimes get really difficult.

Training related deaths are usually a series of random errors. This will be followed by a poorly assessed risk element that collapses at the weight of the series of random errors. Just before death occurs, it is a compounded error that is hard to learn from.

Mrs Goh Chok Tong

What is her Name?

She is Mrs Goh Choo Leng!

She has her own wiki entry! WOW!

Now the real mystery is this!

We know the male twin offspring is Goh Jin Hian. But what is the daughter who is residing in England called?

Jin Theng Craven, Mrs Craven.

Now we know.

Interesting to note that the site which provided me with these boh liao answers were from potentially "frowned upon" sites.

Seriously though, I don't see people who migrate as quitters. Heck, although Mr Goh did use this phrase before, I choose to think that he meant for those who migrate and try to badmouth or hide the fact that they were Singaporeans once. We see British louts hanging about the watering holes in Singapore. They sure don't look like quitters to me. I mean, they never did hide their loutish behaviour after moving here to work right? We should never generalise. Not all Brits drink and try to act funny. And trust the local education system enough to give us all a fair level of maturity of thought.

Here's to the British yob culture! I hope you will never lose it! So that I can always feel superior! I am sure cyntheticflava must have felt she was more civilised even though she said the F word. Yes, ladies and gentlemen. She said FAT. ouch!

The former 0.6 Million Dollar CEO

So what is this about now?

I find this a bore already but damn....

As far as public opinions go, most people seem to target on the $600K price tag. Including myself.

But really, the seriousness of the matter is not how much money the man in question earns. It is not to do with how the board agree with the remunerations the guy earns. If I am not wrong, it is a non-profit organisation. That's right. No shareholders. The money comes from donations. And Mrs Goh Chok Tong's (why is she known as Mrs Goh Chok Tong but Mdm Ho Ching is not known as Mrs Lee Hsien Loong?) point of view is this:

"All NKF asked for was a retraction, because what was stated was not true. Instead they have expanded the case into other matters. I have no question on the NKF's transparency, and have complete faith in the NKF and Mr Durai."

Hmm....then she went on to comment that the pay was peanuts compared to the amount that he was managing. I seriously think that makes sense.

But if we compare Durai's role to that of a minister? Are they similar? Are we comparing apples and oranges (they are both bloody fruits!)?

So that brings us to this: How much should a minister be paid? There was an Asian Wall Street Journal report on this before. Generally, the Prime Minister's pay is about SGD2 million dollars. An average minister should be getting about SGD1.1 million. According to the proportional reasoning given by Mrs Goh Chok Tong, the Prime Minister and ministers are potentially grossly underpaid. And there are still factions who think they (ministers) are overpaid. These factions compare them to leaders from US, UK etc etc...well....that would be comparing apples and oranges.

The rationale (at least in Singapore) is that the pay of public servants should be pegged to the private sector so that public servants are less likely to succumb to corruption. I think it works. I damn hope it works.

below is an extract from a JBJ supporter. Enuwy recently blogged about him. It's about Mr Davinder Singh who is also the MP for Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.

Take real cases. I practiced law in Singapore for 11 years. Let me tell you what I know. Take Davinder Singh of Drew and Napier. He is praised as one of the best lawyers in Singapore. Personally I do not see anything special in him. There are lawyers much more capable, and especially much more experienced than him. Yet the government makes him a Senior Counsel, Drew and Napier makes him their Chief Executive Officer and he gets all the big government cases. He does pretty well.

He has one quality that others may not have. He is a card carrying member of the Peoples Action Party, a PAP Member of Parliament, and has absolute unshakeable loyalty to Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, his son and the PAP. Singh knows this, the legal fraternity knows this and everyone in Singapore knows this. In any other free country, a self respecting individual would be ashamed of receiving special treatment not because of his ability but because of his connections. I have seen Singh at the trial of Dr. Chee soon Juan in November last. He did not seem to be at the least bothered. I suppose, if Lee asked him to jump, he would ask “how high"?

I don't know how much of a puppet he is, but damn, he is a brilliant lawyer. Or is it that I am just not exposed to such eloquent and mercurial use of the English language. He tore down Durai's integrity, gave him a hobson's choice and damn....everyone knows what happened. Mr Davinder Singh, if you are reading this, you are the reason why potential slanderers are wary in Singapore. How you stoutly shielded Harry Lee from lesser humans....to quote from Da Ali G: R.E.S.P.E.C.K.

I think Durai and Co. vacating the Kim Keat office may or may not the best thing. But I agree they should leave. For these reasons: That they breached the public's trust given their coffers were filled by the public in the first place. For telling lies, despite having the chance to revise the published figures for patients in their care.

Yes, I know the great mathematicians out there will say how they can just invest their money in almost risk free bonds and operate from their perpetually. But we must remember, NKF started from a kidney dialysis centre into presently an umbrella organisation for children kidney and cancer funds. What is in their horizon? Funds for autistic children? Funds for AIDS related research? Funds for children of kidney patients who need financial aid to continue schooling? We might not know now, the entire board stepped down.

And can you imagine how rude the many people who call up NKF to ask for their donations to be cut? Or worse, refunded??!! WTF? Please do not be rude to the phone operators. They are unlikely to be given 10-12 months bonus.

Have we given thought why they ought to have a shower in the premise? Maybe the board members are so hardworking that they have no time to shower and have to shower at the work place.

2 Kool 4 Skool

Having more fun with my Bernardette! This one shows her doing a cartwheel! It's not easy to balance her like that. Remember her Cup C boobies?

This one shows her having a single-palm siesta! Legs kicked out, resting her head on her arm....such is the carefree life of a Stikfas Beta Female.


This is way cool. I had to take this from two angles because only that will do this pose justice....It's one of those kung fu movie stance....where the hero is thrown off balance from a high point, falls throw the air, gathering speed but somehow manages to push himself back up off the surface of a calm lake. Internal Energy...whatever.





This is the last one. Looks like a breakdancer.


This pose should give Bernardette plenty of streetcred should she be spotted...damn she is good. And this time, her boob didn't even get in the way!

The 0.6 Million Dollar CEO - The Powers of NKF

The National Kidney Foundation. The CEO with a 12 month bonus. T T Durai

Today has it.

Tomorrow has it.

Half of Singapore was talking about it. The other half either don't read newspaper or only read the SPORTS section.

First, let me disqualify myself by saying that as far as I can remember, I have never donated any money directly to NKF. I have never called any of the 1900-112 6868 or any of the numbers. But my reason for not calling is because I figured they have gotten so many publicity over the past many years and I am pretty sure they have a steady stream of income from the investments that they make. They definitely have a income generating machine that is very well-oiled within that building at Kim Keat.

My donation usually end up being distributed to the list of charities pegged to the President's Challenge (no, this is not about whether or not His Excellency, Mr Nathan will run for another term). I have donated my one day pay previously but now that my family need charity as well, I have cut back the donations by 20% or so.

I just dread it when people loudly proclaim in that "didn't I tell you" type of voice that they have never and will never donate to NKF knowing that the people within are so well-paid. Hey, look, you just got to know this for sure recently. And it is not as if you have been donating to other charities. If you are a miser nut, admit you are. I respect you more if you just admit that but instead you start motor-mouthing away on why should that CEO be paid so much.

Actually.....if we should compare him with other CEOs of other charity organisations both here in Singapore and those from other countries, I wonder how he will rank?

Interesting to note....when you key in 112 6868 on a T9 activated mobile phone you get......[..count]!

So I tried the other numbers:
112 6855 yielded [..coul?] basically no such entry. darn! so was 112 6868 just a coincidence?
try 112 6833 and I got [..anted]! Wow! Back on track. Anted as in up the ante?
Moving onto 112 6888 which gave me [..bottu]!!!! Wow! In case you were wondering, "bottu" doesn't mean anything. But I gave it a google and guess what? bottu hmm....Bottu was possibly a French surname....belonging to a guy name Alain in Thailand apparently.

Or Bottu could be an Indian name! So I did the next most natural thing and googled Bottu with T T Durai! Guess what? I got this!!!! Amazing! This is not really a Googlewhack because Bottu and Durai aren't really words....but hey! I had my fun.

It was 7-Eleven Day

Find out all about 7-Eleven here.

Here is a funfact that will go along nicely
with your ice cold slurpee or giant big gulp.

July 11 (7/11) is the official birthday of the 7-Eleven® convenience store chain.

The above information was extracted
without permission from here.

My First Trip to Dr Lee in 15 Years

Lee Clinic.

The nearest clinic to my home.

I never did realise that it has been 15 years since I last saw him. A baby would have been a teen with raging hormones. A teen would have gone through his quarter-life crisis. An adult who can watch R21 movies would have been a father or at least gotten married. A father would ...you catch the drift.

After yesterday's excesses. It was decided unanimously by my body and all the organs within that some would have to go. So out they came. This morning. After waking up feeling feverish, I did the usual do (brush teeth, shower etc....) and after drinking a cup of coffee down, things just went pear-shaped. Gone pete tong.

The nurse at the reception counter gave a little exclamation when I gave her my visiting card. It was ancient. The cream coloured card was the result of oxidation. She changed one for me. She couldn't find my records anywhere. And asked if I was still using my name. Like duh?

She went round the back for about 5 mins.

Came back triumphant. "You haven't been here for 15 years!" "Very healthy hor?"

I just smiled weakly.

When Dr. Lee saw me, the first thing he asked was, "So anything happened that you want to tell me? We haven't met in 15 years."

So I told him about my marine viral infection that was caused by an injury in Sembawang waters. Never really recovered and got worse during my years in York.

And I told him that I was diagnosed as being hypertensive during a free NKF check up early last year and was confirmed by another family doctor that is located nearer to my old home.

So he gave me some tabs to curb my nausea and told me that the fever could have been imagined. But to come back if need be.
Then he took my blood pressure reading.
My systolic was between 140 - 150. Diastolic was about 100.

That's way off his charts for him. I was 169 when NKF came to base last year. Hey! I am getting better. But 140-150 is still way too high....

Shit. I gotta do something man.

Betcha can't do this

There is nothing to read here Part 2

As seen on Tomorrow.sg

As seen on Little Fish


This is crap.

0.4 months and lump sum SGD$200.

My new toy

This is Bernard.
Bernard is a STIKFAS figure.

Say hello to Bernard.

Hello!

Bernard is very posable.

Bernard is entirely designed in Singapore.

Bernard is the big Daddy-O.


Bernard shows off a very neat trick.

Handstands! Fantastic! There are very difficult to execute but Bernard does it with such ease.

How every toy must envy Bernard's finesse, strength and dexterity.

Such grace, such agility, such talent. It is very rare for a toy figurine.

Displaying at once his spryness and nimbleness.


Oopsy-daisies! Bernard nearly took a tumble!



Phew!



Bernard manages to regain his balance with an amazing recovery.



Steady there Bernard.


Once again, this is a testament of Bernard's prowess.













Bernard is very intrigued. Bernard scratches in wonder.

Why?

Bernard can never find the balance required for handstand.

Bernard wonders why.

Bernard looks down......


*GASPS!!!!*

What are these things that blocks Bernard's view of the floor in front?

Bernard thinks hard.....


*GOSH!!!!*

Breasts! Neh neh! Tetek! And its a C Cup too!


This is a very weird predicament.















This is erm...Bernardette.

Bernardette is a STIKFAS figure.

Say hello to Bernardette.

Hello!

Bernardette is very posable and can be in many positions.

Bernardette is entirely designed in Singapore.

Bernardette will call you Daddy.

Tea

I remember exactly where and when I fell in love started loving liking immensely Earl Grey Tea. The black tea that is flavoured with Bergamot oil. The delicate citrusy top notes that remains at the back of your throat and the top of your mouth is the Bergamot while the tannins work their magic around the tongue. Green tea doesn't release its tannins into its infusion. The tannin is a suitable calming polar opposite to the stimulating caffeine found in the tea.
Ying and Yang in a tea cup.

James Bond, when not downing shaken martinis, drinks Earl Grey.
Sir Leigh Teabing, from Da Vinci Code, drinks Earl Grey (with lemon no less).
Jean-Luc Picard, when not commandeering The USS Enterprise, drinks Earl Grey.
Jackson Pang, while feeling inspired/insipid, drinks Earl Grey (currently Taylors of Harrogate) with or without milk.

I'm not fancy. I don't even know my teas well. I can't tell lapsang from assam from darjeeling. Although some present day Earl Greys are made with darjeeling or ceylon. But I snigger when people who order Earl Grey ask for sugar, raw or white, at a tea room or cafe. It's perfectly alright. Just imagine adding sugar to chinese tea. But then again, I added milk. So there.

I tried a dash of honey once. Not too bad.

NYDC makes a fantastic and tasty earl grey elephanccino. I take it with whipped cream sometimes. Sugar syrup always - horrors. What would purists think?

It is getting harder and harder to get Taylors of Harrogate here in Singapore. Takashimaya was just about the only place commonly selling Yorkshire Teas. Whittards closed their only branch at Suntec long ago...They have Jacksons of Piccadilly though. At Takashimaya. Which I heard is still using Chinese Black Tea (Oolong) and bergamot from Italy. I have tasted Twinings Earl Grey but would really like to try their Lady Grey which features grapefruits, lemons and bergamots oils. A citrus rush.

But now to Bakerzin at One Fullerton again. I don't know what Earl Grey they serve. It's loose tea so you can't read off the labels at the end of the teabag. And it might be the tightness of the tea caddys cannisters. No aroma. Or maybe I don't know what good cup should taste like.

Meeting up with uni friends. Afternoon tea and friendly banter. Sweet.

London Bombings Part 2

I was not much of Ken Livingstone's fan when he was first elected as Mayor of London in 2000. He looked out of place as a London mayor. I guess I was wrong. He was re-elected in 2004. Londoners, like the rest of UK are pretty hard to please people and have rather discerning taste for quality. Just look at the UK music charts when compared to the US music charts.

But really why I would like to mention about him is because of this:

"I know that you do fear you may fail in your long term objective: to destroy our free society. And I will show you why you will fail.

"In the days that follow, look at our airports, look at our seaports and look at our railways. Nothing you do, however many of us you kill will stop that life ... where freedom is strong and people can live in harmony ... whatever you do, however many you kill, you will fail."

This would have made Sir Winston Churchill proud. It reminds me of this:

"We shall go on to the end, ................ we shall fight on the seas and oceans, ................, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender."

But in a more politically correct manner.

And I do bear a secret wish for Ken Livingstone not to profit from the lessons he learn from all these. Unlike Rudolph Giuliani. I have no problem with that, just hope Ken doesn't succumb to it.

I wonder if Ken Livingstone or Tony Blair had a Pet Goat Moment like George Bush.

Then again, acts of terror is never about politicians reading children books in an Elementary School. It is always about the people who suffered directly. And the many more people who suffered indrectly because they are the fathers and mothers, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, friends and neighbours of the dead. Then there are those caught in the repurcussion, those who came to know about it through all forms of media, those who do not understand the whys and whatfors. It should never be about the perpetrators. They may be cowards, but let's focus on the healing process.

Just like 9/11 and Bali bombings. Just like Madrid bombing and the boxing day tsunami. Scores of people are scurrying around hoping to find shards of evidence and also worried people looking for their loved ones. They might have given up hope of them being alive, but at least to have some form of closure by having their bodies found.

No, you do not grow resilient from repeated attacks. Each attack is different because you cannot kill the dead. New victims result from each attack. Even though London had been exposed to numerous IRA bombings, that does not prepare anybody for anything. To think that any city is used to such attacks would be fllippant.

I am thinking about the state of security that exist in Singapore. I remember moaning to V that Raffles City was swarming with Police. I remember going into extensive discussions with different people on the pros and cons of having increased CCTVs in London. As it stands, the UK is the world leader in video surveillance. Britain is monitored by 4 million CCTV cameras, making us the most watched nation in the world.

There is one CCTV camera for every 14 people in the UK. If you live in London you are likely to be on cameras 300 times a day.

Since 1994 the Home Office has spent 78% of its crime prevention budget on CCTV, before assessing its effectiveness in deterring or detecting crime. It is used for routine surveillance of public spaces, round the clock.

Other countries use CCTV in more targetted, limited ways: for example, in Munich, Germany cameras are used seasonally during the Oktoberfest in high-crime areas.

The technology is becoming more sophisticated. Cameras are combined with databases using 'facial recognition technology' to scan and automatically identify people's faces in crowds. 'Smart CCTV' is used in tube stations to identify patterns of behavior that suggest a crime or suicide attempt is about to occur.

There must be something that we are doing right and at the same time we must never take it for granted. The most dangerous thing is for us to think that Singapore is unlikely to have an acts of terror.

There is a reason.

It's because we have a solid system in place. I know cause I am in the business. It may not be the best and sure as hell I am certain there are still loopholes that remain un-patched. But it is a system that needs to remain robust and steadfast in this everchanging asymmetric threat environment. Yes, our privacy may have been compromised, our movement monitored and our spaces limited. But they are not absent. I sound like I am ready to compromise basic human rights to stay alive, I sound lke advocating a governance of fear-mongering. Like 1984 all over.

War is Peace.
Freedom is Slavery.
Ignorance is Strength.

And it is not that the local Singaporean population is happy, money-driven and content.
Terrorism is trans-national, it knows no national boundary. The guys who crashed the plane into the twin towers weren't from New York, hell they weren't from US even. They don't care two hoots about your sons and daughters, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers. They don't care about you.

Dinner at Marche, drinks at Breko

V should be sleeping in her hotel room at this moment.

Just back not too long ago from a dinner and drinks meet up with friends. Pin, and jade were there first. So while we were queuing up to get in and waiting for the others to come, I showed Pin an email regarding a certain sar-germ (sic) and his letter to Chief of Air Force. I might risk it all and show it here sometime soon.

Later on Mong joined us.

The usual Rosti and sausage combo for me. And 0.5l of erdinger.

When we had more or less fnished with the food, Marc came along to join us. Followed shortly by Yve. Yve's beef goulash was absolutely delicious. I am gonna eat that the next time I'm there.

We walked down to Peranakan Place to look for seats at Pre-Rouge but it was heaving there so we continued down and found ice cold beer, no. 5 all jam packed. Decided to go to Breko at Bugis instead as it is probably will not be too crowded.

Seated in Jade's manly van, we proceeded to Bugis.







Cheapest drinks ever. but the thing is, on busy nights, they always run out of heinekens and stella artois. 2 beers for $10. like wowee.

London Explosion

V sms me this morning at 1045H. That was about the same time she finished reading my blog entry that was made at about 0245H. That's 8 hours apart. Sideways was brilliant!


V also sms me in the evening about some bombs going off in London.

I thought it might have been the real IRA. I thought it was something simple.

It was the same initial reaction I had when I was on duty on Boxing Day last year. The base ops centre called me up before noon telling me that there was some earthquake off Sumatra and then asked me to check with all the ships' coxswains on the leave status of the ship crew and to note if anybody was in Penang or Phuket.

I was smsing V the absurdity of the check. "huh? earthquake off Sumatra and they ask if anybody was in Penang or Phuket?!" In the long history of booboos made by the base ops centre, this has to top it all.

I was wrong.

As I would slowly, and with much horror, realise.

The same realisation may soon be happening.
I do have a few friends in UK. In London. And I am no entirely sure if they are alright. Yugin's safe in Brighton. His girlfriend in London is safe too. I hope Elaine's not in London and still in Tokyo like I last heard. I do want Kenny and gf (though I know them not too well) to be ok as well. They should be in London. I mean, Yugin's fine and he knows Kenny so Yugin didn't say nothing. Then there are friends of friends.

Nope, I never did live in London. In fact, I choose not to 6 years ago. It was deliberate. I couldn't get into London School of Economics and Political Science even if your points are perfect. I wasn't too keen after they decided that they have enough students and late applicants can just forget about it. University College London - Chris Martin et al aka Coldplay's alma mater, accepted me. But heck, York seemed to be bending over backwards for international students ie. me.

I must have visited London more than 5 times. And I never liked it much despite all the hoopla that my friends down the civilised south would tell me. (There is a running joke that anything north of Watford was considered north in UK.)

Underground smells of pee. If you stare hard enough at the maps, you'll see animals. Animals on the underground.

The first time I took the London Underground was a bad experience. It was nothing like our MRT. It has more "character". But one thing caught my eye on that first ride. I was feeling a whole new set of feelings I have never felt before. I can't even begin to describe them now.
The placard across my seat read:

Loving the rituals that keep men close,
Nature created means for friends apart:

Pen, paper, ink, the alphabet,
signs for the distant and disconsolate heart.

The Underground is a rich source of inspiration despite it's age. The poems featured in the Underground can be found in this website: Poem for the day

For me, the poem was like as if it was some divine intervention.

But it was bombed today. There are links to the event on Wikipedia already.
There are photos on Flickr available. All tagged "London Bomb Blast".

_______________________________________________________

Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita,
Mi ritrovai per una selva oscura,
Ché la via diritta era smarrita.
[Inferno, Canto I:1-3, Dante Alighierei]

Midway upon the journey of our life
I found myself with a forest dark,
For the straightforward pathway had been lost
translated by Henry W. Longfellow

When I had journeyed half of our life´s way,
I found myself within a shawdowed forest,
For I had lost the path that doesn´t stray.
translated by Allen Mandelbaum

Midway in our life´s journey, I went astray
from the straight road and woke to find myself
Alone in a dark wood
translated by John Ciardi

Midway this way of life we´re bound upon,
I woke to find myself in a dark wood,
Where the right road was wholly lost and gone
translated by Dorothy Sayers

In the middle of the journey of our life
I found myself astray in a dark wood
where the right road had been lost sight of - my favourite translation by Seamus Heaney

It takes into consideration that one was astray. It was not a sudden transition like waking up. The condition was found, as if deliberate. The dark wood was not the full cause for losing sight of the right road. It was not "wholly lost and gone". Just lost sight of. There is the suggestion of salvation. The road that one is looking for is not not because it is straight nor straightforward. It was the right road. No more no less.

Seamus Heaney gave a reading at my University around the time when he released Beowulf. The tickets disappeared real quick. Not before Yugin and I grabbed ourselves one. Many of the other English Lit students got theirs too I think. There's gonna be a movie version directed by Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Castaway).

Since we are on the subject of London and movies, will this movie ever be shown in Singapore?

It's All Gone Pete Tong

East end London slang. Cockney rhymes. I already have gotten the soundtrack which totally rocks. there is this guy credited as lol hammond. it's actually fatboy slim aka norman cook aka former housemartins aka beats international aka freakpower aka mighty dub katz aka Pizzaman. laughing out loud hammonds indeed!

V will be leaving for HK in a few hours time. have fun.

First potential regret of the day

I hope today will not be too wretched.

Because it is 2:45 am in the morning. Thursday. 7 Jul 05.

I just finished watching the movie Sideways.

It was funny.

I shouldn't have done it.

V will be reading this in a couple of hours' time.

She will be angry.

And I will not tell her till she finds out.

Hello V!

Rattles my cage like a thunderstorm

Really tired now and should really be getting to bed. Have been reading up on directives for the coming GDMFSOB (codename). Tomorrow or rather, today, will be another sailing in preparation for GDMFSOB.



Makes me real tired. Because from the time we enter PLANET TELEX (codename) and change our GODSPEED YOU BLACK EMPEROR (codename) and now leaving PLANET TELEX, alot and I mean alot of new things have gotten full swing underway. In other to be New Order (codename), we have to sail for GDMFSOB which will include new operations like Protect the GDMFSOB Yanks (codename) and DAMN IF YOU DO AND DAMN IF YOU DON'T




anyway....gonna zzzzzzzzz......

A day like today should be repeated.

You know your relationship is all healthy when you can laze and talk for 3 hours non-stop. V and I were at bakerzin fullerton from 6 till about 9. just shooting shit and watching bumboats meandering by. the sky changing from a blue interspersed with cottons of white into a watercolour whirl of shy pink, lilac, blue-grey and mauve before permanently blanketed by as many shades of brown and grey as necessary to describe the night sky of Singapore. Heavily polluted by the smog of the city traffic, the glow from the ceaseless bright lights of the port and city area.

The temperature was just right. Low to mid 20s maybe. humidity was more suited to cellaring of wines but we were grateful for the light sea breeze that continued to pour in from the marina.

It was a nice day.

Meant to be repeated.

How To Be Dead ~ Snow Patrol

Please take it easy
It can't all be my fault
I haven't made half the mistakes
That you've listed so far
Baby let me explain something
It's all down to drugs
At least I remember taking them and not alot else
It seems I've stepped over lines
You've drawn again and again
But if the ecstacy's in
The wit is definitely out
Dr. Jekyll is wrestling Hyde for my pride

from the movie Wicker Park

This is why I think Snow Patrol makes references to drugs in their song. This is rather blatant right? Not saying that they must be writing about it or saying that by writing about it they must be taking it. Oh well......

Gang Poem

This is excellent. Can't manage to trace the author but heck, all I can find out is that footballmotion.com is well frequented by Singaporeans.

Sample:
Beh sai si bo? (Cannot is it?) Tiao li boh lan lah (Stare at you cause you ain't got no penis)
Koon Tong ghin nah pak beh toh (Koon Tong children won't be thrashed)

Wah lan eh li wu gang poem! (Wow, by my penis, you have a gang poem!) Khak wah thia hor say! (Listen up and listen well!)

Steady wu ji khah khah lai. (Steady if you have balls you come bravely)
Steady wu ji qi kwah mai (Steady if you have balls you come and try). Knnbccb. (Fuck your mother's offal cunt)

It was sent by a friend. Similar to what was censored from Royston Tan's 15 last year.
Click here to have a look and listen. Turn up the volume!

Incidentally Royston's 15 opened in US recently and there is a blog about it. If you are like me, who could watch it only here in Singapore. You would have missed out the gang poems as well. But you can have a sample of it here by clicking the "watch trailer" link.

Read all about it here.

Might wanna check out firecracker - a UK Film Council supported online magazine dedicated solely to East Asian Cinema. And by the way. Can anyone tell me if Perth is already shown in Singapore?

It's really weird huh? To translate hokkien expletives into English. Like Kan can become fuck. But think like CCB - how to translate? English will say cunt or twat. But not many English speaking folks will say F your mother's smelly cunt! But I know a couple of guys who lived in my corridor who'd say twat quite a bit. That would be like if I say CB....
Smelly Cunt. Foul Cunt. Offensive smelling vagina. hahahahha....

Run, Hurt, Chocolate lyrics

V and I have the same current favourite song. It was not a weird coincidence.
I never really paid much attention to the lyrics until the day I saw this track being plugged by cowboycaleb on his blog entry about the passing on of his grandmother.
Think about the lyrics....

Run ~ Snow Patrol

I'll sing it one last time for you
Then we really have to go
You've been the only thing that's right
In all I've done

And I can barely look at you
But every single time I do
I know we'll make it anywhere
Away from here

Light up, light up
As if you have a choice
Even if you cannot hear my voice
I'll be right beside you dear

Louder louder
And we'll run for our lives
I can hardly speak
I understand
Why you can't raise your voice to say

To think I might not see those eyes
Makes it so hard not to cry
And as we say our long goodbye
I nearly do

Light up...

Slower slower
We don't have time for that
All I want is to find an easier way
To get out of our little heads

Have heart my dear
We're bound to be afraid
Even if it's just for a few days
Making up for all this mess


Recent Yugin attended the U2 concert in Dublin
Snow Patrol - support act for U2's concert in Dublin Croke Park 24 June 2005
And guess who was the supporting act? snow patrol of course!
the radiators were the other supporting act.

While eating spicy steamboat, V wondered what the song meant. Which was something I wanted to ask her. I listened to it over and over again but never really wanted to dissect the song too much for fear that it may become meaningless to me. In a bad way.

Photos used without permission from http://www.flickr.com/photos/gin/

It was too easy to think of it as a love song. or rather, a song about a love's demise. The situation surrounding the breakdown of a relationship. That if given another chance, in another place (I know we can make it anywhere, away from here), another time, would have worked magically. Maybe the parties involved were at different points of their live. Maybe they were going to be apart - one's leaving for studies/posting far far away, maybe they were drifting apart - either or both not ready for a lifetime worth of committment. It's always nervewrecking and saddening to see something beautiful dying. Under such circumstances, when the inevitabilities of cessation burdens both parties, it is difficult to look at the other without feeling that it's a case of hope against hope (as in The Flaming Lips' Race for the Prize). Hope, is the quintessential human delusion, simultaneously the source of your greatest strength and your greatness weakness - Matrix Reloaded. And for those who might feel the same way....when you've becomed disillusioned, the mess that is left behind will hurt just a few days. So light up, be happy, cause you don't really have any way to salvage the situation you are in.

But.....I remember a similar sad song.

Hurt ~ Johnny Cash

I hurt myself today
To see if i still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing thats real

The needle tears a hole
That old familiar sting
Try to kill it all away
But I remember everything

What have I become
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end

And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt

I wear this crown of thorns
Upon my liars chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair

Beneath the stains of time
The feelings disappear
You are someone else
I am still right here

What have I become
My sweetest friend
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end

And you could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt

If I could start again
A million miles away
I will keep myself
I would find a way

Most people know that Johnny Cash covered Nine Inch Nails' Hurt. The original song by Trent Reznor version was all about heroin addiction attempts of getting out of the depression rut, seeking salvation. Hence the allegories to needle tearing holes, old familiar sting and asking if given another chance, to find an alternative way. But after Johnny Cash sang it, and changed the crown of shit into crown of thorns (more messianic) the song took on a whole new meaning. Retrospective. And the "everyone one I know" became his wife and old friends who have passed on, so "goes away in the end". But it is still about drug addiction.

Set me thinking about Run ~ Snow Patrol.

What if it's about wanting to get rid of an addiction. Light up Light up, as if you have a choice? Hmm... All I want is to find an easier way, to get out of our little heads. It's hard kicking the addiction. It'll always be right here beside you dear.

So I went on the look at another of their song.

Chocolate ~ Snow Patrol

This could be the very minute
I'm aware I'm alive
All these places feel like home
With a name I'd never chosen
I can make my first steps
As a child of 25

This is the straw, final straw in the
Roof of my mouth as I lie to you
Just because I'm sorry doesn't mean
I didn't enjoy it at the time.

You're the only thing that I love
Scares me more every day
On my knees I think clearer
Goodness knows I saw it coming
Or at least I'll claim I did
But in truth I'm lost for words

What have I done? It's too late for that
What have I become? Truth is nothing yet
A simple mistake starts the hardest time
I promise I'll do anything you ask, this time

So what? Someone admitting to another that, yeah, I lied, I took drugs, I told you I'd quit but I never reall did. Am I sorry about it? Yeah, sure, but hell it felt good at the time. Or it could be about infidelity. And the down on my knees, begging for forgiveness routine and the promises to do anything in return for your forgiveness. Hmm....I dunno. People are addicted to Chocolates you know?

BREAKINASIA

Doing a favour for a friend.....

OK boys and girls need some help here

I'm trying to publicise a bag design contest.
Contestants have to be based in Singapore, so we're trying to get the news out to places where the concentration of Singaporeans are high.

Contest Information:
Competition is run by Eastpak, in conjunction with Breakinasia.com's (the website i'm working on) launch party. Contestants will send in a bag design, and finalists will be selected to bring an actual bag home to paint / stich / mutilate / deconstruckt / mutilate / applyvoodoospell etc etc

Deadline for design submission is 15th July (yes, i know there's not much time left)

contest rules and regulations and design template available from HERE!!!!

Design submission deadline has been changed to 15th July, instead of 8th July.

The launch will be held in Phuture, so if the contestant is below 18, s/he will probably want to get somebody older to take part on behalf of him or her.

PRIZES:

They are secondary anyway.....but here they are. Really good ones.

The winners will stand to win the following:

1st Prize:
S$300 Eastpak voucher + Eastpak Limited Edition Warning Pak (By Zombie Flesh Eaters)

2nd Prize:
S$200 Eastpak voucher

3rd Prize:
S$100 Eastpak voucher


Gentlemen and ladies.....start your magic ink.....