What is the name of the second B29?

People will never forget Enola Gay. The B29 bomber that was named after the pilot's mum. Enola Gay was carrying Little Boy over Hiroshima. And later dropped Little Boy over Hiroshima.

Many can name the second A-Bomb. Fat Man! Easy name.

But nobody can roll the name of the second B29 bomber off their tongue.

Yesterday at lunch, we were talking about the coming Singapore Airshow and how we are all going to get trade tickets. We have to wear our uniforms there though. Chicks don't really dig men in uniform. Not really. Then we were talking about how the measure of success for a trade show is the amount of sales generated. That got me saying how at an airshow near Moscow, a rich Russian surrounded by his bevy of bodyguards wanted to buy a US500million B52 bomber on the spot. It's cheaper now, because of the price of Dollar.

Somebody mentioned that B52 was the bomber used to drop the A-Bombs. Which called for an immediate conversation pause.








Anyway, the name of the second B29 which carried the "Fat Man" over Nagasaki was BOCKSCAR (pilot's surname was BOCK).

xkcd

Simply enjoyed these two strips. Just had to share.

Sad part is this: one day, after so much pretence, you may never recover yourself.

images from xkcd

P.S. I think the NSFW pics of Edison Chen, Gillian Chung and Bobo Chan are real! But....leave them be lah....... Let's just be entertained (or disturbed) by their performances on screen. Interesting twist, especially with Cecilia Cheung coming in...who recently had a baby with Nicholas Tse.

Plastique Monkey

Before the Canadian Dollar peaks any higher (its been stronger against the US Dollar and...Singapore Dollar as well!), decided to get myself a few prints by Plastique Monkey.

images from Plastique Monkey

And also there's the original by Lin Baoling that I'm still waiting!

Those after Audrey Kawasaki time-limited-edition print - Mizuame.

No, I am not caught in the current Asian Art Investor frenzy.....sheesh....firstly, I buy mainly prints and they are keepers.

Ok, in some ways, I could be compensating.

Reunion

I think I like the whole Sicilian thing about taking care of the family.

Had a reunion dinner of sorts at Classic Lao Di Fang which is this vegetarian restaurant at Apollo Centre along Havelock Rd.

Parents and sis were there along with all my aunts and uncles. My sis and I were the only ones who bothered showing up though. Haha....nevertheless, made the best out of it.

And there was not much effort needed for that. The dinner was really interesting, with the conversations throwing across the table in cantonese mainly. Hardly the language of choice for my sis and I. When it was relevant to us, mandarin will be used.

There was (all vegetarian) Yu-sheng, sharks' fin soup, abalone with sea cucumber and cuttlefish, duck, fried pork, fried noodles, Luohan zhai and dessert. It's amazing how mushrooms and gluten can be made into such a variety of dishes.

I think vegeterian dishes cooked this way is bad for health hahaha....too oily and rich. No pics, cause no one brought a camera.

In an effort to be gross

let's see them hair, up close ......

Dirty Dozen + 1

The Dirty Dozen + 1 jeans is a project conceived by Cheep and the members of the online denim community Supertalk in conjunction with New York’s best denim store Blue in Green. Thirteen people over thirteen months will wear a special single pair of customized Evisu jeans hand painted by the Japanese artist Pesu at Blue In Green New York. The jeans start with Chicken who also designed the patch, and will then slowly travel around the world before ending back in NYC after thirteen months.

1. chicken - nyc (8/13-9/9)
2. almond crush - new jersey (9/10-10/7)
3. ddml - philly (10/11-11/5)
4. headtowall - texas, etc (11/8-12/5)
5. cheep - jacksonvillle (12/10-1/6)
6. beatle - germany (1/17-2/13)
7. tg76 - new zealand (2/14-3/12)
8. tweeds - singapore (3/25-4/21)
9. ryu - japan (5/2-5/29)
10. red - east bay (6/9-7/6)
11. digital denim - san francisco (7/7-8/3)
12. poly800rock - philly (8/10-9/6)
13. miz - nyc (9/12-10/9)

I just needed something to help me keep track of the Dirty Dozen + 1 thread on sufu. It's ok if this doesn't make sense to you. It's for me.

Basically, 13 person located all over the world will be sharing a single pair of Evisu. Each of them will be wearing them for a period 4 weeks. The journey will start and end in new york city. Tweeds is our singapore rep. big upz....I'm a jealous boy.

I need japanese selfedge denim now now now!

more here.

intrinsic

Sometimes I do wonder what kind of person I am. And how I am perceived. Don't you?

Does the opinion of others matter? Or am I better off not knowing?

Am I a bad person because of the misdeeds of my past? Or am I evil because of the good intentions that appear throughout my day but not translated into actions. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

So which is worse? Having never even considered or to have intended but to decide on inaction? The devil will find work for idle hands (or if you prefer; idle hands are the devil's workshop). An idle mind will soon be occupied by the devil as his playground.

Maybe I'm just ordinary like what ordinariness is meant to be. Having an ability to question but never enjoying the privilege of being answered to.

So when did life start getting complicated? When you start asking questions or when you stop getting answers?

To be awake at freaking 5plus in the morning and asking seemingly frivolous questions, that's troubling.

OK...I will put a cute/funny picture at the end of this entry cause it makes it a whole lot less emo/disturbed/gay/fuck/whatever.

Unknown girl at Singapore zoo - taken in 2005

It's not helping now is it?

~The night has come to hold us young

Bidadari

Went to the old Bidadari Cemetery for a short session.

I am continually impressed by this lens.....the flower seems to be emanating some light of its own.

I like the details in this. And the girlish pink on the petals....

I tried to do the "catch the images in a dewdrop" thing.....shows I got alot more to learn...and it's super difficult having to go on fours, with your butt sticking out, in the middle of a exhumed cemetery...

I put up this pic which has the strands of "hair" on the fly's back in focus instead of another with the eye in focus. Hair-raising hahahahaha

Rebel rivet. Because you stick out, you are picked on. You are exposed and you rust faster.

Postscript: Bidadari in malay means "fairy" or houri, which is a voluptuous and alluring female virgin as described in Koranic Paradise. Interestingly, Bidadari contained the grave of one Augustine Podmore Williams who was the key inspiration for Joseph Conrad's novel Lord Jim. - from Wikipedia.

A song a day 63

I swapped my innocence for pride
Crushed the end within my stride
Said, "I'm strong now I know that I'm a leaver"
I love the sound of you walking away
Mascara bleeds a blackened tear
And I am cold
Yes I'm cold
But not as cold as you are
I love the sound of you walking away

.
.
.


I cannot turn to see those eyes
As apologies may rise
I must be strong and stay an unbeliever
And love the sound of you walking away
Mascara bleeds into my eye
I'm not cold
I am old
At least as old as you are
As you walk away

Driving

The most emotional part of getting my Class 3 license with just one attempt?

It's got to be the 7-minute "graduation video".

Lots of "true stories" to remind new license holders that they have to stay vigilant, must never drink and drive and always remember, "It's not just about you!"

There was this story about a 36 year old woman who has speech and movement difficulties. She was a normal, pretty lass until she met with an accident with her dead fiance. She was telling how she didn't even said yes to him until his third try. They both got thrown out of the car after it crashed through the railings of a canal. She was 21 then.

The guy never made it.

I must have gone all watery-eyed.

A song a day 62

and i need my vehicles and animals
and i will be alright
take me back to 1979 so i can find my open eyes

he can play all by himself for many hours
i have never seen a kid who's so content
there is nothing from the outside that can touch him
cos he's just learning how to be alone with one

A song a day 61

And I just wanna give you something that I haven't got
I'm a walking advertisement of both light and dark
I'm not making any sense

"I wish sometimes that I wasn't as conscious as I am"

It's nothing but a tragedy

Young and strong Hollywood son

I think the first time I saw Heath Ledger on the big screen was 10 Things I Hate About You. It wasn't him I was looking out for. Julia Stiles was obviously the preferred eye candy. It was the far and few chick flicks that I caught. I don't really watch enough of chick flicks, horror or comedies. I thought this particular one I could part some dollars for. For Julia Stiles.

And the movie was really quite good. Especially the exchanges between Kat, Julia Stiles' character and Patrick, which was a relatively unknown Heath Ledger. I did not watch The Patriot.


Young and strong beautiful one

I think most people remember him as one half of the cowboy duo from Brokeback Mountain. That movie earned him an Oscar nomination. Married the girl he met on the set....now their daughter will have to grow up without her father.

Why don't you let him be?
He's gone

I wonder why the did mypaper choose the headlines "Heath Ledger's Descent Into Heroin Hell".

Somewhat irresponsible journalism. Very much sensationalism. Unprofessional.

Your vulture's candor
Your casual slander
You murder his memory

Well, no matter the cause of his death, his talent cannot be doubted.

How could we save him from himself?


Patrick: Was that a yes?
Kat Stratford: No.
Patrick: Well, then, was that a no?
Kat Stratford: No.


Music and lyrics by Natalie Merchant ~ River (originally written for River Phoenix 1970 - 1993)

The Diving Bell & The Butterfly

I've been sitting here for the past 20 or so minutes.

In the 20 minutes that went by, Jean-Dominique Bauby may not have been able to "dictate" out the sentence above. But from the time he was left with only a working left eyelid after a stroke until he died 15 months later, that was what Jean-D did. Dictating his story. By dictation, Jean-D needs a scribe who will read letter by letter from a card similar to the one above. When s/he reaches the correct letter, Jean-D will blink once.

And that was how the book The Diving Bell & The Butterfly was written. Letter by letter, until it forms a word. Joining the words to form sentences. Sentences that became paragraphs and then chapters. In the end, the book became a personal statement of how no matter the adversity, one must always hold fast onto the human inside.

Jean-D died two days after the book was published.

Jean-Dominique Bauby was the editor-in-chief of Elle magazine. After his stroke, he suffered from what is known as "locked-in syndrome". Armed with only his left eye-lid, memory and imagination, what he left behind was hope.

I suppose there is a great architect that resides in these spaces. In between us. And when in her design, she has decided that you will have a wonderful story to tell, she will make sure you will have enough resources to share it.

I sat for 20 minutes not knowing what to write about this movie. Because I don't know how best to convince you that this movie is essential.

Heath Ledger

Found dead? Naked on his bed in hotel ?

Damn, he was only 28.

Eastern Promises

I recognised the setting immediately. Having hated it. Perhaps hate is too strong a word here. Dislike.

I dislike the smell of pee in the Underground. I dislike the constant state of disrepair. The yellow-black tape going around the scaffoldings. The orange and white water-filled barricades. The piss-stained sidewalks and outstretched palms asking you "Spare some change". The dried up vomitus that you nearly stepped on as you turn a corner and the build up of posters on posters, haphazardly plastered and left to tatter on a wall that needs a fresh coat of paint badly.

I dislike London but that how it must be preserved. As my cleaning lady, Lorraine, asked me, years ago, "Oh, London is not really England isn't it?", after I described to her about my weekend trip. She has never been to London. In fact, she's never been further south of Lancashire.

I caught Eastern Promises today. Viggo Mortensen and Naomi Watts lead. The setting was London, with Russian organised crimes families flying under the radar of the authorities. Everybody who has watched this movie will remember the slitting of throats and removal of fingers. And that public bath scene. It's got Viggo Mortensen showing off his willy. Viggo Mortensen is King of Middle Earth if you choose to remember him that way.

The London backdrop was less Notting Hill and Bridget Jones, more like Dirty Pretty Things. Coincidentally, both Eastern Promises and Dirty Pretty Things scripts were written by Steve Knight.

Watch this because you never thought that Aragorn can pull off looking like a Russian thug. And the package is so well put together, characters are so good and a developed plot. And Viggo's willy. And that public bath scene.

Doh!

I swear I didn't know there was a rule in Scrabble (or Scrabulous) that says the game will end when either player finishes his or her tiles....

I lost by 4 points!!!

Interpol

.- -. - .. -.-. ...

I think Yugin was the first to tell me about Interpol. He, knowing that I like Joy Division, said this was the new band (then in 2004/5) that was being heralded as the latest incarnation of "the new Joy Division" after their debut album in 2002, Turn On The Bright Lights.

Let's not get too excited about how the drums sound. How the bass is tuned and played. Whether or not the guitar is like how Martin Hannett would have liked it. Faster but slower.

This is not about how Interpol is a band from NYC that needs a bigger audience urgently.

This is about me, being a music snob, and how all this snobbery got me to listen to this band, 4-5 years late.....

All this snobbishness is getting me nowhere. Hahaha...somebody save me.

11 Mount Sophia

Location of the next COMMES des GARCON store.

They definitely brightened up the corners of Haji but didn't manage to repeat that act in Bukit Merah although the HDB apartments of not-so-nearby-but-nearby-enough Meiling Street sold for records prices.

Onto Mount Sophia.

A song a day 60

Paul Banks

Yeah but nobody searches
Nobody cares somehow
When the loving that you’ve wasted
Comes raining from a hapless cloud
And I might stop and look upon your face
Disappear in the sweet, sweet gaze
See the living that surrounds me
Dissipate in a violet blaze

Paul Banks
(Looks away in the distance)

Can’t you see what you’ve done to my heart?
And soul?
This is a wasteland now

Singapore Botanic Gardens

Spent the morning going around the Tanglin Core of the Singapore Botanic Gardens. The main Tanglin Gate is so pretty. I must take a picture of myself in front of it sometime. Evening shots I think.

Some pics....





I soon realised that it's very difficult to take macro shots....

Random Phases

I was in a Death Cab phase in December.

But January was a weird month. I was trying to listen to Broken Social Scene, The Bird & The Bee and Sondre Lerche because I bought tickets for their performances at the upcoming Mosaic.

Those quickly bore me.

Then I started listening to Muse and Smashing Pumpkins. Mellon Collie still sounds fantastic.

And now it's Editors, Grand Avenue, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Franz Ferdinand, Athlete, Interpol, Bravery, Killers ....

I will put a picture of Lulu here.


Random. But it livens up things doesn't it?

Let's try another....

Wow~! We're ready for champagne all of a sudden.

Horrorscope! Octopussy....

Minty (if you are reading this) says that I should use Rob (Brezsny??) for my horoscope readings instead of this yahoo freeware. But since I get to see my horoscope each time I log into my yahoo email account, it's very convenient.

Here's today's:

Yikes! What an emotional day, dear Pisces. The planetary energies are forecasting conflict, and lots of it. Do your best to personally steer clear of any of it, and avoid being drawn into any arguments. You may wish to keep to yourself today, and tonight to either stay in or head out to the movies alone. Don't worry, everyone will be feeling much better tomorrow.

See what I mean.....Pisceans are meant to watch movies alone. We already come in pairs so don't always need company. Three's a crowd don't you know?

This is not a "A song a day X"

Sleepy and tired. But thought I should listen abit of iTunes before sleep....haven't heard this track in a while......

King of the horseflies, dark prince of death
His tragic forces are heaven sent
In sweet things, in a lover's breath
In knowing this was meant to be the last

A go-go-kids, a go-go-style
A suck suck kiss, a suck suck smile
As always, in young need
A veiled promise to never die

On dead highways, her black beauties roam
For june angels, so far from home
For a love lost, a faded picture
To tread lightning, to ink the lavender skies

So get on the bomb
Get back where you belong

Get on get on get on the bomb
Get back get back where you belong

Get on
The bomb

Where Boys Fear To Tread
Music and Lyrics by The Smashing Pumpkins

MacBook Air

Dear Apple,

when you blow your competition away, make your competitiors eat your dust.....you should at least say excuse me.....

The MacBook Air touchpad incorporates all the touch features found on the iPod Touch and iPhone .... and now has a 3-finger swipe feature! At it's thickest, it still looks thinner than all normal size laptops!

The solid state Hdd looks expensive at $5000 dollars plus....the cheaper version is still almost $3000....tempting...my birthday coming up. Maybe I owe myself a treat. Most probably not...buy car....buy car.....buy car...... Lookie here!

Ankle-length or deep?

The past two days, heavy showers bucketed all over Singapore. Some of the low-lying areas were left deluged in the run-off.

Naturally Channel News Asia will report it.

So I saw this article online....

Did you notice that they described the flooding as "ankle-length"?

I thought it ankle-length was reserved for stuff like skirts and dresses.

Can you imagine a ankle-length flood? Wouldn't it look like this police man here.....

Only dry bits are his boots.

A song a day 59

Far away, this ship has taken me far away. Far away from the memories of the people who care if I live or die.

Starlight, I will be chasing a starlight until the end of my life.

I don't know if it's worth it anymore.

Hold you in my arms. I just wanted to hold you in my arms. My life, you electrify my life. Let's conspire to ignite all the souls that would die just to feel alive.

I'll never let you go if you promise not to fade away.

Never fade away.

Our hopes and expectations. Black holes and revelations.

Little Fluffy Clouds

It - they were beautiful
The most beautiful skies as a matter of fact
The sunsets were purple and red
And yellow and on fire
And the clouds would catch the colours everywhere
That - it's neat
Because I used to look at them all the time
When I was little
You don't see that
Little fluffy clouds.....

Recommended listening: Little Fluffy Clouds ~ The Orb featuring Rickie Lee Jones

Carpet Munching Companies

Finger. Lickin'. Good!

Let your fingers do the walking.

Once you pop, you can't stop!

This was from 1997 - The Crocketts

Will You Still Care

Will you still care for me,
When I lie dead and crumpled at the
Bottom of your ten-storey, high rise flats.
I can be your rubber man.
You can scoop me up and put me in a can.
And bury me underneath a stone.
A stone that says that I am only 19 years old.
Will you still care for me?
No, No, No, No!
I don't fucking think so! I don't fucking think so!
You're just gonna let it go.
You say there is no specific story line.

I am just a figure on a stone mountain.
I think I'd like to jump & float into the sky,
By & by I will reach the bottom,
I will be dead and crumpled underneath your,
Ten-storey, high rise flats,
Will you still care for me?

No, No, No, No!
I don't fucking think so!
You're just gonna let it go.
I don't fucking think so!

You say you're a beautiful woman.
But I've got something to say.
I've been to the factory.
Where women are made.
I've seen what they do to them.
I've seen what they put inside.
And now I'm going to stay away.
'Cos I found out. That girls aren't made
From all things nice. Girls aren't made
From sugar & spice.
Let it go slow. Let it go slow. Let it go slow.

'Cos I,
I don't fucking think so!
You're just gotta to let it go. I just want to know.
Will you still care for me?

The Crocketts

This song is just so funny. A must-listen. I first heard it in 1997. It was part of a compilation CD which included Brokenheart by Spiritualised. Came free with the 6th Anniversary copy of the Big Issue.

The life of Michael Clayton

****I am going to link the movie Michael Clayton to Robert Oppenheimer - father of the atomic bomb, Vishnu/Krishna/Shiva/Harihara, the Bhagavad Gita, local gay poet Cyril Wong and I hope you lose your patience and attention along the way....****

I know the way this movie was publicised would lead many to think it is a story about a lawyer and a mega case, how he, Michael Clayton, this hotshot lawyer, as portrayed by George Clooney, will turn it around and win it. Although a class act is mentioned and forms the backbone of the movie but it is misleading. There is no courtroom drama.

Even the movie tagline - "The Truth Can Be Adjusted", is misleading.

The movie is really about Michael Clayton. He who is a well-known fixer in a respected law firm, compulsive poker player, failed husband, trying to be a good father to his young son, good friend/colleague to a manic depressive, having a lukewarm relationship with his detective brother, son to his father, failed businessman, in trouble with the loansharks, etc etc etc... He really thinks he is a weak person because there is a little scene where he tells his son that he sees alot of steel in the young boy, but he does not know where that came from (ie. not from Michael Clayton....am I losing you here? Pay attention to the movie dialogue....).

That us why it was titled Michael Clayton and not anything else.

How good was this film? Well, it was good enough to filter out movie goers from film buffs. About an hour into the 2-hour movie, this couple behind me left. The girl was already whining 30 minutes into the movie saying the film was a complete bore. I turned around just in time to see the couple. The guy had the type of haircut similar to what the Taiwanese boy bands have now and he was carrying a few stalks of flowers. The girl was in some frock thing. They were obviously film buffs. (insert sarcastic tone) No patience for quality to show. I jest.

It is interesting to note that the characters, Arthur (Tom Wilkinson) and Michael Clayton (George Clooney) said, "I am Shiva, God of Death!" Recently Cyril Wong was interviewed by AssTee and he mentioned how Harihara was formed through the merging of Shiva and Vishnu (some homoeroticism) thing..... The law firm that Michael Clayton is working for is also heading for a merger. Well, anyway, Shiva and Krishna are essentially one and the same. Wait, or is that Vishnu? Or Krishna is his avatar? Anyway, wasn't it Robert Oppenheimer who made famous the line from the Bhagavad Gita, quoting Krishna, "For I have become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds." after seeing what that his research had led to the Atomic Bomb. Perhaps this was how the Arthur felt because he was responsible for allowing travesty to happen through his litigation work.

Watch this or miss out. George Clooney is so good. No melodrama. Just perfectly timed nuances.

Wist

If there is anything I appreciate in a person, more so than their frightening good looks, shameless wealth, awfully good dressing, it would be their taste in music wit.

You see, wit is something that you cannot surgically enhance. You can't let a fun(d) manager take charge and help you grow some. It's not about a walk-in wardrobe chockful of expensive designer togs which everyone else can max their credit cards out on.

Wit can compensate. Wit can hide that pimple at the end of your nose. And it's only a pimple, it will go away, the person asking about it is stuck with his/her face. Wit can wipe the oily shine off your forehead. Wit can generate intellectual wealth for you and make paupers out of the rich. Wit cannot clothe you but it sure can let you spill the beans on the emperor's new clothes without saying the words "naked", "nude" or "naturel". Wit can let you get back at the fat bitch who queries if you're serving pork at the dinner party - just reply, "Which end of the fork?".

And that is why I think Boris Johnson should be the next Mayor of London. He is the classic eccentric, esoteric, polymath-ematics wit that should head a city like London.

iGod 2

Me:
you prefer yakult or vitagen?
God:
How old are you? I really like the Christianity faith. I really like ELIZA. I like Buddha.
Me:
I'm asking about yakult and vitagen.
God:
Oh I see, you are asking about yakult and vitagen. Oh yeah, we were talking about yakult and vitagen.

American Ah Beng Gangster

Last night caught American Gangster. Never watched much Russell Crowe movies. I definitely caught Master and Commander. Quite a good turn. In American Gangster, he plays Richie - a narcotics officer, complete with belly fattened up with donuts. But it was really Denzel who made the movie.

Tells the story of Frank Lucas, who together with Nicky Barnes and Guy Fisher were the original awesome threesome who ruled the black communities in 60s and 70s.

For the movie, the production team led by Director Ridley Scott actually recruited Frank Lucas and Richie for consultation work. And NY Magazine ran an exclusive interview with Frank Lucas and Nicky Barnes who have not spoke to each other for more than 30 years.

Frank, who was the driver for "Bumpy" Johnson (who was portrayed by Laurence Fishburne in the movie Hoodlum), was recently interviewed by NYMag together with Nicky Barnes. Click here for the article.

Frank and Nicky have some comments on the US Presidential Elections coming up:

But I don’t think we’re ready for an Italian president. I don’t think we’re ready for a black president. I don’t think we’re ready for a woman president, but I tell you right now: I think Hillary Clinton will win this thing hands down.

The Italian in question is Rudy Giuliani. Who was then the District Attorney chasing both of them down. Perhaps because these two black drug tychoons were eating into the Italian share of the pie. Oops~! Did I just say that?

Catch this movie. 157 minutes worth of it. All good.

Short blurb

I have checked with my dad on his car....but he cannot remember the exact look. Too many vintage cars these days have been modified to a certain extent.

Click back.

And I just don't know why is the dog at home so cute. She does it so naturally.

She just took a piece of my shorts with her....inches away from what is also known as my crown family jewels.

Inagiku

Had a great Jap dinner with gcm. I wish to thank American Express for giving me the Feed At Raffles card. Why do I like Inagiku so much??

Was there last month with sis for the wagyu hotpot so this time tried the other stuff. Like wagyu grilled on hot stones which were too salty. A pity cause wagyu is so delicious. The assorted sashimi was amazing....especially this baby pink fish that we had no idea what it was. And sea urchin! Again! Just had that last month. Assorted tempura .... was pleasantly warm and the sauce was one of the best ever. Not too salty. The salmon roe and salmon spring roll was alright. Washed down with sake. Don't know how to appreciate sake but thought it was fragrant enough when warmed up.

And it was really funny how the dinner place was decided. Splurge indeed! gcm will choose the venue for our next indulgence.

Fast Car

I was thinking if I should buy a car. If I were to buy a car, I was thinking which car to buy.

I was telling mum I should get something impractical. Like a 2-door sportcar. She had alot to say about that.

I didn't find any support from her.

So I went to my dad. He's got some moral obligation to support me on this. Because when he was still going after my mum, he was driving - get this - a white Triumph Herald and after that, an MG convertible. He was still into sportcars after I was born because I sat in his Toyota Celica Gen 1 before. My mum said there's a pic of me doing a "Truman Capote" pose in the back seat. The seat was upholstered in brown velvet. Talk about being impractical. My dad kinda triumph over all your dads. Your dads are inferior when compared to mine. So what if your dad spent quality time with you? My dad had brown velvet seats for his Toyota Celica Gen 1.

I'm going to go through a few photos with him this weekend. So that I can put the link some online pictures up here.

His MG had license plate number SP 1234. I'm impressed.

So it is probably in my blood (just like how my high blood pressure is congenital) to want a sportcar. So fuck the environmentalists, fuck the USD$100 per barrel crude, fuck the road tax, fuck the practicality, fuck me. I want a sportcar too. But I don't want brown velvet upholstery.

p.s. Dad's Triumph Herald (Heller, as he says it, Primary School Engrish) was white. And so was the MG which was an MGB Midget. I asked him, it looked a little like this one:

Burberry & Mario Testino

Burberry's ad campaign always tend to be sombre, black and white, with an emphasis on poise. Rigid.

I was in town. Yesterday. Went around checking out the tail end of the sales period before the official CNY sale starts. Or has it started?

Anyway, checked out Marc by Marc Jacobs....think I am not ready to buy anything in there as yet. Nothing caught my eye in particular. So didn't check the prices.

And seeing Agyness Deyn on the front of Burberry, in monochromatic glory....I had to slow down. But the weird thing, maybe sad, is that the latest campaign by Burberry is already featuring (for the first time in a long time) brilliant technicolour with Lily Donaldson, Coco Sumner (Sting's daughter), Merlin Ferry (Bryan Ferry's son) Alice Gibb (no, not the daughter of any of the BeeGees) and of course Agyness Deyn.
But the flagship store in Singapore is still featuring last year's ad campaign....

A song a day 58

Just let the record play
And bring it back again
You can't appreciate
What we were into then
In two seconds
The beat was recognised
And all the old school heads
Nodded back in time
And though we just met
I've known you all my life

Just let yourself

Go

_please, help me find you_

Childhood

I like meepok dry.

When I was younger, whenever I stayed over at my granny's place, the next morning, after accompanying her to the wet market, I will have breakfast with her. She usually ordered something like kweh tio mee. It was meepok tah for me. I think that was the main reason why I like staying over at her place; the morning wet market visit followed by breakfast. Sometimes I will be rewarded with a bowl of soybean curd if I was particularly helpful. Like helping granny carry her blue basket with the stainless steel handles. The handles left indentations on the fleshy forearm of my granny. Sometimes granny will randomly slip in some marketing tips. Like choosing fish - eyes must look alert, fins not broken and no fishy smell.

I don't like the smell of the wet market.

Chickens were killed on the spot if you wanted freshness. The seller will slit the throat and dump the chicken into a blue drum. Without fanfare or ceremony. You half expected a prayer or even some wincing by the seller. But hardly any emotion escaped from the faces of both the seller and the buyer. There wasn't much sound. Probably drowned out by the incessant yaks of the aunties. You could get fresh duck instead of chicken. Same treatment just different price. There is also a musky scent that lingered whenever granny led me to the area where they sold fresh pork. Mixed with the smell of fish and prawns. Salt-tinged. They were usually located adjacent to each other.

I don't like the smell but I remember it fondly.

The dried goods store had a distinct smell too. Of yellow pages. And newspaper. Because that was usually what was used to wrap the dried shrimps, ikan bilis and many other shriveled up animals. Sometimes a random store will pop up in between the store with a sari-clad indian lady selling conical heaps of reddish, ochre-ish, orangey spice powder and the store with a plump chinese auntie, a hanky tucked into the armholes of her sleeveless blouse selling canned food and preserved vegetables. Often with a coconut squeezing machine that pressed out coconut milk. You can have the fibrous remnants in a separate package. The random store could be one selling nightgowns and panties. Or an aquarium. And I will look wistfully at the terrapins. Or hope that a hamster escapes. I will then plan on how to spirit the escaped hamster away. I will feel my pockets to make sure that they were empty. Make room for the imagined brave hamster that escaped.

I like meepok dry because of my childhood. The wet market. The sleepovers at granny's.

A song a day 57

What is that sound running round my head?

"Funny." I thought. "That part was long since dead......"
But now there's new life coursing through my veins because there's someone who'll make it beat again.

The sound that makes the world go round.

Transcripted

Because it felt relevant at the time.......

JACK
Did you get maced too?

RITA
No. I'm crying.

Rita hands Jack a small paper sack. She looks to Francis and Peter. They look back at her blankly. She says to Jack:

RITA
What's wrong with you?

JACK
(Pause)
Let me think about that. I'll tell you the next time I see you.

RITA
Sure. Tell me then.

JACK
Thanks for using me.

RITA
You're welcome.

~ Scene from The Darjeeling Limited.

Should I start with the wit? But I should not. Maybe it's the loveliness. How not to fall prey to the characters in The Darjeeling Limited. A little bit of yourself in each of the brothers. A little bit of someone you knew from way back when. Francis, Peter and Jack - a composite of everyone you know. But wished you hadn't. So fallible. So lovable.

But just like what Angelica Houston (who plays the trio's mother) said, it's not very attractive feeling sorry for yourself.

Not an essential movie. Certainly not going to be a blockbuster. But heartwarming with an odd aftertaste.

(So did anyone else pick up Claude Debussy's Clair de Lune, which incidentally was sampled by Lamb in their album Between Darkness And Wonder, re-titled as Angelica)

I forgot to add....besides the nicely crafted tale of three brothers who found some semblance of solace in each other while trying their best not to get into the way of each other, you get to see Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman. There's Bill Murray too, making an odd cameo. And for Louis Vuitton fans, you get to see 11 pieces of exclusive Marc Jacobs and Eric Anderson (brother of Director Wes Anderson) co-designed Louis Vuitton luxury luggage. Turns out, Wes and Marc are friends. And if you are wondering how the brothers look so spiffy after getting thrown out of First Class, well, they were wearing LV suits.

Mental note : Movies in Jan

Have to watch these....not in any particular order....hopefully in Jan 08.

The Darjeeling Limited
Michael Clayton
Eastern Promises
Reservation Road
Vexille
My Blueberry Nights
AvP2

What The Hyell?!?!

People have been throwing donkeys and elephants. damn....not real ones but Republican Elephants and Democratic Assess on FaceBook....maybe it'll be good to read up on why the Democrats are represented by the donkey while the Republicans are using the elephant.


Also there was a sudden surge in Miss America crownings.....


narbeh.....

I'm not a miss lor.....but....... all hail me....for I am Miss America.

Succinct

Don't overstate a point.

Earthquakessss

There were three earthquakes that happened in different parts around the world.

The timings were all rather close....

Canada: Magnitude - 6.5 UTC - 051144Z Jan 08
Indonesia: Magnitude - 5.4 UTC - 052001Z Jan 08
Greece: Magnitude - 6.1 UTC - 060514Z Jan 08

Music is not free....

Music can be an expensive interest. I just spend more than $200 dollars worth of CDs and concert tickets. Broken Social Scene, Sondre Lerche, The Bird And The Bee...

The powers that be re-released the debut album of Broken Social Scene - feel good lost. Eye Magazine, based in Toronto, says:
Feel Good Lost conveys the cocoon-like bliss of two boys staying up all night during a sleepover, in their corner of the world, bonding over the joy of making music.

Weird. I don't think I want to go there....

And serene with kewei, as Little Black Book, will be performing under the banner of Living La Vida Local come 26 Jan. I just realise that Kewei is singing at Oosh (dempsey) too. Which is where superfuturist (soepom) aka Joanna Dong sings sometime. If she sings as well as she dresses, it'll be wicked cool. Must check out soon. I am still impressed by her quote, surfeit of expression; paucity of meaning, and hence soepom.

Well, about last night...

i have got a cardi since dec 06. and now it's called a mansweater - thanks jados!

cannot feel the vibe at zouk, thank goodness. i think will lay low all the way until the next sirens with stanton warriors.

i have been keeping to my "resolutions". although i should sleep earlier.

an abridged version of my 2008 resolutions:

no more "clubbed to death - circa 2007" - be discerning. be moderate.
more chocolate milk and less cigarettes - rufus wainwright is not an ideal role model.
drink + drive - not even if they pass the breathalyzer test. or can solve trigonometric equations. especially so when they are not able to before drinking.
get that fucking driver's license - and get a fucking car already.
buy that fucking condo that is so near KLCC - or get over it.
be less sad - i dare not even talk about being happier. less gloom and doom will do.
wear that mansweater - even if everyone else think otherwise. being fey and jaunty is the no longer gay but who am i kidding?
get rid of my eyerings - i figured i can't look any less malay-like. i think my eyebags are part of my facial features. i can do with looking less like a panda.

me, this is me. and me, this is me!

A song a day 56

Maybe I wrote
In invisible ink
Oh I've tried to think
How I could have made it
Appear

But
Another illustration is wasted
Cause the results are the same
I feel like a ghost
Who's trying to move your hands
Over some ouija board
In the hopes I can
Spell out my name

Movies Wrapup

Caught a few movies in December and didn't really mention about them. Found myself with alot of spare time so could watch a few.

Mental note: Weird things to do alone - watching movies, buffets and meals at restaurants.

Nanking - About the massacre of Nanking 1937. It's like a documentary with stage actors/actresses sitting around giving readings, actual survivors giving vivid descriptions of the atrocities and original war footage. There was this scene where a Nanking survivor was relating how a Japanese soldier killed his mum and baby brother. NO way there was a dry eye in the cinema.

The Warlords - Great movie that contained so many lessons derived from Sun Tzu and the Art of War. Also alot classical idiomatic examples of how gentlemen and great men can be humbled or defeated by.

The Golden Compass - Quite a bore....really. The underling theme got muddled with telling a great fantasy tale. And ended letting everyone know that there WILL be a part two. So it got people asking, "What would be your daemon if you had one?" - duh.

I Am Legend - I am reading Alan Weisman's The World Without Us and the effects of total human absence in a city as described in the book is how it was portrayed in the movie. The movie's is not a "inyerface" action movie. Neither is it a "Night of the Living Dead - New York redux". I think it deals with alot of social, ethical and other related public policy issues. I thought it ended very hopeful. Which was not bad. I don't know how many people you know are talking about the hint hint wink wink Batman and Superman movie featured as a billboard in this movie. So will there be a Batman and Superman cross movie announced in the Christmas season of 2009???

Across The Universe - The songs were fantastic. The versions were slightly different. Some were completely different. But still, its the Beatles. The story was simple. Boy meets girl type. Movie suffered from poor editing. Lacked direction in the midst. But I guess the mary-jane induced stupor that the cast exhibited explained the "wannabe MTV-style" cutting.

A song a day 55

Don't carry the world upon your shoulders
Well don't you know that its a fool who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder

What's wrong with this picture?

Robert Browning and Benjamin Gibbard

It will be flippant to say that all songwriters are poets. Not all poets are songwriters. Although some have such mastery of language, rhythms and meters, they cross borders. That is if you believe that there is a border separating fantastic lyricists and poets.

After repeated listens of We Looked Like Giants by Death Cab For Cutie (will I ever get over this band?), I found myself reminded of Robert Browning's Meeting At Night, whose letters to Elizabeth Barrett Browning - How Do I Love Thee? had thrown her into ecstasies. These two contemporaries of Edgar Allan Poe, who is brilliant as a lyrical poet (listen to Antony And The Johnsons' take on his poem The Lake) who praised Elizabeth in a letter he sent, famously eloped.

Which really fitted the lyrics of the Death Cab song above.

Also the amorous shenanigans youthful exuberance get up to as described by both We Looked Like Giants and Meeting At Night are so similar in setting.....I'm sure the Brownings would have got it on in their horse carriages as well......they don't own cars yet, not like the couple described in We Looked Like Giants.

How do you begin to describe these things?

You should skip straight to the song and lyrics below........

I make weird analogies. Sometimes. Usually they don't work. Mostly because it's so lousy an analogy that instead of reducing complexities, it further obfuscates. Instead of a logical inference, the analogy becomes illogical.

After buying Plans by Death Cab For Cutie, I didn't really gave it a good listen because I thought I had already found my favouritest song off the album with I Will Follow You Into The Dark.

Until some few days ago I read off some blog that What Sarah Said was a really heart-wrenching song about hospital waiting rooms and the lyrics painted such vivid imagery that you can smell the piss and the 409 (name of a floor chemical cleaner) emanating from the hospital floor.

Heart-wrenching? Vivid Imagery? I was in want and eager to listen to it in a heartbeat.

And that was when I saw the weird title of the next song - Brothers On A Hotel Bed. It was easy to know what What Sarah Said was singing about. But it took a number of listens to get what Brothers On A Hotel Bed was about. Yeah, I'm dense like that. Dense as in dumb, slow and not intelligent.

The lack of a proper chorus makes the song even better but again, that's just me.

The song first starts by describing the physical changes of the person, how he retains none of the youthfulness that had once graced his face. Then it's about the non-physical changes; mental, emotional... He no longer recognises himself. The younger version of himself. He remembers how he didn't want to grow old like this because he didn't want to be a tiresome old fudge.

The two versions of him tries to rationalise but however much they try, he can never recover any of it that has come to pass. And his attempts are futile however much he yearns to regain what he has lost in the in-between years that has slipped by. And the title of the song, Brothers On A Hotel Bed, is used to describe this distance between himself and his former self. Two brothers on the same bed, will try their best to sleep as far apart as possible and there is an awkwardness compressed within that space. Mumbling their goodnights with their faces turned away.

Brothers On A Hotel Bed

You may tire of me
As our December sun is setting
Because I'm not who I used to be

No longer easy on the eyes
But these wrinkles masterfully disguise the youthful boy below,
Who turned your way and saw something he was not looking for; both a beginning and an end
But now he lives inside someone he does not recognize when he catches his reflection on accident

On the back of a motorbike
With your arms outstretched, trying to take flight
Leaving everything behind
But even at our swiftest speed we couldn't break from the concrete and the city where we still reside

And I have learned that even landlocked lovers yearn for the sea like navy men
Because now we say goodnight from our own separate sides like brothers on a hotel bed

You may tire of me
As our December sun is setting
Because I'm not who I used to be

Death Cab For Cutie