Why wouldn't this me mine?

The good thing about buying raw jeans

My nudies looked like this back in May 28, 2007.

This is how they look like now.





Every fade, cat whisker and rubbing is from me.

forum behaviour

Shameless....and don't even realise it.

The typical renotalk forum response goes like this:

1. Oh, your lights are so nice but I saw others which were just as nice but cheaper at XXX.
2. Oh, you have good taste, your lights are so nice. I have them too! But mine were bought at a cheaper price.
3. Oh, you have good taste, your lights are so nice. I have them too! But mine were bought at a cheaper price. And nicer too, don't know why but my ego says so.
4. Oh your lights are so nice but mine are nicer. And I bought mine cheaper too.
5. Oh your lights are so nice! I don't care what price you paid for them but mine are nicer and cheaper.
6. Oh your lights are so nice. But if only they were of a different colour, different material, different size, different design etc etc different. Just like this one which I bought which is not only nicer than yours but cheaper too.
7. Oh your lights are so nice but expensive! Mine are nicer and cheaper.
8. Oh your lights are so nice and cheap! Mine are nicer and cheaper.

Out of forums, these people still speak the same way!

Suar

Bought this pair of stools.

Same size. The smaller one on the right. Two of them

Looks like an amputated Panton S Chair doesn't it.

The lady at the shop was saying it's carved out of a solid piece of suar wood trunk. She went on to explain that the suar wood was a durable hardwood with fine bands of grains in a rich shade of dark brown. She likened the suar to mahogany. My eyebrow (left, to be specific) raised visibly. Similar grain and density she proffer. I heard the word "similar" loud and clear.

Found out from the company's website that suar wood is from a very common shade tree. The suar wood they use are sourced from fallen trunks and trees that are being removed for housing development or highway construction projects. Certified eco-friendly, apparently.

She could have told us the suar wood is actually wood from the common rain tree.

I never knew the raintree could have such nice grain and colour. There was an Indian national who was at the shop too. He was looking at another stool. He had wanted to ship one back to India.

Mahogany....isn't that the type of wood Gibson's Les Paul guitars are made of?

just an odd post

I realised that I can win at poker if I'm playing with three Pinocchios.

I really should start a blog on home renovation but a couple of things come immediately to mind:
1. I won't have the time and energy to maintain it.
2. I will have the time and energy to do it after the renovation is over.
3. If the renovation is over, I will not have the enthusiasm to start it, much less maintain it.

Why is the original Tom Dixon's mirror ball lamp so expensive and even a reproduction is not cheap?
Replace the underlined item with the following:
1. Achille Castiglioni's Arco Lamp
2. Poul Henningsen's Artichoke Lamp
3. Hans J. Wegner's Shell Chair
4. Hans J. Wegner's Wishbone Chair

Dining area (cause it's not a room) is Scandinavian with a Viking-led invasion of lamp and chairs.
Stairwell is Industrial - cement screed, white walls, glass and steps with stainless steel strips as antislip treads. Need a Mirror Ball Lamp to complete this.
Living room is minimalistic - Arco Lamp accompanying Shell Chair.
Kitchen is .... what is the theme of the kitchen??

Anyway, still not pictures yet. Taken many but yet to decide if there should be a dedicated blog for it.

We need a hobby

No, I don't think I will close this blog. However I won't blog as often.

It's been a busy one months since June. I don't think things will be letting up in the next one year or so.

I am still awaiting my Audrey Kawasaki print. I don't think there are any firm plans for Pin's birthday. So nobody's talking about a McDonald's Party for him.

The usual suspects, if we can call ourselves that anymore, haven't been doing the usual clubbing weekends anymore. Maybe it's just me who haven't been doing so.

We were in KL for a weekend getaway. Get away from what I don't know. We were just using the reason of checking out the construction progress for Swiss Garden Residences as an excuse to hit north for a binge fest. Meals came at 4-hourly intervals except during the 6 hours of sleep. we had a short 2 hour jig at Zouk KL but it was the afternoon conversation we had before checking in that reassured myself that I am not the only one who is choosing to stay in on weekends. Actually that is not the case either. We had decided that maintaining a hobby would be good. But cannot decide if it was going to be golfing, tea appreciation or poker/dvd nights. The location was also a consideration. Having a place to crash would be good.

I think some of us foresaw this years ago. What were we going to do when we lose interest in the scene.

Click click click

Everyone reading this, go to http://hall3-sincity.com/

or click here.

Click the Queen of Hearts and vote for my sister Dominique Pang.

=)

Audrey Kawasaki, again.

Two Sisters arrived sometime earlier this year. It's a time limited edition print and it ran to 1060 within one hour. That's how ferocious Audrey Kawasaki fans can be like. The previous time limited edition print I got hit 790. I wonder why the numbers always end up being a multiple of ten?

I haven't been checking her website and didn't realise that the rss feed from her livejournal was not working. Serendipitously, I decided to check her website out on Friday night and lo behold, a limited edition print of the lead painting at the Tokyo exhibition held in May was on sale. Only 200 of them. So I woke up at 5:50am on a Sunday morning and was lucky enough to purchase one of them.

I can't wait for it to arrive.

ennui

the above has set in?
I've been busy and not been blogging. But the number of hits per day remained constant throughout this 6 weeks of hiatus. What does it tell me (and you)? The entries in here don't matter much in the world wide web.
Lots of exciting news, if you're bothered. :)

Brilliant brainstorm briefly brewing

Party FAQs number 7:

Are there any age restrictions for guests? Can adults have Parties at McDonald's too?

There are no age restrictions. Yes, adults are welcome to throw parties at McDonald's. Adults can be kids again and experience the same games, activities and gifts as kids do!

I'm lovin' it

The Innocence Project

There is this 62-year old Japanese man named Toshikazu Sugaya of Tochigi Prefecture who was sentenced to a life sentence after he was found guilty of killing a 4 year old girl in 1991.
His father died of shock when he was convicted.

Recently, he was released from prison after serving 17 years of a life sentence, when new DNA evidence proved that he wasn't the killer.

Besides the fact that he was wrongly accused and sentenced, there is also the disturbing thought that for the last 17 years, the real killer got away scot-free.

But back to the "wrongly accused and sentenced" bit. There is this online website that tracks convicted criminals who were exnoerated of their crimes after new DNA evidence was found in their favour. It's quite a disquieting thought to know that despite all the measures in place, the justice system is fallible.

My job as an insurance policy for Singapore

I remember that somebody once likened military expenditure to buying insurance.
You hope never to use it but when you do, you are damn glad that you have it.

I have several policies. I started with a Life Insurance after a talk by some Insurance Corporation of Singapore representatives during Basic Military Training. This was followed by an Investment Linked Policy when I was 19. Endowment funds followed. And I recently switched to private health insurance to expand my medishield/save coverage and also increase my coverage on critical illness.

Like military expenditure, my objectives were clear. So through good times and bad - Asian Financial Crisis, SARS, bursting of the Tech-Sector bubble, I bought policies not just because I could afford them. Rather, I bought them because I could not afford not to have them. Am I better off now had I not bought them? I don't know. I have difficulty finding insurers who don't mind my medical condition (hypertension). My health and critical care policies come with exclusion and loading respectively.

No matter how the economy is performing, I maintain my policies with regular payments. This is because I expect the policies to provide protection whenever it is needed. Good times or bad.

So if military expenditure is like buying insurance, then why am I not given a bonus when times are bad? Don't I provide protection when times are bad?

Odd observable but unnoticed facts

Music ∝ 1/Volume
If the music is not found in your iPod, the volume at which it is played is inversely proportionate to its quality - invariably, music played from handphones are exceptionally loud. Quality does not refer to the bit rate ie. 128, 256, 320kbps.

Nose-diving Drivers
The top 2 activities drivers take part in while stopped at a traffic light: Nose-digging, closely followed by checking out if other drivers are digging their noses. I do both. Simultaneously. ftw.

Ecosystem
Although the salinity of the water will change, the "city reservoir" that was created from Marina Bay will not have observable environmental effects. This is because Singapore was not concerned about the ecosystem in the water before and will not be too bothered about it when the seawater in the bay becomes "fresh" water. There is no basis for comparison.

Human Traffic
The human traffic lane system employed at various MRT Stations eg. Outram, Somerset and Orchard will never reach its potent effectiveness in easing human congestion. Until a fine is imposed, enforced and the culprits shamed on The Straits Times, The New Paper, My Paper, Today, Berita Harian, Tamil Murasu, Lianhe Zao Bao and especially Shin Min Daily News (because the 4D results are published in this tabloid).

Danger, May Cause Drowsiness
Passengers who are old, handicapped, pregnant or a combination of any of these descriptors are special. They cause drowsiness in other passengers. Especially in a moving train or bus.

What I want to do with my one hour lunch

60 minutes in a lunch hour.
3 minutes from office to canteen.
no more than 7 minutes in the queue.
consume food in 10 minutes or less.
buy drink back to office.
back to office within 30 minutes of lunch hour.
spend next 30 minutes reading newspaper while sipping drink bought from canteen.

bliss.

but the need to maintain "harmonious relationships" with colleagues meant that i spend more time making mindless banter that leads nowhere and often repetitive.
sometimes the topics of conversation are interesting. but often it's boring.

i dread to think what the Scout's movement did to me in my formative years. i memorised this as a wee 9 year old boy. and it's stuck with me like a bad tattoo.

Scout Law (Singapore)
A Scout is to be trusted
A Scout is loyal
A Scout makes friends,establishes and maintains harmonious relationships
A Scout is disciplined and considerate
A Scout has courage in all difficulties

Woke up this morning

I woke up this morning and a minute after getting out of the bed, I received an sms from my immediate boss.
I don't work Saturdays.
Not typically so. Unless I am on duty.

I quickly made a reply.

While watching a travel programme on tv, the images triggered the memories of my visit to Vietnam 9 years ago.
There was a tour that I signed myself up for.
I remember myself snorkeling in and around the bays and islands that were found near the coastal town Nha Trang.

The tour guide fashioned a "floating bar" of some sort using big tyre and an aluminium tray, and offered watered down ice cold alcoholic drinks. What appeared to me some cordial with red wine.

Floating in middle of the sea after a suitable amount of the drink, listening to the Beatles and other radio classics from the 1960s and 1970s. There was a particular song that made me think about my life then.

As it does now.

Yesterday,
All my troubles seemed so far away,
Now it looks as though they're here to stay,
Oh, I believe in yesterday.

Suddenly,
I'm not half the man I used to be,
There's a shadow hanging over me,
Oh, yesterday came suddenly.

Valentine 2 : Carol Ann Duffy revisited

I posted about this once before.

Valentine

Not a red rose or a satin heart.

I give you an onion.
It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.
It promises light
like the careful undressing of love.

Here.
It will blind you with tears
like a lover.
It will make your reflection
a wobbling photo of grief.

I am trying to be truthful.

Not a cute card or kissogram.

I give you an onion.
Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,
possessive and faithful
as we are,
for as long as we are.

Take it.
Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring,
if you like.
Lethal.
Its scent will cling to your fingers,
cling to your knife.

Carol Ann Duffy 1993

It's too good to stay covered.

Carol Ann Duffy is the freshly minted poet laureate.
First Scot to be chosen.
First woman to be chosen.
First openly gay to be chosen. (There might have been closeted ones)
First poet to be chosen in the 21st Century.

I think "moon" in the poem has taken a darker hue in terms of meaning for me. It is not what is promised. But how she intends to orbit around you, discrete in "brown paper", as you go about your daily musings......

Nude Couple at Holland Village

The nude couple at Holland Village were fined S$2,000.

I thought it was a little too harsh even though they were not jailed.
The fine was the maximum but they could have been jailed.
Punish them by making them wear clothes lah. Anyway, what was so anti-social about walking in the nude? They probably could make more friends, aid social cohesion and create a good laugh (and a buzz on stomp/sam leong's alfresco/hardwarezone edmw).

The pair (what other "pair" were you thinking of?) are students at Karolinska Institutet. The guy claimed he misapprehended and didn't know public nudity is an offence in Singapore. Maybe he thought Holland Village is governed by the Dutch. It's like the people who walk along Little India. They cross the roads along that stretch of Serangoon Road as if they are in India. Hmm, actually I have not been to India. So I don't really know. Neither have I been to Holland. So I am not certain if nudity is permitted in Holland.

The girl, being the scholar that she is (she is more than a lab technician ok), contributed to society through her research work in infectious diseases. She contributed to the vibrant night life of Holland Village that January night. So she should be rewarded. She was involved in projects promoting safe sex education previously. That's meritorious as well. I'm sure she was carrying a condom while parading in the nude. Just in case.

But when they left court today, they did not return to their former glory.
Preferring instead to be very covered up.


Pictures from CNA.

What is a vicious circle?

When a bad thing leads to another bad thing and so on so forth until it leads to the original bad thing which leads to another bad thing...

Therefore when you have a sadistic side punishing your masochistic side, it's just about as vicious as it can get.

This didn't keep me up

Vehement.
Emphatic.

Commonly used in written form.

But I don't think I have heard people actually using them in conversations.

broadcasting

this is me, coming to you live, in a toilet cubicle.
Splat.
I need a shower, clean change of clothes and a good rest.

Thought Police and the Ministry of Truth

I read George Orwell's 1984 more than a decade ago.
That was when the teenagers were still chatting on mIRC and setting up their own websites.

mIRC is still around, people have moved on from ICQ and more are getting into instant messaging. People are still setting up their own websites. Kind of. It's called blogs.

Twitter and Facebook allow users to share their thoughts and activities with the rest of the world (depending on your privacy settings). They do it without being told. That's not unlike the Thought Police (thinkpol in Newspeak). The thought police in 1984 were the enforcers of law and order in the psychological and intellectual realm. More than the control of physical breaking of laws, thought police will use all available means to glean thoughtcrimes - unapproved thoughts and the intent to challenge authority. With Twitter and Facebook, you will be logging "What are you doing?" and "What's on your mind?" without being told. I don't think George Orwell would have imagined that this was how the Thought Police would manifest itself. I wonder if he would have been twittering and facebooking had he been alive today.

Wikipedia and Google form the twin pillars of the Ministry of Truth. Ministry of Truth (Minitrue in Newspeak) is one of four Ministries in 1984. It "governs", "manufactures" and "popularises" truth. What this meant was that histories are re-written or destroyed so as to be presented in an authorised manner and disseminated to the population. And that is why I said Wikipedia and Google form the two pillars of Minitrue. Wikipedia gives you the definition of everything you need to know. I've been linking to Wikipedia throughout this blog entry. Google tells you where to find the information you need. It decides (through its algorithm) what is relevant and what is not for you and lists them out in some order.

Me? I started Twittering in 2007. According to Twitter, my first tweet was made on 15 May 2007 at 7:25pm. twittering. twitting. twiing. whatever ...
Facebook I probably started sometime in early 2007. I cannot remember when did my number of friends exceeded 3 digits. Anyway, it used to be easier looking through the list of friends of my friends to look for mutual friends. But now, it's just tiresome.

My Firefox browser search bar tool is set to Google search as default.