Are You Trying To Make An Impression?

One thing that may "define" our lives is the ability to leave a mark in/on the world. Well, I could be talking about graffiti, where one's creative use of language and paint could leave an impression worth making the papers with, and landing in jail for a few weeks, rotan lashes thrown in for free.

Perhaps I should have started out softer, more whimsical and romantic. Did you ever dream of making it big? Like when you turned 21 and thought the world was yours for the taking? Ok, that's like crap. (Unless you live in California). We dream of writing books, making a film, buying big houses with (insert name here) Estate on the front gate, playing a piano concerto in front of 2000 tuxedo-ed and gowned snooty people. Others may envision planting a flag on Everest, or replanting the Sahara or making a scientific breakthrough to save the worsening world. That's the really big stuff.

I think, or rather I know, some of us have discovered that one way to put your mark on the world is through our children. I don't have any, yet, but have been looking after my nephew (6 months old) on and off. Beyond the genetics, I can see how a parent would want to shape his/her kids life. To mould this fresh, clean slate into a bright, gleaming human entity. That's a permanent impression, from the ABCs to what your kid does when he/she sees someone steal.

You hear it on TV all the time - parents want to live their dreams through their kids. That's up to you when the time comes.

So are you making an impression with your existence? Or what have you done? More importantly, how important is that to you? I bet some, maybe most of us, don't even care. Or you could just look out for some fresh concrete and take a hands on approach.

Zip Code Antics Once More

I confess, I used 90210 as my American zip code address for some online forms. Those not in the TV scene will be delighted or repulsed to know that you will be seeing and hearing a lot of more about those 5 digits now that some smart asses in California decided to 'bring it all back' with a new teen-ridden TV series.

I don't get why we need more teenage Americans screaming, shouting, whispering, kissing, hugging, making friends, breaking up with friends and not doing their homework. And oh yah, doing the nasty in the Mercedes in the carpark. Kids dissing other kids because they're cooler. Come on, we've seen the OC. We've seen or at least heard of The Hills. There's something on MTV called Laguna Beach. I bet there are more, it's just that I ain't clued-in enough to the TV show scene to advise my esteemed readers. They are all the same, just different actors and locations and lighting.

They said they don't want to repeat what the earlier series had achieved - making us vomit. I doubt things will change. Excuse me while I plan to change the channel.

Heroes Is Back! Yay!

I know that some of you have already downloaded the goodness of Season 3, and can brag. Hmpf. That's ok, I shall get my fix on cable. Slowly, in measured doses. Even repeats on the weekend. Star World, my extraterrestrial substitute for Mediocrecrap 5.

God Save The Queensway

It's a throw back in time. I remember my father buying me strawberry Meadow Gold ice cream there when I was a wee kid. I can't remember why we were there. It could have been because we had gone to Alexandra Hospital next door. Today, Queensway stands like a historic testament to the power of focus. People from all over come to buy shoes at the scores of stores that stock every conceivable form of footwear. Escalators now carry you upstairs, only one way up - which I figure helps to control shopper traffic flow. On the top floor, the same old shops that zap 10 pages a second still do a reasonably roaring trade. I bound my Final Year Project report there, as did many other undergrad. We did a loop around the first floors before we decided that this blast to the past maybe perhaps had lost its charm. I guess we were a little tired and aimless. But I got a cone of strawberry to enjoy :)

I may be coming back, since my pair of Asics are looking less than fresh. We'll see.

Red Laser Spectacular

We went to this art gallery, Collectors for a talk on the psychoanalsis of art in conjuction with an exhibition of work called Confabulation. We learned about looking at things from the eye versus the gaze, reality versus intent, however unplanned. It was quite an eye-opener.

The exhibits were cool and thought-provoking. This pix is a shot of low-level red lasers emanating from a circle arrangement of emitters. With a smoke machine and the light turned off, we got this wondrous 3D, star-trekish effect. Stunning, especially when you walk towards the source.

The gallery is a little out of the way in the city, haha. Jalan Kilang Barat. You'll realise it's so close yet so far. Confabulation is on till Oct 25.

Kelly Moves On

That's a shot of Kelly and Johnny, friends from an earlier job. Kelly was celebrating her final day at Zouk winebar, and the picture tends to confirm it was a wild, vodka-laden evening. Haha. Well, we celebrate the future. It was also good catching up with some folks I hadn't seen in a while. Johnny included.

All the best in the new job Kelly.

32, 33 and now 35

I recently took on a new job. It's one where I have to leave my jeans and t-shirts behind for 4 out of 5 days of the work week. So I had to update my business wear and in that process discovered that my waistline isn't mine.

I thought I was a 33. And that 33 would be a comfy fit. But no, I leaped up to a shocking 35 for snug. After time in the fitting rooms in several stores, I emerged with larger than usual trousers to wear to my current employ. Sigh.

But no, I have a size 32 bermudas and size 33 jeans. Hence the semi-miffed post. Haha, I let it go as quickly as I exited the trains at Raffles Place. No point fretting over a 2-digit number that defines vanity and superficial perceptions.

A friend advised it was 'cutting'. Business wear just has a different 'cutting'. Great.

This Curry Is Safe To Swim In

That's a slightly unsteady shot of a bowl of shark curry with two chappatis dunked in.

It's probably unsteady because it was my first meal of the day today. Lack of sugar and sustenance and all the jazz. The curry is overnight curry, which afficionados will tell you is the best curry. My mother cheats with the chappatis - she makes them thicker so she prepares fewer chappatis and we get fuller faster. It saves on cooking gas too if you think about it.

Yes, the fleshy chunks are shark. My mother likes to buy shark at the market as the cheaper fish alternative. The fins we all know are expensive and should not be eaten as an affirmation to the violent and brutal persecution of the most advanced fish species, but the meat is cheap. And tasty. The flesh is firm and takes in flavours quickly. Bet you could batter bits and fry it up as a snack.

When I told some of my friends about this seemingly peculiar protein source, they imagined a fin sticking out of a pot of curry, slowly making ever-decreasing circles as per the film Jaws with music thrown in. If only Spielberg was Indian.

Burn After Reading

I managed to catch the much lauded Coen brothers film Burn After Reading on Saturday. It's got some real high profile actors who come together really well in a film that is essentially about pride and paranoia. Without giving too much away, the film goes through the paces of how one misplaced item can transform the lives of a small group of individuals in an interconnectedness that goes beyond humour and into alarm. The story is pretty single-minded but plays upon the unique traits and desires of each character. You get to understand how each person thinks and hence plays out his or her life.

Then it gets funny. The funny is sort of like adding a bucket of KFC to traditional, homecooked dinner. Both strange funny and haha funny. Some people are afraid, others jump in and some don't care. But everybody experience has been twisted, forever. Maybe that isn't a great analogy. But it made you think eh. And the smell of fried chicken rekindled in the nether reaches of your nostrils, didn't it? Gotcha.

Go watch it for yourself. It's a little slow in the beginning but soon you'll be giggling (and grimacing) along nicely. It's NC16 and when you suddenly get shown why, you might think it should have been R rated. Just rock it baby. Hahaha.

And listen to the song that plays over the credits appears. It's so funny.

Burn After Reading official site

Job 5 Day 1

I gotta iron shirts to wear for this one. Again. The trousers too. (I was tempted to write 'pants' but technically pants are underwear as dictated by the Queen, right Puay?) I am not averse to ironing. I just to need to rediscover the therapeutic spell of steam, hot surfaces and starched creases once again.

I have to wake earlier too. My body is adjusting slowly in spite of the Monday and Tuesday training. I needed caffiene to rescue me this afternoon.

Day 1 of a job is always interesting. It sets up the rest of the career. My boss told me he has 3 kids, 2 maids, sold his flat up north because it was far up north, explained his leadership style and bought me ramen. I told him he looks too young for his age.

More excitement came when the department secretary couldn't decide what my surname was. And then the computer came with Windows XP. So I had to move the icons and toolbar with Start Button to the top of the screen. Not because that what it looks like on my Mac but because my right hand tends to move the mouse more often to that part of the screen that anywhere else. Just like I did back on my laptop 2 jobs ago.

Time to sleep. Early to bed, hopefully early to go under, early to get up.

Stuff That's Gonna Screw Us Over

Sticking to the negative sentiments, I've been meaning to write about this - stuff that we're doing that's gonna screw us over sooner or later. I dunno, I have this compulsion to tell the world that we're not exactly being the best we can be to each other and the planet, plants and animals. We easily ignore the world around us in our pursuit of material wealth. There are others who ignore the world around them because they are struggling to survive. So here goes:

1. Deforestation - the more trees we cut down, the less leaves there are to transform the carbon dioxide we emit into oxygen. More CO2, more heat, more melting of the caps, waters get warmer, corals die (which means even less oxygen around), we suffocate some time later. Like I mentioned before, the UN should declare war on Brazil if anymore of the Amazon gets cut down.

2. Overfishing - we take too much from the Earth without giving it time to replenish. Maybe because there are too many people around. (I know people who think wars are a good way of keeping the population down. Ahem.) We fish too much and cod and tuna stocks are depleting like there's no tomorrow. Maybe true for the fish.

3. Pollution - despite all the lessons that the west has learned about how we just fark up the environment, the information and mostly importantly the consequences aren't being shared. Factories in China, India, Indonesis and other large but poor countries are simply dumping waste back to the land and seas. People in small towns in China are already dying of odd cancers from drinking polluted water for years. We need to seriously safeguard the enviroment against degradation we can prevent.

4. Unequal distribution of wealth - Nice concept Karl Marx had but even the most communist of regimes are facing the inevitabilites of economics. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer. It's said 30% of the world's population has 70% of the world's wealth. The problem with the wealthy is that they tend to indulge in the excesses. It's said there's enough food thrown out in the US annually to feed the world's starving. The other problem with the wealthy is that they want more - more cars, bigger homes, fancier clothes - all of which strain resources further. The nasty future scenario happens when the poor gang up to rob the rich. Anarchy and revolution. 1917 again?

5. China - 1.4 billion people switched on. The same number who thought the world for them was fair now have to deal with problem 4. Also, they will want more of everything now - cars, TVs, mobile phones, pizzas, wine etc. More strain. The price of oil, steel and grains has gone up primarily because of Chinese demand. And because everyone wants to make a buck in the world's factory, you get people who will do anything for that dollar. Like add melamime to milk powder, make dolls with lead paint, baos with newspaper fillings. It's scary. Expect political trouble there too. Money begets a greater desire for free will and less control. Things are moving too fast for the Chinese. There may not be time to deal with the consequences.

6. Africa - I think the only time Africa was stable was before the Europeans decided to carve it up for themselves. (Did you know there was a meeting of European powers to decide who got what in Africa? Read this.) The whole place is just perfectly insane. Mass murder in Rwanda that no one did anything about. Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe that gets you $40million in local currency to one USD. Kids used as slaves to look for diamonds in Sierra Leone. Fundamentalists kidnapping tourists in Egypt. Seems like power rests with whoever has the AK47. Libya is looking normal now.

7. Plastic bags - The damn thing doesn't go away. And the NTUC cashier seems to dish out plastic bags like their free. They look puzzled when I refuse them. Someone needs to invent cheap, biodegradable bags and styrofoam replacements. There's enough garbage around.

8. Russia - Big, loaded with money and flexing muscles. It's changed a lot since the Iron Curtain collapsed and now there's even talk of reinstating the monarchy. Like in China, the change was been rapid and perhaps more vicious. Russia supplies Europe with quite a bit of its gas. Shutting that lifeline off is now a leverage that Russis has. Already, Russia is fanning flames in Georgia, sending NATO into a frenzy. They also sent long range bombers across the Atlantic to meet up with their Venezuela friends, not to mention asserting claims across the North Pole. Best to keep an eye out on what the Russians are thinking.

9. Energy sources, the lack thereof - Oil runs the world now. And it runs out in about 50 years. There's natural gas to tide us through but that will go too. So should Singapore go nuclear? Set up a solar panel island or a wind farm station in the South China Sea? Electricity prices went up by 20% on 1 Oct so it's high time we thought about how we are going to sustaining our power hungry ways. The other important thing to put money into is batteries. They will be the future.

10. I was thinking there'd be a number 10. Like one problem for each finger on a normal set of hands. Maybe Hip Hop is a problem. Or drugs. Parents not being home for their kids is a problem. Kids not being home for their aged parents is a problem too. Sigh. Time for bed. Pleasant dreams.

My Hotmail Doesn't Work!

Basket. Why can't Microsoft stop screwing around? Keep the classic Hotmail for all I care, I don't give a rat's ass about the Silverlight frontend, no matter how snazzy they can make it look. I can see my Inbox then all the links stop working. I click on an email title, nothing. Click on a folder name, nothing. Click on the delete button, nothing. WTF!

Should I give up my primary email address I've had since 1997?

Yahoo's email is ok (and quicker too) and Gmail is blowing the competition out of the water (but spying on us at the same time).

Aarrgh! 30 unread emails, all this helplessness. Since last Friday. Aarrgh!

Banks @#$% Up And Your Next Step

Every working day in the past few weeks, many people have been glued to TV screens or the Internet watching the stock market do its rounds on the rollercoaster of economic turmoil. Banks seems to be in the forefront of all the chaos, collapsing left right centre.

Those not familiar with why this is happening, let me put things into a simple terms. Banks make money by charging interest on loans. I loan you a $1 and charge you 5% interest. So you pay back $1.05. I make 5 cents. Same principle on your credit card - they loan you the money to buy stuff and you better pay back in a month. Else it's bloody 24%. DON'T EVER MISS YOUR CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS. Seriously.

Anyway, the problem with these banks is that:
- 1. they loaned money to people who they thought could pay back (as per schedule). In this climate, people may have lost jobs or simply don't earn enough to meet payments. Ordinary people on the street with loans they can't pay back caused the biggest banks in the world to collapse.
- 2. they loaned other banks and financial institutions money so that these other banks/institutions could lend money to anyone who asked without checking on their credit history. That's how the 'sub-prime' came about.

When banks go down, everyone wants to withdraw their deposits and make banks go bankrupt even quicker. (Bankrupt, wonder how that word came about?). When that happens, every other business owner panics because he/she may not have enough moolah to make his/her business work. Creditors start chasing for payments. Markets start to collapse. The kanjiongness makes gold goes up, oil prices come down. Blah, blah, downward spiral to hell and all that...

You know all those letters you get giving you loans at 6.88% for you to 'fulfill your dreams' or 'go on that vacation you always wanted' etc etc? Be careful, those are ones that got American public in debt in the first place.

The best thing you can do now is SAVE MONEY. Check your phone bills and compare plans, save $10 a month. Stop eating out so much. One less beer saves you $9 at happy hour. Use less hot water in the shower. Less aircon, more fan. No money, don't spend. I got a friend who says he won't give to charities no more because 'we all need to fend for ourselves'.

I dunno, maybe I am over-reacting. But the newspapers are getting more expensive and price of electricity is going to send bills 10-30% higher. Maybe I'm not over-reacting, over-eating maybe. So SAVE MONEY. Monkeys too.