Two Cents and 500 Words On Gladiator II

<Spoiler Alert> I caught Gladiator II and it was an interestingly edited film. It’s a looooong movie, over 2 hours but it certainly didn’t feel like it. There are no slow bits in the show. I think this was a conscious effort on the part of the director, producers and scriptwriters to actively keep the audiences sitting up in their seats, eyes open and brain hungry for what’s next. I think no scene is more than 2 mins long, even the ones with smart people talking. Could this be the result of social media-weary attention spans? 

I wished the show was just that a little more contemplative though. For example, the time after Hanno’s wife dies seems very disconnected from how Hanno feels about her. He’s even smiling and joking with his fellow inmates on the way to Rome. Granted he’s focused on revenge, Hanno comes across as very detached from his inner torment. The only bit I feel he truly brought forth any emotional display was when he screamed at Lucilla to leave, quite literally a “get ouuuuuut!”. He wasn’t very distraught when she got struck in the heart either. Such a brooder. 

Nonetheless, it’s a fun film. Love the giant Colloseum pool scene. It was amazingly epic, the floor of the stadium transformed from sandy beige to beachside Maldivian blue. But where did they keep the sharks though? I mean Rome is up to an hour by car to the sea so says Google, which means it would have taken the better part of a day to bring Jaws and friends to the arena 1800 years ago. In perpetual salty wetness no less. Also, there are some very quick scenes that’ll make you flinch in adrenaline spike - the sword throw from one of the twins to rile Acacius, the reveal of the Poet, Macrinus helping slice a head off, the arrow culling of Acacius’ henchmen (drop dead, pardon the pun, beautifully executed, also another pun). Loved that Pedro Pascal delivered his lines in what sounded like a Spanish man speaking English. Denzel might win Best Supporting Actor for this. 

There are some cheesy bits which surprised me - the ending with Lucius trying to placate both sides of the military. He sounds like the humbled winner of a closely-called election attempting to mend broken bridges in a mildly tense stand-off. (Perhaps a certain orange-tinged actor politician should apply some of that.) Also an Indian doctor who meets his wife from London? Come on! What kind of Oxford-educated Union Jack colonial set up is that? Also the final bit with hands over the wheat fields is a bit much of a throwback I think. 

Still a good show for the big screen! I suspect some newborns may be named Lucius, Verus, Aurelius, Marcus, Maximus, Meridius, Hanno, Ari (not Arishat well because of “shat”) and Lucilla in the next few months. Not Commodus because that sounds like toilet too much, and not Decimus because that’s too close to decimal. Maybe Ravi. 

Unimportant script hole - Google says Rome annexed Numidia in 43BC and 25BC. So any mention of Christians in the film is wrong. Also Marcus Aurelius died in 180CE, and that doesn’t sync with the actual Roman African conquests aforementioned. 

Old Chang Kee Is Making Money. Too Much Money?

I sent this to the press 4 days ago but they didn't publish it. 

"Recently, curry puff maker Old Chang Kee reported a 42% jump in profits for sales across the 6 months prior to 30 September. This is on the back of a 53% jump in the previous reporting cycle.

While this is great news for shareholders, we need to also factor in how price increases of their retail products have contributed to this extraordinary profitability. I recall their basic Curry O chicken curry puff cost $1.60 a couple of years ago and is now sold for $2 - a rise of 25%.

It is a tad incredulous that the company states that "inflationary pressures from the rising expenses of raw materials, labour and rental, and that manpower shortage remains challenging" when clearly the reported metrics show a different outcome.

Given the inflationary concerns Singapore residents have been going through post-Covid, it is concerning that local companies are riding on these price increases to help boost their profits at the expense of the tightened purse strings among ordinary folk."

Talking to friends, they've also expressed similar, seemingly ridiculous price hikes at Toast Box and Ya Kun, our favourite local places. A check online shows that the cheapest hot drink at Toast Box, a basic hot Kopi-O, is $3. A friend of mine told me his Ice Teh-O at Ya Kun cost him $4.20. 

At the same time, i also have friends who said there's nothing wrong with making a profit. They go "Buyer beware" as the customer has a choice in the matter. I agree but what happens to the overall retail environment is that the price hikes permeate. I would also classify coffee and tea a basic need in Singapore, maybe even on par with rice and cooking oil - items consumed at least once a day. 

When one vendor raises prices to "combat inflation and rising cost of goods", another will follow suit to create a new normal benchmark for similar goods sold in similar ways (local coffee in a mall setting for example). What this does then is cause a slow but steady rise in inflation across the board, which ultimately affects you and me. 

Not one company's problem but a country-level matter, how the small details ladder up to the big albeit gloomy picture. When basic needs become expensive, often consumers do not think of finding alternatives because that's how basic needs are ingrained in their purchase behaviour. Do the powers that be care?

Employers will face pressures to raise salaries as their staff start complaining their paychecks aren't enough to make ends meet the same way as before. I am wondering if Old Chang Kee, Ya Kun and Toast Box raised salaries alongside their price increases.

One friend said my photo would go up on the walls at Old Chang Kee outlets if the letter was published. I think I would be proud, curry puffs dismissed by principle.  

Angmoh Falls Down, No One Cares

I was walking home along Race Course Road on Sunday evening. It was a spontaneous decision to work off a massive lunch over the 3km it would take to get home. It was busy as expected, mostly with foreign workers out and about on their day off. As I made my way to the junction with Birch Road, I saw an older, stout Caucasian man lying slumped on the grass verge on the traffic island. His body was partly twisted, and a walking cane lay a metre away. I rushed towards him, asked if he was alright and proceeded to help him up. He had trouble righting himself, and he said his left leg was weak. After some effort, the gentleman managed to stand upright, with my hands providing support under his shoulders. He was disoriented but coherent. I wasn’t sure if he was inebriated but he could hold a conversation albeit at a subdued pace.

When I asked what happened, he explained that he had tripped, lost his balance and fell. When I asked if he lived nearby, he replied affirmatively but there was no one home to fetch him. I next asked if he was in pain or needed an ambulance. He insisted he merely wanted to get home, that he hated hospitals. As we slowly made our way towards where he lived, we engaged in rather amiable conversation. I introduced myself and he said his name was John, and that he was 63 years old. From his accent I had assumed he was a tourist from England but he explained he was a Singapore permanent resident for many years. He could even joke that I was as chatty as his ex-wife, and that his caretaker would be upset when she finds out about his predicament.

We trudged carefully towards one of the smaller lanes spreading in and out of Race Course Road while chatting. I kept firmly by his side to guide his slow sometimes wobbly steps along the pavement, making sure his footing was accurate and didn’t teeter off the edge. After accomplishing 30 metres or so, I could tell John was tiring as he began to lean off balance. I quickly got help from a pedestrian to bring a chair over from a nearby restaurant for John to take a needed recovery break. I also discovered John had a phone and via a call to his helper, I ascertained exactly where he was putting up - about 50m down the road.

During our breather, I spotted a few Certis Cisco personnel making their way towards us. They had high-visibility vests on while making their rounds monitoring the Little India crowds this weekend. As they came by, I requested if they could help me with supporting John to his nearby apartment. I have a couple of slipped discs at 50 years old and rendering assistance can often render me bedridden for a bit. The pseudo-cops were hesitant to help outright, and suggested that getting an ambulance was more appropriate. John declined, again repeating his plea to get home. The Certis Cisco staff present were soon joined by a couple more colleagues who popped out a passenger van that had stopped by the side of the road. From the conversation that ensued, I could sense the reluctance from these boys in blue at getting involved, that they had to get back to their regular duties instead. I breathed an internal sign of exasperation and told them we would figure ourselves out and the squad left.

I coaxed John up, and we continued to amble along the busy road. I had to make him lean on a pillar so that I could return the chair borrowed from a restaurant. I think John found it amusing. At some point, in front of the building called home, a couple of passers-by graciously helped to lift John a few steps up when he couldn’t bear his weight on one leg. I escorted him up to his apartment, stayed with him for about 10 minutes to make sure he was settled, and informed his caretaker that he was back safe and sound. 

I don’t know how long John was lying on the grass verge for, and am surprised no one else came to his aid. Singaporeans, come on! I’m also disappointed by the lack of reasonable assistance from the Certis Cisco staff. I understand that the situation was out of their regular scope of work. Nonetheless, it would have been decent if they could have rendered some help to bring John home - perhaps a quick ride in the passenger van to relieve an old person from having to struggle 50 metres on foot to his home.  With a burgeoning elderly population, there will be more situations like this for everyone to deal with, not just civil servants or medical staff. We’ll need kinder, decent residents to step up and play their part. 

---

PS - I went back to visit John the next morning. The helper was there and she thanked me. She also rolled her eyes at John for going out unaccompanied, haha. Turns out John was lying on the grass for 10 minutes! Shame to all passers-by! He said he too proud to shout for help though. I told him his pride will kill him one day. There's more to this tale. And I'll probably start visiting this angmoh geriatric on Sundays. He's quite entertaining. 

Let’s Not Forget Who Sung It First!

I get a little miffed when some singers get credit for singing other people’s songs, especially when the original singers had done a great job in their own right. Here’s my list of five songs that deserve thanks and credit to their originators.

1. How Am I Supposed To Live Without You

Originally done by Laura Branigan, she unfortunately passed away too soon from a brain tumour. Her songs was magic with enough heartfelt emotion to render it a tearjerker. To usurp her glory comes big hair Michael Bolton who does a soppy version to seduce the lonely ladies. Urgh. Here’s Laura live. RIP. 

I have her Self Control single on vinyl btw.

2. The Power Of Love

Celine Dion took this partially operatic masterpiece off the charts and many people first appreciated her vocal prowess with this ballad. Kudos madamoiselle D, but it was Jennifer Rush who first took music monster to number 1 in the UK way back in 1985. 

Here are the Rush lungs of power, albeit in a strange video. 

3. Valerie

Amy Winehouse died too soon. She also drank way too much. In any case, she cleverly redid The Zutons’ quaintly slow rock Valerie into her signature runaway jazzier style. Both songs sound quite different but have the same vocal melody so everyone will recognise the tune regardless. I do feel there’s something apt yet refreshing about Dave McCabe’s vocals. 

The girl in the video looks a little like Amy no?

4. Venus

Who didn’t love Bananarama in the 80s? They first found massive fame with a song called Venus. “Oooh she’s got it, yeah baby, she’s got it”. Love it. However, the song is from a Dutch band Shocking Blue and first released, get this, in 1969! Summer Of Love! Free Love and hippie happiness. It even went to number 1 in the US, the first Dutch band to do so, high or otherwise. 

5. The Greatest Love Of All

I can’t diss Whitney. She did do a song called The Greatest Love Of All which is a cover of George Benson’s original, which doesn’t get played near enough. Black men can sing too, and not just rap or sound like Stevie Wonder or Louis Armstrong.

Here he is live at Montreaux Jazz Festival in 1986. 

Spotify links to the original artistes' versions below:

How Am I Supposed To Live Without You 

The Power Of Love

Valerie

Venus

The Greatest Love Of All

Short Tale - Is Your Child A Witch?

Adapted from real life events that took place over the weekend that sparked my imagination. 

----

Suddenly C appears from nowhere and reaches for the bag of potato chips on the dining table. 

“Where did you come from?” I ask. 

Silence. “They’re hiding in the kitchen”, says K.

“Talk about stereotype”, I add. 

C tries to scoop a mound of chips into her hands.

“Why don’t you put them all into a bowl? Here”, I said handing over a grey plastic bowl Ikea made for kids to avoid making messes at dinner time. 

Ten-year-old C continues to be silent but obedient to the instruction. 

“What are you girls doing in the kitchen?”, I continue to pester the young C. 

“They’re in there in Y’s room, talking and eating,” K replies on behalf of the child. 

“Oooh, like little witches plotting mayhem”, I add. 

I get a glare and frown from C as she runs off with the bowl of crunchy snack into the out-of-sight kitchen. 

“They’ll all be holding the bowl together, hands touching the container, passing their witchy energies into the receptacle.”

“Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and caldron bubble,” goes A.

“Right,” I continue, “They won’t know it but their magic will coalesce into the bowl and it will find lift. It will rise against gravity, ever so slowly but defiantly. They won’t realise it but their powers begin to present themselves. As the need for effort to hold the bowl evaporates, one of the ladies’ hand will move away inadvertently and the bowl will drop to the floor, the flow of sorcery broken. Their eyes will meet each others, no words spoken but a realisation that something beyond their physical selves had manifested across a PVC bowl of Lays. They knew then they were powerful.”

“One day, when C or A2 is mocked by a boy over something ridiculously childish like pimples or a stain on a uniform, the three shall gather by the school fence, Y on the outside. One of them will probably be sobbing, like C because she’s vain like that. In their need for comforting each other, they’ll hold hands, scolding and cursing the boy in question. Perhaps the whole male species may be maligned in their spitfire. Unbeknownst to them, their assemblage of emotions and hand holding will summon the invisible dark forces to do their instantaneous bidding. A tinge of red will glow in their eyes. “He’ll get this giant zit on his big fat nose that’ll burst at assembly period. Hahaha.” “Or he’ll get diarrhoea at PE when he’s far away from the toilet. Hee hee hee.” “Or maybe he’ll fall down the stairs and lose a tooth. Oooooh!”

“A yell and scream would be heard just then. C and A2 would turn around to face the school building while Y would stretch her neck and tip toe to see what had happened. Their hands would slip in their grip. C would only then notice how warm and red her hands were, unaware of how tightly they were latching on to one another. “You better go back,” Y will say, as if she was aware of events.”

“You’re horrible,” K remarks. 

“Hey man, witches. You never know when and where but men better look out,” I conclude. 

“What’s Y doing there?” A asks.

“They know when they need each other,” I reply, raising my eyebrows. 

"You're very imaginative," curious bystander and mother of two M says. 

"I don't have a job right now and K's given me another beer," I reply. 

Top Three Annoying Traits Among Singapore Commuters

 I had a colleague in a job years ago who’d come into the office in a slightly sweaty huff, thrown down his copy of the then free local daily he was handed at the MRT, and declare “God I hate people.” If asked why, he’d explain how the morning crowd would annoy him to the point of frustration and brink of insanity. 

Well, I don’t hate people, sometimes. Other times I find  them annoying. I’ll give a three examples of this variety of humankind. 

1. Pavement Owners - Keeping left while walking on a pavement seems to be difficult for some these days. They seem to gravitate to the centre of path and want to stay there regardless of oncoming hordes. These pavement owners perhaps are used to getting their own way, and maybe at the focal centres of their families, friends or figments of imagination, and want to continue strutting their large egos down shared public paths. What’s worse, when they’re in groups sauntering to or after lunch. I have encountered these oblivious herds on my usual rush to yoga class in the city. Where do I jump to? Off pavement into the grass?! Keep left and keep the sane social order of movement, please. 

2. Phone Zombies - I saw this episode of cartoon “My Gym Partner Is A Monkey” where all the wildlife was wholly mesmerized by a sole shiny diamond someone found. “Shiny, shiny, pretty, pretty” the animals would slowly chant as whoever had the diamond wielded it for attention and power. Turned out the diamond was glass and it shattered accidentally during PE. I surmise parallels to this fake diamond with how some pedestrians cannot stop staring at their phones. We’ve all met these phone zombies — powerless to look beyond their 6 inch screens but able to use a finger to maintain swiping, as they manoeuvre through, around and into traffic, greenery, pets and whole populations with nothing but peripheral vision. Everyone else has to avoid them. I sometimes end up face to face with these ghosts. Abruptly denied their source of instant entertainment by a large foreign body (me) in from them, they shudder, mutter some apology, and do a dance to figure out where to proceed. Some may frown or manage a tsk noise before sidestepping my obstacle self. The whole interaction may take 2 annoying seconds. It’s a talent I must say, to assign navigational control to side eye. Also a testament to Darwin’s natural selection theory. Sooner or later, I expect phone zombies to tempt death or at least serious injury via open manhole, car collision or otter attack. All to satisfy the craving for continuous entertainment. I wonder if anyone who’s been injured because they’ve been focused on their phones while moving has sued Meta, TikTok or Netflix for being too engaging. Get off your devices for heaven’s sake. 

I wish they’d look up to see if who needs a seat or if they could scoot in more when we’re in the trains. 

3. Anxious Bus Stoppers - why have bus passengers become kan jiong? I know there’s an advice plastered somewhere on buses to not press the magic button too late but seriously it’s become ludicrous when passengers are singsonging while the bus is just about the leave the preceding bus stop. Why is everyone this anxious to get off? Do we not have faith in bus captains to obey this instruction? Surely this must annoy bus captains to bits. 

Oh wait, is this a game being played out? Who gets to press the button wins. My sister and I used to be this childish when we were heading him from primary school via public bus. Have we infected everyone across all age groups? Take a deep breath people and let me press the bell. 

There are more annoying commuters out there. Also there are people who have a need to reserve yoga mats at class.And much to write about all of them another time. 

Cheapo Looks For New Oil

I'm just going to start writing as if I never left. It'll take too much explaining and emotional upheaval. So yeah, fullstop and next. 

The price of olive oil has skyrocketed. We have been cooking with olive oil every since the doctors told my mum that it was the healthier oil given her history with cardiac trouble. I too have been blessed with a high LDL to HDL ratio, and subsequently am taking a low dose of statins each morning. (LDL stands for low density lippoproteins aka the bad cholesterol, and HDL are the high-density versions with 'good' used to describe them. A rather biblical dichotomy you might say.)

Physical health notwithstanding, the penny pincher in me is wondering what's the best alternative to this "liquid gold" as it pokes harder at my financial circumstances. So factors I've considered, or been led to consider based on whatever Google has presented as results, are 

• saturated fats vs polyunsaturated fats ratio
• linoliec acid content
• omega 6 to omega 3 fats ratio
• and of course the price of acquiring of oil. For simple comparison I used, Redmart by Lazada. 

Saturated fats vs polyunsaturated fats ratio - we've been told by many health professionals that saturated fats are generally bad for us. They told us to eat less butter and lard. Of late, the docs not quite so sure anymore but prefer to err on the side of data. Saturated fats aren't out of the naughty woods but seemingly help raise both LDL and HDL versus previous thinking about LDL effects alone. 

Linoleic acid - This very specific chemical came up when i Googled about what's bad about groundnut oil. Linoleic acid or LA is most common polyunsaturated fat in plant oils. There's a study that correlates the consumption of oils with high linoleic oil with increases in both LDL and HDL count but also a reduction in plaque in arteries. Given that high LDL counts are what doctors say lead to heart trouble, my concerns then focused on the oils I have at home currently and what alternatives the supermarkets stocked. Edit - There's also oxidised LA which may actually work to generate heart problems, and that complicates matters doesn't it? The higher the LA count, the greater the chance of the damn thing being oxidised. 

Omega 6 to omega 3 fats ratio - Omega 3 oils come from mostly oily fish and certain seeds and nuts. They apparently keep the brain and heart moving, lower triglyceride numbers and reduce inflammation. Omega 6 oils are found in many nuts and seeds. Turns out we're eating way more Omega 6 oils than Omega 3 oils, key reason being that it is inadvertently in a lot of processed foods, like breads, cereals and fried foods. Also there's more O6 per gram than O3 in their natural sources so we could be eating too much anyway. A number of studies have suggested that that could be a bad thing. With less O3 in us, there's possibly more inflammation in the body, we're more prone to allergies and other autoimmune conditions. 

(What a voluminous kettle of scientific fish this is)

Oil prices - Red Mart's house brand Olive Oil was $16.76 for 2 litres in 2022. Today it is $26.94. That's a 60% price increase. This slippery crisis has been blamed on climate change affecting crop output. Apparently, folks in Spain are shoplifting bottles of olive oil as a result. 

I made a table in the end and shrunk that for this post.

Oils	% Linoleic Acid	Sat/Polyunsat ratio	O6/O3 ratio	$ est 1L
Beef Tallow	NA	12.80	-	-
Butter	2%	14.40	-	$24.00
Canola Oil	21%	0.22	2.00	$4.00
Chicken Fat	NA	1.46	-	-
Cocoa Butter	3%	20.25	-	-
Coconut Oil	2%	59.00	No 03	$10.00
Corn Oil	59%	0.21	83.00	$4.00
Cottonseed Oil	54%	0.50	54.00	-
Flaxseed Oil	NA	0.13	0.25	$60.00
Lard (pork fat)	10%	3.57	11.00	-
Margarine (stick)	NA	0.67	-	-
Margarine (tub)	NA	0.53	-	-
Olive Oil	10%	1.50	9.00	$9.50
Palm Kernel Oil	NA	55.50	No O3	-
Palm Oil	10%	5.58	46.00	$2.00
Peanut Oil	32%	0.53	32.00	$6.00
Safflower Oil	78%	0.40	133.00	$17.00
Sesame Oil	45%	0.34	138.00	$15.00
Soybean Oil	51%	0.26	8.00	$3.00
Sunflower Oil	68%	0.16	40.00	$6.00
Vegetable Shortening	NA	0.97	-	-

With the premise that 

1. too high a linoleic count is bad,
2. a high a saturated fat to polyunsatured fat is bad,
3. too high a Omega 6 to Omega 3 ratio isn't great, and 
4. I'm a cheap bastard

the data shows either Canola or Peanut (Groundnut) oil fit this bill of mine. And that Coconut Oil will kill us if ingested. 

BUT everything with a proverbial pinch of salt please. I'm no doctor, just a guy with internet access.

Should I have put this through an AI instead?

Edit 2 - Holy wait a minute Batman! Rice Bran Oil seems to be magic bullet we've all be waiting for. I looked into it after a number of friends on Facebook asked me to verify this choice of oil. And what a discovery indeed. 

Oils	% Linoleic Acid	Sat/Polyunsat ratio	O6/O3 ratio	$ est 1L
Rice Bran Oil	34%	0.89	15.63	$4.50

Here's what's awesome about Rice Bran Oil.

• It's got less saturated fat than most plant oils, and Saturated to Polyunsaturated ratio is less than 1.
• The O6 to O3 ratio is relatively low.
• It's got a lot a monounsaturated fat in the form of oleic acid, an Omega 9 fatty acid - about 38% worth. This good thing helps to reduce LDL, increase HDL and also reduce blood pressure! Olive oil is about 70% oleic acid. 
• Vitamin E (essential for the brain to absorb Omega 3), Vitamin K (help the blood clot better and important for bones) and beta-carotene (benefits the eyes, is an anti-oxidant too) are present. There is also this superhero-sounding chemical, gamma oryzanol, that helps to protect the liver! 
• High smoking point of 232 deg C which is great for Asian cooking.  
• It's not expensive!

So yeah, Rice Bran Oil is it! Winner winner fried-in-Rice-Bran-Oil chicken dinner!

Sources:

• Saturated fat vs Polyunsaturated fat ratio - https://www.thespruceeats.com/all-about-fats-995463
• O6 to O3 ratio - https://www.insidetracker.com/a/articles/omega-6-to-omega-3-ratio
• LA in oils - https://www.news-medical.net/health/Oils-Rich-in-Linoleic-Acid.aspx 
• Oxidised LA effects - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6196963/ and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3467319
• Omega ratios in oils - https://www.drfabio.com/healthblog/cooking-oil-comparisons
• Nutritional Quality Score for Oils - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10180740/
• Replacing Saturated Fats with Linoleic Oils In Mice - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-44030-9
• Importance of Maintaining a Low Omega-6/Omega-3 Ratio - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8504498/
• Rice Bran Oil Analysis - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9798847
• Rice Bran Oil: A Prominent Ingredient for Holistic Human Health - https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/13/9/1305