Our team name for this week's pub quiz is 'Dwarf' which was chosen by Dave not with reference to any individuals that are vertically challenged and round but as an acronym. Thus it should properly be D*W*A*R*F standing for "Dennis Wise is A Rat-assed F**ker". You see, Dave and Marty are fervent Leeds United supporters, and Dennis Wise who was until very recently the Leeds manager, decided to high-tail it to Newcastle United as the "Director of Football Operations" or some such random post. The team name was a rant as his two-faced traitorous behaviour.
It was a tough news round this week, with us only managing seven which was still top. There were a few very random questions in this one including one asking which "children's product was celebrating its 50th anniversary this year". We were along the right lines and guessed Barbie but the answer was Lego. On a random aside, the word 'Lego' was coined by its Danish inventor from the phrase "leg godt" which means "play well" in Danish, apparently. We also missed a question on the (unprouncable) name of some African mosquito which was just thoroughly random.
We soon recovered and scored an excellent ten points on a round on "Cats" which had been picked as the joker round. Of course, there weren't really any questions on cat breeds and the like but references to cats including the author of the book of poems "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats", the name of Postman Pat's cat, the name of the cub in "Born Free" and the panther in the "Jungle Book" and other such references. Between our wide range of knowledge we managed to get them all.
The next two rounds on Sport and Westerns were also pretty tricky though we managed eight each on the two of them collaboratively. We missed a question asking which country won the inaugural cricket world cup when I realised far too late that it was the West Indies. For the Westerns, one question that stood out asked who was the female lead in "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". Despite having seen the film barely two weeks previously, I couldn't remember the answer, but Dave remembered that it was Kathryn Ross.
The Pot Luck round was a true collaborative effort when we managed an amazing 10 points with some inspired guessing. Dave got a couple including the usual anagram question. I somehow figured that the word "lemming" originated from the Norwegian language, and between the lot of us we guessed that Eva Peron died of cancer. So in the end another easy victory for the teachers as we are now called. At least there will be a more level playing field the following week from today, as we won't be taking part - Dave and Vicky will be in Australia, Marty in China, Keith somewhere else and it will be reunion dinner night for me.
It was also a happy and sad night both at the Shoe. Keith received some very good news today and had cause to celebrate. But it was also the last quiz night for Liz and Fletch who are set to depart tomorrow for England. Fittingly, their team was called "Archie Gemmill's last stand". We'll miss you Liz and Fletch.
30 January 2008
29 January 2008
Championship Manager
Having been forced to use my laptop to access the internet due to the malacious worm that was downloaded into my desktop, I discovered an old copy of the football game Championship Manager 2 installed on it. Drawn partly out of nostalgia, I started a new game, amazed that CM2 could run on Windows XP at all. To give you an idea of how old the game is, it begins in the 1995-96 season with Blackburn Rovers as the reigning champions (they still had the old SaS partnership of Shearer and Sutton upfront). And Steve Bruce was still the centre back and captain of Manchester United. I'll be blown.
Of course, there is no challenge in taking United in the game and winning it all oh so easily. So I resolved to take a Division 3 team (the modern day equivalent of a League 2 team, in the good old days the Championship was called the 1st Division) and get it promoted all the way to the premiere league - in just 3 seasons. That would mean winning promotion consecutively from the bottom to the top.
It was a challenge that is far easier virtually than in real life (where it is more or less impossible). I decided on Wigan Athletic, partly because they are in the current Premiere League, so I can make history happen virtually, only a fair bit faster. My cause was not aided by the fact that the first two times I got things going, the game crashed midway through the first season due to data corruption. It was third time lucky that the problem seemed to stop.
As a write this, Wigan did make it to the Premiereship in a scant 3 seasons. Things got very hairy towards the end of Season 3 in attempting to win promotion out of Division One with the two automatic spots (and the title) literally going down to the wire. It didn't help that all my strikers decided to stop scoring. And I must shamefully admit to restarting the game a couple times out of sheer frustration when results didn't go my way!
In my first match in the virtual Premiere League, I ended up facing, of all teams, Manchester United at Old Trafford. I was absolutely shocked when my team actually pulled off a 4-2 win (switching to a 4-3-3 formation must have bamboozled the virtual Alex). I got hammered 1-7 by Leeds at home the next match though.
I'll continue sticking with this and I aim to play as many seasons as it takes such that the virtual game time coincides with our real world (i.e play the game until it is the 07-08 season in the game). Like any good manager I'm setting targets for the team. I want to win the title by then. That will be a vast challenge seeing that Wigan's stadium in the game only holds about 4,500 people and I only have around 3m pounds in the kitty from selling various players (my biggest purchase was less than 100k pounds). Still, never doubt my virtual football managing abilities, nor the bug in the game that causes it to clone amazing new foreign players at the close of each season!
Of course, there is no challenge in taking United in the game and winning it all oh so easily. So I resolved to take a Division 3 team (the modern day equivalent of a League 2 team, in the good old days the Championship was called the 1st Division) and get it promoted all the way to the premiere league - in just 3 seasons. That would mean winning promotion consecutively from the bottom to the top.
It was a challenge that is far easier virtually than in real life (where it is more or less impossible). I decided on Wigan Athletic, partly because they are in the current Premiere League, so I can make history happen virtually, only a fair bit faster. My cause was not aided by the fact that the first two times I got things going, the game crashed midway through the first season due to data corruption. It was third time lucky that the problem seemed to stop.
As a write this, Wigan did make it to the Premiereship in a scant 3 seasons. Things got very hairy towards the end of Season 3 in attempting to win promotion out of Division One with the two automatic spots (and the title) literally going down to the wire. It didn't help that all my strikers decided to stop scoring. And I must shamefully admit to restarting the game a couple times out of sheer frustration when results didn't go my way!
In my first match in the virtual Premiere League, I ended up facing, of all teams, Manchester United at Old Trafford. I was absolutely shocked when my team actually pulled off a 4-2 win (switching to a 4-3-3 formation must have bamboozled the virtual Alex). I got hammered 1-7 by Leeds at home the next match though.
I'll continue sticking with this and I aim to play as many seasons as it takes such that the virtual game time coincides with our real world (i.e play the game until it is the 07-08 season in the game). Like any good manager I'm setting targets for the team. I want to win the title by then. That will be a vast challenge seeing that Wigan's stadium in the game only holds about 4,500 people and I only have around 3m pounds in the kitty from selling various players (my biggest purchase was less than 100k pounds). Still, never doubt my virtual football managing abilities, nor the bug in the game that causes it to clone amazing new foreign players at the close of each season!
Lunch with DT; Two Existential Questions
I met up with DT for lunch today. We had planned on heading to Holland V but a typically sudden Singapore downfall meant that we ended up going to Brewerkz. I remember having dinner with DT and Candida at Brewerkz shortly before I went on to join MFA. That seems a long time ago now.
The chief excuse for the lunch was as a form of repayment for DT earlier treating me (and Candida again) to lunch at the Tanglin Club. He had previously insisted that the Tanglin Club had the best steak and ribs in town and offered to bring me in to try it. For the record, it really was excellent. Lunch also afforded us a wonderful chance to chat and catch up. DT, to me is a kindered spirit in so far as being cynical about life (but not taking things too seriously) and in having a similarly warped sense of humour. It also was an opportunity for me to talk to him about Debs an me, as in his own words he is quite "protective of her".
Two interesting observations from the day. Firstly, the essential mystery that is ladies handbags. Candida had managed to cajole me into buying fifty dollars worth of ACJC fun-o-rama coupons. However since she was at a consultation, she told me to take the coupons out of her handbag and then leave the cash in her wallet. I went up to pass her the money in person, but I couldn't for the life of me find the coupons in her large brown handbag. Basically, I find come to realise that female handbags are incredibly complex mechanisms that no male of the species is able to fully comprehend, let alone find anything in. She later informed me the tickets were in a "side pocket, next too the tampons". Errr, right.
Secondly, I have yet to figure out how to effectively eat a Brewerkz chilli dog without one of two non really palatable options. Firstly, you can try to stuff it directly in your mouth, which causes an enormously huge mess. It is less messy in the case of the burger due to the fact that at least most of the stuff within it is enclosed. The chilli dog has beef chili treatening to spill over the sides at any instant and it usually does. The second option is to cut it up into bite size pieces and eat it that way. But seriously, cutting up a hot dog? That is just plain wrong. It is like, eating your peas in the UK by spearing them instead of scooping them oh so carefully on the underside of your fork (I still find that completely ridiculous).
If anybody has solutions to any of the two existential problems above, do let me know. I will be most grateful. I might even buy you a Brewerkz chilli dog so you can try it out for yourself.
The chief excuse for the lunch was as a form of repayment for DT earlier treating me (and Candida again) to lunch at the Tanglin Club. He had previously insisted that the Tanglin Club had the best steak and ribs in town and offered to bring me in to try it. For the record, it really was excellent. Lunch also afforded us a wonderful chance to chat and catch up. DT, to me is a kindered spirit in so far as being cynical about life (but not taking things too seriously) and in having a similarly warped sense of humour. It also was an opportunity for me to talk to him about Debs an me, as in his own words he is quite "protective of her".
Two interesting observations from the day. Firstly, the essential mystery that is ladies handbags. Candida had managed to cajole me into buying fifty dollars worth of ACJC fun-o-rama coupons. However since she was at a consultation, she told me to take the coupons out of her handbag and then leave the cash in her wallet. I went up to pass her the money in person, but I couldn't for the life of me find the coupons in her large brown handbag. Basically, I find come to realise that female handbags are incredibly complex mechanisms that no male of the species is able to fully comprehend, let alone find anything in. She later informed me the tickets were in a "side pocket, next too the tampons". Errr, right.
Secondly, I have yet to figure out how to effectively eat a Brewerkz chilli dog without one of two non really palatable options. Firstly, you can try to stuff it directly in your mouth, which causes an enormously huge mess. It is less messy in the case of the burger due to the fact that at least most of the stuff within it is enclosed. The chilli dog has beef chili treatening to spill over the sides at any instant and it usually does. The second option is to cut it up into bite size pieces and eat it that way. But seriously, cutting up a hot dog? That is just plain wrong. It is like, eating your peas in the UK by spearing them instead of scooping them oh so carefully on the underside of your fork (I still find that completely ridiculous).
If anybody has solutions to any of the two existential problems above, do let me know. I will be most grateful. I might even buy you a Brewerkz chilli dog so you can try it out for yourself.
26 January 2008
Goodbye Fletch and Liz
Today marked the farewell party of Fletch and Liz, two of the regulars at the Old Brown Shoe. And they were truly regulars. If you popped into the Shoe on almost any evening of the week you would find Fletch and Liz there, probably outside having a smoke, Liz drinking her rum and coke and Fletch his favourite Asahi.
In a random conversation one evening at the Shoe with a man from India who helped to run a Tiger wildlife refuge, Fletch mentioned that he loved Tigers and thought them to be the most amazing of creatures. I thus bought them a National Geographic documentary on Siberian Tigers. I hope they like it.
I got at the Shoe for the 'farewell do' a bit late, having had to settle some other stuff and the place was packed with people wanting to wish Fletch and Liz well. It made me realise how all the regulars there had coalesced into a community or sorts, sharing informal and happy moments. Just like a regular British pub. It also made me realise how much I love it.
On a more random note, I ended up watching some of the FA Cup football while at the pub, and amazingly, Liverpool twice went a goal down to part-time side Havant and Waterlooville [who play in Conference South]. A truly inspiring display by the non-league side who managed to go into half-time level before falling 5-2 at full time.
In a random conversation one evening at the Shoe with a man from India who helped to run a Tiger wildlife refuge, Fletch mentioned that he loved Tigers and thought them to be the most amazing of creatures. I thus bought them a National Geographic documentary on Siberian Tigers. I hope they like it.
I got at the Shoe for the 'farewell do' a bit late, having had to settle some other stuff and the place was packed with people wanting to wish Fletch and Liz well. It made me realise how all the regulars there had coalesced into a community or sorts, sharing informal and happy moments. Just like a regular British pub. It also made me realise how much I love it.
On a more random note, I ended up watching some of the FA Cup football while at the pub, and amazingly, Liverpool twice went a goal down to part-time side Havant and Waterlooville [who play in Conference South]. A truly inspiring display by the non-league side who managed to go into half-time level before falling 5-2 at full time.
25 January 2008
A Birthday Evening
I brought Debs out for a birthday dinner today at Sushi Tei in Vivocity. It was our second trip to Vivo during the week after having dinner at Marche's with Deanna and Tammy, two of Debs's closest friends on Tuesday, in another semi-official birthday dinner.
Despite us getting to Vivo before seven we were faced by an extended queue when we arrived in front of Sushi Tei. It proceeded to get longer even as we worked our way to the front. We were very lucky to get a large table meant for four all to ourselves in what was effectively a fully packed restaurant. I had a soft shell crab handroll and the Beef Yakiniku rice, and Debs ordered some seafood dish for us to share (I ended up with all the salmon because she doesn't like it, thankfully I do).
Afterwards, we just spent our time strolling around Vivo, and out on the open promenade, and perhaps attracting more attention that we would have liked (not that we really noticed). It was a kind of peaceful, placid happiness that comes with being with someone.
Despite us getting to Vivo before seven we were faced by an extended queue when we arrived in front of Sushi Tei. It proceeded to get longer even as we worked our way to the front. We were very lucky to get a large table meant for four all to ourselves in what was effectively a fully packed restaurant. I had a soft shell crab handroll and the Beef Yakiniku rice, and Debs ordered some seafood dish for us to share (I ended up with all the salmon because she doesn't like it, thankfully I do).
Afterwards, we just spent our time strolling around Vivo, and out on the open promenade, and perhaps attracting more attention that we would have liked (not that we really noticed). It was a kind of peaceful, placid happiness that comes with being with someone.
Malicious Worm
My computer has been the unfortunate recipient of a worm that was sent via MSN Messenger (from my mother). It has meant that not only Messenger but Firefox and Explorer are no longer functional on my desktop. I have never truly realised my dependence on the internet till now and my annoyance is profound.Part of the irritation stems from the fact that I really should have known better than to download the file and try to run the application. In my defence, I was multi-tasking at the time and I am inured to my mom sending me nonsense over Messenger. So perhaps the old joke and men and their inability to do more than one thing at one time is true.
How I am managing to write this post then? Well, given that only my desktop is affected I contrived to connect my laptop to my monitor and run the internet from there. My laptop is still functional except for the minor issue of the screen not working at all. I am running this jury-rigged system until I can figure out how to solve the worm issue on my desktop. Suggestions are welcome.
24 January 2008
Swinging Away
I attended my first Lindy Hop lesson today at Jitterbugs. It was a pretty brisk introductory lesson with a relatively large class (almost twenty people in total). I got a bit confused once they started combining the steps with actual movements. I also hope there will be more focus on individuals in later lessons, the sister agrees with me in that you sometimes feel you are doing everything wrong but nobody notices (except perhaps your partner).
On the plus side, the sister noted that in her opinion, a number of the girls in the class were "cute". Not that I'm actually looking, but I definitely concur. Hopefully more people from the class will stay for "Swing Fling" later on in the evening which would provide a useful way to get to know more people and get some much needed practice in.
After the class, we joined our parents for dinner (prior to their trip to New Zealand) and we ended up at Muthu's Curry at Suntec. They wanted to eat something spicy before subsisting on steak and potatoes for 2 weeks or so. We ordered the fish head curry, naturally, and I ended up eating more than half of it (dad isn't terribly keen on fish, the sister didn't have a lot). I teased the sister by leaving the eyeball on her plate (they actually are edible) and she proceeded to make a smiley face out of the two eyeballs, a ladyfinger and some naan bread.
On the plus side, the sister noted that in her opinion, a number of the girls in the class were "cute". Not that I'm actually looking, but I definitely concur. Hopefully more people from the class will stay for "Swing Fling" later on in the evening which would provide a useful way to get to know more people and get some much needed practice in.
After the class, we joined our parents for dinner (prior to their trip to New Zealand) and we ended up at Muthu's Curry at Suntec. They wanted to eat something spicy before subsisting on steak and potatoes for 2 weeks or so. We ordered the fish head curry, naturally, and I ended up eating more than half of it (dad isn't terribly keen on fish, the sister didn't have a lot). I teased the sister by leaving the eyeball on her plate (they actually are edible) and she proceeded to make a smiley face out of the two eyeballs, a ladyfinger and some naan bread.
23 January 2008
Agoraphobics Out!
The title of the post is actually the name that was chosen for our quiz team this week courtesy of the every witty Dave Sowden. For those of you who are somewhat puzzled, agoraphobia is the fear of being out in the open. Thus the wickedness of the title. Get it? Well, oh nevermind.
Anyhow, it was another good night, with the usual full team - Dave, Marty, Keith Prince and myself. Besides the weekly News and Pot Luck rounds, we were faced with 4-letter answers (all answers are four letters), History and Geography and a picture round featuring Movie Posters. We threw our joker in on Movie Posters based on Marty's confidence that the picture rounds are usually very easy (particularly the movie ones) - Keith and myself readily agreeing with him on that point.
We got off to a fantastic start with scores of 10, 9 and 9 respectively on the first three rounds. I was quite happy to nail the answer to the question "what is the only movie that is 4 letters long to win the Best Picture Oscar" - the others had guessed Crash and Rocky respectively when I pulled "Gigi" out of the hat. Gigi was a late 1950s movie, so definitely more of Dave and Keith's generation than mine.
A good joker round would nail it for us, and thankfully we had chosen well. Marty and Dave did the round separately from Keith and myself before we compared answers and we had a match on 9 out of 10 of the answers, with all of us unsure of the same one. But me and Marty both guessed that is looked like the poster for Tron, and that turned out correct for a maximum 20 on that round.
With a 5 point lead going into the final round, we scored a 7 (it could have been lower) and still managed a pretty comfortable win with a total of 55 points. If we had scored a full 10 in the Pot Luck we would have set a new record for points total (58). The elusive perfect 60 remains just within our grasp. On a personal note, I have decided to keep a record of my Old Brown Shoe pub quiz performances on this blog.
It turned out to be a very good evening thanks to the two free beers we won as part of the first place prize (along with all the dosh). It got even better for me when Keith Prince left without bringing his beers home with him - it meant a mild ethical dilemma for me (if you leave your beers behind does that mean it is a free for all) which was quickly resolved by my drinking them. Good times indeed.
Anyhow, it was another good night, with the usual full team - Dave, Marty, Keith Prince and myself. Besides the weekly News and Pot Luck rounds, we were faced with 4-letter answers (all answers are four letters), History and Geography and a picture round featuring Movie Posters. We threw our joker in on Movie Posters based on Marty's confidence that the picture rounds are usually very easy (particularly the movie ones) - Keith and myself readily agreeing with him on that point.
We got off to a fantastic start with scores of 10, 9 and 9 respectively on the first three rounds. I was quite happy to nail the answer to the question "what is the only movie that is 4 letters long to win the Best Picture Oscar" - the others had guessed Crash and Rocky respectively when I pulled "Gigi" out of the hat. Gigi was a late 1950s movie, so definitely more of Dave and Keith's generation than mine.
A good joker round would nail it for us, and thankfully we had chosen well. Marty and Dave did the round separately from Keith and myself before we compared answers and we had a match on 9 out of 10 of the answers, with all of us unsure of the same one. But me and Marty both guessed that is looked like the poster for Tron, and that turned out correct for a maximum 20 on that round.
With a 5 point lead going into the final round, we scored a 7 (it could have been lower) and still managed a pretty comfortable win with a total of 55 points. If we had scored a full 10 in the Pot Luck we would have set a new record for points total (58). The elusive perfect 60 remains just within our grasp. On a personal note, I have decided to keep a record of my Old Brown Shoe pub quiz performances on this blog.
It turned out to be a very good evening thanks to the two free beers we won as part of the first place prize (along with all the dosh). It got even better for me when Keith Prince left without bringing his beers home with him - it meant a mild ethical dilemma for me (if you leave your beers behind does that mean it is a free for all) which was quickly resolved by my drinking them. Good times indeed.
20 January 2008
Top Grossing Movies - 2007
The Life! section in Saturday's Straits Times (19 Jan) listed the Top 100 grossing movies of 2007 in Singapore. The results were predictable if somewhat depressing. Spider-Man 3 and Transformers were the highest grossing films of the year respectively, and set a local record by being the first movies to gross over S$7 million with Spider-Man 3 taking in a cool S$7.8m. The previous gross record was unsurprisingly held by Titanic which rode on a wave of teenage infatuation to S$6.2m at the box office back in 1997.
As expected, the Top 10 was full of the usual blockbuster fare. Besides the two movies mentioned above, the latest Harry Potter installment placed third, number four was Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, the new Fantastic Four movie, the Rise of the Silver Surfer, ranked seventh, Rush Hour 3 was eight and Shrek The Third was ninth. Mr Bean's Holiday also did very well, raking in close to S$4m to rank sixth, just behind Pixar's latest offering Ratatouille. The local film industry can be buoyed by the fact that 881, Royston Tan's ge-tai offering, raked in a cool S$3.5m to round up the top 10.
The results clearly show yet again the dominance of big-budget blockbuster sequels - six in the top ten alone not to mention National Treasure: Book Of Secrets (14th), The Bourne Ultimatum (20th), Die Hard 4.0 (21st), Ocean's Thirteen (23rd), Resident Evil Extinction (24th) as well as comic book or television adaptations - besides Spider-Man, Transformers and The Fantastic Four in the Top 10 we also had Alvin and the Chipmunks (15th), Ghost Rider (16th), 300 (17th), The Simpson's Movie (22nd), Resident Evil: Extinction (24th), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (32nd) among others.
The sum total of the above is a rather depressing situation for those who love critically acclaimed, art house and independent films. We might have Cinema Europa and the newly re-opened Picturehouse but the reality is that it is the blockbusters that the major cinemas are going to plumb for - the brainless action flick and latest Hollywood adaption of a Japanese/Korean horror movie rather than a movie that is truly interesting and creative.
It does pain me that a truly amazing movie like Pan's Labyrinth is way down in 72nd place on the list with a gross of only $475,000 (or 6% that of Spider Man 3), not to mention the critically acclaimed Letters from Iwo Jima (77th - 439,000). Gallingly, Balls of Fury (36th place) grossed more than those two movies combined. Even more depressing is the enormous list of excellent independent films that didn't even make the list of the Top 100.
Not to sound elitist, someone with taste is so defined precisely because he has preferences that differ from the unwashed masses (would classical music and ballet be considered high class if they were as popular as say MTV and rock music?). This no doubt applies to film too, as evidenced all readily by the thermometer of unwashed mass popularity - box office receipts.
Addendum: One interesting thing I noted was that the R21 version of Ang Lee's Lust, Caution grossed twice as much as the NC-16 version (without the much hyped up sex scenes).
As expected, the Top 10 was full of the usual blockbuster fare. Besides the two movies mentioned above, the latest Harry Potter installment placed third, number four was Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, the new Fantastic Four movie, the Rise of the Silver Surfer, ranked seventh, Rush Hour 3 was eight and Shrek The Third was ninth. Mr Bean's Holiday also did very well, raking in close to S$4m to rank sixth, just behind Pixar's latest offering Ratatouille. The local film industry can be buoyed by the fact that 881, Royston Tan's ge-tai offering, raked in a cool S$3.5m to round up the top 10.
The results clearly show yet again the dominance of big-budget blockbuster sequels - six in the top ten alone not to mention National Treasure: Book Of Secrets (14th), The Bourne Ultimatum (20th), Die Hard 4.0 (21st), Ocean's Thirteen (23rd), Resident Evil Extinction (24th) as well as comic book or television adaptations - besides Spider-Man, Transformers and The Fantastic Four in the Top 10 we also had Alvin and the Chipmunks (15th), Ghost Rider (16th), 300 (17th), The Simpson's Movie (22nd), Resident Evil: Extinction (24th), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (32nd) among others.
The sum total of the above is a rather depressing situation for those who love critically acclaimed, art house and independent films. We might have Cinema Europa and the newly re-opened Picturehouse but the reality is that it is the blockbusters that the major cinemas are going to plumb for - the brainless action flick and latest Hollywood adaption of a Japanese/Korean horror movie rather than a movie that is truly interesting and creative.
It does pain me that a truly amazing movie like Pan's Labyrinth is way down in 72nd place on the list with a gross of only $475,000 (or 6% that of Spider Man 3), not to mention the critically acclaimed Letters from Iwo Jima (77th - 439,000). Gallingly, Balls of Fury (36th place) grossed more than those two movies combined. Even more depressing is the enormous list of excellent independent films that didn't even make the list of the Top 100.
Not to sound elitist, someone with taste is so defined precisely because he has preferences that differ from the unwashed masses (would classical music and ballet be considered high class if they were as popular as say MTV and rock music?). This no doubt applies to film too, as evidenced all readily by the thermometer of unwashed mass popularity - box office receipts.
Addendum: One interesting thing I noted was that the R21 version of Ang Lee's Lust, Caution grossed twice as much as the NC-16 version (without the much hyped up sex scenes).
19 January 2008
Fearless Federer
I came back from lunch with Debs and turned on the TV to the Australian Open Tennis and a quite stunning sight greeted me. Roger Federer, Mr Cool, Mr Nearly Unbeatable, a man who has participated in the last 10 consecutive Grand Slam finals (winning eight of them), was down two sets to one in the third round of the tournament.Sure, there was talk of the illness that forced him to pull out of his usual warm-up tournament leading up to the Open, but he had absolutely demolished his previous two opponents, Diego Hartfield and Fabrice Santoro, for the loss of a mere three games in each match. His imperious displays had led to the possibility of him repeating his 2007 feat of winning the Australian Open without dropping a set.
Instead, when I picked up the action at the start of the fourth set, Federer was looking far from cool and he was down 6-7, 7-6, 5-7 against Jarno Tipsarevic, an unheralded Serb. Federer soon set things aright by taking the fourth set 6-1 after a few lapses in concentration by Tipsarevic, but the match soon turned into an almighty struggle.
Tipsarevic was taking the match to Federer, showing a complete lack of nerves, saving break points with huge serves and huge forehand winners, painting the lines and showing no fear at all. It was supremely telling that Federer had 25 break points by the end of the match, succeeding on only 5 occasions. Federer was often impregnable on serve, hitting well over 30 aces and winning 90% of his first serve points, but Tipsarevic was able to make the big points count and took all 3 of his break points.
In the fifth set, the match turned into a marathon battle of wills. From 1-1 when Federer had break points on the Tipsarevic serve till 8-8, i.e. for 14 consecutive games, both men stared each other down and neither deigned to blink. There was not a single break point in those 14 games. Lesser men than Federer would have become disheartened as opportunity after opportunity was either squandered, or more often saved by a terrific Tipsarevic winner. But he is a man already considered one of the all-time greats, with one eye on history.
The end of the match was a tribute to Federer's refusal to give up and his determination to play every single point. Tipsarevic was leading 40-0 on his serve and anybody would have been forgiven for giving up and having one eye on the next service game. Federer somehow managed to claw it back to deuce, and on a second break point in the game (and the umpteenth of the match) things finally went his way when Tipsarevic dumped a lunging backhand volley into the net. Federer naturally closes the set and match out 10-8 on his serve but not before exhibiting nerves (yes, even he is capable of them!), ending the nearly four and a half hour marathon.
The relative rarity of Federer's involvement in five set marathons - he quipped that he isn't often involved in five setters unless it involves Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon - is a testament to just how good he is. Federer involved in an almighty struggle, now that is a rarity given that he more regularly crushes his opponents, and it made for quite the spectacle. The crowd certainly appreciated it, giving both players a relentless standing ovation when the match was over. This was tennis of the highest quality, a true test of will and determination, profoundly captivating.
Take no credit away from Tipsarevic who played bravely, and often brilliantly, but faced with the relentlessness, the confidence and the coolness of Roger Federer, the bets were always on him to crack first, no matter how much he played outside of his skin. Because, at this rate, this is now about a battle between Roger Federer and history, and there is only ever going to be one winner there.
18 January 2008
Transportation Rant; Dinner at Au Petit Salut
It was Qiuyi's birthday and I was invited to dinner at Au Petit Salut at Dempsey's. Maxie, Preema, Alvin and Koh Ping were the others that attended. I hadn't seen them for the most part since I left MFA so it was good to catch up. Unfortunately for me, I was very late after getting delayed leaving the house, and then being unable to board over three buses from Orchard MRT towards Holland on account of them being completely jam-packed.
Ironically, our Transport Minister gave a keynote speech the following day outlining our future transport strategy with public transport as the centerpiece - apparently he wants to make taking public transport as convenient or more so as driving a car. Try packing yourself into a jam packed bus only to connect to a jam packed MRT train and see how comfortable (let alone convenient) that is!
In addition, Orchard MRT now suffers from a major human traffic flow problem due to the moving of the main exit from the MRT station to Orchard Road. The old main exit next to Wisma is now closed, and instead commuters have to exit through what will be the future Ion at Orchard residence/shops. The only problem is, the passageway to the new exit is very narrow and off to the side of the ticket booth, and it crosses with the path into the underground tunnel towards Tangs/Shaw. The net result is a huge jam of bodies.
Suffice the say that the planning regarding the human traffic flow has been non-existent and the situation is most unwelcome. Almost as unwelcome as the horrendous advertising on the Ion bombarding us on on the way up to Orchard Road. This is corporate branding and advertising at its most odious.
Over dinner, the conversation centered quite naturally on work, with the usual complaints about the long hours, the secretarial nature of the job and limited opportunities for research and so on. I guess discussing what is going on at the place makes me regret leaving a lot less - I doubt that I would have wanted to stay there for the long term given the status quo, and I highly doubt things will change in any fundamental way. It still pains me to hear of old friends and colleagues going home at midnight for a week or more on end, though.
Au Petit Salut itself was a nice enough place. I had seen it on numerous times passing by on Holland Road, standing alone and aloof from the dining and nightlife boom on Dempsey Road. The building alone was a bit of an oddity, a small three storey slightly run down looking thing. It was certainly interesting walking up the pathway from the bus stop and finding it blocked with leaves and ending up right by the windows to the kitchen.
Overall it was a nice enough dining experience. The service was good, the restaurant interior itself what one would expect from a fairly high class French place. I ordered a steak (felt like some meat) and it was done a nice medium rare - just as I had ordered. I passed on desert, but what the others ordered looked quite delectable. As far as French restaurants in Singapore goes, Au Petit Salut is definitely a better bet than say Sebastian's at Greenwood Ave or some of the other establishments I have tried.
Ironically, our Transport Minister gave a keynote speech the following day outlining our future transport strategy with public transport as the centerpiece - apparently he wants to make taking public transport as convenient or more so as driving a car. Try packing yourself into a jam packed bus only to connect to a jam packed MRT train and see how comfortable (let alone convenient) that is!
In addition, Orchard MRT now suffers from a major human traffic flow problem due to the moving of the main exit from the MRT station to Orchard Road. The old main exit next to Wisma is now closed, and instead commuters have to exit through what will be the future Ion at Orchard residence/shops. The only problem is, the passageway to the new exit is very narrow and off to the side of the ticket booth, and it crosses with the path into the underground tunnel towards Tangs/Shaw. The net result is a huge jam of bodies.
Suffice the say that the planning regarding the human traffic flow has been non-existent and the situation is most unwelcome. Almost as unwelcome as the horrendous advertising on the Ion bombarding us on on the way up to Orchard Road. This is corporate branding and advertising at its most odious.
Over dinner, the conversation centered quite naturally on work, with the usual complaints about the long hours, the secretarial nature of the job and limited opportunities for research and so on. I guess discussing what is going on at the place makes me regret leaving a lot less - I doubt that I would have wanted to stay there for the long term given the status quo, and I highly doubt things will change in any fundamental way. It still pains me to hear of old friends and colleagues going home at midnight for a week or more on end, though.
Au Petit Salut itself was a nice enough place. I had seen it on numerous times passing by on Holland Road, standing alone and aloof from the dining and nightlife boom on Dempsey Road. The building alone was a bit of an oddity, a small three storey slightly run down looking thing. It was certainly interesting walking up the pathway from the bus stop and finding it blocked with leaves and ending up right by the windows to the kitchen.
Overall it was a nice enough dining experience. The service was good, the restaurant interior itself what one would expect from a fairly high class French place. I ordered a steak (felt like some meat) and it was done a nice medium rare - just as I had ordered. I passed on desert, but what the others ordered looked quite delectable. As far as French restaurants in Singapore goes, Au Petit Salut is definitely a better bet than say Sebastian's at Greenwood Ave or some of the other establishments I have tried.
17 January 2008
Ice Skating and Bowling Nostalgia
The past two days offered me a chance to re-live more stuff from my teenage years. After my interview at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies (see previous post), I caught a cab that was just leaving NTU (after trying in vain to find the bus stop) and decided randomly to go to Jurong Entertainment Center. Out of a pure sense of nostalgia I ended up heading up to the ice skating rink. I used to go bowling at the alley opposite that rink (it has since closed down and a KTV joint was set up in its place).
Ice skating has always held a special place in my heart since I picked it up as a little kid in Canada before returning to Singapore. It is a sport I imagine I would have continued given the opportunity - and continue I did for awhile. I took lessons when I was in Primary 3 and 4 every Wednesday at the old Fuji ice rink at Dhoby Ghaut (now closed down and turned into a club). But the reality was that the rink was too small and too crowded and the pace of the lessons were too slow. So I stopped.
I still went ice skating now and then after that with friends, occasionally even alone. Back in Oxford there are a few memorable trips to the ice rink. In one, it was for the inter-college ice hockey tournament (at beginner's level - plastic sticks, no shooting off the ground and playing the rink breadth rather than length wise). We did fairly well considering that our goalkeeper - poor old Sam Geen - could barely stand up and used the crossbar of the goal to keep his balance.
I hadn't been for been a year at least, probably more. The rink was mostly empty save a young girl practicing beginner figure skating moves, and two teenagers doing the usual showing off and horsing around. It was probably nostalgia that inspired me, but I decided to give myself a go on the ice. It was odd skating more or less without company (the rink is usually crowded) and it was even more odd skating completely alone when the scant company decided to take a break. Soon the teenagers were replaced by two cute little kids whose Caucasian mom went in to closely watch over them.
It was a nice feeling being out on the ice. But I soon found that it just didn't have the same thrill for me as it did in the past. I guess it is inevitable that you feel a bit pointless doing circles round a rink for two hours, and this is accentuated when you are the only one doing it. The cut up ice didn't help at all - and it was just my bad luck that my two hours expired just when they resurfaced it.
The following day, I met Victor and Nic to shoot some pool and bowl, again activities that used to occupy me back in Secondary School (oh my wasted youth). Victor and me were clearly rusty compared to Nic (who was in the midst of his wasted youth and thus playing pool far more regularly) and we missed a number of simple pots. My problem with pool was that I could never pot the ball all that well, even if I were able to see the shots that I wanted to play (I'm not even all that great at that). I do enjoy watching the professionals on television and I marvel even more at their ability to clear up all the balls effortlessly when my simple shots rattle out, forget playing for position.
After Victor got thoroughly frustrated when I managed to snooker him thrice (two times through pure luck), and I won the match after he gave me a free shot on the black after a fluke foul, we decided to adjourn to the bowling alley. I went through a bowling phase when I was in secondary school, when I used to go about once a week to the lanes, knocking off a significant portion of my pocket money in addition to pins. I even went so far as to get myself a cheap bowling ball and a pair of shoes - something to call my own. But it had been ages and ages since I had stepped onto a lane - bowling just isn't popular in the UK at all.
I was quite surprised at how bad I had become though, spraying balls everywhere except at the middle of the pins, and scoring an abysmal 58 pinfalls in my first game, losing even to Nic. Victor scored above a hundred after hitting a few spares. The second game turned out a lot better for me, and I was in the lead most of the way until Victor caught up with me and we entered the final frame level on 91 pinfalls. Victor then hit 9 pins in his last frame meaning I needed to spare the last to win. I was left with a relatively straightforward 1-2-3 spare but missed it meaning I didn't even break 100 in my second game with a 97.
Again, it was nice going out bowling again after so long, but I can't help but feel that I will never have the same enthusiasm for bowling as I did when I was younger. An occasional game here and there with friends, for fun but nothing more. To round off the day we had a go at the arcade on Daytona. I trailed most of the way after crashing in the opening lap, but snuck into the lead entering the final lap. Sadly, I smashed my car into the wall after being nudged by Nicholas (the bastard!) and ended up last.
It was fun though, doing all the things I used to do in the past, in younger, freer days. But it solidified the certainty that I had moved on to other perhaps more intellectual and challenging things.
Ice skating has always held a special place in my heart since I picked it up as a little kid in Canada before returning to Singapore. It is a sport I imagine I would have continued given the opportunity - and continue I did for awhile. I took lessons when I was in Primary 3 and 4 every Wednesday at the old Fuji ice rink at Dhoby Ghaut (now closed down and turned into a club). But the reality was that the rink was too small and too crowded and the pace of the lessons were too slow. So I stopped.
I still went ice skating now and then after that with friends, occasionally even alone. Back in Oxford there are a few memorable trips to the ice rink. In one, it was for the inter-college ice hockey tournament (at beginner's level - plastic sticks, no shooting off the ground and playing the rink breadth rather than length wise). We did fairly well considering that our goalkeeper - poor old Sam Geen - could barely stand up and used the crossbar of the goal to keep his balance.
I hadn't been for been a year at least, probably more. The rink was mostly empty save a young girl practicing beginner figure skating moves, and two teenagers doing the usual showing off and horsing around. It was probably nostalgia that inspired me, but I decided to give myself a go on the ice. It was odd skating more or less without company (the rink is usually crowded) and it was even more odd skating completely alone when the scant company decided to take a break. Soon the teenagers were replaced by two cute little kids whose Caucasian mom went in to closely watch over them.
It was a nice feeling being out on the ice. But I soon found that it just didn't have the same thrill for me as it did in the past. I guess it is inevitable that you feel a bit pointless doing circles round a rink for two hours, and this is accentuated when you are the only one doing it. The cut up ice didn't help at all - and it was just my bad luck that my two hours expired just when they resurfaced it.
The following day, I met Victor and Nic to shoot some pool and bowl, again activities that used to occupy me back in Secondary School (oh my wasted youth). Victor and me were clearly rusty compared to Nic (who was in the midst of his wasted youth and thus playing pool far more regularly) and we missed a number of simple pots. My problem with pool was that I could never pot the ball all that well, even if I were able to see the shots that I wanted to play (I'm not even all that great at that). I do enjoy watching the professionals on television and I marvel even more at their ability to clear up all the balls effortlessly when my simple shots rattle out, forget playing for position.
After Victor got thoroughly frustrated when I managed to snooker him thrice (two times through pure luck), and I won the match after he gave me a free shot on the black after a fluke foul, we decided to adjourn to the bowling alley. I went through a bowling phase when I was in secondary school, when I used to go about once a week to the lanes, knocking off a significant portion of my pocket money in addition to pins. I even went so far as to get myself a cheap bowling ball and a pair of shoes - something to call my own. But it had been ages and ages since I had stepped onto a lane - bowling just isn't popular in the UK at all.
I was quite surprised at how bad I had become though, spraying balls everywhere except at the middle of the pins, and scoring an abysmal 58 pinfalls in my first game, losing even to Nic. Victor scored above a hundred after hitting a few spares. The second game turned out a lot better for me, and I was in the lead most of the way until Victor caught up with me and we entered the final frame level on 91 pinfalls. Victor then hit 9 pins in his last frame meaning I needed to spare the last to win. I was left with a relatively straightforward 1-2-3 spare but missed it meaning I didn't even break 100 in my second game with a 97.
Again, it was nice going out bowling again after so long, but I can't help but feel that I will never have the same enthusiasm for bowling as I did when I was younger. An occasional game here and there with friends, for fun but nothing more. To round off the day we had a go at the arcade on Daytona. I trailed most of the way after crashing in the opening lap, but snuck into the lead entering the final lap. Sadly, I smashed my car into the wall after being nudged by Nicholas (the bastard!) and ended up last.
It was fun though, doing all the things I used to do in the past, in younger, freer days. But it solidified the certainty that I had moved on to other perhaps more intellectual and challenging things.
16 January 2008
A Job Interview
I went to the Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) this morning to interview for a job as a research assistant. I will be working directly under two professors, and this job might well give me the stepping stone towards doing a Phd and an academic career.
Things were going pretty well (I think) until the following exchange:
Professor One: "One question, if I may, and please answer honestly - how is your mandarin chinese?"
Me: "Well honestly speaking it is pretty dire."
Professor Two: "Spoken like a true ACS boy!"
Professor One: "What do you mean by dire? Can you read chinese? Say would you be able to read a short newspaper article in chinese?"
Me: *shakes head vigorously from side to side*
Professor One: "Ah I am glad you are honest, it is just a minor issue but it would have been better for you to be honest now than for us to find that Chinese is incomprehensible to you later."
Me: "Well I actually failed Chinese at my 'A' levels despite having a Chinese teacher won had won the most inspiring Chinese teacher award."
I am still naive to be hopeful about getting the job?
Things were going pretty well (I think) until the following exchange:
Professor One: "One question, if I may, and please answer honestly - how is your mandarin chinese?"
Me: "Well honestly speaking it is pretty dire."
Professor Two: "Spoken like a true ACS boy!"
Professor One: "What do you mean by dire? Can you read chinese? Say would you be able to read a short newspaper article in chinese?"
Me: *shakes head vigorously from side to side*
Professor One: "Ah I am glad you are honest, it is just a minor issue but it would have been better for you to be honest now than for us to find that Chinese is incomprehensible to you later."
Me: "Well I actually failed Chinese at my 'A' levels despite having a Chinese teacher won had won the most inspiring Chinese teacher award."
I am still naive to be hopeful about getting the job?
10 January 2008
Just Like Old Times
I went over to Victor's place again on Thursday, just as I have been doing for the better part of a decade now. We were classmates in Secondary 2, 3 and 4 at ACS (Independent) and both went to ACJC (he to do triple science, me to do pure Arts). I used to go over to his house during the holidays to chill out, play badminton and changing generations of video game consoles. I remember watching the amazing 1999 Champions League final, when Man Utd defeated Bayern Munich with two last minute goals at his house (I missed seeing the winning goal live because I went to get a drink, thinking extra time inevitable).
Of course, we subsequently went our separate ways - to different units in the Army and then off to our respective Universities - Oxford in my case, Adelaide to do medicine in his, and differences in Hemispheres meant that our vacations hardly overlapped (I chose not to come back during my winter break, he was often just returning to Australia after his short winter break when I returned to Singapore in late July). We managed to catch up very occasionally, maybe once a year, but those visits to his place started to become a distant memory.
The opportunity to re-live the good old days came about because Victor is back on his summer break. I of course am currently out of a job, so I have time on my hands. It a scary thought that Victor's brother Nic, is now awaiting his 'A' level results. When I used to go over regularly, it was me and Victor that were doing our A levels and Nic had barely started secondary school. In one of those supremely random twists of fate, I ended up as Nic's GP teacher when I relief taught at ACJC from July to mid-October 2007.
So it was off to the old Siglap Community Centre and their old indoor badminton courts (bring your own net) for a round of doubles badminton. We were joined by one of Victor's friends from Adelaide, now working back in Malaysia and here in Singapore for a holiday. Vic proved once again that his height and long reach were a definite advantage while Nic showed an amazing ability to hit himself with his own racquet. It was definitely fun, and I really should make use of the new modern indoor courts at the Bishan sports center more often. It's a pity I don't really have anyone to play badminton with regularly.
Having seen some young boys playing football over at the futsol court nearby, I endeavoured to arrange an impromptu 4 a side futsol match. We began well at first, taking a 2-0 lead before letting in a soft goal. But as the game went on it became more an more obvious that we were tiring (I choose to take 2 hours of badminton as an excuse, but no doubt a general lack of physical exertion in recent times had something to do with it). We couldn't put the game away at 4-3 up and they eventually won 5-4. I wonder which was the greater humiliation - losing to a bunch of 10 year olds. Or wheezing from exhaustion by the end of the match.
Victor wanted to take his friend out for a nice dinner that night, so we ended up dining at La Fondue over at Dempsey Road, one of the new hot dining/chill out spots in Singapore, picking up his girlfriend Daphne along the way. We ended up ordering two Fondue set (for two) with an additional portion, which included a salad each, cheese fondue (with bread), an assortment of seafood and meats cooked over a hot plate and in olive oil respectively and finally desert in the form of fruits dipped in chocolate fondue. It was definitely a pretty fun experience, if rather expensive - the sets worked out at over $75 per head. Probably nice for a birthday or some other celebration. I probably wouldn't go again as I don't like fondue quite that much.
The evening entertainment turned out to be a full round of mahjong. I had decent luck this time, winning around 10 bucks (we only played 10 cents/20 cents) but given Nic's lack of finances, I naturally didn't collect. We were falling asleep by the end of it as the last round was only completed around 4am. Quite a day, just like it was in the good old days.
Of course, we subsequently went our separate ways - to different units in the Army and then off to our respective Universities - Oxford in my case, Adelaide to do medicine in his, and differences in Hemispheres meant that our vacations hardly overlapped (I chose not to come back during my winter break, he was often just returning to Australia after his short winter break when I returned to Singapore in late July). We managed to catch up very occasionally, maybe once a year, but those visits to his place started to become a distant memory.
The opportunity to re-live the good old days came about because Victor is back on his summer break. I of course am currently out of a job, so I have time on my hands. It a scary thought that Victor's brother Nic, is now awaiting his 'A' level results. When I used to go over regularly, it was me and Victor that were doing our A levels and Nic had barely started secondary school. In one of those supremely random twists of fate, I ended up as Nic's GP teacher when I relief taught at ACJC from July to mid-October 2007.
So it was off to the old Siglap Community Centre and their old indoor badminton courts (bring your own net) for a round of doubles badminton. We were joined by one of Victor's friends from Adelaide, now working back in Malaysia and here in Singapore for a holiday. Vic proved once again that his height and long reach were a definite advantage while Nic showed an amazing ability to hit himself with his own racquet. It was definitely fun, and I really should make use of the new modern indoor courts at the Bishan sports center more often. It's a pity I don't really have anyone to play badminton with regularly.
Having seen some young boys playing football over at the futsol court nearby, I endeavoured to arrange an impromptu 4 a side futsol match. We began well at first, taking a 2-0 lead before letting in a soft goal. But as the game went on it became more an more obvious that we were tiring (I choose to take 2 hours of badminton as an excuse, but no doubt a general lack of physical exertion in recent times had something to do with it). We couldn't put the game away at 4-3 up and they eventually won 5-4. I wonder which was the greater humiliation - losing to a bunch of 10 year olds. Or wheezing from exhaustion by the end of the match.
Victor wanted to take his friend out for a nice dinner that night, so we ended up dining at La Fondue over at Dempsey Road, one of the new hot dining/chill out spots in Singapore, picking up his girlfriend Daphne along the way. We ended up ordering two Fondue set (for two) with an additional portion, which included a salad each, cheese fondue (with bread), an assortment of seafood and meats cooked over a hot plate and in olive oil respectively and finally desert in the form of fruits dipped in chocolate fondue. It was definitely a pretty fun experience, if rather expensive - the sets worked out at over $75 per head. Probably nice for a birthday or some other celebration. I probably wouldn't go again as I don't like fondue quite that much.
The evening entertainment turned out to be a full round of mahjong. I had decent luck this time, winning around 10 bucks (we only played 10 cents/20 cents) but given Nic's lack of finances, I naturally didn't collect. We were falling asleep by the end of it as the last round was only completed around 4am. Quite a day, just like it was in the good old days.
9 January 2008
A Tremendous Threesome
It was just Dave Sowden, Marty and me for the pub quiz this week (my first of 2007). Keith Prince was called in for emergency quiz master duties so he couldn't be part of the team - not that it mattered in the long run! There was a bit of a debate as to whether to play our joker (earning us double our points in that particular round) on the round featuring questions on "Movie Title Actors" or "Writers, Composers and Artists". Marty insisted that the movie questions were usually piss easy. Arty fellow that I am, I fancied my chances on the latter one. In the end, my arguments won out.
We lead most of the way, and the pressure was definitely on me after we scored a perfect 10 out of 10 on movie title actors (without having played our joker of course). With a slender lead, a good score on our joker round was essential, particularly as if we buggered that one up, I would be severely dealt with by my two team mates. Lucky for me the questions were piss easy, including such classics as: "who wrote the novel Pride and Prejudice" and "who painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel". The only remotely tricky one was the last question: "who composed Appalachian Spring"*. I quickly slammed down the answer sheet the minute the questions had been asked - an easy twenty points.
Ultimately though you have to beat what is there and two other teams had also scored highly. We struggled slightly with a 7 in the final round including one of those annoying anagrams which refused to get solved. Thankfully, that was enough for a one point win which meant a bottle of wine and $60 each for Marty, Dave and me. Definitely, a enjoyable evening!
*Appalachian Spring was composed by US composer Aaron Copland
We lead most of the way, and the pressure was definitely on me after we scored a perfect 10 out of 10 on movie title actors (without having played our joker of course). With a slender lead, a good score on our joker round was essential, particularly as if we buggered that one up, I would be severely dealt with by my two team mates. Lucky for me the questions were piss easy, including such classics as: "who wrote the novel Pride and Prejudice" and "who painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel". The only remotely tricky one was the last question: "who composed Appalachian Spring"*. I quickly slammed down the answer sheet the minute the questions had been asked - an easy twenty points.
Ultimately though you have to beat what is there and two other teams had also scored highly. We struggled slightly with a 7 in the final round including one of those annoying anagrams which refused to get solved. Thankfully, that was enough for a one point win which meant a bottle of wine and $60 each for Marty, Dave and me. Definitely, a enjoyable evening!
*Appalachian Spring was composed by US composer Aaron Copland
8 January 2008
Dover Close East Adventures and Eastern Promises
I ended up making a visit to ACJC today. This came after I invited Mei out to watch a movie, which turned out to be Eastern Promises. She mentioned that a group of recently graduated students were making a trip back in order to attend a KI lecture (Mei, Charmaine and Deborah) and I decided to tag along.Upon arrival, we were given a task by the great guru Mr Daniel Tan himself. Apparently, he was giving an introductory lecture on knowledge, and he thought it a good idea to do the whole Matrix red pill/blue pill thing. Having had our idea of using Panadol Menstrual tablets for the 'red pill' (apparently the pills had to be properly edible), Char managed to obtain breath mints that were pinkish and light bluish respectively. I couldn't help but note that the blue pills were very similar in colour to Viagra (thank you Rob Linham for this horrendously inappropriate and useless piece of knowledge).
The lecture went on well enough and I curbed my enthusiasm for heckling Mr Tan (why else would one go back to attend a KI lecture?) I instead managed some asides to Debs and Char instead while attempting not to be too much of a nuisance. It was also nice bumping into some of my former colleagues in the staff room, including Candida and Wendy, though I wish I could have spoken to many of the others. I did manage a few witty and sarcastic remarks (one hopes!) to Miss Ganga J in passing.
Then it was off to watch the movie. Eastern Promises was violent and shocking. That was hardly surprising given director David Croenenberg's B-grade horror background. I saw poor Mei cover her eyes with her sweater during some of the more realistic scenes, and I don't blame her. A full review of the movie will be put up at City Flickers.
1 January 2008
Things To Try And Make Happen In 2008
As the title suggests, here are the following in no particular order:
- Find Another Job
- Learn How To Drive
- Pick Up Lindy-Hop
- Do More Physical Activities [That Exercises More Than My Eyeballs]
- Try Out Wall/Rock Climbing More
- Blog More [At Least Twice A Week]
- Get Movie Screening Thing Off The Ground
- Buy Less Books [Max 5 per month]
- Drink Less Alcohol
- Save More Money [Dependent On The Job Part]
- Walk The Dog More Often
And if I really have time and I am feeling particularly inspired:
- Figure Out The Whole God Question
- Learn How To Cook
- Learn To Design My Own Webpage
- Discover What I Really Want To Do With My Remaining Time On The Planet
- Pick Up A Good Cause
- Write Something Publishable
- Come Up With The Next Big Idea
- Find
- Find True Love [Or The Closest Approximation To It]
And of course, if I somehow managed to complete all of that I can:
- Figure
- Invent A Time Machine
- Become The Founder Of A Cult [And Convince Some Barmy Movie Star To Convert To It]
- Teach My Dog To Sing The Whole of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody
- Find A Cure For Cancer
- Clone A Super Intelligent Rat [That Will Take Over The World]
- Hell, Why Not Just Take Over The World Myself And Save Cloning The Rat?
Just To Attempt A Little Realism, In Order To Complete All Of The Above:
- Learn To Survive On Less Sleep
- Be More Productive
Things The Self-Help Books Tell Me To Resolve To Do [But Will Be A Real Dampener On My Style]
- Be More Positive and Think Happy Thoughts
- Keep Hours More In Line With The Rest Of Civilisation
- Avoid Sarcasm
- Don't Be Cynical
- THE SECRET (trademarked) Is That Like Attracts Like (copyrighted)
And If All Else Fails.........
- Screw It There Is Always Next Year
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