Tis the season to be grateful

I made a small donation to the This American Life podcast and Wikipedia today. Both of these web services make such a big difference to my life and yet they remain free to everyone. That is pretty amazing. You might consider donating to wiki and have your name on the wikipedia donor list alongside thousands(possibly a lot more) of people from all over the world. That list really demonstrates the power of the web as a platform that brings people and their resources together for something truly great.

To subscribe to This American Life on iTunes, click here.

Blogging is lazy

I stumbled upon Mary Pols' blog the other day. She is a blogger, journalist and author of "Accidentally on Purpose: True Tale of a Happy Single Mother". In a post comparing blogging and writing for magazines, she said how the latter forces to write better, because she's writing for an editor. A good editor will improve her "game" like a good tennis opponent does. On another self-loathing day, I might expand this into a self-criticism about not writing and improving my game instead of hating my work. But this is not the day.

I'm now reeking of alcohol and tired. Post-gym dinners with Bern and Steph are always nice chatting sessions about life and work. Today's a little awkward because B had been having a lousy day. Luckily, some thrash-talk and a little alcohol lightened the mood and he was laughing again.

We talked a little about the fresh troops Obama will be pouring into Afghanistan. "Nothing has changed, right?" Steph was disappointed because he thought Obama would be a peacenik and end the war.

"It's the same strategy again." Personally, I feel the Americans are doing a thankless but vital job in maintaining peace in the Middle East. And I share the sympathy Tony Blankley expressed on radio recently for those statesmen who are making difficult decisions that have no consensus between the hawks and doves while trying to keep the warring factions from bombing the world out of existence. Good luck, Mr Obama, I hope you accomplish everything they give you the Nobel Prize for.

Blogging is lazy. Holiday planning is mind-boggling. Finally booked a nice Tudor-styled hotel in Cameron Highlands for my family vacation-our first! Usually I like serendipity and adventure, but I this time I'm putting in the effort so my parents don't get lost with me in Malaysia. I think I will enjoy a slow, relaxed holiday on the cool highlands with hot tea. :)

Let's end this nonsensical post with Green Day's "time of your life". Oh I can't wait for their concert here in Singapore!

Guests at a mice wedding

guests at a mice wedding
Originally uploaded by Kobacabana.

Just uploaded a couple of photos from my Lumix onto flickr - no shot in particular that I like, but well...

This exhibit called The Mice Wedding was pretty cool. It was a depiction of the final scene from this folk story about how a mice couple who wanted to marry their daughter to the Sun they thought was the biggest stud in town. The daughter, of course, had already a lover. Luckily for her, the Sun said he wasn't the most powerful person as the Cloud make him disappear. The Cloud said the same about himself and pointed to the Wind, which did likewise and pointed to the Wall. Finally the Wall said it's not the most powerful because mice can make holes in it. The parents realised their folly and married their daughter to her sweetheart. Aww.. As do most parables, this one has plenty of meanings you can draw from yourself.

A separate point, I watched The Informant today and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The comedy drama has the usual sardonic black humour expected from director Steven Soderbergh, and Matt Damon was very funny as the incorrigible liar who helped the FBI expose an international price fixing crime.

Mexican art show @ SAM

Hey History Nuts, don't miss this exhibition! The theme of modernity is familiar - see how Mexican artists dealt with tumultuous changes in their country from the 1900s to the 1950s. Though I don't think I saw anything as dramatic as Picasso's La Guernica, there were definitely similar 'modern' sensibilities present at this dark and thought-provoking show. On second thought, maybe the piece showing pierced arms and mutilated bodies - a scathing critique of the Spanish conquistadors (I didn't note down the art's name) - does come close to Picasso's vision of maimed horses. I also think the addition of a mini Philippines 'modernity' gallery was a nice touch - a conscious effort by the curator to conjoin the two countries' shared experiences?

Will definitely go back again with my camera.. haha.. The one that really caught my eye was Raul Anguiano's 'The Thorn' - the lithograph above showing a sagely Mayan removing a thorn from her foot. Look at that cool poise, ya?

Morning muse

It is a few minutes past nine and I just reached the office. I love the golden sunshine that floods the space outside the museum at this time of the day. Everything feels so alive and colourful, it's as though the day holds so much wonderful possibilities ahead. Would love it even more if the sun wasn't so scorching hot.

真的爱你

blown away by hong kong the oriental pearl

Photo taken with Lyn's Canon.

Just back from a memorable trip to Hong Kong over the long Hari Raya Puasa weekend.

A great song to lift the Monday blues!

Crack economics

Daily doodle #1

Since I got my Audible account I've downloaded two Seth Godin audiobooks. He's funny and delivers with marketing advice with attitude and humour. There's probably nothing revolutionary in his message: Be extraordinary. Be different. And don't waste money on advertising if your product's no good. Still, he's entertaining and the for that, probably more effective than most.

By Leonard Cohen..

Ring the bells
That still can ring
Forget your perfect offerings
There's a crack in everything
That's how the light gets in

L found the title for Leslie's song

I have this song on my playlist for the longest time but I never knew the song title. Finally found it today!:)

I'm starting with the man in the mirror...

I've been listening to MJ's songs in the office since news of his death broke. I've always loved his songs of hope and compassion and I wonder how he became the sad figure as portrayed in the media. I doubt there will be another pop icon as great as him in my lifetime. Thank you, Michael. You have left the world a better place with your wonderful music legacy.

----
I heard the song Man in the Mirror not so long ago on the radio show This American Life which as entertaining as it is educational. I do think it might be a better idea to make fans pay a nominal sum to maintain the podcast. The rest who wants it free can easily download it from the dozens of file hosting sites out there.

Khalsa Dharmak Sabha

Khalsa Dharmak Sabha
Originally uploaded by Kobacabana.

It has been a long while since I hit the roads and taking photos of the sights of Singapore. Was walking in the Mt Sophia area when I saw this pretty temple. I am once again reminded there are interesting things to see in Singapore despite its small size. One just has to walk with eyes open.

A little break from the grungy sappy songs

beyond burma

I just had dinner with prof at the nice, trendy restaurant at the guild house. Returning to nus on a sunday reminded me of the days holed up in the library, reading up on Burma for my paper on the drug trade there. A year had passed between those stuffy days in the library and now. Burma - the country, the people, the politics - is now tucked away like the volumes of FEER in a corner of the journals section - even as the clash between the junta and democracy continues to still rankles.

And its true we are immune
When fact is fiction and tv
And we sing the rebel tune
when indifference is our real enemy
...holding on to peace hard-won
till death itself is undone
Sunday Bloody Sunday, U2 (bootleg in my ipod)

japanophile

I found Janice Tay's blog today. Her Letters from Kyoto column in the Saturday papers almost always makes me wish I was her, living in the land of samurai and geisha and writing about it with such poetic charm every week.

I want to go to Japan again.

恋爱ing-五月天

Someone told me the songs I've been listening aren't very healthy for the psyche. The depressing nature of late is wholly unintentional and Mayday shall help to make amends with this cover originally played by cutesy band Wang Fu. (or is it the other way round?) :DDD

Goodbye

The Chair

Just hanging around.

Wu's Pandas

Wu Guanzhong's pandas, splashed across the bus, caught my eye yesterday. Now I can't wait to see them at the museum!

The Red

Woke up this morning and fiddled with facebook on my ipod when I saw this tee design. Yeah, I love the colour red.

Lovers in Japan

This post is just an excuse to put up Coldplay's Lovers in Japan. I've never been a fan of the band and I think this video would have been vomit-inducing if the four swaggering stoned middle-aged men were not in one of the world's biggest bands right now. haha.. No, really, this song is really good - especially the lush guitars that conjure the image of two lovers running down neon-lit Tokyo...

Oh, the hunter will sin for your ivory skin

I wonder if Bono's ever met someone as mesmerizing as you before...



Oh, the hunter will sin for your ivory skin
Took a drive in the dirty rain
To a place where the wind calls your name
Under the trees the river laughing at you and me
Hallelujah, heavens white rose
The doors you open
I just can't close

Well you lied to me 'cause I asked you to
Baby, can we still be friends?

U2, Who's gonna ride your wild horses?

Viva la ipod! diary of an ipod virgin

Finally hopped onto the ipod bandwagon and I'm feeling really good about it. In fact, retail therapy never felt this good before. I especially enjoyed the free Tap Tap Revenge, a game app, as its name suggests, is a distant cousin of the dance dance revolution for the ipod touch:)
It took me a long time to decide to buy it, bearing in mind it is not cheap. I already had a handphone I could use to listen mp3 and FM radio. Sure enough, I haven't managed to install this wonderful flashcard software, Anki, which happens to be the main reason I bought the pod, so I can memorize those nasty vocabulary when I commute.
Finally, with a decent 8gb storage, ipod is a great learning tool on the go. I just downloaded Robin Sharma's Extraordinary Leadership from Learnoutloud.com and I can't wait to listen to Obama's audacity of hope from audible.com.

What would life be like without love and music?

l.o.v.e.

like false starts in the stock markets now, i can see where we are headng. this song has been seared into my memory for as long as i live.

L.O.V.E by Olivia Ong - Click here for this week’s top video clips

true love waits

life has been running into tailspins lately. heartfelt appreciation to the many people who care. 3am thursday, eye patched and tired. haven't had this hapless feeling in a long while, not especially when taking control has always been my topmost priority. soothing and poignant, thom yorke's song is gently lulling me into a sense of quiet tranquility, much needed after what has been going on. there are so many things to do and i haven't got started. :( goodnight.

Under the bridge

Maybe it's her chirpy outlook or her beauty, I am unmistakably enraptured.

It's been some time since my last entry. My poor health has been creeping up on me and I am having less time for books. The Outliers was a good read in so much it articulated so well my own thinking that circumstances make the man, even though he seems to be to be pushing his argument a bit too far. I'm grateful to Dave for leaving that book, along with Playing the Enemy by John Carlin, in the kitchen so I can read them. PTE is a gripping account of Nelson Mendela's shrewd strategy of reconciling the antagonistic races in his country through the rugby World Cup, applying his wisdom of the fact that sports possess that ethereal bond between people that makes it a viable political tool. Anyways, I only have time for that whimsical emo-chic comic Shortcomings by Adrian Tomine. :p

Mad Hatters 2009

CALLING ALL HISTORY ALUMNI!

Come to Mad Hatters 2009 – an event where the outgoing Honours class
comes together with the History Faculty and Alumni for a formal
photo-taking session.

The Twist? The Honours Class will be wearing their graduation gowns
and a MAD HAT -- a baseball cap, cowboy hat, full-face helmet, or
whatever for this MEMORABLE EVENT!

Not only will you get to meet your cohort mates but also welcome the
outgoing Honours class into the Alumni Association on the eve of their
graduation.

So come down and JOIN US at the posh new Alumni House for MAD HATTERS 2009!


13 March 2009, 7.00 – 8.30pm
NUS Alumni House, Benefactors' Lobby, Level 2


Kindly RSVP before 2 March to history_alumni@gmail.com to avoid disappointment.

Food and drinks (but no hats) will be provided.

We hope to see you there!

I <3 旺福

I'm glad I didn't back out from the huayi gig with Lulu and Jianhua. Wonfu is the funniest Chinese pop band I've ever seen and I can't stop listening to their catchy and happy songs now.

Watch more Tudou videos on AOL Video

Blah blah blah. (Where is my mind?)

The CNY Long Weekend is coming to an end. Rummaged through my old stuff at my mom's place I found Chuck Palahniuk's book of short stories titled "Stranger than Fiction". I wanted to savour the stories and stopped myself from finishing the book, putting aside the book after reading one or two stories. More than half a year later, I'm still not yet halfway through the book.

I have sympathies for Palahniuk's worldview, more so than I care to admit. Anarchic, anti-capitalist, and overall pessimistic about the human condition, Palahniuk reminds me of the fiery nativist anti-modern rhetoric from prewar Japan. With boundless energy and creativity, we are destroying ourselves and our planet, lavishing a minority with lavish consumer goods while millions live in destitution and poverty. Then again, it's easy to denounce capitalism and its attendant sweatshops and financial fat cats. Palahniuk's Fight Club was made into a chic Hollywood blockbuster, as cool as a Che Guevera T-shirt.

Okay, I haven't explained why I was sympathetic to his worldview. It's late and I've to work tomorrow, definitely not the right time for a lengthy exposition of my opinions about the world. Besides, I had intended to talk about Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers and Dan Ariely's Predictably Irrational. Dammit, where is my mind?

Red_Cliff2

The movie was thought-provoking on a few levels. First, if Woo had really meant to say that nobody wins in wars, why not kill off Zhou Yu's wife instead of making him utter an apologetic "Everyone loses" refrain. Maybe it's because I don't view Caox2 so much as villian than an over-ambitious statesman with a weakness for women. He doesn't deserve having to lose his entire army while the wussy Liu/Sun alliance loses a minor character and suffers the humility of Zhou's wife serving tea for the enemy. Oh well, life's not fair and Caox2 should be grateful he's still alive for going up against the almighty poster boys Misters Zhuge and Zhou. (Takeshi Kaneshiro is defintely more convincing as a suave and sagacious military advisor than as Andy Lau's idiot kid brother in that other movie where he keeps saying: "大哥永远是对的。") Ok, let me continue word-vomitting, second, I've become so de-sensitized to these epic war movies that the extended battle scenes at the end don't really shock nor excite me anymore. Oh, there goes another dead man. Oh, he's got three arrows through his chest and he's still going at it. The hint of Band of Brothers in the explosion scenes actually made me consider buying the DVD set from HMV. Lastly, this movie made me think about how I am closer to the current conflict than many people than I actually care to admit. And it will stay that way until a) I find a new job or b) people learn to go past deep-seated ideological differences and live with one another in harmony. Back to the movie. I like it that Woo provided a glimpse of the profiles of the lowest soldiers on both sides. They fight the war to give their families peace.

Here's a cool Dragon Ash vid to shake off the blues.\

Sky Crawlers

I am an idiot for missing this anime by one of my favourite anime directors...