Jerry Rice gets 9 catches for 183 yards to help Oakland Raiders beat Tampa Bay! People talk about Michael Jordan, but Rice is 39 years old and has a killer work ethic. This guy is just a class act who should teach those spoilt rich kids of American football what it takes to be a champion. (This is American football we're talking about, in case you're wondering. ;) )

The peeling prawns debate continues...
An excerpt:

To Singapore men, I say, do not lose heart. For every 'hard' woman, there are two other women who are more than willing to peel prawns for you.


Excuse me, that isn't on my requirements list at all. I can very well peel prawns on my own, and furthermore, you sure your fingers are clean woman? All that nail gloss... ;)

Well we did manage to make it to the cemetary after all and it was worth it, to me at least. Ended up taking three rolls. Most of the graves were there before I was born, and a lot are still unclaimed. Some gravestones were simple, others were more elaborate. There was the statue of a cherub whose face was half-covered by an ant's nest. Of course, I ended up taking lots of photos of that one. Many of the graves had been darkened and withered by weather or vegetation; a few had large glooming trees burst out of them. The place wasn't eerie at all; actually felt quite serene and there were plenty of joggers about.

Hope the film turns out well..

Lynette isn't feeling too good so no photo jaunt. Think I might go to the gym this evening... also got the Wallace and Gromit DVD but would have prefered the newer one. This one I have doesn't have any commentary. Ah well.. so be it. Decided to slow down a bit on collecting.

Listening now: Hold On (acoustic) - Sarah Mclachlan.

Hold on... hold on to yourself, this is gonna hurt like hell.

It didn't quite... but it was still painful. ;) I'll survive. Thanks for the people who have been seeing me through this. I'm pretty much thorough 'working out' where it went wrong, trying to decipher what happened like it's the Enigma code. Reading the blogs of those who've had it much worse than me has made things slightly better. To those harmed in the heart, I hope you'll get healed soon. It might not come with another person, but arriving on its own might be better.

Seeing the footage by the would-be Singapore terrorist sends a shiver down the spine. The group wasn't too competent, but the planning and strategizing was in place, and the Sept 11 attacks were bizarrely simple ideas. It COULD have happened.

Am I glad I don't have to work this weekend. Trying to make it a full weekend. Swim, photos, maybe a movie and some catching up with Lynette; Church (yes, I hear you *gasp*), breakfast, gym, come home tidy up my place on Sunday and some quiet time to myself. I guess it's easier for me to move on. Maybe get some cheapo stereo to replace my long gone system that won't play CD-Rs, and that DVD-ROM + CD-RW I've been eyeing. Canceled my gym membership but the last day is end of Feb, which almost covers my pay cut (Except for the lost bonus part). Maybe I should also start doing my resume since I feel like I'm stagnating, or that MBA... Applying now won't hurt.

Went for lunch with ex-ACC colleagues where we gossiped, talked politics and grumbled about work, though not too much since most of us are grateful that we still have jobs. Roy bumped into JooHong, the ex-CEO of Asiacontent who is apparently running a new content company. Won't he ever learn?

Ended up at California Pizza Kitchen at Forum before taking a drive down to Coffee Bean at Great world in Michelle's new VW Golf. Nice car but for more than $100k? No thanks. Even my brother's car is about $80k.

Still waiting for Liam to pay me rent and utilities and cable. He used to be quite punctual but can't seem to pay without being reminded. Hard being the main guy in the house... *sigh*

Thaipusam is on Jan 28. Time to get the camera out again, like I usually do...

No more cheating on bus fares...

Finished the Simpsons series 1. Quite uneven but most of the eps were fun. The satire wasn't quite as sharp yet but it did introduce to most of the characters. The first ep was kinda sketchy, but since then the characters have remained mostly unchanged all these years. Season two in May. So that means I have to tackle The Decalogue next...

Pupi has closed her blog. So sad to see you leave. :( I hope things better for you soon. Your last entry is very true. There's very little time to build a r/s when you're working, and they're very fragile.

All the best in your wanderings, pup!

Went for lunch and colleague mentioned this documentary, The Burger and The King, put out by BBC about Elvis Presley's eating habits. Great title huh? Apparently he loved fried peanut butter sandwiches, and when he died his whole lower intestine was choked with some clay-like substance. Major constipation moment... There's a brief Salon article about it here... Apparently there's a scene in the movie where Elvis drops by a cafe holding an Elvis look-alike contest, and he finishes.. third.

Well City TV is getting killed by the end of the week. So another blow against Mediacorp in the TV Wars...

Playing now: Not So Manic Now - Dubstar . Sounds all too pleasant considering it's dark premise.

Boy The Practice just gets more whacky huh? Some of the cases are just too far-fetched. And yet another serial killer stalking the cast? Won't they install security cameras by now?

Trying to finish the new website by end of today, with only minor things to fix by the end of the week. Not bad and compacting the code even further. PHP is really something else.

Met up with Alvin, the bf of one of the gals in the 'sisterhood', and felt a lot better. It's been dissipating off faster than I thought, and while it still stings, I think I can move on. Alvin's a cool guy; does pretty well in insurance which leaves him to other pursuits. He ran a stall selling shawls at National Stadium recently. Though he didn't do too well, he got it running in three days. Dinner was at BK, so next time around, I'll owe him a treat.

Oooh. The first duet blog. Finally Jo Tsze! ;) When's housewarming? Your place sounds NICE. Hi Karen!

Gotto stop having lunch out with colleagues if they keep on going to expensive places. One of the reasons my dining budget ballooned last month. Sigh...

Cool day today. Guess will hit the gym later. Took some shots of the new born pups. Still helpless... mom crawled into the basket they were in all protective so it was hard to get good shots. Need to waste more film...

Found a new site that has comments. Trying it out...

My pal Evelyn has a blog as well. Mega cool chick, she writes at MTV Asia, the website I used to work for. Check it out! :)

Morbid me thinks of going to a cemetry to take some photos this weekend. Think I'll also start going to church more... my new year's resolution.

Had a good night's rest; and life goes on... *stretch* Looks like will hit the gym tonight. Time to get the old life back.

Had a good game of pool with SC and Jo. Thanks Jo. Remarkable what a game of pool can do. Think I'll crash and content to move on to another chapter. Will hit the sack and koon early.

Playing now: Bob Marley - Waiting in Vain

Feeling a bit better. Still stings, but I can kinda see that maybe it's not totally bad if it doesn't work out. I had also considered breaking it off, as the scrutiny of so many of her female friends was very pressurizing. I mean it's like dating ten women at the same time. Still I wish she had looked within herself rather than sought advice from her friends. Her best friend is going through a terrible stretch and I think the down mood got transmitted to her by some bizarre empathy.

Probably will play pool tonight; knock some balls but admit I'm dog tired. I hope sleep will come tonight. Somehow listening to Blur makes it better.Thank you Damon Alban.

M2-9: Wings of a Butterfly Nebula

Explanation: Are stars better appreciated for their art after they die? Actually, stars usually create their most artistic displays as they die. In the case of low-mass stars like our Sun and M2-9 pictured above, the stars transform themselves from normal stars to white dwarfs by casting off their outer gaseous envelopes. The expended gas frequently forms an impressive display called a planetary nebula that fades gradually over thousand of years. M2-9, a butterfly planetary nebula 2100 light-years away shown in representative colors, has wings that tell a strange but incomplete tale. In the center, two stars orbit inside a gaseous disk 10 times the orbit of Pluto. The expelled envelope of the dying star breaks out from the disk creating the bipolar appearance. Much remains unknown about the physical processes that cause planetary nebulae.

How fitting...

Rough, rough night. Looks like I'll have to throw myself at work. Probably play pool with the guys and try to work it out of my system.

The dogs had puppies again, five this time, and looking at them mewling away with their eyes closed so helpless made me feel better. They're really adorable; about the length of my second finger, though it means another headache for Julia. The mom is healthy and the stud daddy gets to view them from his cage.

Also saw Shaolin Soccer which was enjoyable; silly fun though I wish they didn't use some scenes that were too silly. Just Stephen Chow suddenly finding himself in a scene out of Saving Pvte Ryan, or the inside jokes to Hollywood movies; the inevitable nod to The Matrix and the Jurassic Park spoof. Well done with some amazing special efx, yet not TOO overwhelming.

It's over, and suddenly I get the urge to dig out all my Smith albums.