Saw O Brother Where Art Thou? and Small-Time Crooks. O Brother was made by the Coen brothers and based on Homer's Odyssey. Pretty funny but not as good as The Big Lebowski. Small-Time Crooks is a Woody Allen flick and pretty good; one moment you think it's going to be a long heist film but it takes a totally different direction. Great wit and writing by Woody. Quite a small gem.

Looks like the timeline for the tour is confirmed. Winnie from Ethos Books mailed me to ask if I'd be interested to have 'Gone Case' reprinted under their label. Why not? Not expecting any royalties, really. I should get down to writing something new for the trip and possibly inclusion into the anthology of stories being done by some people in Kuala Lumpur. They're definitely more enterprising and thankfully not so hung up on poetry.

Bought a CD-RW drive. Was looking for a DVD-ROM + CD-RW combo but couldn't find one. Didn't think it was worth it to keep on looking. Guess that means I can go on a CD copying rampage...

I find this incredibly cute...

You'll have to register, but an interesting article about drugs that can help retain memory, and possibly help people forget. But can it really make people selectively forget?

Just saw The Devil's Backbone which I felt was excellent. Not very scary but multi-layered in feel, with a lot of political allegories in the film. Highly reccomended but you might want to read up on the Spanish Civil War first.

Pretty much how I feel about doing sales...

Well right after buying tickets to Diana Krall (cheapest seats), looks like will have to spend even more on The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) that's coming in May. Also there's the Comedy Fest in April. Fame the Musical is coming too; not sure about that...

It's Friday, and I should feel better about it, but have to work on Saturday. Sigh. What a waste of time. HATE working on Saturdays...

Had dinner with old sec school friends at Lingzhi at Far East Square. Not bad though a bit pricey. We were all grateful to have jobs and just thankful, though I think I'm the least content of the three. (And the guy with the lowest salary too; one's a doc, another's a lawyer). Living for weekends, wondering where to invest... how our talk has matured. Must do it again sometime. How different our concerns were when we were younger. Have we turned into people we don't recognise like in that Anne Tyler novel?

Two things I realised I can't stand:
1) People who are late and then cancel after the supposed meeting time.
2) Getting my head shoved.

One of my so-called "friends" did #2 this past weekend and been very fed up with her ever since. Keeps irking me as well so decided not to speak to her at all. When I give someone the cold treatment I know I can REALLY lay down some glaciers.

Thursday already; meeting some old secondary school friends for dinner tonight. Been a while since we've hung out.

Boy aren't the plots for The Practice getting more and more ridiculous? The standard really has dropped. They were showing Sex, Lies and Videotape on Central but couldn't muster the energy to watch knowing it'd probably be censored. Will probably get the DVD for it if it comes out.

Went to the library and borrowed a collection of horror short stories. Sometimes I just want to read something that doesn't require too much brainpower...

This makes Shrek look like it was made with clay putty...

Been looking at MBA opportunities. Local or overseas? Part time or full time? It's hard to ignore the opportunity cost. Maybe I'll just take the GMAT and apply to a few and see what happens. I know I'm sick of IT...

Listening to: Goodbye September - Swan Dive

Changes come everywhere/ strange as it seems/ you're still the one/ I see in my dreams.

Got woken up by two fighting cats... now it's hard to go back to sleep. Reading about the mess with Arthur Andersen and Enron. Is greed really good? I hope those in charge who profiteered, who told the employees to buy while they continued to sell, get charged and jailed.


Last week, investigators widened their inquiries to include Andersen's admission that in "recent months," people on the Enron account "disposed of a significant but undetermined number of electronic and paper documents." Congressional investigators said documents were destroyed from September to November, and that many of the records eliminated were e-mail messages about the firm's work for Enron.

In a statement yesterday, Andersen said, "We acknowledge that there were internal communications that raise questions," but the firm declined to elaborate. It added, "We will take actions at the appropriate time. We hope to be able to announce progress in that regard shortly."

Ken Johnson, a spokesman for Billy Tauzin, the Louisiana Republican who is chairman of the House Energy Committee, criticized the firm. "At a time when members of the Enron engagement team should have been saving every single record relating to their audits," Mr. Johnson said, "it appears that instead, some of them sought the green light to destroy some records."

From Harpers.org: A new study found that the heart can repair itself.

Ok that's good to know...

A pretzel almost accomplishes what Osama can't... send Bush to la-la land...

Pauline Hason quits One Nation...

This link is gone gone gone...

Icered has a lot of crap, but this thread is well worth reading. It's about how people are coping with retrenchment. Good luck to all that they might find something better.

Quote from Shadowlands.

Harry: Christopher can scoff, Jack, but I know how hard you've been praying; and now God is answering your prayers.
C. S. Lewis: That's not why I pray, Harry. I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time, waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God, it changes me.

Interesting article about children and the myths they invent. The Blue Lady and Bloody Mary. Some parts are kinda freaky.

Got the photos back, and I'm reasonably satisfied. Not greatly, but ok lah. I think I'll go back next weekend to take some more shots. Definitely should have bought a polarizing filter and did some fill-in flash for some shots. Too dark.

And nope no creepy white blobs in the background. I'll see if I can scan some of the pix.

Lillian if you're reading this, all the best for your studies. My sis is there too. Bon Voyage!

Ok got the rent so I can breathe easy. Still waiting for that half month bonus... thinking of getting US $ since the Singapore $ seems headed downward, and even more if Malaysia might let go of it's currency peg. Wonder if what happened in Argentina will happen to Malaysia...