Miscalculation
Found out that I've been using employee's CPF contribution as 10% rather than 16%. So readjusted all the figures under Quicken, the Financial Planning software I swear by. (And that's a ringing endorsement!) Makes all the charts generated look so much nicer. Man do I wish I could get to that money. It's quite a nice sum now. Maybe renounce Singapore PR and work somewhere else? Heh.

Listening to: Monsoon Wedding soundtrack

Al Qaeda poetry
Verses found amongst the Al Qaeda.

"Forgive me, son, for I am struck
Both powerless and speechless.
My tongue is tied. My eyes are flowing springs.
My consciousness is hell.
What can I say when living in a world
Of contention and of recklessness?

Broken Blade
Watched Blade 2, and thought it was all right. Gratuitous violence and action that's practically comic-bookish, and I'm not sure if I was supposed to be exhilirated or disgusted. The story had a Learish feel, but plotholes you could put a dozen coffins through. It was meant to be a collection of action sequences tied thinly together with a flimsy plot, and I guess it delivered on the action. Deaths have never been cooler as the vampires turn to ash right after getting killd. Still I felt disappointed and empty after it. I guess Del Toro has to produce a movie like this so he can do stuff that's actually worthwhile, such as The Devil's Backbone. It was enjoyable for the hyper kinetic action, but hardly memorable.
Listening to: Stina Nordenstram - Stations

Haircut: Short, sloped, no sideburns
My usual instructions to my barber. Went to the Malay barber at the 3rd floor of Holland Road Shopping Center. My hair gets really messy after a month; wish I had straight hair. The shop is run by this chubby Malay dude who probably runs one of the more profitable businesses in that 'mall'. He has dog-eared BMW magazines underneath the tables, and all four chairs in the small shop were occupied. After the haircut he said he was charging me '$20, with 50% discount'. Cheaper than Supercuts I'm sure. I can't bring myself to those places. I just feel intimidated. I'm no fashion plate as most people know.

Listening to: Horowitz - Mozart's Piano Sonata in C Major

All those poets.. and a writer?
ST ran a story on the trip today, written by presently-in-Italy-cavorting-with-hunks Ong Sor Fern.
After Austin, [Alvin] Pang will head for California, where poets Felix Cheong, Gui Wei Hsin and Aaron Lee, and writer Dave Chua, are scheduled for another reading tour.

I seem to be a minority. As Winnie was saying, need more storytellers and myth makers. Maybe I should ask to teach at Substation...Frankly I cringe at the term writer. It sounds terribly pretentious at times. Guess I'll have to stick with it.

Listening to: Ministry of Sound - Chill Out Sessions.

Saturday mornings
Woke up and had a nice surprise. Julia, one of my aptmates, had slipped the rent and PUB under the door. So no need to chase that badly. Think Liam probably forgot. He seems to be terribly forgetful.

Oh yah the saturday ritual the call home. I don't talk too long to my mom; probably 5 minutes at most. She gives her usual nag, I ask when she's coming out, she might update me a little on my sister and maybe my Dad, but not much else.

Wish it'd rain. Another reason to stay in. Will 'work from home' today. Going to work takes an hour and coming back another hour. Pretty ridiculous if you ask me for a half day.

Bad German Design
Went down for the Film Festival Fringe at the Goethe and as usual had to crank my head or stand up to watch. Why is the auditorium so badly designed, especially one for Germans? Even the guy who runs the Goethe had to stand up to watch. They were showcasing two documentaries by Harun Farocki; one about how we are making machines and bombs 'see', and the other about the design and designers of shopping malls. Might still go down this weekend for more of the fringe. We'll see...

Print it!
Finally Blogger's publish button is back...

Listening to: El Gran Silencio - Tonta Cancion de Amor

Almost there
Weekend is almost here... trying NOT to come in to work tomorrow since it's an hour to get here, and an hour to get back. Waste of time.

She's getting married!
One of my ex-irc 'granddaughters', the one who makes about fifty times what I and jo earn combined, is tying the knot in September! I'm delighted to hear that. :)

California Dreaming
Got my air ticket from Winnie. I'll be the only prose writer amongst a bunch of poets and will have to drive, which I don't do enough in Singapore for obvious reasons. (Eg. I don't want to go into deep debt by the time I'm 40) No time to convert my license to International Driver's License though, which sucks. I hope Budget is fine with a Singapore or Malaysian license.

Death and Taxes... well maybe just Taxes
IRAS informed me that I have to pay about the equivalent of a medium-priced meal per month for my income tax for the next ten months or so. Such joy. Yay.

Listening to: Badly Drawn Boy - The Shining

I want to live... in a world where I belong
Listening to Travis and other songs that I've downloaded since I have cable. I haven't bought many CDs lately, hardly listen to the radio and rely on other people's blogs for recomendations. I should buy more albums as I do want to support the musicians, but hardly even bother to step into the music sections much these days.

Listening to: Travis - Turn. The memory of their great concert last year is still alive.

Stressed and no stress
Well went for a presentation, did my part badly but not enough to fuck everything up, thankfully. Actually it went much better than we were thought it would, and the client wasn't very nitpicky. Cool. Friday tomorrow. Weekend almost here!

Listening to: Ash - Burn Baby Burn

Day of much business
Well major meeting later though the heat isn't so much on me but one of our sales team. Lots of work piling up. But some good signs: They bought back the ice cream box, which means free ice cream again!

Listening to: Ash - Angel Interceptor

Dotcom losses
Well this makes the $2k I lost at Asiacontent totally trivial.

Most tragically, [David Bunnell] lost his son.

Aaron Bunnell, 26, had put his filmmaking dreams on hold and gone to live and work with his dad. He was running Upside's online business and was on a business trip to New York to close a deal in July 2000 when he died in his hotel room of what the coroner called a mix of heroin, Valium and alcohol.

Gotto be the shoes
Female poly student burns to death in car accident at Sungei Kadut
Soon after, it caught fire with the driver trapped in the seat.

She had already been burnt beyond recognition by the time the fire was put out.

But her shoes were still recognisable.

  -- Well that's good news isn't it knowing that your shoes will survive?

Gotcha
The Top Ten Hoaxes... ever!

Listening to: Pearl Jam - rearviewmirror

Singapore or New York? The choice is obvious!
I see they're debating the question of Singapore or New York but the choice is obvious, especially if you're young. New York is a frenetic, happening city, and if you had the choice, you should at least go there and try it out. Succeed or fail, the experience will put you in good standing. Had a discussion with a taxi driver yesterday, and he said why bringing in foreign talent that would want to work in Singapore? Too small a market, he said, and if these people were really good, they'd go to find a larger market elsewhere. Well you can't deny his argument had merits.

All booked up!
Damn it all slots for May for Clear Card all booked up as well! Damn it freaking ridiculous! Guess will have to continue to use the SPH gym.

Listening to: Blink 182 - Man Overboard

Who needs reasons when you've got heroin?
Got the Canadian edition of Trainspotting, which has a short documentary and some deleted scenes that were cut from the film. Nothing that much in the deleted scenes, except a scene in which Diane breaks up with Renton. Totally kinetic movie.

Listening to: Underworld - Born Slippy

And yet another quote:
In a thousand years, there will be no men and women, just wankers, and that's fine by me.

"Gloriously Unstoppable"
Prince Charles eulogy for the Queen Mother.

Get the workout now
Trying to book gym time with my CC but the page appears to be down. Is there like a mad rush to book or what? Very kiasu but too bad can't help it. I prefer the Great World City gym as it's closer to my place, and there's a Breadtalk there. Yum.

Listening to: Tahiti 80 - Heartbeat (Cornelius remix)

Pure Morning
Tuesday, duesday. Ok had a good sleep. Counting the days to the US. Still have to resubmit the bloody visa application on the 10th though. Film Fest starting soon as well. Hope that this is a stress-free year, but every year there's definitely going to be come hiccups, some major cockups but all will be forgotten come May.

Thing I most regretted spending on last month: Night at Velvet Underground. Could have gotten in free with my Clear Card if I had just gone a bit earlier.

Hardly beautiful
Watched A Beautiful Mind and thought it was pretty unremarkable. It seemed embarrased of its subject, of his story and of mathematics. It did a terrible job explaning the Nash theorem, and the 'action' scenes (of course there has to be a car chase in there) lacked any tension since he was delusional anyhow, and those incidents weren't real. I always thought it was Russell Crowe acting, rather than portraying John Nash. One of the worst best picture Oscars for a film that will be forgotten very soon. Oh well at least some good company to chit chat after the movie...

Listening to: Chemical Brothers - Buzz Tracks

Cheese Gromit... CHEESE!
The moon has passed its expiry date...

The Passing of Light
The ceremony began with the lighting of a tall candle, from which hundreds of faithful lighted their own small candles. Dots of light gradually spread through the darkened basilica, filling the silent hall with a quivering sea of tiny flames. - CNN

Breaking the Mop
Was mopping the floor when the stick broke at the base. So this is domesticity...
Must remind myself to pour out the soup. The garbage chute was packed yesterday so couldn't squeeze anything else in.

Monday blues are hitting me bad...

Death by mail order

Taken from this article. Could the dream of wanting a better life have ended up worse? The report lays it on a bit thick though:

Anastasia had an astonishing smile, her parents say. It was a smile that turned heads, sunshine that lit the bleakest day.

So what now?
Called up an old friend to chat, and we discussed the issue of talent and purpose. This friend used to be big on acting, but has turned it all in to become a teacher. She's also become very religious which is good; she certainly needed the stability in her life. We were discussing (over the sound from their TV set downstairs as her grandmother is hard of hearing) why were given some talent and ability if we weren't meant to use it. So what's the purpose of all this? I can't continue setting up contests for teenagers with too much time. I said why were we given a tool if we weren't meant to use it? It was good to talk it out, to sort out the priorities, so I have a better idea what to do once I get back from the US. I'm going through my finances and guess I do have enough to last a while, though it does mean having to cut back on certain things.

We also discussed happiness and contentment. She seemed happy, which was good. I know I COULD be content, but I know I'm not, and without contentment, it's damn far from happiness. Man it's scary and frustrating. There's got to some way outta here!

Listening to: Paul Meredith - Spiritual Springtime.
Practically impossible to find any info about this guy. I got this album from BigO sometime back, and one of the only ones I actually like. Folkish rock.

Bye to Swissair

Doesn't this photo say it all?

Run around around around
What a day. Church (almost overslept) and then back home because a friend came over to cook some Thai food. Pretty good, except the prawns weren't very fresh. Then off to meet another friend to catch Ice Age and HAD to bump into my ex and her boyfriend. (Don't worry, I'm fine.) Fortunately not watching the same movie. A quick dinner because friend had to meet another friend in Tampines who was in need of some counseling. And now monday looms... dang.. these weekends fly by too past. But pretty productive one.

Ok got to to my resume now.

Listening to: Aztec Camera - Oblivious