Book review: Snuff

Chanced upon this latest Terry Pratchett novel while shopping at Kino, and the wifely-person kindly bought it for me for Christmas. =) I know its not Christmas yet and i've finished reading my present, one of the benefits of being an adult i suppose. Hahahaha.

As usual, it is an enjoyable read, although I thought the title was a bit disingenuous and contrived, since only Vimes appears to regularly take snuff, which is an old-fashioned stimulant to be kept in elegant boxes and snorted gracefully in society, and does not add to the main plot. The downtrodden masses in this book (and main plot) concerns the goblins, who start off in the book classified as non-sentient beings until Vimes comes across them on his holidays, and is convinced to take up their cause after hearing them communicate via the universal language . With enough villians thrown in (at some points, it felt like the entire countryside was filled with them), Vimes managed to bluster through aristocrats and workmen alike using, tact and guile (not necessarily at the same time) that is characteristic of him.

The book also expounds on two characters merely touched upon in the past: Wilikins (Vime's butler) and AE Pessimal (sent by the Patrician and co-opted into the Watch), and fills them with such colour, that I wished such people existed in real life, just so you could shake their hand. Such is the detail and interest that Pratchett weaves and invokes.

Pratchett also introduces a new series of children's books (remember Where's my Cow?), which deals alot with poo. It somehow points to young Sam growing up an alchemist or researcher as the book goes on, although honestly, i'd rather just focus on Mr Vimes himself. LOL

Under table(-tennis) Corruption

I think there is something seriously wrong. When we were young, we were always told, "don't do illegal things, otherwise you get caught, sent to jail and will have to work as a road sweeper or toilet cleaner for the rest of your life". I always felt that we had a rather unforgiving society that did not give second chances, and that we should take and cherish all the opportunities presented to us.

Then I read today about a former Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) president who was charged with corruption. What stunned me was the final sentence, that this former president was a former MP for Jalan Besar GRC who served a two-week sentence in 1999 for issuing false invoices to help a family friend cheat a finance company. If they had known about this, why did they still hire him?

By Hannah TeohAsiaOneThursday, Dec 08, 2011
Two former employees of the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA), including the former president, have been charged for corruption and criminal breach of trust.
The first man, Mr Choo Wee Khiang, 57, was the president of STTA at the time of the alleged offences. The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said in a statement that it received several anonymous complaints against Choo, alleging
that he had charged his personal airfares, expenses, and phone bills to the Association. Choo had also received gifts from Chinese coaches and players. In 2005, Choo received $1,500 from a former assistant coach of STTA, Mr Luo Jie, on behalf of Mr Liu Zhongze, who was a national team player at that time. The money was given to Choo in exchange for giving Liu more opportunities to represent STTA in table tennis tournaments.
Between 2003 and 2004, Choo also received US$600 (S$768.95) on two occasions from Mr Shi Mei Sheng, a former STTA coach, as a reward for approving the use of training facilities in China.
The second accused, Ms Koh Li Ping, 43, was the High Performance Manager of STTA at the time of the alleged offence. Between 2002 and 2003, Mr Luo Jie provided table tennis training to students for a local secondary school although his work pass only permitted him to work for STTA. Choo and Koh then allegedly arranged with the principal of the school to engage STTA in a new training arrangement with the intention to use the proceeds received to pay Luo
Jie. Subsequently, after STTA received the payment from the school, Koh
obtained approval from Choo to authorise a payment of $8,400 to Luo Jie,
even though the latter did not provide any training services under the
new arrangement.
Choo resigned from the STTA in July 2008. He had been with the Association for 20 years. Choo will be charged for three counts of corruptly accepting gratification and one count of criminal breach of trust. Koh will be charged for one count of engaging with Choo Wee Khiang in a conspiracy to commit criminal breach of trust.The maximum punishment for corruption is a $100,000 fine and five years' jail on each charge.
In 1999, Choo, a former MP for Jalan Besar GRC served a two-week sentence for issuing false invoices to help a family friend cheat a finance company.

Quick link (politics)

Came across an interesting article on politics in Singapore, particularly after the 2011 General Elections. I think this curious desynch gap between what is written online and what actually happens on the ground is closing. The online rhetoric is toning down with more intelligent comments and suggestions being put forth, while voters are more willing to exercise their choice of what they want in their leader. As the voter population evolves: more people being able to vote, past achievements will not be forgotten, but will have less emphasis than what the promised future will be. It is not that they are ungrateful or pro-opposition?

In an ideal world, we would also do away with the GRC system and have all single seat constiuencies. This would remove a chunk of the resentment that this rather cumbersome system has generated, and allow voters to feel represented. The only issue with this system is the level of uncertainty, and aside from causing sleepless nights for all involved (less so for voters, but still) this might cause some foreigners to lose business confidence.

Stun gun (not) fun

Was reading the news online when this article caught my eye thanks to its eyecatching *groan* headline: Police fire stun gun at naked foreigner in Geylang

Reading the article itself, i couldn't help but notice that there was no mention of the guy's clothing (or lack thereof), nor any mention about where he was hit. Would be interesting to combine these two facts and assume he was hit with a Taser in the unmentionables. LOL

Even if we give him the benefit of doubt, and say that maybe due to a communication breakdown, he thought $8 secures him the room for the day (and night?) but how unlikely is that? Who charges $8 for a room these days anyways? He must have been very tired and just wanted a half an hour powernap.....at 8am in the morning. *facepalm*

This is also the first time i've seen the use of the stun gun in Singapore reported in the media. =)

AsiaOneMonday, Nov 14, 2011
Police yesterday used a Taser stun gun on a Caucasian man who charged at an officer in Geylang.
Staff of a Geylang lodging house had requested for assistance after the 34-year-old man, believed to be Russian, overstayed in a room.
The New Paper reported that he had checked in at 8am with a woman and paid $8 to stay for half an hour. The police were called at about 9.30am after the man insisted on staying on even after staff informed him that his time was up. When the police arrived, the man became violent and charged at one of them.
According to The Straits Times, a police spokesperson said the man intended to cause hurt and continued to use violence and attempted to hit the officer despite police advice.
A Taser gun was then discharged at the man to ensure the safety of the officer and the public. He was later arrested for use of criminal force against a public servant. The man was also taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital in a conscious state. He was discharged at 12.30pm and driven to a police station.
According to The Straits Times, the Singapore Police Force first bought Taser X26 stun guns in 2005. The weapon uses electrical currents to immobilise a person by shooting two barbed darts that hook onto a suspect's skin or clothes. The barbs then send a 50,000-volt electric current through the body for five seconds, temporarily incapacitating the person by inducing involuntary muscle contractions.

dancing at work

Was on the way from the bathroom when i encountered someone in the hallway and for a brief awkward moment, we did the awkward hallway shuffle.

This happens when engineers walking in opposite directions meet in a corridor or doorway, one would move to his (yes, engineer = male, i'm not sexist, i'm just stereotyping, it's faster) left and the other would move to his right, ends up both shuffling in a common direction, then change direction at the same time, which leads them to share a common direction again. In the meantime, the gap between us is closing quickly and there is a brief moment of shared panic on our faces when we realise imminent collision is close when at the last moment, one of us stops moving altogether, and we continue on our seperate non-colliding paths. I think next time, i'll just fake a move one direction then quickly dive to the other way, into a forward roll, then stand up and raise my arms up. Tah-dah!

In other random bits, the following bit of conversation i had with an old friend:
J: i always related our friendship to be like wine.... gets better with age
z: some wines can be corked you know hahahahaha
J: YES.... faintz haha!!
z: damn corks screw everything up

Education in Music

We love music, as evident from our combined CD collection (which is more than 2000 CDs and counting). More importantly, I (we) love playing music and this is evident from the number of musical instruments at home: 1 piano (ubiquitous in Singaporean homes), 1 portable Korg keyboard, 1 venerable Yamaha EL-90 electone and 1 ukelele. We also have musical instrument apps on our ipads/iphones, including drum sets, modern synthesizers, classic pianos, guzhen, and the ocarina. Wibblewamble prefers to sing, hence we make a great pair, but i digress.

A question was posed to me during lunch as we were talking about learning music. When i mentioned that i do play the piano (or actually keyboards), I was asked: "So what grade are you?"
This is facinating from so many points of view (when i say facinating, i mean it is a bugbear of mine lol).

• It reflects our Singaporean attitude of measuring one's success using a formal qualification system.


• It shows our kiasu competitive streak in wanting to compare against others.


• It demonstrates plain ignorance in trying to apply an exact science to an inexact art (the engineer in me gave up trying to define one's level of musicness).

There is no leveling up for music and there is no direct comparison. Much like college drop-out Steve Jobs (may he rest in peace), even if you have grade 8 in Piano, does not mean you can play better than someone who has a lower grade. It just means you passed the examinations and you managed to play 3 examination pieces well. Whoopdeedo.

Because of this need for paper qualifications by local parents, some piano teachers do teach songs to their charges for the sole purpose of taking examinations, changing songs only when one examination is passed, often to the next set of examination pieces. Is this any way to learn and appreciate music? When i was younger (but old enough to discern) I once told my piano teacher, "if you teach me only examination pieces, i quit now." Of course she did not, and she even embraced music other than the classical pieces she was great at and we even shared pointers (i came in with experience on this) on playing pop or jazz or even rock pieces (Joplin FTW!).

Coming a close second as facinating question of the day is "what brand if your ukelele" Once again, this obsession to compare! Especially if the next question is "how much did you buy it for" *facepalm* Sometimes we have to learn that not everything has a dollar or extrinsic value.

For the record, it may seem like sour grapes that i didn't pass my ABRSM grade 8. But also for the record, I only took ABRSM grade 3 and grade 7, about 3 years from starting the formal piano lessons (when i was 12). And aside from piano, I was under a scholarship from Yamaha for Electone (completed grade 5 (w fundamentals), teacher's grade, if you must know), and also doing drums as well (grade 6). So paper qualifications-wise, i do have some, although one ability that i'm thankful for is that my ability to replicate a song (or at least play a version of it) after hearing it. More importantly, i feel, is that i enjoy myself playing music and do try to spread this joy to the people who listen. One day, i hope to pass on this joy and this love to our offspring, in the hope that she'd view music the same way we do, and i'm sure she'd do better not to cringe when someone asks her "so what grade are you?"

This is why....

this guy and I get along like a house on fire....

I sent this link to him to an NZ Herald article on Ireland's victory over Australia at the 2011 Rugby World Cup "Rugby World Cup: Kidney has big stake in Ireland stunner"

z: Not just found in corduroy pillows…..
m: I’d have worked in the use of “pie” in that headline…
z: “Steak and Kidney 3.142” just doesn’t square up.....
m: It should. Don’t you know pie are square?
z: Not just that, but according to Pirate folklore if you go once around it adds up, to pie Arrrr.
m: Now you’re just leeding me round in circles, peg leg notwithstanding.

FYI 19 Sep (the date of this conversation) was International Talk like a Pirate Day. =)

Also, this is why workmate and I do not really talk:
Because of the Subway one-for-one offer, the following conversation ensued with workmate(wm)

wm: ok so you buying subway?
me: yes, what do you want?
wm: chicken i guess.
me: on what bread?
wm: the long one.
me: eh? what type is that? Like Italian, Honey Oat, etc. Check out the Subway website.
wm: ok. I'll have the vinaigrette.
me: *facepalm*

Smurfs.....

So there is now a remake of Smurfs (and a revival) with the upcoming Smurfs movie (in 3D!), and lots of people are reliving their childhood and/or introducing the joy of little blue men (not to be confused with the wee free men of the Discworld) to their offspring or the nearest kid they can find. =)

My own memories of the smurfs are similarly childhoodish, and can recall setting the VCR to record these shows so that i could watch it, and then rewatch it over and over again. In fact, it was through the Smurfs that i discovered the joys of remixes. One of my first tapes was the Smurfs Christmas Party, which you can listen to sample tracks here. I marvelled at how funky the remade Christmas carols sounded and wanted to experiment for myself, as up to that point in time, I had been playing music strictly to score (score is king!). Like a Terry Pratchett novel, it opened my eyes to the possibility of existing stuff done or viewed in a new way, and how to share this exciting variant mutant hybrid with other people. So began my musical journey into expressing myself, although it can be viewed as starting steps into the world of jazz. LOL

Men behaving badly

Interesting reading this asiaone post(from stomp) about a Caucasian male who was allegedly drunk and took a cab then refused to pay. When called to the scene, the police allegedly said they could not do anything except advise him to make a report at the police station. I actually have a personal experience to relate about the effectiveness of our police and criminal justice system, in that although I was put in a position of fearing for my life as I was in my car with some random guy kicking in the door and window from the outside (thank goodness they were made sturdy) and a) after calling the police, they arrived half an hour later after (we had all cleared out as the big bad wolf ran out of puff and stormed off); b) a police report was made but after investigating, the officer told me that i'd have to pursue this as a civil matter. Wonderful waste of time. Sometimes i wonder what would have happened if my window had given way or i had come out of the car to stop the guy. Hmmmm.

Anyways, I digress from talking about a more recent incident that happened to us as well while we were at the airport on the way back home, involving a Caucasian. For once, we were fairly early and the check in counters had just opened. So there were, heading towards the counter, me pushing the trolley full of bags, and the wibblewamble carrying our offspring. We were very happy to see no queues for checking in and headed straight for the nearest available counter. As we were proceeding there, we saw a Caucasian male with a suitcase and a golfbag on his trolley come from the business class side of the queue around the barrier to the counters.

What happened next shocked me. He moved very quickly to cut off wibblewamble who (i say again) was carrying our baby in her arms, and pushed his passport energetically at the counterstaff. To do that, he nearly ran down wibblewamble with his baggage trolley and arrived so close to her that the girl behind the counter thought they were together! A diagram of the incident (hyperbole and a half style):







After ww glared at him as i was catching up several steps behind (and picking up my jaw from the floor), we went to the next available counter with nary a word from him to us, let alone an apology. Just for good measure, we went to an available counter 3 counters away.

I really don't understand how shameless and brainless this idiot is. I wouldn't make much of the colour of his skin, but he really had the "white man superior" syndrome. Amazing thing was, because he had to push his golfbag on his trolley to the seperate oversized baggage check-in, i saw that nearly ran over another guy with his trolley again with nary an apology.

I hope his golf scores are always in the triple digits, but from his character, I wouldn't be surprised if he cheats at his golf scores as well. What a douchebag.

Book Review: The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents

Just read this book as we are trying to complete our collection of books by Terry Pratchett and my overall impression of it is this book is a deserving winner of the Carnegie Medal (in 2001).

The obvious twist on the Pier Piper story aside, the book has some witty dialogue and a particularly memorable 'torture' scene, when the boy and girl team need information from a couple of ratcatchers. Of course, the concept of a downtrodden group/race/club is nothing new, and the only drawback is the rather convinient happy ending. Still, this is an enjoyable book which I'd happily read again, if anything, just to see everything from a cat's perspective ("I ask my food to say something before i eat it ok?" LOL)

In other news, we caught part 1 of Hogfather on cable, thanks to the National Day offer (almost all channels available), which stuck fairly closely to the book version.

weekend...

It is weird feeling to head to work on a Monday that sits astride a weekend and a public holiday. Naturally, quite a few co-workers are on leave to make it an extra long weekend, so any work requiring interaction of any sort will have to wait. LOL

Speaking of the weekend just past, managed to catch up with my old secondary school mates over dinner and drinks, so that was a nice way to kick start the weekend (although the morning after wasn't so great lol). Did some shopping at Taka as well, and when i say some, i mean alot, because Kino was having 20% off and the wife had a list of books to buy. What a combination. LOL

Sunday was interesting because we had a Countrymen set in the morning that was absolutely rocking. There are times when i look at the guys i play with and am just amazed and blown away by their singing and playing. Great fun playing with them and entertaining everyone in the canteen. There were times when it felt as if the keyboard was on fire with playing that i wanted to douse it with gasoline and light it up, just to be able to bring it up a notch. LOL

Had to cover for evening mass as well, which was interesting since i got to impart some musical knowledge. I think a good musician should be able to inspire others to do better and to ignite that passion in them. Not something i made up, but something i observed from watching and interacting with great musicians.

conversation conundrums

We've been having some issues with our ceiling, as the paint has cracked and a stain has appeared. Possible leak from the outside? We don't know.

So i was chatting with ww on gmail and asking her whether the guy has arrived....
ww: He came
z: He saw,
z: He concurred?

Which reminds me of the famous phrase in Jingo: Veni Vidi Vetinari
Although also in the book is the phrase: Veni, Vermini, Vomini LOL!

Which was what i wanted to do after i managed to pwn myself. First the wife sends me the link for cute diapers, and my first thought (understandably, since i'm a guy) was "Ha! All these silly parents! Paying good money for design over functionality". But then my second and third thoughts kicked in, which were "I wonder how was my offspring look in that", followed by "OMG, i've so got to get me a pack of those, just to see how cute she looks in it". I'm so ashamed of myself, but i'm still amused (and i might still buy them!) LOL

wonderful weekend

As usual, our weekends are just packed. But there is a certain level of satisfaction and this weekend just past was special. We started out saturday well and after a scrumptious lunch by my mother-in-law, went to visit ww's grandma. Boistrous noisy play was the game of the day as the various kids (including ours) tried to outdo each other in enthusiasm and playfulness. LOL. Good fun.

Got to play soccer with my friends at East Coast, and prove that although age has prevented us from running too much or too fast, we still have the skillz to put on a classy act (including a memorable trap and volley on the turn). A young 'un even remarked "woah, how did you do that? magic?" after a particularly silky pass went around him. Capped off the day with a soy bean miso hot pot at home with our friends, good fun all round with great food and even better company. What more could we ask for?

Then came Sunday, went for champagne brunch to celebrate my mum's birthday. Excellent spread of food and bubbly drinks, and we were very entertained by the live 3 piece jazz band (singer, guitarist and bassist). Stuffed my face silly and didn't feel the need to eat anything til quite late that night. Even managed to squeeze in a visit to Jeanie, and she's looking well, still ever the bright-eyed border collie. Our daughter was also doing her best to entertain everyone with her antics, including trying to play table tennis, go for a swim (fully clothed) and breaking into dance at various times when she hears music. =) To cap off my Sunday, she said "Deh-di". *melted*

Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Just watched this action flick, man was it filled with action! It was action packed that there were times i found myself looking at metal origami happening on the screen and wondering a) who just transformed b) what were they transforming from/to c) why they were transforming, and before i could process that, they transformed again. Edge of the seat stuff.

My problem is that it was also followed a somewhat incoherent implausible incredulous plot. I shan't spoil it for you, so all i'll say is why is it that the decepticons have such elaborate plans (like the old villains of James Bond) while the autobots only have a couple of moves. Aside from their usual "Autobots attack!" and "Autobots retreat!", they have also added "Autobots hide!" to their bag of tricks. And what's with robots with cockney/london accents? I propose transformers 4 have a robot voiced by a Singaporean, like Kumar (funny dialogue), Hamish Brown (deep voice) or mrbrown (no relation)(bestest combi: funny voice with deep dialogue)

Because of the rapid pace of the show and the rather contrived storyline that tried to weave in actual history into the movie as background, the characters are left rather shallow. The hero Sam is just a schizo with a really hot girlfriend, who's really there to upstage MF by providing more booty shots than a shoe store (i swear that sounded better in my head). Optimus Prime also alternates between being this pansy-in-pain asking "why are you doing this?" whimp to being a kick ass sonic the hedgehog with an axe. Think Yoda fighting Count Dooku in Starwars Episode II: Attack of the Clones, just bigger. This lack of character development shows when the robots do really violent stuff to each other, while although humans are killed, you dun really show them dying by having their spines ripped out (and shown to them? oh wait, different movie. LOL). In fact, if you replaced what the robots did with humans, they'd be slapped with the Hague war crimes tribunal for crimes against humanity because of the rate that the unarmed and unprotected prisoners are being killed. More spoilers: quite a few robots are killed in this movie, including an already disarmed and helpless M, who is killed using the previously described form of severe spinal lobotomy. Very disturbing, yet in a funny way (because it's a testosterone-fest action flick) you felt compelled to jump up and cheer whenever a some robot was killed yelling "Yeah! Take that you mother-stickers!"

Michael Bay also overused the movie moments of tension and suspense/dread/please-dun-happen, which always followed up with an external party coming in to spoil the party (lol). Example of this is ah-kow and ah-ngeow fighting each other, pattern all come out one, more than badminton (see here for explanation), then suddenly ah-ngeow has the upper hand and is standing over ah-kow about to disembowel him, all hope is lost (you see it in ah-kow's eyes)........then a bald eagle (dun you just love the subtleness of Americans?) suddenly swoops in and knocks ah-ngeow over into a cauldron of hot water that happened to be on the boil because some a-hole had forgotten about cooking his soup and left it there while going to tend to his goats. In fact, there were moments in the show when Sam the hero was in deep trouble and looked like he was going to get killed, yet you knew he wasn't going to die since Zeus would come down from Mount Olympus and use his lightning bolts to open a Canon ass Nikoning.

doggie IQ

I read this post on my (now) favourite blog/comic/cartoon/entertainmment/light reading/i need to laugh moment and was reminded that Jeanie took the same test and did pretty well. No, i'm not crowing or lording it up, i think that however smart or silly your dog is, they are still lovable all the same and nothing can make them waver from their fierce loyalty....except maybe biscuits or treats if they're partial to that......but still, a loyalty that is unmatched. Try that with a cat. LOL

Speaking of Jeanie, she turns 13 this year, and needless to say, we're very happy for her. Her bout with tick fever 5 years ago has faded into a distant memory, and aside from some slowing down (especially on the stairs), she's still the same cheeky bright-eyed dog who always has a wag in her tail for us, and a kiss if we wanted. Ah, i miss her so now. =)

Hyphen-abuse Alert

Or better know by its acronym, HA!

Saw this article on asiaone reporting on the-best-units-of-the-SAF and one particular paragraph caught-my-eye:

The squadron operates the F-15SG all-weather multi-role fighter, which is equipped with state-of-the-art avionics and a sophisticated integrated sensor suite, and provides the third-generation SAF with enhanced air-defence and air-superiority capabilities.

Holy-crap! Is it the style of new age writing these days to incorporate morse code into their sentences by balancing out the dots (periods) with dashes? I have one thing to say about it: I-don't-like-it.

The definition and usage of hyphens are readily available online. Technically, the writer is correct using hyphens in the paragraph, however it is really an eyesore. Which brings us to another bug bear of mine: the semi-colon. Many people fear to use it, some use it wrongly, others just treat it like a comma; everyone should just check out this easy-to-understand poster from the oatmeal.

Social Mobility

Read a touching article from a UK newspaper online (props to mrbrown).

The key to social mobility is having a devoted and determined family
Because, to my mind, social engineering isn't the best way to propel a child out of a council estate and onto better things. There is a much more effective solution — and my friends and I are living proof of it.
I didn't end up eating £100 steaks because someone put a 'Poor Kid' sign around my neck and sent me to be taught with the children of millionaires.
No, I got there thanks to my mum and dad, who worked their socks off to ensure their children were well-fed, well-clothed and well educated.

I can relate very strongly to this and do constantly feel guilty about not spending enough time with my parents, even though they understand that we are busy these days working and raising our little one. I come from a family where only my Dad worked (really hard at times), and thanks to capital gains, managed to put me through university (both degrees, although i did get some help in the form of a 'local' scholarship), for which i am forever grateful. These days I find my broad education in a wide range of technologies a blessing as i talk to engineers, researchers and inventors, because i can understand their tech-speak and relate to them easily. Growing up, i never had to worry about food or clothing, and i got pretty much whatever i wanted. However whatever i wanted was influenced by upbringing and conditioning by my mother, hence i never asked for a holiday to disneyland lol. My parents never held back when it came to my education, whether it be trips to the science centre (however many), or music lessons. In fact, there was a period when my fees per month added to more than $500 (piano, organ and drums) (although for a good time i was on scholarship which did help heh). It is with this background that I can entertain (largely) myself and others (when i play for mass).

Which then leads to, what can our offspring achieve? I think what we have/can achieve is freedom for her. She will have choices which we did not have before, since we were told to pick our degrees (thence professions) with one eye on what we want to do for the rest of our lives, which leads to traditional (boring?) roles like doctor, lawyer, accountant and engineer.

I once discussed about being thankful to my Mum and her reply was that we repay our debt to our parents by bringing up our kids the same way they brought us up, with plenty of love and affection. And to that aim we will strive.

scaling new heights

Just a quick update from my previous post on playing at Sacred Heart (i didn't play for midnight mass, just morning mass...).

Got to play for first communion mass on Sunday and it was heartening to see so many young ones all excited about receiving communion. Good mix of hymns as well in terms of style, ranging from country (Come and Dine) to latin (Blessed Sacrament), and ending the mass with everyone quite upbeat (Bread of life). Also got to impart some knowledge in terms of how to slot in a scale while playing using modes. I use this (too?) often to either break the monotony, bridge a gap, or lead the choir (and congregation) to their starting note between phrases. Sometimes i just use it (like i did on Sunday) to fill in for the left hand while leading with the right, and it provides a really nice harmony background. Heh.

book review: the Cobra

I thought it's been some time since Frederick Forsyth published a new book since the Afghan (which i did a review of). This new book is more of a page turner and builds upon the characters found from his previous book called the Avenger. In fact, the storyline midway was so suspenseful that when i found that i had left the book in office, actually considered going back to get it (insomniacs of the world unite!). I have to say that the ending is a bit of an anticlimax though, so don't get your hopes up.

On the whole, the amount of research and preparation, and the way he organises and present his material is unsurpassed (as usual). There were one or two instances when i had to refer back to an earlier page to understand what was going on, but generally easy to follow given the number of characters and rather multiple events happening at different places at the same time. Was a little daunted seeing the (long) list of characters at the start of the book, and also reminded me of Tom Clancy books. In fact, i was reminded most of TC's novels where the 'superior' American technology trumps everything else when the drugdealers struggled to cope, although the stuff they used appeared relatively Amish. Also, I did sense a bit of inconsistency in the characters since the Avenger, but that's to be expected when (as explained to a friend) Cobra Commander and Snake Eyes join forces to fight the drug barons. (Anyone remember GI Joe?) What stood out the most was the level of violence being described. It has cranked up a notch since the (already) brutality seen in the Avenger and at times made me cringe. I guess it served its purpose of showing how evil men can be, although in reality i doubt (or rather hope) no such evil people exist.

Interesting bit: Singapore features quite often in the plot, i think because of our position as a shipping hub (thanks to our central geographical position!)

Wilful kids

This NZ herald article used this term and i like it! Our daughter is now 13 months old and becoming quite a handful, always trying to get what she wants and throwing a tantrum when she doesn't get it, i.e. wilful. =)

We have been trying to set up the right atmosphere for her and constantly remind her that we love her. She's begun to reciprocate and demonstrate this by hugging us and (more recently) giving us a kiss. Of course there will be times when she wonders why she can't do something, and most of the times, she can't understand our explanation. She tries to say 'please' in order to get her way, although it only comes out (after a big intake of breath) as "pah" (exhale). People have also noticed that she has a good set of lungs 'cos she'd yell (really loudly) when she doesn't get her way. LOL.

From the same NZherald article:
Mantras of parenting
* Atmosphere is everything
* Take a break
* Boys need to hear: "you've got what it takes"
* Girls need to hear: "you're lovely and capable"
* Remember what it was like to be a child
* Children will repeat whatever behaviour gets them what they want
* Don't sweat the small stuff
* We all want to be happy

headline double take...

I saw the headlines for this article and had to do a double take:

Zero tolerance for violence at nursing homes

Our take on this is correct of course, not like other people who may have some tolerance for violence at nursing homes, or even high tolerance for violence at nursing homes. Wait, that last one can also be read that nurses are able to cope with the physical abuse they sometimes face (nurses = respect!). The byline reads:

All interviewed agree caregivers must treat elderly residents well

Is there anyone out there who would disagree with this? Especially in a nursing home? LOL.

My own stance is nursing homes are sometimes necessary for people (especially the elderly) who need constant specialized care. In an ideal world, one would hire a nurse to take care of our elderly in our own home, but i recognise not everyone can afford this.

Walking on faith...

Our daughter has started walking a couple of days after her birthday and it is quite interesting and heartening to see her advance so quickly from those tentative unsure steps to practically flying now. In fact, she's walking so fast that we had to buy her proper walking shoes to stop her foot from pronating (yet another new word i learn as a parent). Outcome? She's walking even faster now! *fainted*

There is something about watching your child toddle around the place. First, rather unsteadily, holding on to stuff on the way during her mini-breaks from walking. You can see her planning how to get from the sofa to the room by holding on to the chaise, the dining room chair and the corridor wall ... or maybe i'm just imagining that bit, although it was still a bit of a shock to realise she had walked all the way to her room. LOL

Speaking of parenting styles, there's a WSJ article (hattip to ww) that seems quite accurate, since we noticed that we both have different parenting styles. We do adapt from each other's so sometimes we swap the 'mothering' and 'fathering' roles, but i do believe it is working well together. I feel like hugging my daughter after reading the article..... =)

Some excerpts from the article:

Minor injuries
DADS: Tend to distract the child by directing her attention to another activity or carrying her to another part of the playground. This can help kids develop the resiliency needed to shake off small setbacks and move on.
MOMS: Tend to comfort and soothe the child and encourage her to talk about what she is feeling. This can help a child feel secure and safe and express emotions in words.

Playtime:
DADS: Interactions are more rambunctious and physical. Dads are more likely to startle babies, laugh, play physical games such as tossing them in the air, and spark peaks of emotion or excitement. This is believed to help kids develop self-regulatory skills.
MOMS: Tend to interact face-to-face with babies, babbling back and forth, responding to subtle shifts in facial expressions and touching the baby affectionately. This is believed to teach children to read facial expressions, use words to communicate and to enjoy close, intimate contact.

sick (long) weekend

Most people i know had a long weekend as 7 May 2011 was declared a public holiday (GE polling day) and many companies gave off-in-lieu for Monday.

I took mine earlier (6 May) to celebrate but spent most of it being ill with an inflammation of the nasal passages, which left me hazy about the weekend, so much so that Monday and Tuesday was spent at home resting as well (despite an effort to make it into work on Monday). Urgh

This strain of flu is quite virulent and presents itself as inflammed tonsils to begin with (Thurs night) and i quaffed 2 litres of water to try to soothe it, but still woke up the next day with a sore throat and runny nose. Was on antibiotics at this point as the dentist found some inflammation of my wisdom tooth area. I did feel a bit better on Saturday with the throat clearing up but the nose just got worse and developed so much gunk that i got a cough to boot (probably from backflow). Come Monday i thought it was clearing up, but it just got worse and my nose became totally stuck and efforts made to clear it just made my ringing ears worse (although i still tried to clear it). Saw the doc on Monday and was given another course of antibiotics and more meds. Coughed and sneezed up quite abit of the gunk but still feeling groggy on Weds (today). I hate being sick.

So how was your long weekend? LOL

Our baby is one!

Another milestone today as she turned one. At the same time, she's also fighting roseola virus, so we've been dosing her with medication.

She can now stand on her own now, aside from cruising, and has even danced to some music, albeit on the spot without moving her feet. A few words have been added to her vocab and she is quite good at signing now (although we need to be more diligent in teaching her more signs!).

Hardly a day goes by when we are not amazed by her and her antics and as much as we want her to grow up, we also want to save this moment in the scrapbook inside us, to be taken out and savored when she is older (especially during her rebellious times).

Happy birthday little one, may you always be loved, blessed and cherished by all around you.

News placement fail

Saw this rather unforunate coincidence of new events on Asiaone. LOL

What is the quality of mercy

I felt sad reading about the teen who was arrested after an outburst at a meet the people session. He has low IQ with a medical condition to boot, and got upset after meeting the MP so after walking out of the MP's office with his mother, he hoisted an aluminium foldable chair over his head and slammed it against a glass door. The boy, who has been released on bail, has been told to report back to the police on 12 May, where he may be charged with committing a rash act.

Maybe it is early days yet, but the blogosphere has yet to pick up on this except for Mr Wang (respect!).

I believe Shakespeare said it best in 1596 from his play, the Merchant of Venice:

Portia:
The quality of mercy is not strain'd,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
The Merchant Of Venice Act 4, scene 1, 180–187

Clearly the teen was wrong in venting his frustration, whatever his IQ is. However, it is also clear that he and his mother need help, and when they sought it, they somehow tripped and fell afoul of the law. Sure, we can prosecute him, but what good would it do? As explained on the internet, only because mercy is voluntary—because it mitigates the compulsions of the literal law—is it true mercy, which drops gently like heaven's rain, a natural and gracious quality rather than a legal one.

Aside from this natural and gracious quality, the bard brings in a religious quality, going on to say (Portia con't):

Though justice be thy plea, consider this,
That in the course of justice we all must see salvation,
We all do pray for mercy
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render the deeds of mercy.

So where is our quality of mercy?

Walking with baby

So our almost one year-old is starting to walk, first by standing up with support, then cruising, and now walking using a wooden walker. This presents some interesting issues in terms of baby proofing our house. It has taken some time, but we use a combination of approaches: rearranging our furniture, removing some things to a higher height and teaching her not to touch stuff (my CD cabinet is built in).

Pretty much letting her just do whatever she wants, even encouraging her to crawl more (she still does, since it's faster lol). The 2 times that i have cracked out the walking wings, she expressed her displeasure (very loudly), which makes it one more almost-new product to be either sold, or saved for the next little one (if any).

Every little thing she does, each developmental milestone fills us with pride and sorrow, because our little girl is growing up so quickly. Exciting times, especially since we are approaching her first birthday. =)

The day is upon us.....

Was chatting online with a friend who drives an evo when I read that the President of Singapore has dissolved parliament, paving the way for General Elections.

z: dude, parliament dissolved
c: hmm, that means i better get my car inspected soon
z: eh? your car going to be used as rally car ah? *sniggers*

I think this GE is going to be a significant point in Singapore political scene, either one way or the other, so it's going to be interesting! =)

Random conversation

I don't know why but being with my friends do bring out the better side in me, I guess that's what friends are for, making you a better person. =)

The following conversation happened via gmail chat.....

J: Yo, so can you play soccer this friday?
Z: Difficult, especially if the wifely person has to work late and i've got to look after our daughter. Although i suppose i could sling her to my back and play. No sliding tackles though.
J: You're mad!!
Z: Yeah, the things i do to play soccer with my friends.
J: Including committing suicide...
Z: lol, now that's just silly. Unless zombies can play soccer.....but they can't. If i imagine it right, they have to stop to pick up a foot everytime they take a shot, not to mention the bits (like fingers (dependent on state of decomposition)) which keep falling off
J: you can get past them just by throwing salt...
Z: those are snails my friend, you're thinking of the wrong thing. Similarly slimey, but different state of livingness.

[yes i like making up words hahahaha]

Overhead in the office

Sometimes, working in a cubicle farm has its funny moments (and i'm the only guy)......

A: Anyone wants to eat my banana?
B: I don't anyhow eat people's banana lah.
A: But this is nice!
C: Maybe she doesn't like it, because it's the short type.
B: I only like to eat Indian bananas lah.
A: Is it the type with the wrinkly skin?

*zeenie stifling laughter and trying to control his chuckles*

battle hymn

So there has been a furor both online and in main stream media about a book one law professor wrote on raising her children, with quite a bit discussion to date. Because of misunderstandings, both she and her offspring have come out to clear any misunderstandings.

Personally, i'm ambivalent about it. Until 10 months ago, i wouldn't have understood, but now do I understand the situation she presents, i.e. how to decide what is best for your child. We ask ourselves time and again, are we stimulating her enough? Or too little? Is she progressing well? Are we doing the right thing? It can get a little overwhelming and her way (not saying it's the Asian way) suggests the extreme, that you don't know how far they can go until you 'stretch' them. We have our own style of parenting which we adapt from what we read and learn, and try our best to provide for her development in every way. Not sure how this will go, but it'll be an experience for all involved! Stay tuned for more updates on this. =)

the Blackbird

Continuing on a military slant, came across quite a few posts on the Lockheed Martin SR-71 Blackbird.

This aircraft was the creme de la creme of its time, and still holds records in speed til this day (march 3!), so it was nice to read some 'behind the scenes' type of stories, like this one from a pilot about flying it (into Libya?!), and this one from a pilot about a training excercise (and the art of speaking softly but flying fastest).

Best picture so far has to come from Lockheed Martin themselves.

C3I

The title reflects a military acronym for command control communications and intelligence and today's post concerns one of the 'c's. LOL

I was reading this blogpost on a letter published on ST's forum page and couldn't stop chuckling to myself. Basically, the blogger is commenting about information from the army, or rather lack of communication from the army. What had happened was some parade (i assume POP?) where two recruits allegedly fainted on parade in full view of spectators and how the army would need to move quickly to tell the parents.

Maybe i'm old school, but i believe a certain level of operational security has to be maintained even if this means that information flow is slowed. Of course, information has to be forth coming in due course, and does not mean that bits and bites flow freely willy nilly. Terry Pratchett once wrote that "A lie can run round the world before the truth has got its boots on." (the Truth)

The expectation of the present "i want it here and now" generation in the digital age is quite scary and turning back to this incident, at this rate, the army will have to install an electronic billboard on parade squares (like those found at expressway entrances) that will flash the name of the unfortunate recruit who has just fainted. LOL

motoring madness

Driving on the roads in Singapore is stressful (no matter what vehicle you are in) and i'm sure everyone can think of an example of silly behaviour but the topic for my post today is merging lanes. *rant alert!*

Now, i think they don't teach this at driving school here, but overseas (like NZ ), merging lanes are common and the driver rationale behind it is simple: Merge like a zip. This means that cars should merge alternating between the left and right lanes, especially in heavy traffic. This is just common sense, but then we all know that common sense is an endangered species that is being euthanized daily by idiots everywhere.

So what happens here? People are kiasu, i.e. they are scared to lose, or they want to get 'there' (metaphorical destination) ahead of the other cars, or they just don't like to give way. Either way, they use their cars like battering rams, charging up ahead into the merged lane, even to the extent of driving on the shoulder, when it is not their turn to merge. In order to do so, they tailgate the car in front of them, so much so that at the merged lane, the car in the lane next to them have no place to go. Worse instances of this behaviour is when the driver appears totally oblivious to this and plows on straight ahead (full speed ahead! damn the icebergs!), now they could be pretending to be blur. Entertainment ensues when you get two of these idiots side by side (and you're behind them) and they both squeeze into the one lane, both pretend nothing is going on, and both scrape their fenders against each other. Karma!

/rant

Start of the new year

Season's greetings! I thought it would be a good start to the new year to dedicate this post to my family and what i'm thankful for.

One of the most significant events of 2010 (and also of my life) was the birth of our daughter. She is really the light of our lives and brings us plenty of joy daily. It has been kind of a rollercoaster ride, but most of it has been taking place above the clouds so parenthood has definitely given us more smiles and laughters. Overall, we have changed, along with our priorities, for the better (i hope) and find it amusing that both the wifely-person and I are quite self-conscious as we seem to be constantly asking ourselves: "is growing and learning well?", "is she eating enough?", "are we spoiling her?". I guess we just want to be good parents and provide her the best without producing a brat, which is a difficult balancing act, but we'll try.

Recently had a New Year's day party at our place with both sets of grandparents in attendance. Mother-in-law prepared a turkey while my mum prepared the veges and it was a grand old time at home, especially with our daughter being very happy the entire night. I put it down to having her favourite people all under one roof, like playing futsal at East Coast with one's soccer heros i guess. LOL

One of the remarks made at the party inspired this post, as my father-in-law said during his time, his memory and enjoyment of watching his daughters grow up while infants were limited to ferrying them around and watching them sleep at night. This was common among our parents' generation as they all came from relatively big families (more than 6) so their parents could not help with their grandkids the way our parents could. So they had to hire babysitters and nannys in order to cope with making a living at the same time. These days, we are blessed and I am always grateful as we have my in-laws helping to take care of her during the weekdays, ensuring that she is well fed, well taken care of, and well watched over. If that's not enough, they also cook dinner for us. I guess with the changing times, the makeup of the family is evolving and so we have smaller nucleus families but closer core family ties, and for this i am thankful. I only hope that one day when our daughter grows up, she looks back and is just as thankful for all this as I am now.

Have a great 2011!