Friday, September 30, 2005
Setlist for Wednesday night
Here's what I played a couple of nights ago... 'Twas a short little set, and the early evening period meant I slipped in more than a few mellow songs. (Except that the PINE*am song takes Erik Satie's minimal classic and turns it into a Japanese-pop noise-festival.)
Turin Brakes, "Pain Killer (Summer Rain)"
Aerosmith, "Dream On"
Elbow, "Asleep in the Back"
Jeff Buckley, "Hallelujah"
Ryan Adams and Emmylou Harris, "Return of the Grievous Angel"
Dashboard Confessional, "Hands Down"
Wilco, "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart"
The Beta Band, "Dog Got A Bone"
The Postal Service, "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight"
The Electric Soft Parade, "Silent to the Dark"
Jimmy Eat World, "Lucky Denver Mint"
PINE*am, "Gymnopedie 0.1"
The Decemberists, "Here I Dreamt I was an Architect"
Lou Reed, "Walk on the Wild Side"
The Walkmen, "Revenge Wears No Wristwatch"
The Undertones, "Teenage Kicks"
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, "There She Goes, My Beautiful World"
The New Pornographers, "Twin Cinema"
Kaiser Chiefs, "I Predict A Riot"
Party Ben, "Boulevard of Broken Songs"
The Postal Service, "Such Great Heights"
Here's what I played a couple of nights ago... 'Twas a short little set, and the early evening period meant I slipped in more than a few mellow songs. (Except that the PINE*am song takes Erik Satie's minimal classic and turns it into a Japanese-pop noise-festival.)
Turin Brakes, "Pain Killer (Summer Rain)"
Aerosmith, "Dream On"
Elbow, "Asleep in the Back"
Jeff Buckley, "Hallelujah"
Ryan Adams and Emmylou Harris, "Return of the Grievous Angel"
Dashboard Confessional, "Hands Down"
Wilco, "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart"
The Beta Band, "Dog Got A Bone"
The Postal Service, "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight"
The Electric Soft Parade, "Silent to the Dark"
Jimmy Eat World, "Lucky Denver Mint"
PINE*am, "Gymnopedie 0.1"
The Decemberists, "Here I Dreamt I was an Architect"
Lou Reed, "Walk on the Wild Side"
The Walkmen, "Revenge Wears No Wristwatch"
The Undertones, "Teenage Kicks"
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, "There She Goes, My Beautiful World"
The New Pornographers, "Twin Cinema"
Kaiser Chiefs, "I Predict A Riot"
Party Ben, "Boulevard of Broken Songs"
The Postal Service, "Such Great Heights"
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Giant Squid Found Live!
Wow - they finally photographed a giant squid live in the wild!
So I guess Steve O'Shea's quest to be the first man to see the live giant squid (as described in that New Yorker article) is kind of over - although he still has the chance I suppose to be the first to capture the giant squid live:
Technorati Tags: giant, squid
Wow - they finally photographed a giant squid live in the wild!
For centuries giant squids, formally called Architeuthis, have been the stuff of legends, appearing in the myths of ancient Greece or attacking a submarine in Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." But they had never been seen in their natural habitat, only caught in fishing nets or washed ashore dead or dying.
The Japanese team, capping a three-year effort, filmed the creature in September of last year, finding what one researcher called "the holy grail" of deep-sea animals. (Seattle Times-Intelligencer)
Man - ever since last year's New Yorker article on the Squid Hunter (an excellent read - highly recommended if you want more background about the quest for the giant squid), I've been quite intrigued by the fact that the world's largest inverterbrate was almost mythical, since only dead ones had been found. It was almost like trying to find Nessie.
So I guess Steve O'Shea's quest to be the first man to see the live giant squid (as described in that New Yorker article) is kind of over - although he still has the chance I suppose to be the first to capture the giant squid live:
a squid is highly sensitive to its environment. Accustomed to living in a borderless realm, a squid reacts poorly when placed in a tank, and will often plunge, kamikaze-style, into the walls, or cannibalize other squid.O'Shea is also quoted in the Times-Intelligencer article (naturally - of course one would call in the expert on the subject), and he was very gracious to the Japanese team:
(The New Yorker)
Through sheer ... determination the guy has gone on and done it," said O'Shea, chief marine scientist at the Auckland University of Technology, who is not linked to the Japanese research.So another mystery of the deep seas resolved. Always interesting when large animals are discovered.
Technorati Tags: giant, squid
XX/XY
Dir. Austin Chick
Mark Ruffalo, Maya Stange, Kathleen Robertson, Petra Wright
XX/XY, Austin Chick's directorial debut, tells a familiar story: being young, reckless, feeling like and acting as though nothing has consequences - and then growing older, and learning to deal with the consequences of one's actions. Wannabe artist Coles (Mark Ruffalo) meets Sam (Maya Stange) at a party at Sarah Lawrence, and Sam invites along punk grrl Thea (Kathleen Robertson) for a menage a trois. And so begins a classic relationship of youth, prodigal, profligate, promiscuous, and seemingly aconsequential - until the heartbreak when Coles reveals to Sam he has had a one-night stand.
Ten years later, all three parties find themselves back in New York, somewhat altered by the passage of time. Thea now is the wife of a successful restauranteur, Sam has just returned from London, and Coles has given up filmmaking for advertising. And it is Coles' chance reunion with Sam that triggers off all sorts of conflicts in their respective lives, both of which seem to be merely drifting along. Coles' relationship with Claire (Petra Wright, in a fine performance), his live-in girlfriend of five years, may feel to him and others like a marriage, but he remains perpetually unable to commit to anything, always leaving his options open - at a crucial confrontation, Claire points out "You still haven't chosen me. You're settling for me." Sam, on her part, has just broken off an engagement in London to come back. And the subsequent reentanglement of their lives gives them an emotional push: indeed, the light that streams into Coles' spacious flat or into the Hampton resort of the final scenes feels like an airing compared to the flourescent-lit dark parties of their youth.
XX/XY doesn't judge its characters on the excesses of their youth or the compromises in their aging. Chick's flick takes it all in, showing the inevitable emotional effects of actions, but also showing that the transition from the halcyon days of youth can be surprisingly achievable: Robertson manages to capture the idea that Thea's position as restauranteur's muse is simply an extension of her spirit, rather than any sort of deadening or 'selling out'.
Ruffalo's turn as the central man is not without its minor flaws - his awkward look during confrontations had too much of an Ashton-Kutcher-trying-to-look-pensive feel to it for my taste - but he captures the sense of a man always looking for something better, oblivious to the consequences of that sort of behaviour on others. Always afraid to pin himself down to one thing because he's afraid of compromising (the same reason he left film), always afraid to comit, Coles appears callous to others in his youth, but ends up, as the film shows, hurting himself more in the end.
Technorati Tags: film, dvd, review
Dir. Austin Chick
Mark Ruffalo, Maya Stange, Kathleen Robertson, Petra Wright
XX/XY, Austin Chick's directorial debut, tells a familiar story: being young, reckless, feeling like and acting as though nothing has consequences - and then growing older, and learning to deal with the consequences of one's actions. Wannabe artist Coles (Mark Ruffalo) meets Sam (Maya Stange) at a party at Sarah Lawrence, and Sam invites along punk grrl Thea (Kathleen Robertson) for a menage a trois. And so begins a classic relationship of youth, prodigal, profligate, promiscuous, and seemingly aconsequential - until the heartbreak when Coles reveals to Sam he has had a one-night stand.
Ten years later, all three parties find themselves back in New York, somewhat altered by the passage of time. Thea now is the wife of a successful restauranteur, Sam has just returned from London, and Coles has given up filmmaking for advertising. And it is Coles' chance reunion with Sam that triggers off all sorts of conflicts in their respective lives, both of which seem to be merely drifting along. Coles' relationship with Claire (Petra Wright, in a fine performance), his live-in girlfriend of five years, may feel to him and others like a marriage, but he remains perpetually unable to commit to anything, always leaving his options open - at a crucial confrontation, Claire points out "You still haven't chosen me. You're settling for me." Sam, on her part, has just broken off an engagement in London to come back. And the subsequent reentanglement of their lives gives them an emotional push: indeed, the light that streams into Coles' spacious flat or into the Hampton resort of the final scenes feels like an airing compared to the flourescent-lit dark parties of their youth.
XX/XY doesn't judge its characters on the excesses of their youth or the compromises in their aging. Chick's flick takes it all in, showing the inevitable emotional effects of actions, but also showing that the transition from the halcyon days of youth can be surprisingly achievable: Robertson manages to capture the idea that Thea's position as restauranteur's muse is simply an extension of her spirit, rather than any sort of deadening or 'selling out'.
Ruffalo's turn as the central man is not without its minor flaws - his awkward look during confrontations had too much of an Ashton-Kutcher-trying-to-look-pensive feel to it for my taste - but he captures the sense of a man always looking for something better, oblivious to the consequences of that sort of behaviour on others. Always afraid to pin himself down to one thing because he's afraid of compromising (the same reason he left film), always afraid to comit, Coles appears callous to others in his youth, but ends up, as the film shows, hurting himself more in the end.
Technorati Tags: film, dvd, review
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Sign O' The Times
An amusing sign from Amsterdam from Indrani's Flickr collection of photos of signs. I think it means "if you spot a paedophile in a hat abducting a little girl, you should drop a large object such as a bicycle on him".
Technorati Tags: signs
An amusing sign from Amsterdam from Indrani's Flickr collection of photos of signs. I think it means "if you spot a paedophile in a hat abducting a little girl, you should drop a large object such as a bicycle on him".
Technorati Tags: signs
Bouncey
Someone tried to send me an e-mail today and it bounced. And that just seals it: I've come to realise that quite a few e-mails don't make it through my layers of spam protection (on the forwarding address, on the dsng.net server, on my own Eudora junk-mail filter). Heck, there are e-mails that I send out that don't make it through the layers of protection I have. So - if you wrote me a while ago and suspect I didn't receive it - I probably didn't.
And that's my excuse for the day, folks.
Someone tried to send me an e-mail today and it bounced. And that just seals it: I've come to realise that quite a few e-mails don't make it through my layers of spam protection (on the forwarding address, on the dsng.net server, on my own Eudora junk-mail filter). Heck, there are e-mails that I send out that don't make it through the layers of protection I have. So - if you wrote me a while ago and suspect I didn't receive it - I probably didn't.
And that's my excuse for the day, folks.
Hideout, once more
Got a last-minute request to do a DJ slot tonight at Hideout. I'll be on from 9 till 10.30pm, anyone wants to drop by to say hi. Basic indie rock stuff - nothing fancy, just another view of the crevices of my record collection.
Got a last-minute request to do a DJ slot tonight at Hideout. I'll be on from 9 till 10.30pm, anyone wants to drop by to say hi. Basic indie rock stuff - nothing fancy, just another view of the crevices of my record collection.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Let's Go, Baby
Not being au fait with the martial arts (my weekend watching of Kill Bill notwithstanding), I've never heard of Wing Chun Kung Fu in my life, and then suddenly in the space of 12 hours I hear 2 references to it - first in Alexei Sayle's "This Stupid Smile", a short story from his Barcelona Plates collection, then in my inbox this morning, some club was offering Wing Chun Kung Fu lessons. Isn't it weird when random things start peppering one's sphere of thought?
Of course, I first read the e-mail as saying Wang Chung Kung Fu lessons, which would've been hilarious. Everybody have fun tonight!
Not being au fait with the martial arts (my weekend watching of Kill Bill notwithstanding), I've never heard of Wing Chun Kung Fu in my life, and then suddenly in the space of 12 hours I hear 2 references to it - first in Alexei Sayle's "This Stupid Smile", a short story from his Barcelona Plates collection, then in my inbox this morning, some club was offering Wing Chun Kung Fu lessons. Isn't it weird when random things start peppering one's sphere of thought?
Of course, I first read the e-mail as saying Wang Chung Kung Fu lessons, which would've been hilarious. Everybody have fun tonight!
Novo
Dir. Jean-Pierre Limosin
Novo tells a story that is part Memento, part 50 First Dates (although this French film, a 2002 product, predates the latter tale): the lead character, Graham (Eduardo Noriega) suffers from short term memory loss thanks to an accident. This being a French film, the memory loss leads to him being kept as a sexual plaything for his boss, Sabine (Nathalie Richard).
The usual aides memoire of memory-loss films - writing in notebooks, on the skin, on the walls - come into play for Graham, particularly after he meets Irene (Anna Mouglalis), an office temp who falls for his clear charm (charm being a property of the immediate, rather than time-dependent). So is love dependent on memory and the accumulation of shared experiences, or can one fall in love at first sight? Oh brave new world.
Unlike either of the other two films mentioned, however, Novo doesn't do much to develop these philosophical implications of short-term memory loss. Indeed, the film holds the potential for all sorts of interesting questions: how dependent on memory is intimacy? What about Graham's ex-wife Isabelle and his son Antoine, neither of whom he remembers? Is his real love now the love he has built and learnt to cope with, with Irene? Or that of the past? But there is no depth to the film's inquiry: these are questions that could've been explored, but are instead merely tangentially glanced upon. Novo may shine on the surface thanks to Limosin's cool direction, and the erotic charge of its early scenes is undeniable (what is it about French actresses that makes them seem so effortlessly sexy?), but it settles instead into a film that resembles a charming man without history: elegant, but shallow.
Technorati Tags: film, dvd, review
Dir. Jean-Pierre Limosin
Novo tells a story that is part Memento, part 50 First Dates (although this French film, a 2002 product, predates the latter tale): the lead character, Graham (Eduardo Noriega) suffers from short term memory loss thanks to an accident. This being a French film, the memory loss leads to him being kept as a sexual plaything for his boss, Sabine (Nathalie Richard).
The usual aides memoire of memory-loss films - writing in notebooks, on the skin, on the walls - come into play for Graham, particularly after he meets Irene (Anna Mouglalis), an office temp who falls for his clear charm (charm being a property of the immediate, rather than time-dependent). So is love dependent on memory and the accumulation of shared experiences, or can one fall in love at first sight? Oh brave new world.
Unlike either of the other two films mentioned, however, Novo doesn't do much to develop these philosophical implications of short-term memory loss. Indeed, the film holds the potential for all sorts of interesting questions: how dependent on memory is intimacy? What about Graham's ex-wife Isabelle and his son Antoine, neither of whom he remembers? Is his real love now the love he has built and learnt to cope with, with Irene? Or that of the past? But there is no depth to the film's inquiry: these are questions that could've been explored, but are instead merely tangentially glanced upon. Novo may shine on the surface thanks to Limosin's cool direction, and the erotic charge of its early scenes is undeniable (what is it about French actresses that makes them seem so effortlessly sexy?), but it settles instead into a film that resembles a charming man without history: elegant, but shallow.
Technorati Tags: film, dvd, review
Monday, September 26, 2005
Female Handicap
I just thought the way this loo sign was phrased was funny. What's a "female handicap"? Or is that just inviting snarky answers?
The equivalent male toilet sign is here.
Technorati Tags: signs
I just thought the way this loo sign was phrased was funny. What's a "female handicap"? Or is that just inviting snarky answers?
The equivalent male toilet sign is here.
Technorati Tags: signs
Comfort
Wow, the first weekend in a while in which I wasn't working. So I did guy-style shopping. Which is to say, I knew what I wanted to get and went to the stores and got them. Among the items purchased:
I also looked for but didn't find quality art / film posters to put on the wall - I wanted to get something abstract, or a poster of Manhattan, Annie Hall, or High Fidelity. Any ideas, Singaporean readers?
Wow, the first weekend in a while in which I wasn't working. So I did guy-style shopping. Which is to say, I knew what I wanted to get and went to the stores and got them. Among the items purchased:
- Tiffany sterling silver cufflinks. Because sometimes one feels extravagant.
- Tailor-made CYC shirt. Because I needed somewhere to put the cufflinks. (Shirts with french cuffs aren't easy to find, and those that one can find often cost the same as getting them tailored.)
- Aussino bedsheets. Got hooked on the 370 threadcount of a set I'd bought previously, bought another set. I think threadcount is great - it allows some way of saying "this is a more comfortable set of sheets" without, you know, like, talking about feelings and stuff. Heh.
- Fossil Frank Gehry watch. Scratched up my current watch quite badly, needed a new one, and I'm a sucker for quality design.
I also looked for but didn't find quality art / film posters to put on the wall - I wanted to get something abstract, or a poster of Manhattan, Annie Hall, or High Fidelity. Any ideas, Singaporean readers?
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Linksfest: Your looks are laughable
- Unphotographable, a non-photo blog. (Via Michelle)
- I love the New Yorker. As does this guy - in some sense.
- Are most women bi-curious?
- Adding a delete button to Gmail, using a Greasemonkey script
Memoirs of the Past
S Chandrasekaran, "Memoirs of the Past", 2001, at the Little India MRT station.
Public Art in Singapore
S Chandrasekaran, "Memoirs of the Past", 2001, at the Little India MRT station.
Public Art in Singapore
Saturday, September 24, 2005
The self, annotated
But I'm the guy who never kisses and tells, so you can just stop here if that's what you're looking for. There are things about myself that I will never say online. So I shall try to negotiate a variation of this exploration of self that doesn't touch - as everyone else's seems to do - on love and sex and relationships and family, but on identity.
I'm the guy who will edit and reedit this entry, and disavow all previous incarnations of the text. There are a hundred visions and revisions before the taking of a toast and tea. This is the 2nd edition online, the public variant.
I'm the guy who loves his dogs with a love that is unalloyed and wholehearted.
I'm the guy who loves cities and can't stand cars. I'm the guy whose ideal car would be an electric vehicle. If environmental concerns were not an issue, I'm the guy who'd love a '56 Chevy.
I'm the guy who's been the sole straight man at a gay club in Chelsea and the sole Chinese man at a reggae club in Notting Hill, and had a great time at both.
I'm the guy who walked alone in the South Bronx and Bed-Stuy and other supposedly 'dangerous' parts of New York and ended up having to give directions to others.
I'm the guy who went around London for a day with Carolin, a German woman he met in the youth hostel; for a day with Ron, the gay man who thought everyone in Hollywood was gay; and for a day with these two Sicilian women who didn't speak English.
I'm the guy who sat down opposite Natalie Portman at dinner and didn't recognise her.
I'm the guy who thinks on occasion that High Fidelity is the biography of his life.
I'm the man who loves you. I am an American aquarium drinker. I am trying to break your heart. I am curious - yellow. I'm waiting for the man. I'm your man.
I'm the guy who found himself when he went to America, who shed all his angst, and realised that he was truly happy with who he was.
(Via Tomorrow)
You would play upon me; you would seem to know my stops; you would pluck out the heart of my mysteryI'm quite impressed by how the "I'm that blogger" thing has spread through the Singaporean blogosphere, considering that it's not a full-on meme - no one tags you to do it, it just is done. It has the tones of a giant group confessional, and a lot of the writing is very moving. It is really good to see how complex people's lives are - some of my friends have joined in.
But I'm the guy who never kisses and tells, so you can just stop here if that's what you're looking for. There are things about myself that I will never say online. So I shall try to negotiate a variation of this exploration of self that doesn't touch - as everyone else's seems to do - on love and sex and relationships and family, but on identity.
I'm the guy who will edit and reedit this entry, and disavow all previous incarnations of the text. There are a hundred visions and revisions before the taking of a toast and tea. This is the 2nd edition online, the public variant.
I'm the guy who loves his dogs with a love that is unalloyed and wholehearted.
I'm the guy who loves cities and can't stand cars. I'm the guy whose ideal car would be an electric vehicle. If environmental concerns were not an issue, I'm the guy who'd love a '56 Chevy.
I'm the guy who's been the sole straight man at a gay club in Chelsea and the sole Chinese man at a reggae club in Notting Hill, and had a great time at both.
I'm the guy who walked alone in the South Bronx and Bed-Stuy and other supposedly 'dangerous' parts of New York and ended up having to give directions to others.
I'm the guy who went around London for a day with Carolin, a German woman he met in the youth hostel; for a day with Ron, the gay man who thought everyone in Hollywood was gay; and for a day with these two Sicilian women who didn't speak English.
I'm the guy who sat down opposite Natalie Portman at dinner and didn't recognise her.
I'm the guy who thinks on occasion that High Fidelity is the biography of his life.
I'm the man who loves you. I am an American aquarium drinker. I am trying to break your heart. I am curious - yellow. I'm waiting for the man. I'm your man.
I'm the guy who found himself when he went to America, who shed all his angst, and realised that he was truly happy with who he was.
(Via Tomorrow)
Friday, September 23, 2005
Who would film your life?
Hey, another day, another online quiz (via the Wily Filipino), and apparently my favourite director will direct the story of my life. Which could mean, of course, I'm really a small-built neurotic New Yorker... anyway, here's the results:
Hey, another day, another online quiz (via the Wily Filipino), and apparently my favourite director will direct the story of my life. Which could mean, of course, I'm really a small-built neurotic New Yorker... anyway, here's the results:
| Woody Allen Your film will be 71% romantic, 41% comedy, 25% complex plot, and a $29 million budget. |
| Be prepared to have your life story shot entirely in New York City -- though lately Woody's been loving shooting in London. Also, your music soundtrack is all jazz from before 1949. Filmography: Annie Hall, Manhattan, Stardust Memories, Everyone Says I Love You, etc. Woody has released one film per year consistently for the past 35 years. For the past 15 years he's been trying to make films like his older, funnier ones, just like characters in his Stardust Memories film suggest throughout. Regardless of his personal life, his films are Americanclassics. |
 |
My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
|
| Link: The Director Who Films Your Life Test written by bingomosquito on OkCupid Free Online Dating |
Chippy's
A couple of months ago I discovered Chippy's, a fish-and-chips takeaway (literally - there are only a couple of seats) in the basement of Far East Plaza. I have un certain weakness for British takeaway food, and $4.45 got me a huge bag of beer-battered fish, complete with salt and vinegar. Instead of the usual 2 large fillets though, this place gave out smaller chunks and skewers to hold them with - great for eating on the move, and great for batter lovers. Very filling, although the texture of the fish was admittedly a bit too powdery for my liking.
I was also taken by the fact that while there are a few decent places to get fish and chips in Singapore (I especially like the one at Molly Malone's), this place also had that other takeaway staple, the fried Mars bar. Once my arteries unclog themselves I'll go try it.
A couple of months ago I discovered Chippy's, a fish-and-chips takeaway (literally - there are only a couple of seats) in the basement of Far East Plaza. I have un certain weakness for British takeaway food, and $4.45 got me a huge bag of beer-battered fish, complete with salt and vinegar. Instead of the usual 2 large fillets though, this place gave out smaller chunks and skewers to hold them with - great for eating on the move, and great for batter lovers. Very filling, although the texture of the fish was admittedly a bit too powdery for my liking.
I was also taken by the fact that while there are a few decent places to get fish and chips in Singapore (I especially like the one at Molly Malone's), this place also had that other takeaway staple, the fried Mars bar. Once my arteries unclog themselves I'll go try it.
Panel #1
I call this Panel #1. Notice the interplay of the colours, and the white lines slashing down, reminiscent of Barnett Newman's zips.
Alternatively, it's an interesting pattern that I noticed on some MRT construction at the City Hall station.
I call this Panel #1. Notice the interplay of the colours, and the white lines slashing down, reminiscent of Barnett Newman's zips.
Alternatively, it's an interesting pattern that I noticed on some MRT construction at the City Hall station.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Salary scale
New York Metro publishes its list of who makes how much money in Noo Yawk: so there's a guy who made a billion in one year (Edward Lampert, of a hedge fund). And apparently New York weatherpeople make a lot of money. And 50 Cent made 50 mil, which has sort of a nice ring to it.
(Noticed the name of Ben Mathis-Lilley in the mix of the contributors to that article. Funny when you stumble upon familiar names from college - one of those "where are they now?" moments.)
New York Metro publishes its list of who makes how much money in Noo Yawk: so there's a guy who made a billion in one year (Edward Lampert, of a hedge fund). And apparently New York weatherpeople make a lot of money. And 50 Cent made 50 mil, which has sort of a nice ring to it.
(Noticed the name of Ben Mathis-Lilley in the mix of the contributors to that article. Funny when you stumble upon familiar names from college - one of those "where are they now?" moments.)
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Linksfest: Can I Get A.....?
Technorati Tags: hip-hop, jane, art
- Jay-Z and Beyonce caught in flagrante delicto. Possibly offensive. (Via City Rag)
- On P Diddy losing the P in his monicker: "Does the press--your Kurt Loders, your Billy Bushes--go along with the Puffy/(P) Diddy fiction because they don't know the cultural nuances, or because it allows them to exploit our racist fascination with the crazy customs of these exotic black people? And if it's the last of these, should Sean Combs be condemned as an enabler of racism, or should he be celebrated as a 21st century trickster, someone who uses the machinery of caucasian hegemony to make fools of the white folk?"
- On the death of Jane magazine - I didn't know how significant a life force Sassy magazine once was.
- And finally, the pic up there is of Amy Crehore's "Havana Brown". I like her style - very distinctive (I remember this Jewel-Alanis illustration from Rolling Stone, for instance).
Technorati Tags: hip-hop, jane, art
Say what?
Artist Ji Lee pasted these blank speech bubbles around New York and took photos of what people wrote in them. I really like the Matthew Barney allusion in this one - says something about the marriage of art and commerce. (Via BoingBoing)
Artist Ji Lee pasted these blank speech bubbles around New York and took photos of what people wrote in them. I really like the Matthew Barney allusion in this one - says something about the marriage of art and commerce. (Via BoingBoing)
Katong Shophouse
Sometimes it's hard to get the right angle for a picture - this one was taken from the upper deck of a double-decker bus.
Sometimes it's hard to get the right angle for a picture - this one was taken from the upper deck of a double-decker bus.
Monday, September 19, 2005
Linksfest: Manic Monday
- Tiny Dancer: Robots perform gynecological surgery.
- An Australian Broadcasting Corporation interview with Alexei Sayle, formerly of the Young Ones and now a writer. I just finished reading Sayles' collection of short stories Barcelona Plates. Funny stuff, if occasionally trying too hard for a twist.
- Who can remember the name of Brooklyn's New Hip Band?
- The table tennis set that's remniscent of Edward Hopper.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Ian Woo, "Enigmatic Appearances"
Continuing my occasional series on public art in Singapore, this is part of Ian Woo's "Enigmatic Appearances" (2001) - the whole work runs throughout the HarbourFront MRT station and is part of the North-East Line's Art in Transit series.
Singapore Public Art group on Flickr
Continuing my occasional series on public art in Singapore, this is part of Ian Woo's "Enigmatic Appearances" (2001) - the whole work runs throughout the HarbourFront MRT station and is part of the North-East Line's Art in Transit series.
Singapore Public Art group on Flickr
Saturday, September 17, 2005
North Korea gets credit
The North Koreans introduce a credit card. Although deciphering the description of the card on the official North Korean news site. it sounds more like a debit card:
Also from the North Korean news site, apparently we've all missed the epic artistic masterpiece "Arirang":
The North Koreans introduce a credit card. Although deciphering the description of the card on the official North Korean news site. it sounds more like a debit card:
"Six kinds of currencies can be deposited in a card at a time. With this card, one can exchange money instantly without going to a money exchange booth. A card can be shared by several persons... The bank enjoys popularity among depositors.""The North Korean Credit Card: Don't Leave the Country Without It. Actually, Don't Leave the Country, Full Stop."
***
Also from the North Korean news site, apparently we've all missed the epic artistic masterpiece "Arirang":
"The grand mass gymnastic and artistic performance "Arirang" is a work in which the mass gymnastic display and art performance are well combined with the help of peculiar technical depiction means. It highlights itself as a masterpiece as it has reached a new stage for the cultural and artistic development of humankind"Peculiar technical depiction indeed.
Rocket Man
I used the word "terraforming" in conversation this week in the context of thinking about transforming Mars, and it was interesting to see that a Cambridge, Mass. company actually wants to settle Mars. Although its planned means of profit are much more prosaic:
I used the word "terraforming" in conversation this week in the context of thinking about transforming Mars, and it was interesting to see that a Cambridge, Mass. company actually wants to settle Mars. Although its planned means of profit are much more prosaic:
As the company gains expertise, it expects to sell consulting services to aerospace companies or NASA. It envisions getting work designing Mars sets for movies and Mars rides for amusement parks.Wouldn't Mars, Pennsylvania be another good potential site?
Meanwhile, it plans to construct a mock-up of its Mars home and begin selling tickets to it by 2007. Potential sites in Colorado, Florida and New Mexico are being considered.
(Link)
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Permission to use the facilities, Condi?
I'll just put the Reuters picture and accompanying summary:
I'll just put the Reuters picture and accompanying summary:
U.S. President George W. Bush writes a note to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a Security Council meeting at the 2005 World Summit and 60th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York September 14, 2005.Another picture
(Link)
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Google blog search
Hey, Google has a blog search now? Just noticed the bright shining bar on my Blogger dashboard. Icerocket and Technorati must be worried. Already, for me at least, it gives the same links as those two, and much faster.
Google Blog Search FAQ
Hey, Google has a blog search now? Just noticed the bright shining bar on my Blogger dashboard. Icerocket and Technorati must be worried. Already, for me at least, it gives the same links as those two, and much faster.
Google Blog Search FAQ
Shaq nabs assault suspect
Wow - Shaq's in police training? Seeing Shaq chase after you on the street might be pretty scary.
Wow - Shaq's in police training? Seeing Shaq chase after you on the street might be pretty scary.
Miami Heat giant centre Shaquille O'Neal put his police training to good use when he helped nab a suspect who allegedly assaulted a gay couple.
O'Neal, who is working towards a career as a policeman once his basketball playing days are over, witnessed a man yell anti-gay remarks and throw a bottle at a couple walking along a Miami beach early Sunday morning, Miami police said.
O'Neal followed the suspect's vehicle and alerted a police officer who made an arrest, the Miami Herald reported.
(Link)
Sunday, September 11, 2005
In memoriam
I remember where I was on September 11, 2001, and I will never forget.
On the second-to-last day I was in New York - back in July 2001 - I took a trip down to Tribeca at night and stood there, under the towers. Back then in a magical summer where everything seemed right with the world and the biggest news was the disappearance of Chandra Levy - back then, who was to know everything would change?
I remember where I was on September 11, 2001, and I will never forget.
On the second-to-last day I was in New York - back in July 2001 - I took a trip down to Tribeca at night and stood there, under the towers. Back then in a magical summer where everything seemed right with the world and the biggest news was the disappearance of Chandra Levy - back then, who was to know everything would change?
Pardon my french, or, apologising to inanimate objects
Wrote this in one of my responses to my earlier post on assigning characteristics to inanimate objects, but thought it was worth putting up:
Which reminds me of one of my favourite lyrics, from the Jam's "A Town Called Malice": "stop apologising for the things you've never done". (Actually, "A Town Called Malice" is the song that my phone plays to wake me up - it's oddly inspiring to hear "you better stop dreaming of the quiet life 'cos it's the one we'll never know" first thing in the morning.)
Wrote this in one of my responses to my earlier post on assigning characteristics to inanimate objects, but thought it was worth putting up:
"Men do not apologize to inanimate objects. Have you ever seen a woman bump into a chair and say to the chair, "Oops, I'm sorry"? I've seen women say "excuse me" to wastepaper baskets. I've seen women say "pardon me" to table legs. On occasion, I've seen women apologize to extension cords, department-store mannequins, and packing crates that people have left in the middle of their living rooms.... Guys don't do this. When a guy trips over a packing crate, you know what he does? He curses. He goes, "Who the fuck put this box here?" - even if he left it there himself." - Susan Jane Gilman, "Kiss My Tiara" (was too lazy to retype it, so I took the quote off Punkindunkin's blog)Is this true? I mean, the woman part. The guy part is pretty much spot on. I just hit my funny bone on the chair as I was typing this, and my reactions was pretty much, as they say in comic strips, "$%#@!!!"
Which reminds me of one of my favourite lyrics, from the Jam's "A Town Called Malice": "stop apologising for the things you've never done". (Actually, "A Town Called Malice" is the song that my phone plays to wake me up - it's oddly inspiring to hear "you better stop dreaming of the quiet life 'cos it's the one we'll never know" first thing in the morning.)
Cory Doctorow
Oh, besides attending the comedy workshop last Saturday, I also met Cory Doctorow of BoingBoing.net at a Singapore Writers' Festival dinner thing. The last time I took part in the Singapore Writers' Festival was at a poetry reading AGES ago - I read some of my poetry at the Substation. But it was fun talking to Cory, and he did have some very insightful questions - such as, "does it matter that a lot of the public spaces in Singapore such as shopping malls are privately owned?"
Oh, besides attending the comedy workshop last Saturday, I also met Cory Doctorow of BoingBoing.net at a Singapore Writers' Festival dinner thing. The last time I took part in the Singapore Writers' Festival was at a poetry reading AGES ago - I read some of my poetry at the Substation. But it was fun talking to Cory, and he did have some very insightful questions - such as, "does it matter that a lot of the public spaces in Singapore such as shopping malls are privately owned?"
Saturday, September 10, 2005
South Park character
Myself as a South Park character. Well, with a few pimpin' touches:
South Park Studio
Myself as a South Park character. Well, with a few pimpin' touches:
South Park Studio
Linksfest: Saturday Night Fever
Technorati Tags: books, framing, journalism
- S.E. Hinton surfaces! For the release of the recut version of The Outsiders film. I remember reading that as a young teenager - didn't know that Hinton herself was only 17 when the book was published.
- What matters in a framing a picture. Speaking of which, does anyone know where to get good framed movie posters in Singapore? Not poster reprints, but the originals. I've tried the store at the Esplanade, but I still haven't found what I'm looking for.
- The Romenesko effect: the effect of a blog collecting news, gossip, and commentary on the cloistered world of American journalism.
Technorati Tags: books, framing, journalism
Technologic
Businessweek discusses Technorati's growth expansion into the Blogfinder service, which lets you find blogs about a specific subject. Which is cool, except that unless you go in and change the blog's configuration, it tries to guess what your blog is about based on your most frequently used Technorati tags. But if your blog is really specialised, you really wouldn't go around tagging every post with the exact same tag right? For instance, it would seem kind of silly for me to tag every post on my Red Sox blog with "red sox" or "baseball".
On the bright side, Technorati does actually seem to return results these days (75% chance), so the complaints I had are fading slightly.
Technorati Tags: technorati
Businessweek discusses Technorati's growth expansion into the Blogfinder service, which lets you find blogs about a specific subject. Which is cool, except that unless you go in and change the blog's configuration, it tries to guess what your blog is about based on your most frequently used Technorati tags. But if your blog is really specialised, you really wouldn't go around tagging every post with the exact same tag right? For instance, it would seem kind of silly for me to tag every post on my Red Sox blog with "red sox" or "baseball".
On the bright side, Technorati does actually seem to return results these days (75% chance), so the complaints I had are fading slightly.
Technorati Tags: technorati
Friday, September 09, 2005
The hidden anthropomorphism of buying things
I'm reading Yann Martel's Life of Pi right now, and at one point he notes the tendency of people to anthropomorphise animals - we think of animals totally in human terms (hey, I do it to Coconut and Rerun all the time). And I think we do it even when we buy things.
For instance, every now and then I'll chance upon a blog entry that will say, to the effect, "the Creative Zen clearly has more features, and I'm ashamed to admit I bought the iPod solely based on looks". But why be embarrassed? Surely the idea that you shouldn't judge based on looks is an idea that should apply only to people - or animals? Whose feelings are hurt if one judges an item based on looks?
(We assume, of course, that the objects being compared both don't have any technical flaws, just that one is better-looking and one is feature-laden.)
Speaking of good-looking, the new Apple iPod Nano looks gorgeous. I'm very pleased about my MP3-playing cellphone (512MB's good enough for my needs), and I can't figure out why I might need something more - I have gadget overload - but it looks great.
anthropomorphism.org, Carnegie Mellon's study on the subject
I'm reading Yann Martel's Life of Pi right now, and at one point he notes the tendency of people to anthropomorphise animals - we think of animals totally in human terms (hey, I do it to Coconut and Rerun all the time). And I think we do it even when we buy things.
For instance, every now and then I'll chance upon a blog entry that will say, to the effect, "the Creative Zen clearly has more features, and I'm ashamed to admit I bought the iPod solely based on looks". But why be embarrassed? Surely the idea that you shouldn't judge based on looks is an idea that should apply only to people - or animals? Whose feelings are hurt if one judges an item based on looks?
(We assume, of course, that the objects being compared both don't have any technical flaws, just that one is better-looking and one is feature-laden.)
Speaking of good-looking, the new Apple iPod Nano looks gorgeous. I'm very pleased about my MP3-playing cellphone (512MB's good enough for my needs), and I can't figure out why I might need something more - I have gadget overload - but it looks great.
anthropomorphism.org, Carnegie Mellon's study on the subject
Thursday, September 08, 2005
My media acquisitions for the week
Been on a bit of a spending spree...
Books:
Abha Dawesar, Babyji
Julie Hilden, 3
Yann Martel, The Life of Pi
Anais Nin, Henry and June
Alexei Sayle, Barcelona Plates
Music:
Various artistes, This is Fort Apache (for Radiohead's "Anyone Can Play Guitar")
Manic Street Preachers, So Why So Sad single (for the "So Why So Sad" Sean Penn mix)
Pearl Jam, Nothing As It Seems single (for the live version of "Better Man")
Sugababes, Round Round single (for the "Freak Like Me" dancehall mix)
Feist, "Let It Die"
Yeah - Sembawang Music Centre was having some sort of clearance in the Orchard MRT station, and I couldn't resist buying singles for $2.90 - I love all the B-sides. But my favourite acquisition of the week was the Feist song, off the iTunes Music Store. Lord knows why I took so long to bite the bullet on buying it, when Feist's own "Mushaboom" has been on my playlist. But anyway, the lyrics:
Been on a bit of a spending spree...
Books:
Abha Dawesar, Babyji
Julie Hilden, 3
Yann Martel, The Life of Pi
Anais Nin, Henry and June
Alexei Sayle, Barcelona Plates
Music:
Various artistes, This is Fort Apache (for Radiohead's "Anyone Can Play Guitar")
Manic Street Preachers, So Why So Sad single (for the "So Why So Sad" Sean Penn mix)
Pearl Jam, Nothing As It Seems single (for the live version of "Better Man")
Sugababes, Round Round single (for the "Freak Like Me" dancehall mix)
Feist, "Let It Die"
Yeah - Sembawang Music Centre was having some sort of clearance in the Orchard MRT station, and I couldn't resist buying singles for $2.90 - I love all the B-sides. But my favourite acquisition of the week was the Feist song, off the iTunes Music Store. Lord knows why I took so long to bite the bullet on buying it, when Feist's own "Mushaboom" has been on my playlist. But anyway, the lyrics:
"The saddest part of a broken heartIt's Leslie Feist's voice that makes the song, really - fraught with immeasurable sadness. Plus, the chorus made me think of the reverse chronology of Betrayal. It looks like I will have to concede one more good Canadian singer to my Canuck friend. Although, really, it would take a thousand of them to make up for the musical crimes of Celine Dion.
Isn't the ending so much as the start
The tragedy starts from the very first spark
Losing your mind for the sake of your heart
The saddest part of a broken heart
Isn't the ending so much as the start"