dsng.net - the daryl sng blog

So The Harvard Crimson merged the Arts section back into the magazine (FM) section. Sigh. It was a good run while it lasted. I always thought one of the great things about the Crimson was that it could maintain separate Arts and Magazine sections. Look at the New York Times home page - which comes first? But of course I'm biased!

Sarah Silverman; Woody Allen as standup comic; Julie Christie; Michael Caine; Josie Lawrence and Tony Slattery on Whose Line Is It Anyway?; Paul Krassner, as always; "lay me down in sheets of linen"; the reappearance of David Byrne; old Black Box Recorder; Ryan Adams singing Gram Parsons; the White Stripes.

Lots of peeves people have about English as it's written and spoken on this fair isle are fairly common. and fairly well-known. Some bother me (using "would" instead of "will" - ugh!) and some don't (the inability to pronounce either of the "th" sounds). But these are my own peeves, or at least ones I haven't heard anyone else complain about yet: 1. Using "filial" to mean "loyal or devoted to the family". Look, the word means "familial". A son could beat up his parents and his relationship to his parents would still be filial, at least until they disown him for beating them up. In the phrase "filial piety" the word that means loyalty is "piety". 2. Using "911" to refer to September 11. A peeve that reflects the former copy editor in me I guess. In the first place, Singaporeans have always followed the British style of date/month not the American month/date. More importantly, wher...

So I've been laid up with commitments over the last month and a half, which was topped off by the fact that I got my knuckle broken (my 2nd metacarpal , for the anatomically-inclined). AND THAT'S MY EXCUSE! But seriously, adult-onset left-handedness has been an interesting experience for me. :) Especially since before all this happened I was working on a story about a right-handed boy who wanted to pitch left-handed. The 'technical' term for this is a " boxer's fracture " - which pretty much describes what happened, I punched my spaaring partner as he kicked and broke my hand.

Does anyone else get upset that there's a major building in Singapore named Millenia Walk? Has someone done ever pointed out that there should be two "N"s in the name?

Also, I love this - quoted in the same context as Nabokov on the syllabus to an Austen course ! Thanks, of course, to subscribing to an Austen e-mail list about 6 years ago. Not claiming any literary genius for myself.

Just watched England beat Argentina with a lovely (or at least adequate) display... takes me back to being in that pub in Chester in '98, Beckham being sent off, Batty missing the kick, grown men crying on the streets of the town. The emotional intensity of that evening I suppose is adequate justification for supporting England, besides my usual predilection for supporting decent underdogs - i.e. teams that are good enough but never quite go all the way. Like the Sox . Some talk here in S'pore about the Asian Football Confederation (I think that's the right name) wants to push for a fifth place for an Asian side. It's already in the works methinks - taking away the automatic qualification for a defending champion is just Fifa's way of transferring a place from Europe/South America to Africa/Asia. Me, I'd rather keep the system until it's clear that Asian teams are capable enough. Some of the Chinese nationals in Singapore gathered to watch their team'...