100% work safe - and cute like a fluffy bunny with big eyes sitting on a icebox filled with fresh magnum icecreams.Check it out!!!
http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Cutesy Online Games to play
100% work safe - and cute like a fluffy bunny with big eyes sitting on a icebox filled with fresh magnum icecreams.Check it out!!!
http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/
Cutesy Online Games to play
100% work safe - and cute like a fluffy bunny with big eyes sitting on a icebox filled with fresh magnum icecreams.Check it out!!!
http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Cutesy Online Games to play
100% work safe - and cute like a fluffy bunny with big eyes sitting on a icebox filled with fresh magnum icecreams.Check it out!!!
http://www.ferryhalim.com/orisinal/
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Gym gym gym
I was so happy to be back on the trendmill for my run - there's something about just tuning off - turning up the MP3 music (you can listen to what I listen in my music section) - and just running on the trendmill. No need to worry about getting run down by cars, cyclists, or running into stoned students engrossed in their latest handheld games.
But the rest of the gym session didn't go so well. I had trouble with my back exercises. And I started getting light headed and dizzy again. My trainer called off the session early.
I think I need more sleep.
Afternoon Ghost tour of the British WW2 High Command Bunker
| Start: | Sep 29, '07 12:00p |
| End: | Sep 30, '07 6:00p |
Think of Saddam Hussein meets Miss Marple that sort of thing.
Its a big underground concrete complex built into the hill. Its the place where the British Generals decided to surrender to the Japanese in 1942. Its also the historical burial site for the ancient Malay kings and the site for various forts built by the Malays, Portuguese, and finally the British.
And its right in the centre of town. Amazing huh?
Most likely - the tour will take place throughout the afternoon in several shifts- so don't worry if you come "late" - after midday.
I miss Melbourne
I miss being back in Melbourne.I miss waking up to a cold day where you can truly enjoy a cup of hot coffee.
I miss the dry cold fresh air of Melbourne.
I miss walking to the local Deli and getting sundried tomatoes, olives, freshly baked Italian herbal bread, a small block of nice cheese, fresh date scones and coming back home, sitting down by my dinning room, drinking some good tea with my vintage tea cup set and enjoying the simple breakfast - and just staring at my garden and tuning out.
I miss that. I wish I could be back (in the other) home right now.
Pulau Au dive 19th October - 21st October
| Start: | Oct 19, '07 07:00a |
| End: | Oct 21, '07 |
I miss Melbourne
I miss being back in Melbourne.I miss waking up to a cold day where you can truly enjoy a cup of hot coffee.
I miss the dry cold fresh air of Melbourne.
I miss walking to the local Deli (without getting soaked in sweat) and getting sundried tomatoes, olives, freshly baked Italian herbal bread, a small block of nice cheese, fresh date scones and coming back home, sitting down by my dinning room, drinking some good tea with my vintage tea cup set and enjoying the simple breakfast - and just staring at my garden, with the only sound coming from the birds outside, a distant lawn mower, and the gentle chime of my grandfather clock... and slowly tuning out.
I miss that. I wish I could be back (in the other) home right now.
Monday, September 24, 2007
I miss Melbourne
I miss being back in Melbourne.I miss waking up to a cold day where you can truly enjoy a cup of hot coffee.
I miss the dry cold fresh air of Melbourne.
I miss walking to the local Deli and getting sundried tomatoes, olives, freshly baked Italian herbal bread, a small block of nice cheese, fresh date scones and coming back home, sitting down by my dinning room, drinking some good tea with my vintage tea cup set and enjoying the simple breakfast - and just staring at my garden and tuning out.
I miss that. I wish I could be back (in the other) home right now.
Do Women Love Bad Men?
Do women love bad men? asks Andrea Burns... hmm...
I don't think that's true. The women that I know tend to be more pragmatic and look for men who are solid - you know dependable, reliable, great providers, rational, and perhaps romantic and witty. Maybe its just a culture thing.
Anyhow read the article:
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22309084-5012948,00.html
I roll my eyes in disbelief and disgust at this one:
"Women can't seem to resist a guy who doesn't appear interested in them or who needs saving. He has long used the method of failing to return phone calls and a tortured mystery man routine to rope in likely lasses -- and says it works nine times out of 10. Maybe the urge to mother a lost sheep is innate in women? And if he combines the right amount of restrained tenderness and vulnerability with the spice of reluctance, he has a recipe for total control. Andrea"
I don't think that's true. The women that I know tend to be more pragmatic and look for men who are solid - you know dependable, reliable, great providers, rational, and perhaps romantic and witty. Maybe its just a culture thing.
Anyhow read the article:
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22309084-5012948,00.html
I roll my eyes in disbelief and disgust at this one:
"Women can't seem to resist a guy who doesn't appear interested in them or who needs saving. He has long used the method of failing to return phone calls and a tortured mystery man routine to rope in likely lasses -- and says it works nine times out of 10. Maybe the urge to mother a lost sheep is innate in women? And if he combines the right amount of restrained tenderness and vulnerability with the spice of reluctance, he has a recipe for total control. Andrea"
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Choices Under Fire: Moral Dimensions of World War II
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Books |
| Genre: | History |
| Author: | Michael Bess |
He discusses the moral implications of the war in a meaningful way: the planned genocide of millions of people, how both sides of the conflict committed atrocities, the fragile differences between the two sides. What I find fascinating was the study on how easy it is for ordinary people to become monsters within minutes. And how people develop the moral courage to fight against evil.
There are of course some flaws in the book. At times, its muddled - contradictory - inadequate research... His analysis of the battle of Midway for example, where the military implications are not as clear cut as the author suggests. I felt he made a more serious error in his discussion of the Smithsonian Museum in exhibiting the Enola Gay, the bomber that dropped the first A-bomb on a civilian city. The Museum got into trouble with anti-war protestors. The author argues that it should give all sides of the bomb debate a fair hearing which is what the Allied cause was all about - fairness.
But would he do the same for the Holocaust, the Rape of Nanking etc..? Would he give equal weight to critics who fabricate history? Truth which can often be obscured by the people with the loudest voices.
Anyhow I thought this was the weakest chapter but overall it was an interesting read. I liked especially the story of how a French town, Le Chambon, against terrible risks and odds, harbored thousands of Jews from Nazi persecution. It was disorganized, clandestine, but effective.
The author also tells the story of how a group of young men from ordinary walks of life - were sent to an army unit - Reserve Battalion 101 - whose main purpose was to kill civilians in cold blood. They weren't brainwashed, they just went out and did their job - murdering women and children in cold blood. What was the difference between the two groups?
"The French villagers of Le Chambon had been quietly but very deliberately preparing themselves, over years and years, for precisely the kind of moral challenge that the war ultimately presented. .. they had gradually shaped themselves: cultivating the critical skills with which to question external authority; honing their sense of right and wrong through reflection..."
In other words, turning abstract Christian ideals into reality and become more like Jesus.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
The Campaign to Confer the Public Service Star on JBJ
It was tedious, boring, convoluted, and I'm trying to be nice. In short, a 15 minute joke that went on for 2 hours too long.
"The Campaign to Confer the Public Service Star on JBJ" is a political satire about Singapore society. Its about how people here, including civil servants, are frightfully terrified of offending the Govt, esp. the main man, Mr Yew Know Hu.
A young Uni student's campaign to award an environmental activist who has the same initials as a discredited opposition leader results in his apparent untimely death. A dedicated public prosecutor who has political connections is called to investigate and butcher the audiences' brains with a cliched plot. The spastic dialogue between her lover and her could only have been written by a person who has never experienced a relationship with a member of the opposite sex.
The first part - a comedy of manners- had a few hilarious scenes. The second part - the writer decided to turn it into a political thriller of the mindnumingly excruciatingly boring kind. Not that it mattered to the director, Ivan Heng, he was laughing his head off. I had the misfortune to sit in the row in front of him.
If this passes for political satire in Singapore, the Govt need not worry a single damn bit. Its no surprise that the censors passed this - either they strangled themselves half way thru the show - or they probably realized that letting Singaporeans see this sort of crap would cause them to vote for the ruling party for life.
Thanks God none of my friends had the misfortune to be there.
"The Campaign to Confer the Public Service Star on JBJ" is a political satire about Singapore society. Its about how people here, including civil servants, are frightfully terrified of offending the Govt, esp. the main man, Mr Yew Know Hu.
A young Uni student's campaign to award an environmental activist who has the same initials as a discredited opposition leader results in his apparent untimely death. A dedicated public prosecutor who has political connections is called to investigate and butcher the audiences' brains with a cliched plot. The spastic dialogue between her lover and her could only have been written by a person who has never experienced a relationship with a member of the opposite sex.
The first part - a comedy of manners- had a few hilarious scenes. The second part - the writer decided to turn it into a political thriller of the mindnumingly excruciatingly boring kind. Not that it mattered to the director, Ivan Heng, he was laughing his head off. I had the misfortune to sit in the row in front of him.
If this passes for political satire in Singapore, the Govt need not worry a single damn bit. Its no surprise that the censors passed this - either they strangled themselves half way thru the show - or they probably realized that letting Singaporeans see this sort of crap would cause them to vote for the ruling party for life.
Thanks God none of my friends had the misfortune to be there.
Bible Verse for today
I don't bother to read the Bible much these days. I should but I don't.
But God has funny ways to reach out to me. I'm reading the last chapter of O'Rourke's book, "Eat the Rich" - which is mindnumbingly boring at some points.
He's not a Christian. And as he sarcastically confesses - only attends church once a year to see the Easter Bunny.
Then he concludes his book and wow... there's God... well sort of.
Most of the world's economy were ruined because idealist people tried to make it fair, namely those run by the socialists and communists. But there in the Bible, is an admonition against such a political system.
"As a foundation for a political system, fairness may be no virtue at all. ... The first nine commandements concerns theological principles and social law: Thou shalt not make graven images, steal, kill, etc.. Then there's the Tenth Commandment: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, wife, servant, cattle nor anything else that belongs to him. Here are God's basic rules about how we should live, a very brief list of sacred obligations and solemn moral precepts, and right at the end of it is, "Don't be jealous that your neighbor's has better stuff than you."
What is that doing in there? Why would God, with just ten things to tell Moses, choose, as one of them, jealousy over property? And yet, think about how important to the well-being of a community this Commandment is. If you want a donkey, if you want a pot roast, if you want a Lambrogini, if you want a nicer looking house, don't bitch about what the people across the street have. Go get your own.
The Tenth Commandment sends a message to socialists, to egalitarians, to people obsessed with fairness, to all politicians - and to everyone else who believes that wealth should be redistributed. And the message is clear: Go to hell.
But God has funny ways to reach out to me. I'm reading the last chapter of O'Rourke's book, "Eat the Rich" - which is mindnumbingly boring at some points.
He's not a Christian. And as he sarcastically confesses - only attends church once a year to see the Easter Bunny.
Then he concludes his book and wow... there's God... well sort of.
Most of the world's economy were ruined because idealist people tried to make it fair, namely those run by the socialists and communists. But there in the Bible, is an admonition against such a political system.
"As a foundation for a political system, fairness may be no virtue at all. ... The first nine commandements concerns theological principles and social law: Thou shalt not make graven images, steal, kill, etc.. Then there's the Tenth Commandment: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, wife, servant, cattle nor anything else that belongs to him. Here are God's basic rules about how we should live, a very brief list of sacred obligations and solemn moral precepts, and right at the end of it is, "Don't be jealous that your neighbor's has better stuff than you."
What is that doing in there? Why would God, with just ten things to tell Moses, choose, as one of them, jealousy over property? And yet, think about how important to the well-being of a community this Commandment is. If you want a donkey, if you want a pot roast, if you want a Lambrogini, if you want a nicer looking house, don't bitch about what the people across the street have. Go get your own.
The Tenth Commandment sends a message to socialists, to egalitarians, to people obsessed with fairness, to all politicians - and to everyone else who believes that wealth should be redistributed. And the message is clear: Go to hell.
The Campaign to Confer the Public Service Star on JBJ
| Rating: | ★★ |
| Category: | Other |
"The Campaign to Confer the Public Service Star on JBJ" is a political satire about Singapore society. Its about how people here, including civil servants, are frightfully terrified of offending the Govt, esp. Mr Yew Know Hu.
A young Uni student's campaign to award an environmental activist who has the same initials as a discredited opposition leader results in his apparent untimely death. A dedicated public prosecutor who has political connections is called to investigate and butcher the audiences' brains with a cliched plot.
The first part - a comedy of manners - had a few hilarious scenes. The second part - the writer decided to turn it into a satirical political thriller of the mind-numingly excruciatingly boring sort. The spastic dialogue between the female prosecutor and her lover could only have been written by a person who has never had a normal relationship with members of the opposite sex.
Not that it mattered to the director, Ivan Heng, he was laughing his head off throughout the show. In fact, he seemed to be the only one laughing. Most likely he got his giggles from seeing people paying good money to watch this piece of crap. I had the misfortune to sit in the row in front of him.
If this passes for political satire in Singapore, the Govt need not worry a single damn bit. Its no surprise that the censors passed this - either they strangled themselves half way thru the show to avoid watching the 2nd half - or they probably realized that letting Singaporeans see this sort of crap would cause them to vote for the ruling party for life.
Thanks God none of my friends had the misfortune to be there.
That was three hours of my life I want back.
The Campaign to Confer the Public Service Star on JBJ
I was given tickets to see this theatre last week- and i thought, "Oh wow. cool! I get to see genuine Singapore theatre!!" I tried inviting my friends along. But it seems they knew something I didn't. And they all gave excuses of varying degrees of truthfulness: "Not today, I'm invading Poland."
"Sorry, I've got a function at the IR (Thats the Singapore Casino Resort that hasn't been built yet)."
"I'm pretending to make a baby tonight with Brad Pitt."
"I've got my grandmas/greatgrandma/resurrected grandma's birthday to attend."
Fortunately, my stockbroker was available. Her firm was the chief sponser.
"The Campaign to Confer the Public Service Star on JBJ" is a political satire about Singapore society. Its about how people here, including civil servants, are frightfully terrified of offending the Govt, esp. the senior leadership.
The theater show was tedious, boring, convoluted, and I'm trying to be nice. It was like a 15 minute joke that went on for 2 hours too long.
A young University student's campaign, to award an environmental activist who has the same initials as a discredited opposition leader, results in his suspicious untimely death. A conspiracy storm erupts and a dedicated public prosecutor who has political connections is called in to butcher the audiences' brains with a cliched plot.
The first part - a comedy of manners- had a few hilarious scenes. The second part - the writer decided to turn it into a lame satirical political thriller. The script was ghastly. The excruciating dialogue between the prosecutor and her lover could only have been written by a person who has never had a relationship with a member of the opposite sex.
Not that it mattered to the director, Ivan Heng, he was laughing his head off throughout the show. I had the misfortune to sit in the row in front of him.
If this passes for anti-establishment political satire in Singapore, the Lee family need not worry a single damn bit. Its no surprise that the censors passed this - either they strangled themselves half way thru the show to avoid watching the 2nd half- or they probably realized that letting Singaporeans see this sort of crap would cause them to vote for the ruling party for life.
Thanks God none of my friends had the misfortune to be there.
Economics: or why you don't have to eat the pizza box if there's no more pizza left
I liked how P.J. O'Rourke argues this point:
The hardest thing to understand about economics is that it doesn't need to be understood. My beatnik friends and I, when we were in college, were perfectly justified in expending out intelliectual energy on sex and drugs instead of money. But there was one thing that we did need to learn. And still do. And it's a piece of knowledge that seems to contradict psychology, life experience, and the dicatates of conscience: Economics is not zero sum. There is no fixed amount of wealth. That is, if you have too many slices of pizza, I don't have to eat the box. Your money does not cause my poverty. Refusal to believe this at the bottom of most bad economic thinking.
True, at any given moment, there is only so much wealth to go around. But wealth is based on productivity. Without productivity, there wouldn't be any economics, or any economic thinking, good or bad, or any pizza, or anything else. We would sit around and stare at rocks, and maybe have some for dinner.
Wealth is based on productivity, and productivity is exapandable.Yet a person who worries about fairness can recite the old saw: "The rich get richer and the poor..." ....
"Get entertained by People magazine stories about divorces amound the rich." No, that's not what he's going to say... "Get lower mortgage rates because banks have more money to lend." Nope, not it either. "Get better jobs because there's more capital to be invested in business." No, the cliche to end that sentense is, "The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer."
Except that is no evidence of this in recent history. Per-capita GDP is a tricky figure and doesn't tell us much about the well-being of individual people. But there are other statistics that don't present the same problems of averaging. Life-expectancy and infant-mortality rates do tell us how things are going for ordinary folks. No matter how rich a nation's elitre, its members aren't going to live to be 250 years old and wildly skew the numbers. And a country can't fake a low infant-mortality rate by getting a few rich babies to live while letting all the poor babies to die.
P. J. O'Rourke: Eat the Rich, 1998, Picador Press, page 241.
The hardest thing to understand about economics is that it doesn't need to be understood. My beatnik friends and I, when we were in college, were perfectly justified in expending out intelliectual energy on sex and drugs instead of money. But there was one thing that we did need to learn. And still do. And it's a piece of knowledge that seems to contradict psychology, life experience, and the dicatates of conscience: Economics is not zero sum. There is no fixed amount of wealth. That is, if you have too many slices of pizza, I don't have to eat the box. Your money does not cause my poverty. Refusal to believe this at the bottom of most bad economic thinking.
True, at any given moment, there is only so much wealth to go around. But wealth is based on productivity. Without productivity, there wouldn't be any economics, or any economic thinking, good or bad, or any pizza, or anything else. We would sit around and stare at rocks, and maybe have some for dinner.
Wealth is based on productivity, and productivity is exapandable.Yet a person who worries about fairness can recite the old saw: "The rich get richer and the poor..." ....
"Get entertained by People magazine stories about divorces amound the rich." No, that's not what he's going to say... "Get lower mortgage rates because banks have more money to lend." Nope, not it either. "Get better jobs because there's more capital to be invested in business." No, the cliche to end that sentense is, "The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer."
Except that is no evidence of this in recent history. Per-capita GDP is a tricky figure and doesn't tell us much about the well-being of individual people. But there are other statistics that don't present the same problems of averaging. Life-expectancy and infant-mortality rates do tell us how things are going for ordinary folks. No matter how rich a nation's elitre, its members aren't going to live to be 250 years old and wildly skew the numbers. And a country can't fake a low infant-mortality rate by getting a few rich babies to live while letting all the poor babies to die.
P. J. O'Rourke: Eat the Rich, 1998, Picador Press, page 241.
Friday, September 21, 2007
The Campaign to Confer the Public Service Star on JBJ
It was tedious, boring, convoluted, and I'm trying to be nice. In short, a 15 minute joke that went on for 2 hours too long.
"The Campaign to Confer the Public Service Star on JBJ" is a political satire about Singapore society. Its about how people here, including civil servants, are frightfully terrified of offending the Govt, esp. the main man, Mr Yew Know Hu.
A young Uni student's campaign to award an environmental activist who has the same initials as a discredited opposition leader results in his apparent untimely death. A dedicated public prosecutor who has political connections is called to investigate and butcher the audiences' brains with a cliched plot. The spastic dialogue between her lover and her could only have been written by a person who has never experienced a relationship with a member of the opposite sex.
The first part - a comedy of manners- had a few hilarious scenes. The second part - the writer decided to turn it into a political thriller of the mindnumingly excruciatingly boring kind. Not that it mattered to the director, Ivan Heng, he was laughing his head off. I had the misfortune to sit in the row in front of him.
If this passes for political satire in Singapore, the Govt need not worry a single damn bit. Its no surprise that the censors passed this - either they strangled themselves half way thru the show - or they probably realized that letting Singaporeans see this sort of crap would cause them to vote for the ruling party for life.
Thanks God none of my friends had the misfortune to be there.
"The Campaign to Confer the Public Service Star on JBJ" is a political satire about Singapore society. Its about how people here, including civil servants, are frightfully terrified of offending the Govt, esp. the main man, Mr Yew Know Hu.
A young Uni student's campaign to award an environmental activist who has the same initials as a discredited opposition leader results in his apparent untimely death. A dedicated public prosecutor who has political connections is called to investigate and butcher the audiences' brains with a cliched plot. The spastic dialogue between her lover and her could only have been written by a person who has never experienced a relationship with a member of the opposite sex.
The first part - a comedy of manners- had a few hilarious scenes. The second part - the writer decided to turn it into a political thriller of the mindnumingly excruciatingly boring kind. Not that it mattered to the director, Ivan Heng, he was laughing his head off. I had the misfortune to sit in the row in front of him.
If this passes for political satire in Singapore, the Govt need not worry a single damn bit. Its no surprise that the censors passed this - either they strangled themselves half way thru the show - or they probably realized that letting Singaporeans see this sort of crap would cause them to vote for the ruling party for life.
Thanks God none of my friends had the misfortune to be there.
My tank
What every guy needs. A fully radio controlled tank that fires plastic pellets 20m- and it really hurts if you get hit. Everything moves - including the realistic tracks, turret and the gun. The battery is powerpoint rechargeable. Weighs about 5kg and it only cost me US$100. Its very realistic. Arm it with ball bearings and you can invade France.
Bible Verse for today
I don't bother to read the Bible much these days. I should but I don't.
But God has funny ways to reach out to me. I'm reading the last chapter of O'Rourke's book, "Eat the Rich" - which is mindnumbingly boring at some points.
He's not a Christian. And as he sarcastically confesses - only attends church once a year to see the Easter Bunny.
Then he concludes his book and wow... there's God... well sort of.
Most of the world's economy were ruined because idealist people tried to make it fair, namely those run by the socialists and communists. But there in the Bible, is an admonition against such a political system.
"As a foundation for a political system, fairness may be no virtue at all. ... The first nine commandements concerns theological principles and social law: Thou shalt not make graven images, steal, kill, etc.. Then there's the Tenth Commandment: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, wife, servant, cattle nor anything else that belongs to him. Here are God's basic rules about how we should live, a very brief list of sacred obligations and solemn moral precepts, and right at the end of it is, "Don't be jealous that your neighbor's has better stuff than you."
What is that doing in there? Why would God, with just ten things to tell Moses, choose, as one of them, jealousy over property? And yet, think about how important to the well-being of a community this Commandment is. If you want a donkey, if you want a pot roast, if you want a Lambrogini, if you want a nicer looking house, don't bitch about what the people across the street have. Go get your own.
The Tenth Commandment sends a message to socialists, to egalitarians, to people obsessed with fairness, to all politicians - and to everyone else who believes that wealth should be redistributed. And the message is clear: Go to hell.
But God has funny ways to reach out to me. I'm reading the last chapter of O'Rourke's book, "Eat the Rich" - which is mindnumbingly boring at some points.
He's not a Christian. And as he sarcastically confesses - only attends church once a year to see the Easter Bunny.
Then he concludes his book and wow... there's God... well sort of.
Most of the world's economy were ruined because idealist people tried to make it fair, namely those run by the socialists and communists. But there in the Bible, is an admonition against such a political system.
"As a foundation for a political system, fairness may be no virtue at all. ... The first nine commandements concerns theological principles and social law: Thou shalt not make graven images, steal, kill, etc.. Then there's the Tenth Commandment: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, wife, servant, cattle nor anything else that belongs to him. Here are God's basic rules about how we should live, a very brief list of sacred obligations and solemn moral precepts, and right at the end of it is, "Don't be jealous that your neighbor's has better stuff than you."
What is that doing in there? Why would God, with just ten things to tell Moses, choose, as one of them, jealousy over property? And yet, think about how important to the well-being of a community this Commandment is. If you want a donkey, if you want a pot roast, if you want a Lambrogini, if you want a nicer looking house, don't bitch about what the people across the street have. Go get your own.
The Tenth Commandment sends a message to socialists, to egalitarians, to people obsessed with fairness, to all politicians - and to everyone else who believes that wealth should be redistributed. And the message is clear: Go to hell.
Economics: or why you don't have to eat the pizza box if there's no more pizza left
I liked how P.J. O'Rourke argues this point:
The hardest thing to understand about economics is that it doesn't need to be understood. My beatnik friends and I, when we were in college, were perfectly justified in expending out intellectual energy on sex and drugs instead of money. But there was one thing that we did need to learn. And still do. And it's a piece of knowledge that seems to contradict psychology, life experience, and the dictates of conscience: Economics is not zero sum. There is no fixed amount of wealth. That is, if you have too many slices of pizza, I don't have to eat the box. Your money does not cause my poverty. Refusal to believe this at the bottom of most bad economic thinking.
True, at any given moment, there is only so much wealth to go around. But wealth is based on productivity. Without productivity, there wouldn't be any economics, or any economic thinking, good or bad, or any pizza, or anything else. We would sit around and stare at rocks, and maybe have some for dinner.
Wealth is based on productivity, and productivity is expandable.Yet a person who worries about fairness can recite the old saw: "The rich get richer and the poor..." ....
"Get entertained by People magazine stories about divorces among the rich." No, that's not what he's going to say... "Get lower mortgage rates because banks have more money to lend." Nope, not it either. "Get better jobs because there's more capital to be invested in business." No, the cliche to end that sentence is, "The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer."
Except that is no evidence of this in recent history. Per-capita GDP is a tricky figure and doesn't tell us much about the well-being of individual people. But there are other statistics that don't present the same problems of averaging. Life-expectancy and infant-mortality rates do tell us how things are going for ordinary folks. No matter how rich a nation's elite, its members aren't going to live to be 250 years old and wildly skew the numbers. And a country can't fake a low infant-mortality rate by getting a few rich babies to live while letting all the poor babies to die.
P. J. O'Rourke: Eat the Rich, 1998, Picador Press, page 241.
It makes sense - people think that being rich means holding, for example, gold. But gold is only worth something if you can exchange it for something. If you're stuck on a small island with a huge bag of gold - and the other inhabitant has the water and food supplies, your gold is worthless unless you can exchange it with the other person. If he refuses to sell or give you water or food- you're dead. You can't eat gold and ergo if you can't exchange it, use it to buy something else, its worthless to you. A man can shut himself in a steel vault filled with tons of gold bars- but unless he can get out - he's in a fate similar to a stillborn baby.
Wealth is based on what you can trade with. Back in the dot.com hey days, a computer programmer could get paid megabucks because there was a limited number of people who could do computer programming and that was a skill in high demand. Back in the bad old days, when warfare was a constant everyday affair, the best warriors were highly valued. Weapons were in high demand. And ordinary people were at the mercy of soldiers. Not much to live for. Poor mortality rates. Not a healthy economy. Now, esp. here in western-civilized societies, we have peace and order, people don't have to worry about wars or kings who come and confiscate your property and women. People can trade and barter in a roughly fair environment. And productivity can grow and wealth increase.
The hardest thing to understand about economics is that it doesn't need to be understood. My beatnik friends and I, when we were in college, were perfectly justified in expending out intellectual energy on sex and drugs instead of money. But there was one thing that we did need to learn. And still do. And it's a piece of knowledge that seems to contradict psychology, life experience, and the dictates of conscience: Economics is not zero sum. There is no fixed amount of wealth. That is, if you have too many slices of pizza, I don't have to eat the box. Your money does not cause my poverty. Refusal to believe this at the bottom of most bad economic thinking.
True, at any given moment, there is only so much wealth to go around. But wealth is based on productivity. Without productivity, there wouldn't be any economics, or any economic thinking, good or bad, or any pizza, or anything else. We would sit around and stare at rocks, and maybe have some for dinner.
Wealth is based on productivity, and productivity is expandable.Yet a person who worries about fairness can recite the old saw: "The rich get richer and the poor..." ....
"Get entertained by People magazine stories about divorces among the rich." No, that's not what he's going to say... "Get lower mortgage rates because banks have more money to lend." Nope, not it either. "Get better jobs because there's more capital to be invested in business." No, the cliche to end that sentence is, "The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer."
Except that is no evidence of this in recent history. Per-capita GDP is a tricky figure and doesn't tell us much about the well-being of individual people. But there are other statistics that don't present the same problems of averaging. Life-expectancy and infant-mortality rates do tell us how things are going for ordinary folks. No matter how rich a nation's elite, its members aren't going to live to be 250 years old and wildly skew the numbers. And a country can't fake a low infant-mortality rate by getting a few rich babies to live while letting all the poor babies to die.
P. J. O'Rourke: Eat the Rich, 1998, Picador Press, page 241.
It makes sense - people think that being rich means holding, for example, gold. But gold is only worth something if you can exchange it for something. If you're stuck on a small island with a huge bag of gold - and the other inhabitant has the water and food supplies, your gold is worthless unless you can exchange it with the other person. If he refuses to sell or give you water or food- you're dead. You can't eat gold and ergo if you can't exchange it, use it to buy something else, its worthless to you. A man can shut himself in a steel vault filled with tons of gold bars- but unless he can get out - he's in a fate similar to a stillborn baby.
Wealth is based on what you can trade with. Back in the dot.com hey days, a computer programmer could get paid megabucks because there was a limited number of people who could do computer programming and that was a skill in high demand. Back in the bad old days, when warfare was a constant everyday affair, the best warriors were highly valued. Weapons were in high demand. And ordinary people were at the mercy of soldiers. Not much to live for. Poor mortality rates. Not a healthy economy. Now, esp. here in western-civilized societies, we have peace and order, people don't have to worry about wars or kings who come and confiscate your property and women. People can trade and barter in a roughly fair environment. And productivity can grow and wealth increase.
Bible Verse for today
I don't bother to read the Bible much these days. I should but I don't.
But God has funny ways to reach out to me. I'm reading the last chapter of O'Rourke's book, "Eat the Rich" - which is mindnumbingly boring at some points.
He's not a Christian. And as he sarcastically confesses - only attends church once a year to see the Easter Bunny.
Then he concludes his book and wow... there's God... well sort of.
Most of the world's economy were ruined because idealist people tried to make it fair, namely those run by the socialists and communists. But there in the Bible, is an admonition against such a political system.
"As a foundation for a political system, fairness may be no virtue at all. ... The first nine commandements concerns theological principles and social law: Thou shalt not make graven images, steal, kill, etc.. Then there's the Tenth Commandment: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, wife, servant, cattle nor anything else that belongs to him. Here are God's basic rules about how we should live, a very brief list of sacred obligations and solemn moral precepts, and right at the end of it is, "Don't be jealous that your neighbor's has better stuff than you."
What is that doing in there? Why would God, with just ten things to tell Moses, choose, as one of them, jealousy over property? And yet, think about how important to the well-being of a community this Commandment is. If you want a donkey, if you want a pot roast, if you want a Lambrogini, if you want a nicer looking house, don't bitch about what the people across the street have. Go get your own.
The Tenth Commandment sends a message to socialists, to egalitarians, to people obsessed with fairness, to all politicians - and to everyone else who believes that wealth should be redistributed. And the message is clear: Go to hell.
But God has funny ways to reach out to me. I'm reading the last chapter of O'Rourke's book, "Eat the Rich" - which is mindnumbingly boring at some points.
He's not a Christian. And as he sarcastically confesses - only attends church once a year to see the Easter Bunny.
Then he concludes his book and wow... there's God... well sort of.
Most of the world's economy were ruined because idealist people tried to make it fair, namely those run by the socialists and communists. But there in the Bible, is an admonition against such a political system.
"As a foundation for a political system, fairness may be no virtue at all. ... The first nine commandements concerns theological principles and social law: Thou shalt not make graven images, steal, kill, etc.. Then there's the Tenth Commandment: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, wife, servant, cattle nor anything else that belongs to him. Here are God's basic rules about how we should live, a very brief list of sacred obligations and solemn moral precepts, and right at the end of it is, "Don't be jealous that your neighbor's has better stuff than you."
What is that doing in there? Why would God, with just ten things to tell Moses, choose, as one of them, jealousy over property? And yet, think about how important to the well-being of a community this Commandment is. If you want a donkey, if you want a pot roast, if you want a Lambrogini, if you want a nicer looking house, don't bitch about what the people across the street have. Go get your own.
The Tenth Commandment sends a message to socialists, to egalitarians, to people obsessed with fairness, to all politicians - and to everyone else who believes that wealth should be redistributed. And the message is clear: Go to hell.
Economics: or why you don't have to eat the pizza box if there's no more pizza left
I liked how P.J. O'Rourke argues this point:
The hardest thing to understand about economics is that it doesn't need to be understood. My beatnik friends and I, when we were in college, were perfectly justified in expending out intelliectual energy on sex and drugs instead of money. But there was one thing that we did need to learn. And still do. And it's a piece of knowledge that seems to contradict psychology, life experience, and the dicatates of conscience: Economics is not zero sum. There is no fixed amount of wealth. That is, if you have too many slices of pizza, I don't have to eat the box. Your money does not cause my poverty. Refusal to believe this at the bottom of most bad economic thinking.
True, at any given moment, there is only so much wealth to go around. But wealth is based on productivity. Without productivity, there wouldn't be any economics, or any economic thinking, good or bad, or any pizza, or anything else. We would sit around and stare at rocks, and maybe have some for dinner.
Wealth is based on productivity, and productivity is exapandable.Yet a person who worries about fairness can recite the old saw: "The rich get richer and the poor..." ....
"Get entertained by People magazine stories about divorces amound the rich." No, that's not what he's going to say... "Get lower mortgage rates because banks have more money to lend." Nope, not it either. "Get better jobs because there's more capital to be invested in business." No, the cliche to end that sentense is, "The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer."
Except that is no evidence of this in recent history. Per-capita GDP is a tricky figure and doesn't tell us much about the well-being of individual people. But there are other statistics that don't present the same problems of averaging. Life-expectancy and infant-mortality rates do tell us how things are going for ordinary folks. No matter how rich a nation's elitre, its members aren't going to live to be 250 years old and wildly skew the numbers. And a country can't fake a low infant-mortality rate by getting a few rich babies to live while letting all the poor babies to die.
P. J. O'Rourke: Eat the Rich, 1998, Picador Press, page 241.
The hardest thing to understand about economics is that it doesn't need to be understood. My beatnik friends and I, when we were in college, were perfectly justified in expending out intelliectual energy on sex and drugs instead of money. But there was one thing that we did need to learn. And still do. And it's a piece of knowledge that seems to contradict psychology, life experience, and the dicatates of conscience: Economics is not zero sum. There is no fixed amount of wealth. That is, if you have too many slices of pizza, I don't have to eat the box. Your money does not cause my poverty. Refusal to believe this at the bottom of most bad economic thinking.
True, at any given moment, there is only so much wealth to go around. But wealth is based on productivity. Without productivity, there wouldn't be any economics, or any economic thinking, good or bad, or any pizza, or anything else. We would sit around and stare at rocks, and maybe have some for dinner.
Wealth is based on productivity, and productivity is exapandable.Yet a person who worries about fairness can recite the old saw: "The rich get richer and the poor..." ....
"Get entertained by People magazine stories about divorces amound the rich." No, that's not what he's going to say... "Get lower mortgage rates because banks have more money to lend." Nope, not it either. "Get better jobs because there's more capital to be invested in business." No, the cliche to end that sentense is, "The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer."
Except that is no evidence of this in recent history. Per-capita GDP is a tricky figure and doesn't tell us much about the well-being of individual people. But there are other statistics that don't present the same problems of averaging. Life-expectancy and infant-mortality rates do tell us how things are going for ordinary folks. No matter how rich a nation's elitre, its members aren't going to live to be 250 years old and wildly skew the numbers. And a country can't fake a low infant-mortality rate by getting a few rich babies to live while letting all the poor babies to die.
P. J. O'Rourke: Eat the Rich, 1998, Picador Press, page 241.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Gods and Generals: the story of the American Civil War
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Drama |
Any person with half a brain spending 5 minutes thinking about the tactics used would realize that marching up a hill armed with a musket (a primitive rifle sometimes better wielded as a hammer) in tight mass formations against an enemy behind a stone wall with cannon guns - is plain suicide.
That the Union Army attempted this FIVE bloody (literally) times is beyond insane. Yet at the same time it speaks volumes about the courage of the men in that era - where words like honor, dignity, and freedom meant something.
The most amazing thing is that the enemy - the Confederates - led by the famous General Robert E. Lee - did the same thing in a subsequent battle, Gettysburg.
The man is lauded as a military genius. But it confounds me how these sorts of geniuses can order their men to do these kinds of suicidal frontal assaults. Its beyond insane. They were packed like sardines in their formations. One cannon ball - the size of a soccer ball - would hit and maim or kill a dozen men. One bullet would plow through three men.
It makes about the same sense as a school teacher ordering the school band to march down the wrong side of the highway together with the entire primary school.
That the moron generals can repeat these sorts of mistakes in WW1 shows how horribly stupid experts can get.
Anyhow this is a movie for the guys. We can admire their mind bogglingly stupid courage and thank our lucky stars we weren't born in that era. As for the women, you can see how men can be so pigheadedly stupid.
There's another similar movie - Gettysburg- done by the same director over 10 years ago- but this one looks much better.
I was particularly impressed with Robert Duvall's acting of General Robert E. Lee - he not only looks the same as the historical figure but he carried the same steely presence as General Lee was said to have. I think Duvall had to shed a lot of weight to play Lee - but anyhow look at the historical photos and see the amazing similarities. Apparently he is related to Lee. I hope to see Duvall gets to play Lee in new Civil War films.
Add-on... I found a particular good review of the film here by Rod Dreher:
http://www.nationalreview.com/dreher/dreher022103.asp
"The film is about conflicting ideas of patriotism, God, personal conscience, and history. Its basic point is that Lee and Jackson (like many southerners) fought not because they loved slavery or detested the Union, but because they felt honor-bound to defend their homeland."
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Tickets for Theatre
I got a spare ticket for a comedy theatre concert on Friday 21 Sept. Hmmm... need to invite someone along... its for that rarest of Singapore shows - political satire. The very title amuses me.
"The Campaign to Confer the Public Service Star on JBJ"
In case you don't know, Jeyaratnam is JBJ - the ethnic Indian opposition MP who royally pissed off the establishment and got his pants sued off for defamation. But in this clever satire - they only use his initials. I think a Chinese guy plays his role.
God know who wants to go for such shows these days. Political satire in Singapore is about as popular as SARS. Anyone?
"The Campaign to Confer the Public Service Star on JBJ"
In case you don't know, Jeyaratnam is JBJ - the ethnic Indian opposition MP who royally pissed off the establishment and got his pants sued off for defamation. But in this clever satire - they only use his initials. I think a Chinese guy plays his role.
God know who wants to go for such shows these days. Political satire in Singapore is about as popular as SARS. Anyone?
Got sent home from the gym!
Now thats the first. OK, it doesn't sound that bad. Its not as if I kicked my trainer in the goonads... several times....
I've just been feeling a bit dizzy and fatigued lately. Light-headed. Unfocused. Low blood sugar levels... low insulin... that sort of feeling.
Maybe its just the timeslot - I train at 6pm. Most pple feel tired by then.
Maybe its the stress of the share trading. I've been having a terrible run lately...
Could be the poor sleep.
Anyhow, I did several squats - and was still feeling light headed - so my trainer told me to go home and get some rest. He was noticing that I seem pretty tired lately.
I'm going to see a doctor tmw and get a blood pressure checkup.
I've just been feeling a bit dizzy and fatigued lately. Light-headed. Unfocused. Low blood sugar levels... low insulin... that sort of feeling.
Maybe its just the timeslot - I train at 6pm. Most pple feel tired by then.
Maybe its the stress of the share trading. I've been having a terrible run lately...
Could be the poor sleep.
Anyhow, I did several squats - and was still feeling light headed - so my trainer told me to go home and get some rest. He was noticing that I seem pretty tired lately.
I'm going to see a doctor tmw and get a blood pressure checkup.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
What's the deal with Facebook?
Ok got myself on Facebook. But it just seems like friendster on speed.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=664399631
Whats so wonderful about it?
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=664399631
Whats so wonderful about it?
Link to Little Box of Allie
Look closely or better yet check out the real full size photo on Allie's website.
I'm always impressed by beautiful photos of the deep. Check out Allie's website. Here are some mini-photos to whet your appetite. She's an amazing photographer.
Click here for the full set of photos from Allie's website = Little Allie
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Atrium Lounge Party
Over one hundred people showed up for the party - I find it amazing how many people Steven knows. He could form his own club. Heck, with that much charisma he could be the next President.
Quite a fair bit of Singapore showed up. The usual suspects from Media Corp showed up. There was also an editor from a Wine and Food magazine. A judge. Members from the Education faculties. US Navy officers. HR and training personnel. Finance... etc..
Its a pleasant way to spend the Saturday evening - got to know a few people. I even met up with one of my cousins whom I've not seen in years. My family were just talking about her this afternoon. Only problem is - she didn't want to be "found". :) That's a bit sad- but some people just want to be disappear.
Parties. Names. My memory - being the horrible machine it is - made a disaster in remembering the names. It was like a blind librarian stacking books by throwing them into a black pit. Quite hopeless. I do remember the name of the cocktail waitress tho... her name was pinned onto her. And I was thirsty. That's my excuse! She had a pleasant laugh.
One problem with these sorts of parties is being stuck with one person - and being unable to politely disengage and walk away. There's only so much you can talk with a stranger before the conversation starts getting stale - and you start running out things to say.
I guess one way is to introduce them to someone else - listen intently for awhile - then walk away. Or just saying - hey, nice to meet with you... see you some other time... or the old "Hey, I'm getting a drink - do you want one?" walkaway.
I'm sure you can think of more appropriate things to say.
I try and not be rude because I've been on the receiving end a few times - and know it can be a shitty experience.
Its easy to become too self-conscious in these sort of things; more so if you are attempting to introduce yourself with a total stranger.
I guess that's why alcohol helps a lot - loosens people up. And causes them to forget the faux pas committed.
Quite a fair bit of Singapore showed up. The usual suspects from Media Corp showed up. There was also an editor from a Wine and Food magazine. A judge. Members from the Education faculties. US Navy officers. HR and training personnel. Finance... etc..
Its a pleasant way to spend the Saturday evening - got to know a few people. I even met up with one of my cousins whom I've not seen in years. My family were just talking about her this afternoon. Only problem is - she didn't want to be "found". :) That's a bit sad- but some people just want to be disappear.
Parties. Names. My memory - being the horrible machine it is - made a disaster in remembering the names. It was like a blind librarian stacking books by throwing them into a black pit. Quite hopeless. I do remember the name of the cocktail waitress tho... her name was pinned onto her. And I was thirsty. That's my excuse! She had a pleasant laugh.
One problem with these sorts of parties is being stuck with one person - and being unable to politely disengage and walk away. There's only so much you can talk with a stranger before the conversation starts getting stale - and you start running out things to say.
I guess one way is to introduce them to someone else - listen intently for awhile - then walk away. Or just saying - hey, nice to meet with you... see you some other time... or the old "Hey, I'm getting a drink - do you want one?" walkaway.
I'm sure you can think of more appropriate things to say.
I try and not be rude because I've been on the receiving end a few times - and know it can be a shitty experience.
Its easy to become too self-conscious in these sort of things; more so if you are attempting to introduce yourself with a total stranger.
I guess that's why alcohol helps a lot - loosens people up. And causes them to forget the faux pas committed.
Atrium Lounge Marina Mandarin Party
The girls were interns for a Media company. The one in the middle is from Canada and is fluent in Mandarin.
Steven Chia organized a nice little party at the Marina Mandarin. 100 people showed up at various times. I'm terribly bad with names but I remember what people's occupation are... sorry!!
Atrium Lounge Party
Over one hundred people showed up for the party - I find it amazing how many people Steven knows. He could form his own club. Heck, with that much charisma he could form his own political party and be the next President. That'd be some party!
Quite a fair bit of Singapore showed up. The usual suspects from Media Corp showed up - radio jockeys, newsreaders, staff and writers, etc.. There was also an (ex-)editor from a Wine and Food magazine. A judge, a real judge. Members from the Education faculties. US Navy officers. Members of the Village People. HR and training personnel. Finance... etc..
Its a pleasant way to spend the Saturday evening - got to know a few people. I even bumped into my long lost cousins whom I've not seen in years. My family were just talking about her this afternoon. She left Australia 5 years ago and fell off the face of the earth. Only problem is - she didn't want to be "found". :) We exchanged five words and she turned away. That's a bit sad- but some people just want to be disappear.
Parties. Names. My memory - being the horrible $2 calculator it is - made a disaster in remembering the names. My memory is worse than a blind librarian stacking books by throwing them into a black pit. Quite hopeless. I do remember the name of the cocktail waitress tho... she had a name tag. And I was thirsty. (That's my excuse!) She had a pleasant laugh. ... OK, she was really cute and how can a man forget a name like "Candy"? Please, no sexist look downs. I'm sure you ladies would remember the barman's name if he was built like a tank and his name was Fabio.
One problem with these sorts of parties is being stuck with one person - and being unable to politely disengage and walk away. There's only so much you can talk with a stranger before the conversation starts getting stale - and you start running out things to say.
I guess one way is to introduce them to someone else - listen intently for awhile - then drift away. Or just the simple - hey, nice to meet with you... see you some other time... or the old "Hey, I'm getting a drink or going to war - do you want one, no?" walkaway.
I'm sure you can think of more appropriate things to say.
I try and not be rude and just say something condesceding and walk off - leaving the person alone - because I've been on the receiving end a few times - and know it can be a dogawful shitty experience. And hey its a party - everyone should try to be nice.
Its easy to become too self-conscious in these sort of things; more so if you are attempting to introduce yourself with a total stranger. I guess that's why alcohol helps a lot - loosens people up - makes them less uptight. And causes them to forget the faux pas committed.
But sometimes its just impossible. When people go to parties - they don't necessarily want to meet new people. Its more about catching up with friends and old acquaintainces. They form little "sewing circles". There are usually talking about their friends or their boss or the nocturnal habits of their pet hamsters - all of which are totally lost to you. Attempting to talk with these people is like breaking into an intense discussion with nuclear rocket scientists.
Quite a fair bit of Singapore showed up. The usual suspects from Media Corp showed up - radio jockeys, newsreaders, staff and writers, etc.. There was also an (ex-)editor from a Wine and Food magazine. A judge, a real judge. Members from the Education faculties. US Navy officers. Members of the Village People. HR and training personnel. Finance... etc..
Its a pleasant way to spend the Saturday evening - got to know a few people. I even bumped into my long lost cousins whom I've not seen in years. My family were just talking about her this afternoon. She left Australia 5 years ago and fell off the face of the earth. Only problem is - she didn't want to be "found". :) We exchanged five words and she turned away. That's a bit sad- but some people just want to be disappear.
Parties. Names. My memory - being the horrible $2 calculator it is - made a disaster in remembering the names. My memory is worse than a blind librarian stacking books by throwing them into a black pit. Quite hopeless. I do remember the name of the cocktail waitress tho... she had a name tag. And I was thirsty. (That's my excuse!) She had a pleasant laugh. ... OK, she was really cute and how can a man forget a name like "Candy"? Please, no sexist look downs. I'm sure you ladies would remember the barman's name if he was built like a tank and his name was Fabio.
One problem with these sorts of parties is being stuck with one person - and being unable to politely disengage and walk away. There's only so much you can talk with a stranger before the conversation starts getting stale - and you start running out things to say.
I guess one way is to introduce them to someone else - listen intently for awhile - then drift away. Or just the simple - hey, nice to meet with you... see you some other time... or the old "Hey, I'm getting a drink or going to war - do you want one, no?" walkaway.
I'm sure you can think of more appropriate things to say.
I try and not be rude and just say something condesceding and walk off - leaving the person alone - because I've been on the receiving end a few times - and know it can be a dogawful shitty experience. And hey its a party - everyone should try to be nice.
Its easy to become too self-conscious in these sort of things; more so if you are attempting to introduce yourself with a total stranger. I guess that's why alcohol helps a lot - loosens people up - makes them less uptight. And causes them to forget the faux pas committed.
But sometimes its just impossible. When people go to parties - they don't necessarily want to meet new people. Its more about catching up with friends and old acquaintainces. They form little "sewing circles". There are usually talking about their friends or their boss or the nocturnal habits of their pet hamsters - all of which are totally lost to you. Attempting to talk with these people is like breaking into an intense discussion with nuclear rocket scientists.
Atrium Lounge Party
Over one hundred people showed up for the party - I find it amazing how many people Steven knows. He could form his own club. Heck, with that much charisma he could be the next President.
Quite a fair bit of Singapore showed up. The usual suspects from Media Corp showed up. There was also an editor from a Wine and Food magazine. A judge. Members from the Education faculties. US Navy officers. HR and training personnel. Finance... etc..
Its a pleasant way to spend the Saturday evening - got to know a few people. I even met up with one of my cousins whom I've not seen in years. My family were just talking about her this afternoon. Only problem is - she didn't want to be "found". :) That's a bit sad- but some people just want to be disappear.
Parties. Names. My memory - being the horrible machine it is - made a disaster in remembering the names. It was like a blind librarian stacking books by throwing them into a black pit. Quite hopeless. I do remember the name of the cocktail waitress tho... her name was pinned onto her. And I was thirsty. That's my excuse! She had a pleasant laugh.
One problem with these sorts of parties is being stuck with one person - and being unable to politely disengage and walk away. There's only so much you can talk with a stranger before the conversation starts getting stale - and you start running out things to say.
I guess one way is to introduce them to someone else - listen intently for awhile - then walk away. Or just saying - hey, nice to meet with you... see you some other time... or the old "Hey, I'm getting a drink - do you want one?" walkaway.
I'm sure you can think of more appropriate things to say.
I try and not be rude because I've been on the receiving end a few times - and know it can be a shitty experience.
Its easy to become too self-conscious in these sort of things; more so if you are attempting to introduce yourself with a total stranger.
I guess that's why alcohol helps a lot - loosens people up. And causes them to forget the faux pas committed.
Quite a fair bit of Singapore showed up. The usual suspects from Media Corp showed up. There was also an editor from a Wine and Food magazine. A judge. Members from the Education faculties. US Navy officers. HR and training personnel. Finance... etc..
Its a pleasant way to spend the Saturday evening - got to know a few people. I even met up with one of my cousins whom I've not seen in years. My family were just talking about her this afternoon. Only problem is - she didn't want to be "found". :) That's a bit sad- but some people just want to be disappear.
Parties. Names. My memory - being the horrible machine it is - made a disaster in remembering the names. It was like a blind librarian stacking books by throwing them into a black pit. Quite hopeless. I do remember the name of the cocktail waitress tho... her name was pinned onto her. And I was thirsty. That's my excuse! She had a pleasant laugh.
One problem with these sorts of parties is being stuck with one person - and being unable to politely disengage and walk away. There's only so much you can talk with a stranger before the conversation starts getting stale - and you start running out things to say.
I guess one way is to introduce them to someone else - listen intently for awhile - then walk away. Or just saying - hey, nice to meet with you... see you some other time... or the old "Hey, I'm getting a drink - do you want one?" walkaway.
I'm sure you can think of more appropriate things to say.
I try and not be rude because I've been on the receiving end a few times - and know it can be a shitty experience.
Its easy to become too self-conscious in these sort of things; more so if you are attempting to introduce yourself with a total stranger.
I guess that's why alcohol helps a lot - loosens people up. And causes them to forget the faux pas committed.
Morons in the Law System
A judge magistrate in Victoria ordered a 20 month year old Aboriginal boy to be sent to his Uncle - who had a violent criminal record. Why? Because he wanted the kid to be "with his own people". Culture sensitivities and all that. Well, fair enough. But the Uncle had a violent criminal record you moron. Less than a month later, he nearly beat the little boy to death.
For once the social welfare officers were on the ball on this one and opposed this adoption. However the magistrate was "scathing... at what he perceived was a lack of cultural awareness and flouting of legislation aimed at working with indigenous children, families and their children".
What a utter moron. Wait, even morons can render better judgement - this judge ought to get a good head kicking - nothing to worry about since he doesn't have a brain.
Special blame has to be laid with the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency, who supported this travesty.
Read the rest of the sad story here:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22421222-5013404,00.html
For once the social welfare officers were on the ball on this one and opposed this adoption. However the magistrate was "scathing... at what he perceived was a lack of cultural awareness and flouting of legislation aimed at working with indigenous children, families and their children".
What a utter moron. Wait, even morons can render better judgement - this judge ought to get a good head kicking - nothing to worry about since he doesn't have a brain.
Special blame has to be laid with the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency, who supported this travesty.
"VACCA was supportive of the children being placed with their uncle on the basis of their cultural identity and believe that as a couple they had made recent positive changes in their lives, especially since the birth of their own child."
Really, these people ought to get fired from their jobs and sent to do something useful - like being speed bumps on the freeway.Read the rest of the sad story here:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22421222-5013404,00.html
Atrium Lounge Party
Over one hundred people showed up for the party - I find it amazing how many people Steven knows. He could form his own club. Heck, with that much charisma he could be the next President.
Quite a fair bit of Singapore showed up. The usual suspects from Media Corp showed up. There was also an editor from a Wine and Food magazine. A judge. Members from the Education faculties. US Navy officers. HR and training personnel. Finance... etc..
Its a pleasant way to spend the Saturday evening - got to know a few people. I even met up with one of my cousins whom I've not seen in years. My family were just talking about her this afternoon. Only problem is - she didn't want to be "found". :) That's a bit sad- but some people just want to be disappear.
Parties. Names. My memory - being the horrible machine it is - made a disaster in remembering the names. It was like a blind librarian stacking books by throwing them into a black pit. Quite hopeless. I do remember the name of the cocktail waitress tho... her name was pinned onto her. And I was thirsty. That's my excuse! She had a pleasant laugh.
One problem with these sorts of parties is being stuck with one person - and being unable to politely disengage and walk away. There's only so much you can talk with a stranger before the conversation starts getting stale - and you start running out things to say.
I guess one way is to introduce them to someone else - listen intently for awhile - then walk away. Or just saying - hey, nice to meet with you... see you some other time... or the old "Hey, I'm getting a drink - do you want one?" walkaway.
I'm sure you can think of more appropriate things to say.
I try and not be rude because I've been on the receiving end a few times - and know it can be a shitty experience.
Its easy to become too self-conscious in these sort of things; more so if you are attempting to introduce yourself with a total stranger.
I guess that's why alcohol helps a lot - loosens people up. And causes them to forget the faux pas committed.
Quite a fair bit of Singapore showed up. The usual suspects from Media Corp showed up. There was also an editor from a Wine and Food magazine. A judge. Members from the Education faculties. US Navy officers. HR and training personnel. Finance... etc..
Its a pleasant way to spend the Saturday evening - got to know a few people. I even met up with one of my cousins whom I've not seen in years. My family were just talking about her this afternoon. Only problem is - she didn't want to be "found". :) That's a bit sad- but some people just want to be disappear.
Parties. Names. My memory - being the horrible machine it is - made a disaster in remembering the names. It was like a blind librarian stacking books by throwing them into a black pit. Quite hopeless. I do remember the name of the cocktail waitress tho... her name was pinned onto her. And I was thirsty. That's my excuse! She had a pleasant laugh.
One problem with these sorts of parties is being stuck with one person - and being unable to politely disengage and walk away. There's only so much you can talk with a stranger before the conversation starts getting stale - and you start running out things to say.
I guess one way is to introduce them to someone else - listen intently for awhile - then walk away. Or just saying - hey, nice to meet with you... see you some other time... or the old "Hey, I'm getting a drink - do you want one?" walkaway.
I'm sure you can think of more appropriate things to say.
I try and not be rude because I've been on the receiving end a few times - and know it can be a shitty experience.
Its easy to become too self-conscious in these sort of things; more so if you are attempting to introduce yourself with a total stranger.
I guess that's why alcohol helps a lot - loosens people up. And causes them to forget the faux pas committed.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Morons in the Law System
A judge magistrate in Victoria ordered a 20 month year old Aboriginal boy to be sent to his Uncle - who had a violent criminal record. Why? Because he wanted the kid to be "with his own people". Culture sensitivities and all that. Well, fair enough. But the Uncle had a violent criminal record you moron. Less than a month later, he nearly beat the little boy to death.
For once the social welfare officers were on the ball on this one and opposed this adoption. However the magistrate was "scathing... at what he perceived was a lack of cultural awareness and flouting of legislation aimed at working with indigenous children, families and their children".
What a utter moron. Wait, even morons can render better judgement - this judge ought to get a good head kicking - nothing to worry about since he doesn't have a brain.
Special blame has to be laid with the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency, who supported this travesty.
I remember my Sociology professor's comment that indigenous natives who went and learnt English and got a job outside their tribal settings - such a change was no better than murdering them with machine guns. Its such people who are in charge of the Aussie law systems now.
Its staggering how many insane people there are in the world. The worse are those who hold onto ideology as an article of faith- despite the clear evidence of utter failure - esp. communists and socialists.
Really, these people ought to get fired from their jobs and sent to do something useful - like being speed bumps on the freeway.
Read the rest of the sad story here:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22421222-5013404,00.html
For once the social welfare officers were on the ball on this one and opposed this adoption. However the magistrate was "scathing... at what he perceived was a lack of cultural awareness and flouting of legislation aimed at working with indigenous children, families and their children".
What a utter moron. Wait, even morons can render better judgement - this judge ought to get a good head kicking - nothing to worry about since he doesn't have a brain.
Special blame has to be laid with the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency, who supported this travesty.
"VACCA was supportive of the children being placed with their uncle on the basis of their cultural identity..."
There you go again - being close to your own culture is better than being with a sane normal family.I remember my Sociology professor's comment that indigenous natives who went and learnt English and got a job outside their tribal settings - such a change was no better than murdering them with machine guns. Its such people who are in charge of the Aussie law systems now.
Its staggering how many insane people there are in the world. The worse are those who hold onto ideology as an article of faith- despite the clear evidence of utter failure - esp. communists and socialists.
Really, these people ought to get fired from their jobs and sent to do something useful - like being speed bumps on the freeway.
Read the rest of the sad story here:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22421222-5013404,00.html
Morons in the Law System
A judge magistrate in Victoria ordered a 20 month year old Aboriginal boy to be sent to his Uncle - who had a violent criminal record. Why? Because he wanted the kid to be "with his own people". Culture sensitivities and all that. Well, fair enough. But the Uncle had a violent criminal record you moron. Less than a month later, he nearly beat the little boy to death.
For once the social welfare officers were on the ball on this one and opposed this adoption. However the magistrate was "scathing... at what he perceived was a lack of cultural awareness and flouting of legislation aimed at working with indigenous children, families and their children".
What a utter moron. Wait, even morons can render better judgement - this judge ought to get a good head kicking - nothing to worry about since he doesn't have a brain.
Special blame has to be laid with the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency, who supported this travesty.
Read the rest of the sad story here:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22421222-5013404,00.html
For once the social welfare officers were on the ball on this one and opposed this adoption. However the magistrate was "scathing... at what he perceived was a lack of cultural awareness and flouting of legislation aimed at working with indigenous children, families and their children".
What a utter moron. Wait, even morons can render better judgement - this judge ought to get a good head kicking - nothing to worry about since he doesn't have a brain.
Special blame has to be laid with the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency, who supported this travesty.
"VACCA was supportive of the children being placed with their uncle on the basis of their cultural identity and believe that as a couple they had made recent positive changes in their lives, especially since the birth of their own child."
Really, these people ought to get fired from their jobs and sent to do something useful - like being speed bumps on the freeway.Read the rest of the sad story here:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22421222-5013404,00.html
Bugger
The Italian concert got cancelled. One of the main singers got sick and there was no one to replace her. Good thing I didn't invite anyone to come with me.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Eat the Rich
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Books |
| Genre: | Other |
| Author: | P. J. O'Rourke |
"Marx believed that once private property was eliminated and communism had arrived, all of humankind would be gathered into one huge cohesive cooperative.
How this would happen, however, Marx hadn't a clue. He hinted it would be accomplished in a big, gooey, spontaneous, Woodstock way. In reality, its done with guns.
There's a problem with such an immense, omnipotent organization (besides the fact that millions of people are killed to create it). What is this supposed to do? Gameboys? Inner peace? Blow jobs? Chewing Gums?
Without rational prices, how do you know what to produce?
Without private property, how do you get these products?
Without products, how can there be markets?
Without free markets, how can prices be set?
The terrific corruption that now exists in Russia was not caused by the collapse of Marxism-Leninism. It was caused by Marx and Lenin. Well sort of. Russian authorities had been inclined to steal anything in sight since the reign of Ivan the Terrible.
Billions of people don't get a chance at education and even if they did - it wouldn't help them. The reason is simple - and its something Communists and Socialists don't get - no property rights means no future. Most of the world is like this - your property can easily be confiscated by your tribal leader, or the person with the biggest gun or government title. If you don't have property to hold - to keep - to develop - to pass it onto your children - you basically have no future. You don't develop responsibility - you don't bother to invent or innovate - all you care about is protecting your ass and sucking up to the boss bigtime.
However treking thru the world's shittest place seem to have taken its toil on O'Rourke's writing. At times, he's downright boring. Maybe its best read - one chapter at a time - whilst drinking a glass of rum. I'm sure the writer would approve.
Friday 14th Sept Classical Chorale Performance 8pm.
Ab Oriente will perform romantic chorale works by Claudio Monteverdi & Orazio Vecchi, through a selection of madrigals from Monteverdi’s Fourth & Fifth Book of Madrigals, published
in 1603, and excerpts from Vecchi’s most famous work, the madrigal comedy L’Amfiparnaso, first performed in 1597.
At the turn of the 17th century, the Italian Madrigal became not just individual settings of Italian verse but had evolved into works within an encompassing dramatic theme, usually on the universal topic of Love. The technique of word-painting and late-16th century chromaticism were further enhanced with the use of ornamentation to convey heightened emotions. The Early Baroque Italian Madrigal marked the zenith of the genre, after which the dramatic form evolved into and was replaced by opera.
Ab Oriente is also pleased to welcome guest harpsichordist Chong Ten Yeen who will explore Girolamo Frescobaldi’s contribution to keyboard music in the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods.
Venue:
The Auditorium
Singapore Art Museum
71 Bras Basah Road
Singapore 189555
Thursday & Friday, 13 & 14 September 2007, 8:00 p.m.
in 1603, and excerpts from Vecchi’s most famous work, the madrigal comedy L’Amfiparnaso, first performed in 1597.At the turn of the 17th century, the Italian Madrigal became not just individual settings of Italian verse but had evolved into works within an encompassing dramatic theme, usually on the universal topic of Love. The technique of word-painting and late-16th century chromaticism were further enhanced with the use of ornamentation to convey heightened emotions. The Early Baroque Italian Madrigal marked the zenith of the genre, after which the dramatic form evolved into and was replaced by opera.
Ab Oriente is also pleased to welcome guest harpsichordist Chong Ten Yeen who will explore Girolamo Frescobaldi’s contribution to keyboard music in the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods.
Venue:
The Auditorium
Singapore Art Museum
71 Bras Basah Road
Singapore 189555
Thursday & Friday, 13 & 14 September 2007, 8:00 p.m.
Italian Choir performance tonight 8pm
Ab Oriente will perform romantic chorale works by Claudio Monteverdi & Orazio Vecchi, through a selection of madrigals from Monteverdi’s Fourth & Fifth Book of Madrigals, published in 1603, and excerpts from Vecchi’s most famous work, the madrigal comedy L’Amfiparnaso, first performed in 1597.
At the turn of the 17th century, the Italian Madrigal became not just individual settings of Italian verse but had evolved into works within an encompassing dramatic theme, usually on the universal topic of Love. The technique of word-painting and late-16th century chromaticism were further enhanced with the use of ornamentation to convey heightened emotions. The Early Baroque Italian Madrigal marked the zenith of the genre, after which the dramatic form evolved into and was replaced by opera.
Ab Oriente is also pleased to welcome guest harpsichordist Chong Ten Yeen who will explore Girolamo Frescobaldi’s contribution to keyboard music in the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods.
Venue:
The Auditorium
Singapore Art Museum
71 Bras Basah Road
Singapore 189555
Thursday & Friday, 13 & 14 September 2007, 8:00 p.m.
in 1603, and excerpts from Vecchi’s most famous work, the madrigal comedy L’Amfiparnaso, first performed in 1597.At the turn of the 17th century, the Italian Madrigal became not just individual settings of Italian verse but had evolved into works within an encompassing dramatic theme, usually on the universal topic of Love. The technique of word-painting and late-16th century chromaticism were further enhanced with the use of ornamentation to convey heightened emotions. The Early Baroque Italian Madrigal marked the zenith of the genre, after which the dramatic form evolved into and was replaced by opera.
Ab Oriente is also pleased to welcome guest harpsichordist Chong Ten Yeen who will explore Girolamo Frescobaldi’s contribution to keyboard music in the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods.
Venue:
The Auditorium
Singapore Art Museum
71 Bras Basah Road
Singapore 189555
Thursday & Friday, 13 & 14 September 2007, 8:00 p.m.
Peace Kills
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Books |
| Genre: | Nonfiction |
| Author: | P. J. O'Rourke |
So I got this book. Peace Kills: America's Fun New Imperialism. Its a satirical right of centre look at American foreign policy. And its hilarious. Here are some delightful quotes from the book:
"Americans hate foreign policy. Americans hate foreign policy because Americans hate foreigners. Americans hate foreigners because Americans are foreigners. We all come from foreign lands. America is not "globally conscious" or "multicultural." Americans didn't come to America to be Limey Poofters, Frog eaters, Bucket heads, Micks, Spicks, Sheenies or Wogs. If we'd wanted foreign entanglements, we would have stayed home. Or - in the case of those of us who were shipped to America against our will - we would have gone back. Events in Liberia and the type of American who lives in Paris tell us what to think of that."
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Italian Choir performance tonight 8pm
Ab Oriente will perform romantic chorale works by Claudio Monteverdi & Orazio Vecchi, through a selection of madrigals from Monteverdi’s Fourth & Fifth Book of Madrigals, published in 1603, and excerpts from Vecchi’s most famous work, the madrigal comedy L’Amfiparnaso, first performed in 1597.
At the turn of the 17th century, the Italian Madrigal became not just individual settings of Italian verse but had evolved into works within an encompassing dramatic theme, usually on the universal topic of Love. The technique of word-painting and late-16th century chromaticism were further enhanced with the use of ornamentation to convey heightened emotions. The Early Baroque Italian Madrigal marked the zenith of the genre, after which the dramatic form evolved into and was replaced by opera.
Ab Oriente is also pleased to welcome guest harpsichordist Chong Ten Yeen who will explore Girolamo Frescobaldi’s contribution to keyboard music in the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods.
Venue:
The Auditorium
Singapore Art Museum
71 Bras Basah Road
Singapore 189555
Thursday & Friday, 13 & 14 September 2007, 8:00 p.m.
in 1603, and excerpts from Vecchi’s most famous work, the madrigal comedy L’Amfiparnaso, first performed in 1597.At the turn of the 17th century, the Italian Madrigal became not just individual settings of Italian verse but had evolved into works within an encompassing dramatic theme, usually on the universal topic of Love. The technique of word-painting and late-16th century chromaticism were further enhanced with the use of ornamentation to convey heightened emotions. The Early Baroque Italian Madrigal marked the zenith of the genre, after which the dramatic form evolved into and was replaced by opera.
Ab Oriente is also pleased to welcome guest harpsichordist Chong Ten Yeen who will explore Girolamo Frescobaldi’s contribution to keyboard music in the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods.
Venue:
The Auditorium
Singapore Art Museum
71 Bras Basah Road
Singapore 189555
Thursday & Friday, 13 & 14 September 2007, 8:00 p.m.
Italian Choir performance tonight 8pm
Ab Oriente will perform romantic chorale works by Claudio Monteverdi & Orazio Vecchi, through a selection of madrigals from Monteverdi’s Fourth & Fifth Book of Madrigals, published in 1603, and excerpts from Vecchi’s most famous work, the madrigal comedy L’Amfiparnaso, first performed in 1597.
At the turn of the 17th century, the Italian Madrigal became not just individual settings of Italian verse but had evolved into works within an encompassing dramatic theme, usually on the universal topic of Love. The technique of word-painting and late-16th century chromaticism were further enhanced with the use of ornamentation to convey heightened emotions. The Early Baroque Italian Madrigal marked the zenith of the genre, after which the dramatic form evolved into and was replaced by opera.
Ab Oriente is also pleased to welcome guest harpsichordist Chong Ten Yeen who will explore Girolamo Frescobaldi’s contribution to keyboard music in the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods.
Venue:
The Auditorium
Singapore Art Museum
71 Bras Basah Road
Singapore 189555
Thursday & Friday, 13 & 14 September 2007, 8:00 p.m.
in 1603, and excerpts from Vecchi’s most famous work, the madrigal comedy L’Amfiparnaso, first performed in 1597.At the turn of the 17th century, the Italian Madrigal became not just individual settings of Italian verse but had evolved into works within an encompassing dramatic theme, usually on the universal topic of Love. The technique of word-painting and late-16th century chromaticism were further enhanced with the use of ornamentation to convey heightened emotions. The Early Baroque Italian Madrigal marked the zenith of the genre, after which the dramatic form evolved into and was replaced by opera.
Ab Oriente is also pleased to welcome guest harpsichordist Chong Ten Yeen who will explore Girolamo Frescobaldi’s contribution to keyboard music in the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods.
Venue:
The Auditorium
Singapore Art Museum
71 Bras Basah Road
Singapore 189555
Thursday & Friday, 13 & 14 September 2007, 8:00 p.m.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
911 and Wonder Woman
Check out this protest march. I really really dislike lefty peace protesters. Haven't they learnt anything at all from the behavior of the Soviet Union in East Europe? Not to mention Vietnam, Cuba, and North Korea? I'm not surprised that marijuana, LSD, and other drugs became popular around the time. Looking at the protesters I don't think much has changed.No excuse for the title - that is a Wonder Woman character in that peace march.
http://www.zombietime.com/9-11_truth_march_power_to_peaceful/
Weight Loss Dieting and all that
I've been trying to gain a six pack for a long time... with mixed success. Weight loss, muscle building is not a once off summer course you take- but really a lifestyle that you should adopt - the earlier the better. The longer you put it off - the worse it gets.I must say that going to the Army helped me a fair bit. I was about 80kg and relatively unfit when I got in. I couldn't even do 3 pull ups. But after the 3 months of basic military training, I really made a huge improvement. I could do 9 pulls ups. I found I could run faster than most of the people in my group including some who were more stronger than me.
However, the training was too tough (for me). It was just too much too soon. It was only after spending 1 month in hospital due to chicken pox, and 1 month rest - that I made better physical progress. IIRC I think the fastest I did my 2.4km was in 7 minutes 30 seconds. I could also haul up 13 perfect pull ups. Pity I didn't keep it up. Now I can't do 3 pull ups. :(
The main thing is to train consistently. Don't wait until Saturday to do a big 10km run. Try and do regular runs - 1 to 2 km a day. You also have to maintain a good running posture - y'know don't slouch, don't drag your feet, it doesn't look cool and its not healthy.
If you can't do running, then swimming or some other aerobic activity that gets your heart pumping steadily for 20 minutes - 40.
Running or exercising alone can be a very boring experience. So try and get another friend or two to go exercising with you. Hopefully you'll both encourage each other to keep on going - choose wisely tho, or you'll end up sitting on the couch with your friends, drinking beer, eating chips, and watching women's tennis or something dreadful.
Above all else, try and eat healthy stuff. You are what you eat. Drink water not coke. Eat plenty of fruits. Eat plenty of fibre - sweet potato, brown rice etc.. And avoid white bread, white rice, fried food, and other processed food. Lately, I've been eating rolled oat porridge for my breakfast and secondary meals/snacks. No sugar, no salt. In contrast to my younger days, I don't need to put sugar, honey, or any sweetener into it. I think once you start "doing" without sugar or sweets, your level of intolerance for "bland" food decreases.
You need to motivate yourself too - so surround yourself with plenty of positive exercising stuff- like running magazines, health magazines, etc..
And try visiting good exercise sites on the internet - like this one - no gimmicks, no hype
http://www.theloseweightdiet.com/lose-weight1.html
911 and Wonder Woman
Check out this protest march. I really really dislike lefty peace protesters. Haven't they learnt anything at all from the behavior of the Soviet Union in East Europe? Not to mention Vietnam, Cuba, and North Korea? I'm not surprised that marijuana, LSD, and other drugs became popular around the time. Looking at the protesters I don't think much has changed.No excuse for the title - that is a Wonder Woman character in that peace march.
http://www.zombietime.com/9-11_truth_march_power_to_peaceful/
Weight Loss Dieting and all that
I've been trying to gain a six pack for a long time... with mixed success. Weight loss, muscle building is not a once off summer course you take- but really a lifestyle that you should adopt - the earlier the better. The longer you put it off - the worse it gets.I must say that going to the Army helped me a fair bit. I was about 80kg and relatively unfit when I got in. I couldn't even do 3 pull ups. But after the 3 months of basic military training, I really made a huge improvement. I could do 8 pulls ups. I found I could run faster than most of the people in my group including some who were more stronger than me.
However, the training was too tough (for me). It was just too much too soon. I wasn't given enough time to rest - and our diet in the army was something shocking. Not surprisingly we were all heavily fatigued, falling asleep every other second. Only after spending 1 month in hospital due to chicken pox, and 1 month rest - did I make better physical progress. IIRC I think the fastest I did my 2.4km was in 7 minutes 30 seconds. I could also haul 13 perfect pull ups. Pity I didn't keep it up. Now I can't do three. :(
The main thing is to train consistently. Don't wait until Saturday to do a big 10km run. Try and do regular runs - 1 to 2 km a day and increase it to 4 -5. You also have to maintain a good running posture - y'know don't slouch, don't drag your feet, it doesn't look cool and its not healthy.
If you can't do running, then swimming or some other aerobic activity that gets your heart pumping steadily for 20 minutes - 40.
Running or exercising alone can be a very boring experience. So try and get another friend or two to go exercising with you. Hopefully you'll both encourage each other to keep on going - choose wisely tho, or you'll end up sitting on the couch with your friend, drinking beer, eating chips, and watching women's tennis tv or something dreadful.
Above all else, try and eat healthy stuff. You are what you eat. Drink water not coke. Eat plenty of fruits. Eat plenty of fibre - sweet potato, brown rice etc.. And avoid white bread, white rice, fried food, and other processed food. Lately, I've been eating rolled oat porridge for my breakfast and secondary meals/snacks. No sugar, no salt. In contrast to my younger days, I don't need to put sugar, honey, or any sweetener into it. I think once you start "doing" without sugar or sweets, your level of intolerance for "bland" food decreases. Pretty soon I'll be eating plain brown bread for desert.
You need to motivate yourself too - so surround yourself with plenty of positive exercising stuff- like running magazines, health magazines, etc..
And try visiting good exercise sites on the internet - like this one - no gimmicks, no hype
http://www.theloseweightdiet.com/lose-weight1.html
It might also help if you convince your friends to play a group sport together, ie. ultimate frisbee - plenty of running, jumping, physical activity - and if the no-contact rule is applied - the girls can join in too. Its a good workout and quite fun.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
911 and Wonder Woman
Check out this protest march. I really really dislike lefty peace protesters. Haven't they learnt anything at all from the behavior of the Soviet Union in East Europe? Not to mention Vietnam, Cuba, and North Korea? I'm not surprised that marijuana, LSD, and other drugs became popular around the time. Looking at the protesters I don't think much has changed.No excuse for the title - that is a Wonder Woman character in that peace march.
http://www.zombietime.com/9-11_truth_march_power_to_peaceful/
Weight Loss Dieting and all that
I've been trying to gain a six pack for a long time... with mixed success. Weight loss, muscle building is not a once off summer course you take- but really a lifestyle that you should adopt - the earlier the better. The longer you put it off - the worse it gets.I must say that going to the Army helped me a fair bit. I was about 80kg and relatively unfit when I got in. I couldn't even do 3 pull ups. But after the 3 months of basic military training, I really made a huge improvement. I could do 9 pulls ups. I found I could run faster than most of the people in my group including some who were more stronger than me.
However, the training was too tough (for me). It was just too much too soon. It was only after spending 1 month in hospital due to chicken pox, and 1 month rest - that I made better physical progress. IIRC I think the fastest I did my 2.4km was in 7 minutes 30 seconds. I could also haul up 13 perfect pull ups. Pity I didn't keep it up. Now I can't do 3 pull ups. :(
The main thing is to train consistently. Don't wait until Saturday to do a big 10km run. Try and do regular runs - 1 to 2 km a day. You also have to maintain a good running posture - y'know don't slouch, don't drag your feet, it doesn't look cool and its not healthy.
If you can't do running, then swimming or some other aerobic activity that gets your heart pumping steadily for 20 minutes - 40.
Running or exercising alone can be a very boring experience. So try and get another friend or two to go exercising with you. Hopefully you'll both encourage each other to keep on going - choose wisely tho, or you'll end up sitting on the couch with your friends, drinking beer, eating chips, and watching women's tennis or something dreadful.
Above all else, try and eat healthy stuff. You are what you eat. Drink water not coke. Eat plenty of fruits. Eat plenty of fibre - sweet potato, brown rice etc.. And avoid white bread, white rice, fried food, and other processed food. Lately, I've been eating rolled oat porridge for my breakfast and secondary meals/snacks. No sugar, no salt. In contrast to my younger days, I don't need to put sugar, honey, or any sweetener into it. I think once you start "doing" without sugar or sweets, your level of intolerance for "bland" food decreases.
You need to motivate yourself too - so surround yourself with plenty of positive exercising stuff- like running magazines, health magazines, etc..
And try visiting good exercise sites on the internet - like this one - no gimmicks, no hype
http://www.theloseweightdiet.com/lose-weight1.html
Hungry Ghost Festival and the US Dollar
Its Chap Gor Mar here in Singapore- the Hungry Ghost Festival - a traditional Chinese celebration. Its the month where all the ghosts get out of hell and visit their descendants and get something to eat. The ones who don't have descendants just wander around. Basically its like Halloween- except no child in their right mind goes trick or treating here - and no sane living person eats the food offered to the dead.Symbols of material wealth are also sacrificed to the ghosts- it includes fake money like photocopied US dollars - which considering how the American economy is performing - is practically the same as the real deal. The people heap them all up in a pile and set it alight - together with joss sticks. It creates a lot of ash and smoke. In short, pollution.
That's what some idiot did outside the open aired restaurant I was eating at yesterday. There I was having a nice evening meal when the restaurant become smoky with the smell of burnt hell money. In fact, people are doing it everywhere- including my neighbors who are throwing tons of paper into a small metal bin outside... oh wait, that's the Thaksin family... burning documents.
Far be it from me to make remarks about someone else's religion. If you want to point fingers, well, in Christianity we have a cookie and fruit juice and believe that we are (symbolically if we are Protestant; literally if we are Catholic) consuming the blood and body of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins.
But - going back to this burning paper issue- couldn't the piles of fake paper money be substituted for just one cheque? I mean, couldn't they go to the temple - buy a traveller's cheque for hell with a marked value of $1 zillion in hell currrency- and burn that instead of the copious amounts of paper bills? That'd really solve the air pollution problem. See!!Win Win. Everyone happy! Temple gets money. Devotees save time. The environment is saved. And I get to get my mongolian beef rice in peace.
School Counsellor supports Padeophille - and says he's really a good guy, honest!
Get your head around this one. The school counsellor goes to court and gives support to a padeophille and claims that he really really "cared" for them. No wonder some schools in Australia are totally screwed up.
"He cared about them and he loved them," Ms Hughes said during a pre-sentence plea hearing before Judge Jeanette Morrish.
Ms Hughes, who also sits on the Heatherhill school council, is a friend of Faux and told the court she was not concerned he may have been manipulating the girls.
You can read the rest of the bizarre story here if you want to:
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22390392-661,00.html
September 10, 2007 12:00am
A SCHOOL counsellor employed by the Government to help teenage girls has supported a pedophile in court, describing Gary Faux as caring and loving to his victims.
Heatherhill Secondary College student welfare co-ordinator Robyn Hughes appeared in the County Court on behalf of Faux, who admitted sexually abusing two schoolgirls."He cared about them and he loved them," Ms Hughes said during a pre-sentence plea hearing before Judge Jeanette Morrish.
Ms Hughes, who also sits on the Heatherhill school council, is a friend of Faux and told the court she was not concerned he may have been manipulating the girls.
You can read the rest of the bizarre story here if you want to:
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22390392-661,00.html
Monday, September 10, 2007
Gimme that Old Time Religion!!!
(This story is from a great blog)
You sin. Then you sin some more. And then even more. A bit later you figure you better get some insurance and so you visit the priest. You confess and he prescribes some anodyne penance, like 30 Hail Marys and giving up chocolate fudge sundaes every other month - after which, he assures you, all will be forgiven and the Pearly Gates will remain open for your minimally sorry (as in con-trite) ass.
Lo and behold, the fullness of time soon arrives and yup, though you walk through the Valley of Death without fear of punishment because of said priest's soothing reassurances, you suddenly find yourself facing none other than Mr. Fire and Brimstone himself.
"Woa", you say, "there must be a mistake in the database. Father Ben told me all would be well and I even did an extra Our Father three nights in a row."
The Trickster smiles devilishly (how else would he smile?), as he heaves you towards the nearest fiery pit and says: "Your greatest sin was believing ... (read the rest here -
http://suddendebt.blogspot.com/2007/09/that-old-style-religion.html
You sin. Then you sin some more. And then even more. A bit later you figure you better get some insurance and so you visit the priest. You confess and he prescribes some anodyne penance, like 30 Hail Marys and giving up chocolate fudge sundaes every other month - after which, he assures you, all will be forgiven and the Pearly Gates will remain open for your minimally sorry (as in con-trite) ass.
Lo and behold, the fullness of time soon arrives and yup, though you walk through the Valley of Death without fear of punishment because of said priest's soothing reassurances, you suddenly find yourself facing none other than Mr. Fire and Brimstone himself.
"Woa", you say, "there must be a mistake in the database. Father Ben told me all would be well and I even did an extra Our Father three nights in a row."
The Trickster smiles devilishly (how else would he smile?), as he heaves you towards the nearest fiery pit and says: "Your greatest sin was believing ... (read the rest here -
http://suddendebt.blogspot.com/2007/09/that-old-style-religion.html
Sunday Frisbee
I am so glad I got to the game 30+ minutes late. It was hot like hell out in the field. No cloud cover - just the afternoon sun and boy was it a scorcher.
10 minutes - and I started getting a deep shade of ill - and that's before getting onto the field. lol.
We had a few new player come join us - but I suspect they came for a wrong game - its frisbee not rugby. Maybe I'm a wuss... hell even my sister's 4 year child can knock me out. Admitedly he had a claw hammer in his hand but that's another story.
But man it really was a hot. There was this guy who squeezed his t-shirt at the end of the game and out poured at least 1 litre of pure sweat. That he was standing was probably due to his fitness physique - his muscles were super ripped. I think he was a tri-athlete champion or something.
(memo to self: must get body like that on Monday)
Wish I had friends like that in Melbourne. It does help (your physical fitness) if you have friends who are into running and exercising.
10 minutes - and I started getting a deep shade of ill - and that's before getting onto the field. lol.
We had a few new player come join us - but I suspect they came for a wrong game - its frisbee not rugby. Maybe I'm a wuss... hell even my sister's 4 year child can knock me out. Admitedly he had a claw hammer in his hand but that's another story.
But man it really was a hot. There was this guy who squeezed his t-shirt at the end of the game and out poured at least 1 litre of pure sweat. That he was standing was probably due to his fitness physique - his muscles were super ripped. I think he was a tri-athlete champion or something.
(memo to self: must get body like that on Monday)
Wish I had friends like that in Melbourne. It does help (your physical fitness) if you have friends who are into running and exercising.
History Boys - Most Dishonest Film of the Century
| Rating: | ★ |
| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Other |
In short, its a gay pedophile fantasy film, the rest is just window dressing.
The film's advertisements make this the most dishonest movie ever. Its like advertising "Triumph of the Will" as a movie about a band camp. If I could put a minus five star, I would. This has to be one of the most dishonest film ever.
I found it exceptionally disturbing that practically no reviewer mentioned the gay pedophile aspect of this movie. Its like the sycophants went to watch Jaws and reviewed it as a comedy of three gay men in a boat, the end; no mention of the ten ton man-eating shark. Or they reviewed Triumph of the Will and reviewed it as an uber band camp.
This film sadly shows the level of influence the gay lobby groups have over the film industry. If the fat teacher was feeling up female students' genitalia, or if the new teacher had a serious discussion with a female student about oral sex, the outrage from the movie industry and other lobby groups would have squashed the film - and the director, script writers, producers, editors and actors would have had their careers ruined. But because its a gay film, the reviewers and movie industry reckon its "a beautiful film about school life and philosophy (my arse)", and the fat turd of a teacher is "a flawed hero"!!!
Its insane. Make a film - lifted off an old SouthPark joke - about 2 handsome gay cowboys eating pudding and you'll be given the Oscar. If you dare make a film about 2 pretty Lesbians and you'll be derided to hell. That's Hollywood for you.
And on top of it, we have the new gay teacher teaching his pupils to say positive stuff about Hitler and Stalin to get to Oxford. Good grief, as if being gay isn't bad enough, they have to be totally perverse in their logic too; 1+1=0.
Anyhow who spews up such garbage ought to be placed in a cold cell only to be released after a perfect one-sitting recital of all the names of all the people Hitler and Stalin killed.
If you feel the same way, sign up for the free imdb account and go and register a one star for the film. click here for IMDB History Boys
Don't get me wrong. I am not a homophobe- hey, I thought Ian McKellan- God's and Monster - was a great film. But History Boys is plain dishonest and repellent.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)