Things to drool over in anticipation:

Doom (opening 3 November in Singapore though it's already screening in the US).
Quake 4 (released 18 October)
New graphics card so that I can play Quake 4 (my current Radeon 9800 Pro has tragically crapped out on me, rmb? Well, maybe I should bring it back to the dealer 1st to see if they can help, though my warranty has probably expired by now.)

Time to bring the year to a vicariously violent end! Heh heh!

I started the day feeling anxious about M2, though initially I couldn't think why I should be. Then I remembered my dream from last night. I was driving along a busy road when the lights changed. A truck stopped in front of me and I did the same. Except that my leg went weak and couldn't step on the brake hard enough. M2's front coasted into the truck's rear fender and I could only watch as my hood crumpled inwards in slow motion. I remember being upset at the damage in my dream -- the huge dent and exposed wiring dangling out of it -- but when I woke up I had temporarily forgotten everything.

The nasty scratch M2 sustained for real yesterday morning must have been more upsetting to me than I thought. My parking lot at home faces a row of market stalls that take delivery of supplies early in the morning. For their convenience, delivery trucks double park leaving a narrow gap for legally parked cars to squeeze out of. Yesterday, I found myself squeezed too tightly and as I was maneuvering out of my lot I grazed against my (legally-parked) neighbour's fender and got stuck. My neighbour was a beat-up looking pickup BTW so no harm done to it.

I had to wait until 2 delivery trucks moved out of my way while in the meantime being verbally pressured by the uncle who owns the orange March to get out of his way 'cos he was late for work [like I wasn't?]. When the uncle exhausted his patience he resorted to hand signals (no, not the impolite ones) to guide me out of my predicament, but the damage was already done. M2 has a lovely scratch along the rear-left passenger door and a long indentation where the pickup's fender had made contact with him. Fiddlesticks.

Poor M2. He's beginning to look like a bumper car!

"The 40 Year-Old Virgin" is a laugh-aloud take on how difficult the human mating ritual can be. A couple of memorably unpleasant experiences with the opposite sex causes Andy to withdraw contact from womenfolk, until his misguided but well-meaning colleagues discover his "condition." Observing how reserved Andy is with people, they enthusiastically share their individual and collective "wisdom" with him while pushing him in the path of different women, anxious to make a man out of him.

The trouble with Andy is that he's locked himself into permanent boyhood. He surrounds himself with "collectible" toys, cycles to work ("bicycles are for 6 year-olds!"), and is reluctant to take on more responsible roles in his workplace, especially if such roles entail meeting and talking to people, including eligible women.

The trouble with his friends is that while they're sexually experienced, they prioritize sex over their relationships. Hence, they themselves have difficulty holding on to their mates over the long-term, which tears them up inside.

I love the portrayal of comradeship amongst co-workers in this movie. They may initially appear intimidatingly full of male bravado and enjoy somewhat perverted activities, but below the surface they are nice guys at heart and really do look out for each other. Though their initial intention is to have a lark at Andy's expense, his colleagues prove to be a strong support group that keeps him encouraged and motivated in his quest for a mate. And it's all not just focused on Andy either; the guys also help each other out in times of personal crisis. Ya gotta' have friends amongst your colleagues. It gets sad and lonely otherwise.

Thanks to his friends, Andy, the 40 year-old man-boy learns to grow up and put away his childish things. When he does, a whole new world of adventure in adult relationships opens up for him. He may be a late bloomer, but better late than never.

Tag-teamed today's essay review lecture with Avril using the material I uploaded in the previous post. I went on talking as usual, leaving Avril with about half the time she had been allocated to cover her section. Good thing she doesn't panic easily. Hope the audience got the answers they were looking for, though I also hope we didn't scare them too badly seeing as how high our expectations were of their essays. Oh well, pitch 'em high so they'll reach higher next time.

Had a late lunch with a slightly different crowd. There were Vince, Josh, Joanna and Baggy, all sharing Indian Rojak and prata variants at Rosyth. The place is under new management and the pratas are slightly bigger, firmer and chewier. Nice.

Joanna and Baggy both had thosai. Joanna's looked like it had an unfortunate accident. Instead of the long roll it's supposed to be, it had collapsed into itself and lay on its tray flattened and full of shards. Baggy's came out looking OK so it had probably won the Thosai Rumble in the kitchen. Josh couldn't get enough of the chutney dip the thosai came with -- maybe he'll get his own one day.

Nice, quiet evening with June at home. Watched another couple more episodes of 'Lost,' and later 'CSI:Miami' on AXN. And another 2 PW Written Reports to look at before bed, so maybe I should get back to work.

I've been tasked with drafting a couple of essay outlines from the GP promo paper for the review lecture tomorrow. I just finished one and already the outline is longer than the minimum word limit for the paper. I wonder, then, if my expectations for the kids are unrealistic when I'm marking their papers? The question reads: "How important is censorship in today's world?" If you're interested, check it out.

Do 16-17 year-olds think like this?

Not much happenin' today. We're down to the final consultations for the PW groups about their written reports, though the time is so short till Friday's deadline. Somehow, after seeing only 3 groups today, I have to squeeze in time to see my 8 other groups by -- OMG -- tomorrow! Else there won't be enough time for the groups to make my final comments worth anything. I have another 3 confirmed appointments for tomorrow, but the remaining 5 groups... better see them 1st thing tomorrow and find out when they're available to talk.

JC1s are freakin' out. They got back their promo papers this afternoon, and now they're worrying if they've done well enough to be promoted next year. I'm familiar with this feeling. Every year I spent in secondary school there'd be a couple of weeks like this one. Only for me, there really was a chance that I wouldn't make it. Such a terrible student I was then. Thankfully, that period is just a memory now, only occasionally resurrecting itself in a nightmare or some other manifestation of Post-Traumatic Exam Stress Disorder.

Not much else to report. Threw another few crappy games on the SAFRA lanes, then stopped by Jalan Kayu for supper. Mmmm... prata.

Rain, rain, go away...

Stuck at home pretty much all day, no thanks to our capricious weather. Well, we did give Q-tip an outing to West Coast Park's McD's, just in time for breakfast. Must remember that June wants Egg McMuffin, not Sausage McMuffin with Cheese and not order wrongly again (repeat 100 times).

This side of the park is a kid's paradise of things to climb, dangle and swing from. The park was just crawling with hordes of little ones, parents in tow. And dogs tend to be in the tiniest minority. June has the idea of bringing the nephews here at the next opportunity. Guess it will be fun for them, and a good excuse for me to test out the facilities for "safety" reasons. Heh.

But the dark clouds gathered very quickly, so immediately after our hot beverage, we left off our recce of the area before the South China Sea got dumped on our heads.

Back home I checked my correspondence with my contemporaries from the Class of '81. They held an informal meeting last Friday evening. It was the first time in years that they had seen each other. Judging by the 3rd person perspective, obviously I wasn't there, already too tired from the college Open House. Let's see if the lo-res pix they uploaded into our Yahoo! group can be seen at all here:

Hmm... just enough to be unrecognizable. It'll do. I only remember 3 of these good ol' boys: Alex (standing 2nd from left), my best friend in Sec 1-2; "Cherry-ann" George (standing 2nd from right), political commentator and the guy I blame for the permanent scar on my right shin in a soccer-related incident; and Mark (seated extreme right) whom Alex and I used to bully all those long years ago.

The others, well, either I have no memory of, or I never really had any contact with them at all 'cos I was never put in the smart classes :P

Don't they all look like responsible, prosperous chaps with families and important careers? And I have to wonder, what the heck have I done with my own life?

Reading through the forum messages, I noticed the guys were also discussing those of us who didn't make it to 40 years old. I hadn't realized that there were quite a number of us already deceased. Accidents, automotive and industrial; disease; and suicide have already taken some of us along the way, leaving the rest of us to raise a glass in their name as we vaguely recall who they were and what they did whilst we were still young.

Being alive at 40, and of reasonably sound mind and body: guess that's enough to be thankful for, eh?

Another weekend day out in the fresh air and bright sunshine. Back to Bishan Park continuing JY's training on her in-lines and Amy on her bike. NBS joined us today as well, so I had 1 other experienced skater in the rink to help keep an eye on JY. June took a bike out again, but once she gets her courage back up in the next couple of weeks, she'll want to resume training on in-lines as well.

It was fun having NBS around. She added on some of her figure-skating insight to JY's training and got her moving better, though JY is still pretty dependent on the railing. Next time, like it or not, JY has to come off the railing else her progress will be stunted. NBS also showed me some "pre-alpha" moves like the "cross-over" which I spent some time practicing.

After the in-line and bike rentals expired, we chilled out in the al fresco area in front of the bike rental store while watching on enviously at the kids who had come for afternoon in-line lessons and who could already do so much more fun stuff that kinda' put us all to shame.

Later, June went for more petanque practice. Today, Eddie put her to work with her new little friend, Geraldine, running pointer drills. Me? I found a nice shady spot to sit and relax, while watching the progress of the exercises and sipping orange-flavoured 100Plus.

June and I joined Adrian, Jen and Mary at Blooie's in the evening to celebrate Jen's birthday. It was odd giving Adrian a lift to the restaurant. Many years ago, Adrian was one of the lucky few people I knew who owned a car, and as such, drove us around wherever. Today, the roles were reversed, though perhaps not for long. Adrian is now considering getting his own car again. Hmm... make that still considering. A white 5-door 2.4l RAV4 maybe? We'll see.

Though it wasn't my birthday, the drinks were on me. That is, my drink was on me -- a whole glass of ginger ale which I accidentally backhanded off the table, the entire contents of which (including ice cubes, brrr!) landed on my lap. The staff was nice and presented me with a new glass FOC. Fortunately, June had the foresight to bring a change of clothes for us, so my evening wasn't as uncomfortable as it might have been.

Happy Birthday, Jen!

Trying to pack too many things into a day shows its effects the next day. I promised NBS to design the signboard for our booth at today's campus open house, but by the time I'd got home last night, my mind was almost a complete mind-wipe. I couldn't think past the fatigue, and in the end in my somnambulistic state I came up with a total piece of crap which we just had to make do with. That was disappointing.

Guess that pretty much sums up the rest of today as well: NBS and I trying to promote the New Subject, but few prospective JC1 students seemed interested. Those we did talk to had the look of deer caught in headlights; helplessly staring wide-eyed while a torrent of unsolicited information about some esoteric new OPTIONAL subject comes barreling down their way driven by some obviously demented teacher whom they are too polite to cut-off in mid-lecture.

Kids, they just want to know if the subject is easy to score in or if they can slack their way through it. They don't view their subjects as life-changing experiences. We'll let the marketing department know ASAP.

Preparing for college open house tomorrow. Have a table for displaying books and flyers and hoping to interest some little children in the New Subject so that some might actually consider taking it next year. NBS and I will be manning the desk and maybe answer questions about it as best as we know how.

Also for the open house, I worked with the Drama Club this morning on a rip-off from Quidam's interactive mime segment. Simple plot involving (what else?) a love triangle, as demonstrated by our members, then the challenge will be to get audience "volunteers" to recreate the scene and embarrass themselves at the same time. This game will run for 3 slots during lull periods in the programme, so at least things will still look busy. We've only had a couple of runs-through today and we're already on tomorrow, so wish us luck!

And, at last the men beat the ladies' team in a friendly petanque match-up this evening. Anthony, Eddie and me took on Vicki, HB and June and narrowly scored our 13 points first. Anthony's penultimate ball was a wild, high lob that sent us all scrambling for cover, but he made no mistake with his last ball. Game! Yay! Too bad Vicki was actually playing with an injury, but we'll take the victory anyway. Ha!

Finally, let's congratulate Amy on the purchase of her new pearl-white 1.5l Suzuki Swift. It was both fun and an honour for Anthony and me to play a role in your decision-making process. Can't wait to ride in your new baby when it arrives!

It's that time of the year again when the JC2s get thrown out of the nest and are now flying on their own. No more being bogged down by the time-table; college rules of punctuality and dress; and the constant haranguing of tutors demanding homework and assignments. They are free to negotiate their own schedules with their tutors, terrorize their tutors with "another practice essay to mark/comment on," and basically catch up one-on-one with everything that had already been presented to them during the previous 18 months.

At this time of year, it's great to be a JC2 tutor as well. We get to see students who really want to learn, and are anxious enough to finally start asking real, practical questions and actually pay attention when we tell them things. We also get to design our own consultation schedules and tailor them so they suit our natural biorhythms as well as those of our students, rather than be at the mercy of a timetable designed around logistical constraints instead. Once independent,rather than put pressure on tutors to teach, the students have to put pressure on themselves to study, which is the more ideal educational scenario.

Never thought I'd sing an ode to being a JC2 tutor. But I'm a JC1 tutor this year, and I'll be Productively Working until term ends. How the Wheel of Fortune has turned.

I sent a letter to the traffic cops a few months ago appealing against the "inconsiderate driving" charge they filed against me. My appointment to set matters straight with them was this morning, at their HQ in Ubi.

The officer handling my case explained to me that although a truck had right of way, I had shot out into its lane causing it to "jam brake." So, really, I had done something clearly dangerous, though it was fortunate that no accident occured. But considering my extenuating circumstances, the officer offered me a reduced charge of "failing to give way," effectively reducing my demerit points from 9 to 4 (>50% discount!) and a small reduction in the fine incurred as well.

It wasn't the best case scenario I had hoped for, but it's better than nothing. So now I'm living with a total of 8 demerit points, including the 4 I chalked up earlier this year for "crossing a double white line." 8 points to remind me to be more careful on the road. Sigh.

When I mark stuff, I sometimes encounter ideas that I find interesting. Today an essay triggered an X-rated thought which I'd like to share, but only to those who willingly and of their own accord click this link. (To avoid any misunderstanding, NO kids under 18, please).

Edit 01:
Going car shopping is lots of fun, especially if you aren't the person buying the car. I won't say who the prospective buyer is yet, until things are more firmed up at least, but we shopped around the Ubi area looking at Toyotas, Suzukis and eventually a Mazda.

It's fun because we got to poke around the cars on display, comparing the aesthetics of design and comfort. Besides, driving around in a showroom car comes with the excitement of parting with a huge amount of cash and selling your life away knowing you get a nil return on your investment.

Because of budget constraints, we limited our shopping to Toyota's Vitz and ist, Suzuki's Swift and Mazda's 2SP. For the moment the preference looks biased towards the Swift with it's responsive engine, compact shape, leather interior and clean dash; though where the 3 of us disagreed on was the choice of colours which to me just aren't inspiring. We also test drove the 2SP with it's more powerful engine and sports tranny, but for it's current price it doesn't seem to come with enough bells and whistles to be attractive.

Well, tonight our prospective car buyer must do the math and ask more questions. Hmm... to be able to consider buying a new car; it's a situation to relish. Yes.

Check out my new desktop wallpaper:

Day of physical rest, as it should be. Time to catch up on my marking of exam scripts (I'm so close to finishing I can taste it!) and some neglected household chores as well.

Probably catch some CSI on AXN in a few minutes, then turn in for an early night. We're looking at another mad week ahead. Better rest while we can.

M2 almost became a complete Sports Utility Vehicle for today. In his trunk there were a bowling bag containing ball and shoes, 2 sets of petanque boules, and a pair of inline skates complete with protective gear.

Our day began in the rain. June and I met Amy and JY at Bishan Park. We were a little late and we missed HP, but we arrived in time for lunch. We felt like Japanese, so we drove off to Toa Payoh for sushi. As we hoped, the weather cleared up while we ate. Then back to Bishan Park to complete what we planned to do from last night: Amy to learn cycling, JY to try inline skating.

So while Amy sat on her rented bike trying to gain confidence to kick off and pedal, JY armoured up and took her first steps in the rink at the skate park. June rented a bike too and did her rounds while I accompanied JY, trying to encourage her and give her confidence as she orbited the rink staying within grabbing distance of the railing.

Within an hour, JY had begun to take several steps unsupported on her inlines, though she suffered a nasty fall at which she decided to call it quits. Amy was still struggling with her bike, even though June was dangling a cold, refreshing 100Plus some distance away as motivation. If we all do this again next week, I'm sure there'll be some major improvements in their respective new skills.

After we left Bishan Park, June and I went back to the Toa Payoh petanque courts to train with Anthony, the youth team and the Ladies' team. And to clear our debt with Vicki over our equipment purchase.

By 8pm Anthony joined us to meet Amy and JY again for bowling at the CSC. Very busy, athletic day. Of course, it would have been healthier if we didn't finally end up at Swenson's for dinner and dessert. All my calories burned today, I bet I replaced in just that 1 meal. Hic.

JY didn't disappoint me like I did her last Wednesday. I invited her out to lunch with us, promising her a ride back to Bishan after, but when she met up with us, I was nowhere to be found because some last minute stuff cropped up and I couldn't have lunch after all. Tonight, she showed up for bowling as promised. 2 thumbs up for you, girl!

Not that we had a great series of games. After a break of more than a week, you could see the rust forming as we seemed to inspire each other to bowl nonsense. Also, maybe since the pressure's off us now that the competition is over, there's no urgency to take things too seriously and we just enjoyed each other's company instead.

We've committed ourselves to petanque now. June and I purchased a set of boules each from the clubhouse, on credit, heh heh. We decided that if we came early for training and no one else was around to open the store for us, at least we would have our own equipment and we could play or run drills with each other while we wait.

Having our own boules also means we can practice anytime, anywhere we like. Beach, park, wherever we can find a piece of open ground, preferably flat and not too bumpy.

Training today wasn't too bad. Vicki taught me some shooter's techniques, but it'll be some time before I would have had enough practice to actually use the theory effectively. But, as with the pattern so far, when the Ladies (June and Vicki) paired up against the 3 guys (today Anthony, Weng and me) they still wiped our faces in the dirt, though we did chalk up more credible losing scores than the last time. We're learning too, though maybe not as quickly as the girls.

June's gone pretty much into serious training with her new sport. She spent quite some time learning from Vicki, the local petanque Ladies' mainstay and shooting ace, and her form has improved quite impressively in just a couple of hours of practice.

Later, Vicki and June teamed up against Anthony, Vince and me for a couple of games. Sad to say, we guys sucked and got trashed by the 2 ladies in both games.

Now June wants her own set of "boules" so she can kick my butt every day. Oh well, guess that takes care of what to get her for Christmas!

Lunch came in 2 parts today. First P catered lunch for the staff, her treat. It was an all-vegetarian affair. Thankfully, the dishes were mostly oriental stir-fried or steamed fresh vegetables and not the fake meat gluten stuff. She also spared a thought for the carnivores amongst us and brought in a satay man to keep us happy. And as an afterthought to the younger staff of the fast-food generation, there were also a couple of boxes of pizza. Guess there was a little something for everybody.

Part 2 came around after 1 o'clock. A small convoy led by Anthony headed for Ambrosia on Arab Street for a snack, a drink and marking time. Unfortunately, Ambrosia was closed when we got there so we wandered around a bit before settling on Samar, a Middle Eastern F&B place. Interesting that the backs of the menu carried designs of posters calling for Palestinian freedom. They made me feel for just a little while like I was "there."

Despite having had lunch earlier, I was still peckish so I ordered a saltah. Apparently, it's a Yemeni recipe for a lamb stew soup. It came in a small soup bowl with bits of cabbage, some shreds of flat noodle-like things, and tiny pieces of lamb which were good to chew on. I had an almond flavoured laban (yoghurt drink) sprinkled with cinnamon and cardamon powder. It wasn't sweet like I thought it might have been, but was cold and tasted quite refreshing.

Amy and NBS left to pursue their own agenda soon after lunch, while Vince, Anthony and I stayed the rest of the afternoon to mark essay scripts. Quite a productive afternoon, I must say.

flik... flik... flikflikaflik... flikaflik tak. tak flikaflikaflikaflik taktak. flikatak flikatak flikatak thump. tak flikatak flikatak thump. thump tikatikatikatika(flik) tikatikatikatika(flik) tika(flik) tika(flik) tika(flik) thumpthump....
shikaskikashikashika... tap tapitty... tap tappity tappitty tap tap... tappity tappity tapitty tappity tappity tappity... BOOM CRASH!!!

You get the idea. That's Amy, Vince, June and me at the Esplanade Theatre for "Stomp!", the art of turning noise into signal. It's therapeutic to whack dustbin lids, hubcaps, oil drums and metal buckets to transform your aggression and frustration into a sonic assault against all of humanity, but Stomp! takes it one step further by making music and dance out of it. So with a little rhythm, lots of high-energy movement and a touch of light comedy you can bash away on pretty much any household implement you can get your hands on and go on a world tour. If noise therapy catches on, I wanna sign up too!