I are milo dinosawr!

I are milo dinosawr! Hear me rawr!

Some sums

Now I understand what "breaking even" means when drivers go about buying their next car. Simply put, it's the difference between what you owe the bank for your previous car and what the dealer is willing to pay for it as a second-hand car.

The amount I got for M2 not only paid off my existing loan but also went towards a significant portion of my downpayment for the new M2. So my initial capital outlay for the new car wasn't that much after all. What I did pay for was a reduction of the loan I would be taking from the bank so that my monthly installment for the new car is just a little lower than what I am currently paying.

Ok. Too much math. But it does show that it's a lot easier to buy a car when you already have a car.

Director's cut

Got interviewed on my own camera by my own publicity crew. They're making a "behind-the-scenes" video for Drama Night and wanted some short quotes to splice in with the rest of the footage.

It wasn't easy for me to say in just a short quote what I felt about Drama Night this year, and I think I mangled my interview. There are so many people to be appreciative of: from coach, to cast, to crew, to directors, to publicity, to Sha, my partner in crime.

I've been amazed by the organizational capabilities of the club members, and how resourceful and innovative they have been in getting all the help they need to run this show on their own, with me, Sha and Tina taking something of a back seat and only stepping in to offer guidance and support. It hasn't meant a reduction of our working hours, but it does mean that the kids themselves are making the major production decisions, from organizing their own auditions to building the set to even enlisting the support of the AVA crew who have been working flat out with us since yesterday. First time ever, AVA has been so supportive of Drama Club efforts.

The actors and crew have been dedicated to their task even though many of them are actually sub-cons and not actual Drama Club members. All of us are stretched quite thin by now, all keeping late nights as we have been rehearsing, revising and rehearsing again these past couple of weeks. And as of now, there's just one more week to endure till showtime!

But it's going to be a very long week. While the kids' forte is in organization and administration, they still have to make a quantum leap in their stagecraft and overall watchability in the next few days. Things are still looking pretty rough onstage, especially now that we have started rehearsing on site. From what I see from today's rehearsal, we need a miracle to get us ready in the one week remaining. But I'm still confident because miracles have happened before and there's every reason to expect they will happen again.

There goes the hamburger

Hurray! A triumph for animal rights. More surprisingly, the activist happens to be the victim herself! Way to go, Molly! Those stupid carnivores let one slip after all.

I heart NY!

Another head-scratching class discussion

I wonder if we've got our concept of school ranking correct? We accord top ranking to the schools that deliver the highest 'A' grade percentage. Shouldn't it be that the top schools are the ones with the highest failure rate instead? That would indicate that the top schools are operating at the highest possible standards and expectations for their students, and that just passing alone is a real challenge. Pass the best, fail the rest -- that would be the true measure of an elite school.

Doesn't a high passing percentage mean that our standards are so low that anyone can pass? We just don't give failure the respect it deserves and, as a result, our students still haven't a clue what being challenged means. Does that mean we are sending our graduates and scholars out into the world unprepared?

Now, how am I supposed to address this conundrum?

Goodbye and hello

I suppose it was too much to hope for, but my bid for a COE was successful. That means my days as M2's owner are numbered. Well, they were numbered anyway, but now the number has reduced to a very small digit, and it's happened much earlier than expected.

I hate goodbyes, but perhaps M2 will find a better owner on the resale market. One who won't bump him around so much and will wash him more often. As for me, it's time to make a new friend.

Warm fuzzy

The days are hot. Combining that with our humidity, we are being slowly steamed alive. No doubt our energy bills are going to rise as we rely increasingly on air-conditioning to keep cool.

But the past few nights have been most glorious for sleeping cosily snuggled up under the sheets. Stormy, rain lashing down, wind howling through the gaps in the windows, giving us good reason to overstay our welcome in the land of zzzs.

Pyongyang tea party

I'm in a parable-telling mood. Nothing like oversimplifying complex issues as if I'm talking to 9 year-olds about the way the world is. Anyway...

Because of the North Korean missle test not too long ago, one of my kids asked me why we view NK with such suspicion. Let me explain it this way: Mostly, it's a matter of trust. NK fought a bitter war against the US over communist vs democratic ideology and officially there has not been an end to the hostilities even after 50 years.

NK still believes it is at war. It's just that it hasn't acquired the necessary technological advantages to win it yet. The US and pretty much the rest of the world are certain that once NK is ready with its war waging capabilities, it will end recess-time and start the war again.

For the world, it's like everyone's at a tea party, makin' nice with one another, while in a shadowy corner one of the guests is muttering to himself and playing with steak knives. Not too comfortable a feeling, is it?

So they're waving chicken wings and hors d'ouvres at him hoping he'll put the knives down and play nicely with everyone else. Sad thing is, he thinks that the only way he's going to get any food at this party is if he keeps pretending to talk to himself and play with knives. And when people start to ignore him again ('cos he grates on their nerves after a while) he gets their attention again by playing with bigger knives. Don't you just hate guests like that? Yet, you feel really sorry for him at the same time.

Trust me, I've been to parties like that before. Ooh... shiny. pointy. things...

Anyway, Mel Gurtov of Time has a theory on why NK behaves so strangely. Check it out here.

Thanks for providing the link, Amy!

The big catfight

Met Jen for dinner. She was over an hour and a half late for our appointment, but she had a good reason. She was doing her part to resolve the big catfight that has gripped the attention of our national media over the last couple of weeks.

It's an interesting story she told about a posse of young upstarts who rode into town one day and by their sheer number declared themselves the new mayor, town council and sheriff over the existing townsfolk and their assets. Oh boy, did they ever pick the wrong town to annexe. The rebellion that came after their initial success was armed to the teeth, spoiling for a knock-down drag-out fight, and brought friends.

There was an epic battle in which more of the town's assets suffered further collateral damage, but finally amidst the carnage the newbies capitulated. Law and order has since been restored while the lawyers are busy calculating reparations.

And so ends one of the most exciting political events to have ever occured in our so-called "apathetic" nation. We may take democracy for granted, but God help whomever attempts to hijack it from us. And in this one instance God, in his infinite wisdom, didn't.

That was basically Jen's story from the trenches. Me, I'm not even going to comment because I wasn't there and, anyway, I wouldn't understand.

As fatigued as my wallet

Labour Day holiday. An opportunity to goof off without guilt because we are celebrating our being employed. These days, having a job is not to be taken for granted so today has some particular significance for us waged and working people.

And looking back on how I've been spending on big ticket items in the past few months, I am so gonna need to depend on a regular paycheck to stay afloat. From acquiring, renovating and furnishing a new home and new wheels, it's a pretty deep hole I've sunk myself in. I had better begin clawing my way up and out, or be buried under the dumptruck load of debt poised directly overhead. 

The marginal utility I derive from spending money has finally reached the point of diminishing returns. I am now as fatigued as my moth-eaten wallet. I've done all I can to boost the economy, so now I declare that it's high time other people took their turn.

No more unnecessary spending from this household. That is, we're not likely to become complete misers overnight, but we're not going to be shopping around for any more trouble either.

Slash, slash, Wolverine, slash

As a stand-alone movie, "X-men Origins: Wolverine" is quite the action-packed blockbuster we were hoping for. There are brutal fight scenes and things blowing up galore, and some awesomely cool choreographed moves by some of the characters as well (Agent Zero and Deadpool!!!), but for a bunch of characters wielding all manner of bladed weapons and small-arms, their kills are oddly bloodless. Guess the movie has to be acceptable to the kiddies' parents too, 'cos Wolvie is as popular to a 10-year-old as is to a jaded grump like me.

"Wolverine" compiles a brief history of everybody's favourite mutant, from his childhood to the Weapon X program and it's disastrous aftermath -- basically, all the memories Wolvie has lost, now revealed at last to the movie audience.

Considering his memories begin in the mid to late 19th century, I would have liked to explore his earlier memories in more detail. Unfortunately, these earlier memories were handled rather perfunctorily in the movie. The intention is to help align "Wolverine" continuity to "X-men" continuity, though I feel they rushed it. Wolvie's been a combatant in every major war since the American Civil War, and each war must have potential for some epic stories. But within the constraints of movie time, a lot of pruning has to be expected.

I'm glad the Sabretooth character is intelligent and that his reprehensible actions are the result of conscious choice rather than direct control by some external force. He is a bad, dangerous man who knows what he is doing, not just some beast on a leash like he was in the first X-men movie.

But the biggest disappointment was Gambit. Yes, it isn't his name on the title, but this character is way too cool to be used just as a glorified chauffeur who gets Wolvie where he's going. And what happened to Gambit's trademark Cajun mannerisms and accent? Maybe they should have brought in a speech coach because he sounded more Irish instead. Sorry, nitpicking; but it's too big an oversight to let it pass without mention.

Maybe it's because the fanboy in me already knows something of the Weapon X saga, so focusing on this event -- crucial as it is to the Wolverine mythos -- was meh. It makes for necessary plot development as the locations and events here are very closely linked with what happens in the "X-men" movie trilogy, but personally, I would have liked more screen time to showcase the awesome potential of Team X. Wolvie's heroic side emerges through his association with the X-men, so it would have been interesting to see the more grey areas of his past alongside his nasty Team X associates.

What I'm saying isn't so much an indictment against poor filmmaking choices as it is an acknowledgement that the Wolverine character has been so well-developed over the years by so many excellent writers and that a simple summary done on film does no justice to the richness of the man who is "the best at what he does, and what he does isn't very nice".

Too late for regrets

I have bought a new car, and I haven't been making much of a big deal about it. First, because it happened so suddenly, and second, because I'm upset.

It isn't about the money -- I don't have much of it to throw around anyway. It's the way I so readily signed over M2 to the dealer, although I had no intention to do it before. I have no reason to sell him off. He's been a good boy, never having given me any problems apart from a flat tyre and battery which were easily replaceable parts. I bet he'd still be a great companion for at least a couple more years before age actually starts taking its toll on him.

So why the sudden change? That's not a question I want to answer now. I'm too haunted by the memory that I signed him away while I was in full sight of him. There he was, just beyond the showroom window, sitting in the parking lot, while I hesitatingly put my John Hancock on the dotted line.

It's a memory that came back strongly this evening when I started him up to drive home from work. Mr Big's "Wild World" was playing on the radio:

Now that I've lost everything to you

You say you want to start something new

And it's breaking my heart you're leaving

Baby I'm grieving

And if you wanna leave take good care

Hope you have a lot of nice things to wear

A lot of nice things turn bad out there

Oh baby, baby, it's a wild world...

I know it's silly of me to be so sentimental. I'm getting a great deal out of this transaction, and it's a routine part of car ownership in S'pore (cars are too expensive to keep for long and have to be sold off before they start giving trouble), but I already miss him.

This is one car owner who is dreading to hear that his COE bid has been successful.

Enduring "memory"

As magical as Mr Mistoffelees, Cats: Now and Forever was quite the extravaganza of music, song and dance that I had hoped it would be. I've been acquainted with the Webber musical since my sis was a schoolgirl, and only now, two decades or so later have I finally been able to see what she had been raving about way back then.

First of all, Cats is not a play. There is a very loose narrative stringing the different numbers together -- a reason for the cats to gather onstage -- but the plot is really just a convenient device for sequencing the scenes in some coherent manner. Most of the scenes themselves are self-contained units, focusing on the story of a particular cat (like the rum-tum-tugger) or cats (like Mungojerrie and Rumpleteaser). So there isn't much necessity to interpret a bigger picture than what is already being presented.

What's more important for me is that the music is beautiful, varying in genre and tempo; as is the dance by the ensemble cast, so coordinated, acrobatic and energetic; a total treat for both audio and visual senses. The experience is what counts -- being in and appreciating the moment, every moment. That's where the enjoyment is, at least for me.

I don't know if Momo, Kaiser and Maui would approve of human beings cavorting around impersonating them, though. This kind of thing is only what we people would do; we don't see cats pretending to be us, do we?

3 2 2

I suppose it was inevitable, though I didn't expect it to be this soon. I took up the dealer's invitation to test drive the newly launched Mazda 3 even though I knew I couldn't afford it. It was just a lark, to see how the latest designed M3 would feel on the road. That was all it was supposed to be.

Mazdas are always a smooth ride, easy to handle and corner well. I was holding back because of its unfamiliar feel, but the 1.6l engine promised a jolt of power if I would but step a little harder on the accelerator. The luxury version comes with a few pretty cosmetic accessories, mostly having to do with lighting. The exterior boasts dual-xeon headlamps and fogs while the interior brightens up with a constellation of little console lights that indicate where every control button is if you happen to want to push one on a dark night. Pretty.

Like I said, there is no way in heck I could afford even the sedan version, let alone the luxury. The math simply wouldn't go, not that I really wanted a 3 anyway. But the math worked out perfectly for the Mazda 2 which I test drove over a year ago, but couldn't afford then. So suddenly, M2 got traded in and if our calculations are accurate, the new monthly payments will be less than what I am currently paying now. I placed the order, expecting delivery some time next month.

I should feel some excitement, even elation at the prospect of the change, but I don't. Somehow, I feel like I'll be losing a dear, old friend in M2. We've been through a lot together, but I know I won't be able to keep him forever. So can I think of it as M2 isn't really gone but rather as having got a major makeover including weight reduction and image enhancement instead? That'll be one way to cope, I guess.

We might have to clap in shifts

College Day: the day to recognize kids' achievements in academic and co-curricula pursuits, and for a rare few, both. We also use the occasion to inspire the other kids to do better so that they can take their own place on the stage the following year.

As teachers, we are justifiably proud of our students when we know we have contributed in some way to their success. But as much as we like to celebrate our aces, I thought I'd remind myself that the other kids -- the not-so-successful ones; the pains-in-the-neck; the ones who make me want to cough blood and die; yeah, those -- are no less valuable, and are just as worthy of my time and attention as well. Just because they don't score aces doesn't necessarily mean they aren't learning; and sometimes even when they don't display brilliance in exam conditions, it just means that their skills will emerge when they really need them perhaps a little further down the road.

So for me, College Day isn't just about the swots and muggers, but for all our kids regardless of achievement. Congrats to all of you!

Bits of randomness

"I appreciate the compliment, Chu-bi Wan. Have patience, and one day you too will master the art of Cat Fu."

"Dessert. Now. Please."

Finally got these pix uploaded like I promised. That means June's home from Beijing! Yay! No more instant noodles for dinner.

Dunno what's wrong with me the past few days. Simply could not come up with a single coherent thought, and had even more trouble reaching for appropriate vocabulary to use even in conversation with friends and colleagues. It's been like my neurons shorting out or something. Maybe I just need more sleep.

Meantime, NBS had the courage to offer herself up to be ravaged by the usual whiners and axe-to-grinders who stalk the ST online opinion pages. I don't subscribe to abuse therapy to deal with my boredom, but sometimes it's fun to poke the hornets' nest with a stick then stand back and laugh at their angry, pointless buzzing. I guess that could be therapeutic. I guess.

And a shout out to the little Swift who was just minding her own business when an oblivious truck jammed his nose up her butt: "Get well soon!"

Geek gushes over gorgeous gal

Omg, she's a beauty! For an older lady, she's still got the curves and the moves to make these eyes o' mine water. A gal like her is so hard to find these days. Majestic, graceful, yet cheeky enough for a little fun when she's not taking care of serious business, she's still got it in her to turn heads with her presence. At first glance, she may not look immediately appealing, with her twin humps disconcertingly distracting from her sleek figure. But I've observed her long enough, and have grown accustomed to her unique charms. And now I just can't take my eyes off her. I simply must take her home, care for her and treat her real nice, and I just know she'll take me to the heights of my desire.

Sigh. Wish I had £1.5-2 mil.

A change of leadership

We have been playing around with the notion of democracy so much that we actually think we are a democratic nation. Going by the unhappiness over the sudden and abrupt change of leadership in women's advocate group, AWARE, it's become apparent that we have no concept at all about what "democracy" means, or what its implications are. Or the fact that adopting democratic principles presupposes the voting members are responsible people who perform their due diligence before they vote and then are prepared to live with the decision they have made.

No. Here, democracy's peachy -- as long as it returns the status quo. But all hell breaks loose when the unexpected results. Accusations fly over questionable tactics and ethics; hidden agenda and conspiracy theories surface; and everyone wonders what went wrong, as if the defeat of the incumbent was a moral violation of some sort.

Democracy is a contest, not a procedure. There will be a winner and there will be a loser. The one who knows and prepares the ground best wins, the other... well, there's always the next election. My guess is that the previous leadership of AWARE simply took this election as a formal procedure to legitimize its position in the forthcoming term, and wasn't prepared to slug it out with a candidate who was in it to win it. Result: ah, there's the beauty of democracy, isn't it? If the people feel it's time for a change of leadership, then leadership makes a peaceful transition, thus eliminating a full-blown civil war ending with the loser's head on a pike.

But at this time in our nation's development, we haven't quite figured out this aspect of our cherished democratic principles yet. If AWARE is any indication of the ground today, then we're looking at a people that really want to see change take place. The next General Election may prove to be a hotter, more serious contest than it has ever been since independence. The previously lethargic opposition may take this incident as a sign to launch a major offensive to capitalize on shifting ground support while the incumbents should know by now to prep for a real battle on their hands this time.

Could this event mark a turning point in our voters' appreciation of the concept of democracy: that their choices really do matter, and that they have to be responsible for the votes they will be casting? That their votes must be based on an intelligent assessment of the options available and not simply made as a matter of course or reflex? An advocacy group can take time out for hand-wringing (though I think they would much prefer neck-wringing), but national government has no time for anything else other than business as usual regardless of the result. And we, the voters, must learn to peacefully accept the outcome because it was the choice we made. Else it'll be another battle of different coloured shirts as we tear our own country apart. Who needs enemies then?

If we didn't know the first thing about democracy before, now's the time to be AWARE.

Home alone

Urm, I was gonna pretty up this entry with pix of Q-tip with her new haircut, Maui watching TV, and the lovely steak I had for dinner, but I procrastinated a tad too long. Now my cam is on its way to the airport, accompanying June to Beijing. Yes, I've been left to my own devices again for about a week. I've stocked up on provisions so I'm not likely to starve, and the laundry's done so I should continue to smell nice, at least for the next few days.

How is a guy gonna survive without the civilizing influence of a woman's proximity? In this experiment, we're about to find out. Stay tuned...

For one night only

The annual Chinese drama night has taken a big step forward this year in terms of staging choices and overall presentation.

Tonight, in the first play, we saw a more efficient use of performance space, sectioning off different parts of the stage to represent different locations, thus avoiding long, unnecessary blackouts while transitioning between scenes.

The second play was more stylized. The set utilized movable blocks of different sizes for a versatile set that easily transformed to create different moods and locations. Movement in this piece was more tightly choreographed than the previous piece, which tended towards a more realistic presentation. The second piece also made good use of heights and levels, a little dance movement, and also delivered an interesting, textured soundscape -- a combination of music and rhythms -- that worked for both realistic and abstract scenes.

The plots were straightforward enough for me to understand most of what was going on, at least through observing the situation. The dialogue was not simple TV-grade Mandarin, but rather some higher level language that went clear over my head. Must thank Amy and B-lo for helping me past the more esoteric bits, though there weren't really that many.

Apart from watching the performance, I was also taking note of the lighting equipment and the effectiveness of the condensers. It'll be NYeDC's turn to go up on stage in only a month's time. Panic stations!