The Q-tip and the sea

A great day for the beach.

June wanted to drop in on a couple of friends working at a promo booth on Siloso Beach and we thought Q-tip would like an outing.

Dogs are not welcome on Siloso Beach though, so we took a very long trek to Tanjung Beach quite some distance away, part walking her and most of the time carrying her 'cos we remembered what happened the last time we let her overheat.

Q-tip had a good swim, that is, as soon as she hit water she'd frantically paddle back to terra firma. Then we'd pick her up, put her back into the water and repeat the process for a few cycles. Silly dog can swim, but she's afraid of the water. Funny, that.

More pix? Click here.

Bad things happen to good people

Sam Raimi goes back to his horror roots with "Drag Me To Hell". These days, the Raimi name may be better associated with the "Spider-Man" movie franchise, but with DMTH he reminds us that his original claim to fame was through the "Evil Dead" trilogy. Yes, even if "Army of Darkness" was more slapstick comedy than horror, it just shows his versatility in directing many different movie genres.

Anyway, DMTH brings us back to straightforward campy, shocky horror. Young, ambitious loan officer competing for a promotion turns down a loan extension for an old crone (there's always an old crone!) who curses her with a rather disproportional punishment: to be tormented by an evil spirit for three days, then be taken to hell to burn forever on the fourth day.

Cue two kinds of horror devices Raimi loves to play with. The first is rising tension followed by shock, the second is the horror of contact with vile fluid substances (blood, bile, slime and others of that nature) on the skin, face and otherwise inavertently ingested in large mouthfuls. We get both in generous portions throughout the movie.

But looking past the fun of shock after shock, revolting situation after revolting situation, there is an understated psychological parable at work here as well. Christine Brown is essentially a good person. She has a good nature, a kind heart, she is a woman in love; the sort of person that does not deserve any evil to befall her. But she makes one small mistake against her conscience, and no matter how good she has been up till then, no matter how she tries to make amends thereafter, it is still that one mistake that ends up defining her perception of the world. It is her own guilt that turns her otherwise idyllic life into hell.

Y'know, according to Christian doctrine, the scary thing is that all of us bear this exact same curse. Regardless of how good we are, or think we are, or try to be, because of our inherent imperfections, we are still destined towards, you know, the place downstairs. I believe DMTH makes up only one half of a good old-fashioned fire-and-brimstone sermon. The other half -- the redemption part -- has been left out.

Paid to stay in bed

Must be letting the notions of space travel get to me. Now I'm inspired to take up this job NASA's offering as a test subject for the effects of low gravity on the human being. It pays US$160/day and it involves lying in bed all day! Welcome to the life of a NASA "pillownaut".

Never did like camping much

Did some nephew-sitting while Ling and June took a girls' night out. The Wii played a big part in helping me out. How did we use to get by without such an invaluably useful device? Anyway, in preparation for that big event, I went shopping for a game or two that would keep two rambunctious young 'uns occupied. "Space Camp", anyone?

Good thing I previewed SC before I tried it out on them. First off, SC isn't exactly catered to my age preference (right, anyone who suggests "Parcheesi" gets their head bashed in with my walking stick!), but even putting myself in the mind of an 8 year-old the game would have bored me to tears. Actually, it's more like work than a game. Even the in-game mentor, Jim, admits at the start that it's going to take "back-breaking work" to complete the story.

Ah, the story: the player's somewhat customizeable character attends Space Camp and for the lack of other buttons to press accidentally launches him/herself to the moon. Survivability is no issue. The player has unlimited resources to complete a series of tasks in order to get home.

The main complication is that the two main resources, Energy and Metal, are locked into moon rocks which we have to mine for in pre-designated locations on the map. And they just keep replenishing -- well, yeah, it's a big moon for one little kid. With a flick of the wiimote or via a mini-Grabber game we accumulate a pile of moon rocks for processing. We can also kick piles of moon dust to find these resources too.

Step two is to process these rocks through another mini-game to extract either Energy or Metal from them. Energy converts into rocket fuel for which we need to get home; Metal we need to fabricate into tools that help us open doors to new places for exploration as the game progresses. They also help to open locked containers of unique collectible items that fill up our inventory, which I think is intended as the reward system of the game.

Yes, completist that I am, I most anally hunted down every single collectible comprising unique SC patches, and various designs and colours of clothing and headgear the well-dressed astronaut should be wearing on a moon-jaunt.

Wii games are often a collection of mini-games, but in this case, they tend to be the same three or four mini-games over and over again. the only discernable variation is in the three difficulty levels which aren't all that difficult even for an 8 year old. The only one that drove me insane was the Meteoroid defense game at the highest difficulty level -- my reflexes aren't what they used to be -- so accomplishing that task was quite a triumph (stop sniggering, remember my walking stick?).

The nephews didn't get to play SC after all, 'cos I decided they wouldn't have found it any fun. They're the "Ravin' Rabbids" sort, and that kept them entertained all night. Hey, whoever said an evening with me had to be educational?

It's alive!

So, that's why Rhumba didn't make it back to his docking bay before his charge ran out. Greedy thing was helping himself to the cats' kibble!

Another day with dad

Got the news of the passing of Sha's dad. It wasn't unexpected -- we knew he was already on his last legs -- but when it actually happened, the swiftness of it was sudden and shocking.

Which is why today, I appreciated the time I spent with my own dad. June and I met him at service and with the rest of our family regulars at 1115 SAC, we went to lunch as a group. This isn't something we do every week. Our service timings are different but because mom is curently gallivanting in the UK we thought he might appreciate the ride home... and our company, of course.

Among the reminicences we always get to hear whenever family gets together was how my dad quit smoking. Daughters are indeed a formidable influence on their father's behaviour.

The blurness of strangers

Made an NLB book run with June. Once again, they had people taking care of the North so our assignment was three locations in Jurong West.

The first drop was almost rejected outright. Apparently, the girl had asked for DVDs but we only had books in our bag for her. The second was to a blind lady with kids. She had asked for audio books, but as far as I could tell, there were both normal books and a few kids' CD-ROMs in her bag. Fine, her kids could use the CD-ROMs and someone could read the books to her, but no audio books like she had asked for? Our last drop was to a kid who selected three books out of the eight we had brought for him. He seemed to only like sports-related materials but had no idea what to do with the Photoshop manuals and novels that were also in his bag.

Three drops, three problems. NLB needs to establish better, or perhaps more specific communications with their disabled clientele. Perhaps next time we could teach them to use CARL for locating specific materials that they would want rather than rely on the blurness of strangers to make choices for them.

Er... no, we didn't choose the books, they were already pre-packed for delivery, in case you're wondering.

Party on, NYeDC!

09 J2 Seniors make a grand entrance to their Farewell Party.

This must be the longest party ever organized by the Drama Club. In a 7-hour marathon session, we bade the J2 Seniors farewell and then we hosted the "Timepieces" post-production party for the cast and crew of Drama Night 2009.

Perhaps the plan was too ambitious. We ran into problems of overcatering due to a number of last-minute no-shows, plus keeping the crowd entertained with party games proved quite a toughie. People were mostly interested in eating, chatting and finding their own entertainment among themselves... sounds familiar?

Credit to the J1s, though, who soldiered on till they were quite worn out, playing host and running the programmes, then late at night after all the festivities were over, working out the accounts until Security came up to chase us all home.

The J1s and the Club need a morale booster after this. Perhaps a little brainless entertainment or a little team-bonding exercise in Term 3 would do them good. I've seen them able to work hard, now I want to see if they can play just as hard too.

Lazy Thursday

It's good to have some money coming in for a change. I picked up two cheques, one to reimburse me for Drama Night expenses; the other a refund of my premium on a cancelled insurance policy.

I also discovered the real reason why on one Saturday some weeks back, this odd-looking fellow was measuring previous M2 in the parking lot. Apparently, the guy who rear-ended me earlier this year wasn't happy with the amount my insurance company was claiming against him and he requested an independent investigation. Fortunately, the investigation was in my favour so today I was summoned back to my workshop to sign a release paper acknowledging the conclusion of the case.

I remember that day... I had the impression it was the OTHER guy being investigated by HIS insurance company, so I cooperated fully with the investigator and his measuring tape. If I had known I was the one being investigated... well, I still would have cooperated fully, but perhaps not half as enthusiastically.

Spent the rest of the afternoon at Brew n Groove, hangin' with the Boyz: Anthony, Vince, Weng (hon. Boyz), and a couple of their frenz. We occupied a corner furnished with plush armchairs around a coffee table and discussed Someone's upcoming wedding plans. With several married dudes around the table, we had quite some experience among us to share and entertain ourselves with for most of the afternoon. Nice, lazy Thursday afternoon.

Out in the sun

Nothing like a little sun, sand and surf to remind us we're on a break. We planned to cycle the park connector to Bedok from ECP. But we gathered a larger party than usual, so what eventually happened was that our intended expedition to parts unknown became more of a social event on the beach instead. With bicycles.

Some highlights: met NBS again. Haven't seen my partner-in-KrIme much since her move up to Head Office. And while she and I were pushing the boundaries of how far we could pedal in a half-hour, the rest of the party took the same time to teach Fen to ride a bike. Fen's a fast learner. By the time we regrouped, Fen was already pedalling quite well. Next lesson for her is how to steer to avoid obstacles.

We regained our spent calories at Fish & Co, Parkway Parade. It's been quite a while also that the whole lot of us have had a meal out. After today, our party will split and scatter ourselves around the world on our various vacation plans. Me? No money, nowhere to go. I'll enjoy my staycation right here, thank you very much.

Print vs Digital

One topic that we like to discuss in GP is the viability of print media in today's digitally networked world. Both concepts require quite a lot of unpacking. Print media generally refers to mainstream print, which is a decent working definition, but "today's digitally networked world" is a bizarre, amorphous beast to pin down and study for an adequate compare-and-contrast exercise.

Fortunately, this Wired article might offer some help in the matter: "Eighteen challenges in contemporary literature". Or maybe not.

More to life than just Sims

A mental checklist of all the media that have passed through my perusal this past week, just so that I can assure myself that I haven't Simmed myself to death and have actually done other things as well.

Let's see... while waiting in line for two hours on "Let there be Sims" Day, I finished Pratchett's "Nation" which I have been slowly digesting for the longest time. "Nation" isn't a difficult book to read, but trying to find time to read whole tomes has actually been a problem this year.

On the same day commuting home on public transport I also finished Gaiman's "Coraline" in graphic novel format. Had to get that read before the movie opens in the next few weeks. And I began "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" allegedly written by Austen and Grahame-Smith. It's a fanfic mashup of the classic Victorian tale set in an alternate universe in which the Bennett girls have been trained in the Shaolin arts in order to combat the plague of the undead ravaging the English countryside; but in the meantime they also have to get married to eligible bachelors as Victorian society demands. The amiable Bingley and the insufferably haughty Darcy come to mind, if only those damned zombies wouldn't keep distracting the girls from their domestic destinies. It's a fanfic all right, though I'm not sure if it's been written by a fan of Austen or a fan of zombies. But it's hilarious, nonetheless.

Got my movie fix yesterday from "Blood: the Last Vampire". Woohoo! Non-stop fighting at a breakneck pace filmed manga-style for maximum excitement. Wouldn't you know it, but the story is viewed from the perspective of a character called Alice who in keeping with the Traditions of Alice gets her world compeletly turned around and no one can say for sure what's real and what's fantasy any longer.

And today it was "Angels and Demons": a scavenger hunt through the Vatican to prevent the seat of Catholicism from being vaporized by an anti-matter detonation. The conflict between science and religion feature strongly in this movie, though the premise isn't as controversial as it was in "The DaVinci Code".

It's almost enough for me to confess, "forgive me Father, for I have Simmed". But looking at this list, I have to say that's not all I've been doing.

Hangin' in Sunset Valley

If anyone asks, tell them I've been out of town for the last few days. Sunset Valley, to be precise, doing my best to maintain some semblance of a work-life balance, yet keep my people happy and moving towards achieving their life-long desires at the same time.

Yes, I'm the type of player that wants to see his Sims succeed in life, that they are fulfilled and accomplished by the time the Reaper comes for them. A boring, safe, predictable way to play "The Sims 3", but it's still challenging nonetheless. For someone like me, it's easy to grind a Sim upwards towards a career-oriented goal (but it's still a grind, nonetheless), but I had problems with someone who wanted more wealth than she could possibly earn on the career track alone, and major problems figuring out what to do with another who wants to make and keep 20 friends all at once -- and simply 'cos that's so not me, I haven't a clue.

There is only one way I can see to get rich in The Sims 3 and that is to marry or move in with someone who's household value is vastly superior. If anyone knows of a way to earn pots of Simoleons by some other means, please inform me at once. I'd like to try other pathways than the obvious. But marriage was how I managed to move from my initial pokey little house to the multi-storey mansion on the hill next to a graveyard (and its resident ghosts) -- the very lap of Sim luxury itself.

I think I can pride myself on my overall guidance of my Sims in their lives. Too bad I can't say the same for myself. Better cut my virtual vacation in Sunset Valley short and get my real life back on track again...

3 hours and counting...

1100. 3 hours to the release of The Sims 3. I'm having brekkie overlooking the line I'll be joining in a little while. First 600!

Shaking speares in the park

Oh, what an evening! It's closing night for "Much Ado About Nothing" and we the audience are sitting on our picnic mats on the grand slope of Fort Canning Hill overlooking the amphitheatre. We, meaning Amy, B-lo, HP, June and me. Around us is a packed house and lost in the midst are a number of our students who happened to choose the same day as us to go.

The heavens were merciful and held off the rain so we could enjoy shaking our speares in the park for the entire evening. Our picnic was a simple affair compared to what some of the other revellers around us brought. But we were very happy with our own buns and sausages, potato salad and grapes, and other miscellaneous post-meal snacks. When else do we get to eat our way through a literary performance without looking anti-social?

The performance was entirely enjoyable. The cast delivered Shakespeare in a most accessible way, sounding very much like plain English which would have been reassuring to anyone in the audience apprehensive about sitting through a whole evening of Elizabethan chatter. The play is a comedy and and the performance delivered loads of verbal humour and sight gags that we might never get to experience from just reading the text alone. Hope our lit kids in the audience will look at Shakespeare through new eyes after this.

The set was particularly intriguing in that it was elaborate without being fussy, nothing extraneous but everything purpose-built with depth and character. We are in the courtyard of colonial bungalow with a swimming pool at left. The pool contained enough water to swim a couple of strokes in, so it wasn't there just for show. The bungalow set was a series of tall, narrow doors and opening louvres that opened out into the courtyard, revealing a long dining room set behind them. While character asides take place in the courtyard, dinner is going on in the background clearly visible to the audience. That makes for a set that looks like there's a whole world that's living and breathing behind the action that takes place onstage. Amazing.

Another evening well-spent with good food, good company and good entertainment. :D

"Monsters" in 3D

June and I volunteered for nephew sitting duty today. As it turned out, we wanted to watch "Monsters Vs Aliens" in 3D and our agenda happily coincided with theirs.

The movie was a fun romp through a familiar theme: outcasts of society saving the day for everyone. All but one of the (human) male characters are portrayed as weedy, incompetent and self-serving, while the female characters tower over them (literally, in the case of Ginormica). Only Gen. Monger has a clue, knowing when to stay out of the way before coming through for the team in the big finish. So yes, there are obvious feminist overtones but I saw it more as a critique of the males of our species as opposed to a statement from the ladies.

As for nephew sitting, I'm still glad that at the end of the day, I can return them to sender. There's just so much we can do to contain so much sonic and kenetic energy within acceptable levels in a public space. There's so much looking around to maintain spatial and environmental awareness so that they don't wander off or somehow allow the environment to interact with them in a negative way. And as far as behaviour goes, they are already considerably well-behaved and obedient.  Wonder how parents of more feral children cope?

SQ baggage

Got a peek into the world of SQ's flight crew. May needed a replacement for her cargo bag a.k.a. suitcase. She also needed a ride and new M2 was available, so we took her over to this pokey little shophouse in Siglap which happens to be THE supplier of cargo bags for SQ's flight crew. They also do repairs.

The staff looks to be all-male handyman types. Brusque in appearance, but they know their luggage and made very practical recommendations on the kind that could withstand the most punishment from airport handling. They actually talked May out of a more expensive but very lightweight Samsonite which she really wanted. It was simply too fragile for her and her frequent-flying career. In the end, she took home a sober-looking Delsey that looked and felt more solidly constructed than her preferred choice.

The name of the new M2 is still under deliberation. I've always wanted to name a Mazda "Hatta" so that his full name would be "Madaza Hatta" for a Lewis Caroll in-joke. But I'm also contemplating J0513, after Josie and her most aware Pussycats, 'cos when we acquired him was in the middle of their big hoo-ha and somehow the name stuck with me. At this point, I'm still open to suggestion.

Possibilities and definites

And so we have arrived once again at what passes for the summer vacation in the West. Those idyllic three-month long breaks, by the way, are a tradition that goes back some two hundred years when the kids of the farming community were needed back at their homesteads as farmhands. It wasn't really a "vacation" at all, unless you like farmstays.

Here, we get a month. Probably a holdover from when we once followed the colonial timetable, but we have taken it as our God-given right anyway.

Today our month of unstructured time stretches out before us with endless possibilities. Possibly we could go to the beach; possibly we could go cycling; possibly we could have long, leisurely lunches on lovely lawns in the sunshine; possibly we could explore strange, exotic and wonderful locations -- and I know of some people who already have that planned.

But there are also some definites too. Like we definitely have to finish our mid-year marking (plus last term's backlog); we definitely have to get our lecture plans firmed up and researched; we definitely have to meet among our various committees to assess our mid-year achievements and make plans for the rest of the year... um, that's all I remember so far. If I've forgotten anything, drop me a line to remind me, ok?

Anyway, I'm not planning to moan about it. It's the summer hols, and whatever the outlook the mood is upbeat. *rubs hands together with glee

Down for the count

The daily fruit juices have not kept me safe from the flu bug. I've been dosing myself nearly every day with a pineapple-starfruit blend, but the last of my defences crumbled today. Perhaps I should have gone with a stronger, if less palatable blend?

Such a bad week to be incapacitated too, but then I could have said the same thing any other week before. Have to remind myself that I am not indespensible, and that a day's rest means a day's rest.

*clangs handbell and cries "unclean, unclean!"

A place to mark

Today was a good day to get some marking done. June was away in HCMC and wouldn't be back till the evening and since campus should have been deserted I drove out there determined to focus on my scripts with no distractions. That worked well. I had a very productive couple of hours that put a more significant dent in my marking load than I had thought possible. Quite proud of myself for that.

What I hadn't counted on was meeting Jojo on campus too. Like me, she needed some place to mark while Derek gave tuition across the road. What she encountered on campus was this grizzled creature at its most unglam -- unshaven, in googly glasses, sans corset, dentures and botox jabs that help create the illusion of a younger person on normal working days. The horror, the horror.

Regardless, she recognised me and invited me to lunch anyway. So we made a threesome at Sizzlers for salmon and salad. A fitting reward for the hours of pain that "marked" the earlier part of my morning. :)

Yes, there's still quite a mountain of scripts left to be marked, but today's session tells me I may yet pull off a miracle before the week is over.