Heavy Rotation....

There's always a bloody song. Always a song...

New Snow Patrol album, bloody brilliant! Fab!

Anyway, as usual there's just that one song that get's to me... and here it is in all it's cut-n-pasted-lyrics-on-a-blog-naffness:

You could be happy and I won't know
But you weren't happy the day I watched you go

And all the things that I wished I had not said
Are played on lips 'till it's madness in my head

Is it too late to remind you how we were
But not our last days of silence, screaming, blur

Most of what I remember makes me sure
I should have stopped you from walking out the door

You could be happy, I hope you are
You made me happier than I'd been by far

Somehow everything I own smells of you
And for the tiniest moment it's all not true

Do the things that you always wanted to
Without me there to hold you back, don't think, just do

More than anything I want to see you go
Take a glorious bite out of the whole world

A Good Start Then...

So I seem to have annoyed a few people - Mia rightly points out that I haven't read her archives for the last few months, and protests that she has indeed changed. Mia my dear when I find a few spare mins I will indeed go through the archives and discover what it is you have done and learnt.

DGNYHK doesn't think that the point of a blog is to change. But I am not talking about blogs, I am talking about life, and whether we like it or not, we all change eventually.

Anyway, crazy crazy busy. So dear readers, sorry for annoying you, and I am sure there will be more annoyances to come, and plenty more bores...

Retro Bore....

Yeah well so I was on Mininova like, right? The other day, like? Just noodling away thinking of what I could nab off the old torrents.

And lo and behold I find this:

So of course I'm grabbing the first season, just for old times' sakes. I am positive that I will not even get past the first episode, as I seem to recall the production quality was just fucking awful: it must have been , as I recall as a young 'un making our own Blakes 7 weapons from empty Sellotape rolls, toilet roll tubes and a couple of erasers. And apparently that's how they made the actual weapons for the show! Well, maybe.

From Wikipedia:

"Blake's 7 was also arguably unique in TV SF in that it had a major influence on written SF, with the revival of written space opera in the '90s coming from the UK at the hands of writers such as Stephen Baxter, Alastair Reynolds, and Iain M. Banks. These authors are all of the generation that watched Blake's 7, and their work features morally ambivalent, often sarcastic and driven characters, whose usually violently-terminated lives are spent in vast and baroque spacecraft."

As a fan of Banks, Baxter and Reynolds' work, I find this strangely reassuring.

Link Check...

Have been having a look through my Blogroll - I haven't visited most of these sites for at least a six months. Some have disappeared, and I clearly need to do some work over at Blogrolling when I find a little time. Some have metamorphosed completely - such as Flying Chair, who is now Flagrant Harbour. I should add that I actually know Phil from way back in the day when I used to stalk the streets of Central and the Fong, so it's nice to see him up and running again, and that he got himself a 360. Will have to get online one day and kick his arse at... well just about anything really.

Hongkie Town continues to amaze me with his stubborn addiction to his crack of choice. I would have hoped that after a year he might have gotten tired of the Wanchai/Filipina/Indonesian scene, but apparently not, and he seems stuck on a permanent spin cycle.

The thing is, I really did expect to return to reading my favourite blogs and find that things had changed. But in most cases the big wheel keeps on turning (paraphrasing Massive Attack there, whose new material I eagerly await!), it seems, and we revert to type, to the life we are perhaps destined to live. Again, heading over to Mia's, I am somewhat dismayed that nothing has changed, at least outwardly, for the last year or so.

Which leads me to think, have I changed? Well yeah, and no. Some circumstances in my life have changed, I do more of this, I have more of that, I have less, or even none, of the other. But fundamentally I make the same mistakes over and over again, and yes, my wheel just keeps on turning.

Of course for some lucky sods it seems their wheel is running full fucking tilt down Everest - or perhaps I should say, up? I headed over to Jason's site last night, Jason has to be one of the wittiest bloggers out there, and lo and behold, not only has he landed himself a book deal, but fuck me sideways, a TV deal also! Go and check it out!

Anyway, really a post about nothing, just some random observations...

Will try and get back into the swing of things gradually, hopefully can manage at least a post a day even with my current workload, which is getting quite heavy man! Which reminds me, they are showing The Young Ones on BBC Prime at the moment, WTF happened to Nigel Planer?

Also on BBC Prime, Rock School - fucking great idea! Love it! The only show I *have* to make sure I watch at the moment.

In Reverse Order Please...

So I think I will start with the easy stuff first, coward that I am.

I've gotten into the gym in a major way since we last spoke. I'm hitting the gym by the office 5 times a week, for about 90 mins each time - a 30 min cardio session, usually on the recumbent bike, and then 45 mins strength, usually with free weights. I am definitely looking better, slimmer, and more toned - it's great if your a narcissist, which of course I am!

Having just moved jobs (of which more some other day) I have also moved gyms recently, which is causing me some anguish. Firstly, the changing rooms are tiny! Now I have no problem with either being naked around other men, or other men being naked around me. Just don't stare is the rule I live by.

However in changing rooms as tiny as these - and we are talking about a whole area about the size of my bedroom - it is very very tight, and when peak hour hits, well, it is inevitable that there is going to be some accidental skin-on-skin contact. And I just can't handle it! I wind up getting, well, wound up, and feeling really quite aggressive.

Aggression which I then take out on the free weight stacks. The only problem with my new place is that now they have switched all the free weights to kilograms. Now I am all for a metric system - the imperial system is arcane and just really abstract IMO. We've all gone metric - well apart from the Seps, with their American Exceptionalism, but WTF let them deal with how many ounces in a pound, gives them something to do while getting obese and watching Oprah eh?

My problem is that I am so used to benching and squatting pounds that it's quite depressing to be on kilos now - it's only psychological I know, but it looks on paper (and I keep meticulous Excel records of my weights, reps and sets) like I am lifting half the weight now.

Anyway I am sure I will get over this, with good counseling.

My other new found fitness passion is yoga. I've joined a rather nice yoga place called Pure Yoga - they seem to have branches all over the region. So I now do one session of yoga a week, and am considering trying to get that up to 2 or even more. I find the discipline, the breathing, and especially the bit at the end when you lie down on your mat, and try not to snore, very relaxing and calming. Which, after getting touched up in my changing room and depressed that I can only bench 80, is just exactly what I need thank you very much.

So....

Nutshelling this...

- Single (again)
- New job
- Bought apartment
- Still smoking
- Fit as a fiddle otherwise

Well that just about does it... so see you in another 9 months or so.













Not.


I did miss this badly, and come hell or high water, I intend to continue.

So, prepare to repel bored-ers!

That Was The Year, That Was...

Has it really been a year? Well, almost...

Much to tell, much to write, much to read. It'll take some time for me to get back into this, no doubt, and I am travelling more frequently these days, and frankly, it is all still extremely boring, but it needs to be told.

I'm Back. And I'm Boring...

Back in the Saddle Again...

Right it will probably take me a few days to get back up to speed, and back to bloggings on the internets. My best mate is still here. I fear he may have moved in! So that is taking up my valuable time.

And great news, in that ESO and myself are back together. Given my noted aversion to TLA's, I should really change that, so in future she shall be known as "P". I can't say it will be easy to make it work, but we are both willing to put the hard work in. So wish me luck! I'm very happy!

Dearth of Posts

Sorry guys there won't be many posts over the next couple of days. Best mate is in town, and I have taken tomorrow off to do the usual tourguide stuff. Tea at Raffles. Ruby in Little India. Fixing his laptop as the chap is technically inept. All the usual crap.

So I might have some eventful postings for you when I come back!

Thermometer Therapy

I must be getting more bored than usual.

Last weekend I found myself in Challenger, which is a local IT retail store. Wandering the displays, I looked at all the, frankly, unnecessary things I could purchase. Well I could use a Network Attached Storage, I guess, for backup and media and stuff. Passed on that, had enough issues setting up my Airport Express, so will leave my now-stable-network alone for a while.

I perused the ranks of X-Box titles, a couple caught my eye, but frankly, I need to finish the game I am on (Medal of Honor European Assault - great game, just very very hard on the hardest setting. Naturally), and then go back and finish Brothers in Arms, and then go back and try to finish Ninja Gaiden. So that's my gaming calendar for the next 6 months full then. How sad :(

So in the end, I walked out with every man's must have. Especially in Singapore.

A digital thermometer.

Not just any digital thermometer. This one tells the temperature both inside my apartment and out!

What the fuck was I thinking. There is only one temperature here. It's always around 32 degress centigrade. Always. The weather in Singapore is either:

• hot, or;
  
• hot and wet

So why on earth would I need a thermometer? Am I so bored that I am going to sit and watch digital displays hovering around the 32 mark?

Apparently so. I'll have detailed reports for you shortly. You lucky, lucky people.

Rock Bottom

You can tell I'm scraping the bottom of the proverbial barrel when I have to cut 'n paste bizarre news stories, but this one tickled me, so I have to share. I love the fact that he got her pregnant 12 times so his wife had "something to do"!!

Dad of 12 admits he's gay

An Austrian couple with 12 children have split up - after the husband admitted he was gay.

Mum Alina Look dumped husband Hannes after his shock revelation.

Hannes had announced that he was leaving the family home at Graz for another man.

Hannes told Alina he only made her pregnant so she had "something to do".

Alina said: "I received a phone call from a friend who told me she had seen Hannes with another person, she said they had been kissing and cuddling.

"I didn't believe her when she told me the other person was a man, but when I confronted Hannes he admitted everything.

"He told me he had only had sex with me so I would get pregnant and it would give me something to do. I can't believe we had so many children together, my whole life has been a lie."

She has now written a book "...no time to pray" about her ordeal which she hopes will bring in money to support her family in their home in Graz, Austria.

Style And Substance

While I have been an avid reader of blogs for some time now, this is my first enduring effort to pen a blog myself. There are a few abortive efforts I have left scattered around the 'sphere, but they usually last 2-3 days, and then peter out.

So after a few weeks of writing this, I am starting to realise just how hard it really is to come up with fresh topics on a regular basis. And even harder than that is developing a blog style. I've been checking out some other blogs, and some of them have great, stylish writing. I've been thinking about the lessons to be learnt. So, let's run through a few of them:

STACKED
This guy, as he would put it, is da bomb. In particular, I like the street vernacular, I like the "bullet pointz", and the "phat" ratings are well cool too.

Can he cut it with his homeboy rap? He apparently went to a some pussy school in a so-called rough neighbourhood somewhere around Pittsburgh. Well, mate, I went to a very rough comprehensive in South Yorkshire (which has got to be at least 3.7658 times 'harder' than anything in the US), I had two Pakistani friends (my "homies"), and I was in a breakdancing crew (Really. I was Mr Freeze. Really). And if that doesn't qualify me to speak ebonics, I dunno what does.

So, I don't think I can take much from Stacked and apply it here. I have considered throwing in a bit of Yorkshire, but please, I have lived in London and overseas for the best part of my life, so it would be pretty dumb. Perhaps I should follow Rockson's lead and insert lots of Hokkien swearing, thus being more in tune with my local environment. Unfortunately I have no idea what he is on about half the time, so other than being a source of amusement for the more vulgarly spoken Singaporeans, that's a no go too!

Even so, I tell you right now that if you read nothing else on the internets, ever, you have to read Pat's ode to toast, and his paean to milk. Class, pure class. But fuck, the man is a professional journalist, so I still cut him no slack.

SPIRIT FINGERS
I have no fucking idea why this girl "wants spirit fingers, dammit". I mean, what are spirit fingers anyway? What does it all mean????

The hook here is the scathing, and very funny, dissection of the fashion and entertainment industries. The take on the Friends theme song had me smiling away, as did this piece on Wanko.

Can I use any of this? Well since I don't follow fashion (unless following fashion means not wearing tie-dye), I wouldn't really have anything intelligent or relevant to say on the issue (that goes for most issues by the way). Additionally, my knowledge of celebrity happenings is limited to whatever is in the Straits Times Life section back page when I happen to read it. Since I never read it... well, there you go then.

SEX BLOGS
This covers the whole gamut of blogs from SPG to Hongkie Town (actually Spike intersperses coverage of his sex life with great music and DVD reviews. It's like two blogs in one!) to Belle to Olympia, and probably lots more that I haven't found yet, but really should.

Clearly sex is one of those blog topics that never gets stale. Blog about your latest horizontal expolits and you'll always have the audience begging for more, or so it seems.

Unfortunately this theme is right out the window for little old moi, since I haven't gotten any for months, and won't for the forseeable future. When I started this, I included a metric called the Daily Self Love Quotient. That lasted the whole of - well, less than a week really. Firstly it seemed like too much information for you lot. And secondly, it was just depressing. I mean I thought it might be slightly amusing, but detailing one's onanistic efforts on a daily basis. Well, it's just sad. Sorry. You should never have been subjected to that.

So, this certainly isn't going to be a sex blog.


Where does that leave me then? Well Singabore is obviously not going to be a homie fashionista boning blog, that's for sure. I guess I'll just bumble along in my boring fashion, and perhaps after some time I may find I have slipped into a style, that you can come here expecting something entertaining. Until then, you'll just have to put up with whatever dull shite spews forth on a fairly erratic basis.

But thanks for coming anyway.

Books I Will Never Read Pt. 2

I'm an atheist. So sue me! Or smite me. Whatever.

Random Quote-O-Matic

A healthy male adult bore consumes each year one and a half times his own weight in other people's patience.
John Updike (1932 - ), Assorted Prose (1965)

This week, I have been mainly watching...

The Island.

It's not a great movie. It's overly long in my not-so humble opinion (what is it with directors these days? Am I wrong in thinking that a few years ago, 90 mins was about average for a movie? Why are they all 120mins plus these days? I don't get it). So it loses pace at some points, and I was sitting there thinking, ok get on with it man. Visually the movie is very impressive, and it might be worth seeing just for that alone.

The two most remarkable peeper-feasts have to be my current actress-du-jour, Scarlett Johansson, who looks incredible in this movie, and warrants a gratuitous picture:
















It also features an ultra-chic power boat from Wally (crap name, great, incredible boat builders). While I am generally a sail chap, I have to say that this little baby is one of the hottest looking power boats around:

My Hairless Kiwis

I was in the UK recently, and in various magazines I saw this ad, which I thought was a) rather amusing and b) about bloody time.


If you are having trouble making it out, it's two kiwi fruit, one hairy, one hairless. And the product being promoted is the Phillips Bodygroom. A shaver designed for men to trim "wherever you want".

While I don't subscribe to the concept of complete hairlessness, I do think a little judicious trimming is essential for today's man. I'm not terribly hirstute, so we're not talking tufts of chest hair peeking over the collar, or a back rug here. But I like to keep it all shipshape.

It began as a little experimentation about 5 or 6 years ago. The chest hair needed a trim. I was well into the gym and weights at that time, and pec definition looks better without the hair obscuring it. I know. So vain!

But I was not content with that, and attention started to drift south.

So I ended up with the porn star shave. I admit, it seemed a bit odd at first, but hey, if the ladies could have a brazilian or a hollywood, then in the interests of sexual equality, I can get into a bit of topiary trimming too!

It would appear I am not alone. According to the Phillips website, nearly 50% of British men have "had a go".

So I am mystified as to why my friends think I'm a wierdo. They think it's hilarious, and completely unnecessary. My arguments? That it adds that "optical inch", and that it has to be more pleasant for the opposite sex. Doesn't it? No more picking pubes out of your teeth, and am I the only one who thinks a thick bush retains more unpleasant odour?

My initial weapon of choice was a beard trimmer - there was no fancy Phillips product in them days. But even that after a while did not suffice. Instead of a nice smooth finish, it was stubbly. Not the look (or feel) I was going for.

So out came the wet razor. It was a little worrisome initially, but after 5 years of coating my nads in shaving foam it's become second nature. Generally once a week keeps the 5 o'clock shadow at bay. I have let it grow out a couple of times, and now it just doesn't seem right.

If you want to check out a how-to, here you go. Definitely not work safe. Unless you work at Vivid Video that is. In which case, can I have a job please?

Books I Will Never Read Pt. 1

I'm a book snob. So sue me.

AWOL

I'm having a bad day folks. Confused, saddened, torn, and I don't want to share I'm afraid. I have a couple of posts on "draft" but can't be arsed to finish them. Hopefully I can tomorrow, but until then, sayonara.

Really Pwn3d!

Looks like someone hacked XX's blog last night, as reported by Tomorrow.

The only post was this:

"Hi There

I know i have been a bitch,

I know i am a Bitch

If you have any hate mails, please email me at xiaxue@gmail.com


For that, i will die a fucking virgin.

I dont deserve to be loved."

She seems to have regained control now, and is swearing vengeance. Nice little storm in a teacup going on there.

H4Kerz. Love 'em.

Spinning

Once again I am becoming a Spin head.

I first began my obsession with this masochistic form of exercise while I lived in New York. While I was not that into New York, they do have some of the best fitness clubs anywhere - New York Sports Club is mainstream, while Crunch has the more esoteric and challenging classes, and coincidentally the most attractive women.

My mate M introduced me to Spinning. M stayed with myself and K, and was, and is, a male model, currently living back in Hong Kong. Very nice chap, now married with a child. And amazingly fit.

Anyway, he persuaded me to get back into the gym, and we tried all kinds of classes. Boxing (cool). Yoga (harder than it appears!). Jiu Jitsu (looks hard, and bloody hell, it is really hard!). And the very memorable African Dance class (which had us both in hysterics after 10 mins. Two very white guys in a very black class having rolling-on-the-floor hysterics. We exited in haste, and never ever returned).

Eventually we settled on Spinning. Burns shit loads of calories, good lower and upper body workout, and not too gay. Got ourselves kitted out with the heartrate monitors and the cycling shorts (okay those do look gay, but you wear them under standard shorts, and they are essential for preventing arse chafe). And we did lots and lots of classes. Towards the end, we were doing 2 classes a day, 90 mins each.

M left NYC about a year before I did, having failed in his efforts to make his break into the hyper-competitive world of Manhattan modelling. I continued my Spinning, maintaining the pace, literally and figuratively. For the last 6 months before I left, I was on good terms with a few instructors, and was being asked to fill in for them and take classes.

Which I loved doing.

Choosing the music; selecting the format for the class - would it be speed, endurance, sprints, Zen Spin? And then teaching the class, ensuring that everyone was adopting the correct form, all that crap. Loved it.

Looking back, I think this is the teacher in me. On my mothers' side of the family, they are all in education - back 3-4 generations. This generation seems to have bucked the trend - of my 6 cousins and myself, only one has turned to the classroom, while the rest have pursued diverse careers. But perhaps this desire to impart knowledge is part of our makeup, perhaps it's in our genes, in our blood?

Perhaps.

The classes here are not bad. The quality is variable, and they are not the sticklers for form that they are in NYC. But all in all, not bad. I can monitor my own form, thank you. So I am back to 3-4 classes a week, and thinking about more.

And I've been trying to gather the courage to ask if perhaps, maybe, they would consider letting me lead a class.

Perhaps I really need to teach. Perhaps that is my calling. Perhaps that's what I should have been doing all along.

Perhaps.

But the pay is shite. So perhaps not.