Okay, I went out with the other guy on Wednesday... and guess what? I felt nothing. I'm finally over him. What a relief!

To think I was scared that something would happen... not between us, I mean, but that I'd be kicking myself for being so stupid as to think I could just go out with him and be just a friend. You have to understand that:

• When I fall, I fall hard.
• And there aren't that many guys out there that I've fallen for and am still friends with.

Put those two together and you can see why I was apprehensive about meeting up with two former crushes.

Thank you, God, for helping me get over them both last year.

In other news, The O.C. has returned! Who needs a real-life boyfriend when you've got Seth Cohen and Ryan Atwood?

On Monday, I went out with a friend who's back from the US for a short break. He is also a guy I used to like. The next day, upon my return to work, and shortly before lunch, the ang moh downstairs asked me out to lunch. I also received an SMS from another friend who I hadn't seen in some time, asking me out some time to catch up. Yes, another guy I used to like.

I don't know what's going on this week, and whether the above should put a big grin on my face as opposed to wondering whether Someone Up There is having lots of fun with my life again, but I guess I'll enjoy it while I can.

All about Sideways and wine:

Slate: A Connoisseur's Guide to Sideways
Sideways is great wine porn. The vineyard scenes are, of course, stunning, and the wines paraded across the screen will certainly put that knowing smile on the faces of those who like to drink well.

New York Daily News: After 'Sideways,' Pinot's stock is up
The movie tackles relationships, yes, but it's also an ode to Pinot Noir — considered the holy grail of grapes among wine geeks who love its elusive complexity.

AZCentral: Take a 'Sideways' glance at Pinot Noirs (wine recommendations)
There are two major, very different styles of Pinot: those made in the Burgundy region of France and those made everywhere else.

Wine&Spirits Magazine: Top Ten Pinot Noirs of 2004

AsiaOne: Don't sniff at Sideways, sip it (wine recommendations)
Those who have not caught the movie should do so for a charismatic peek into Californian wine country and some hilarious wine buff lines. (Two of the best uttered by the character which Paul Giamatti plays are 'I am not drinking any f***ing merlot' and 'Quaffable but far from transcendent'.)

San Diego Union Tribune: Will 'Sideways' create a pinot noir predicament? (wine recommendations)
Soon demand for pinot noir will outstrip supply. This will push up the price. For those of us who love pinot noir, this is not good. The obvious solution – planting more pinot noir vineyards – is fraught with danger. Could grape growers, in their rush to capitalize on the public's new fascination with pinot noir, plant this fragile grape in all the wrong places?

San Francisco Chronicle: Merlot is suddenly uncool -- but the great ones still shine
In a much-quoted scene, the wine snob character Miles tells his easygoing friend Jack before a double-date dinner: "If anyone orders Merlot, I'm leaving. I am not drinking any f -- Merlot." Suddenly, America's favorite red wine is also its most uncool.

Featured in the movie: The Hitching Post Winery and Restaurant

And finally... a critique of the book: Sideways, the book, also drives you to drink from PlanIt Vancouver. I suspected it would've been a difficult book to read given the complexity of the dialogue, and it turns out that yes, there're other people who feel that way.

A little known fact is that I'm rather interested in ancient and medieval history, and that at one point in time, I wanted to be an archaelogist. But then, that gave way to dreams of wanting to become a marine biologist. And then a travel photographer. And then all of those were crushed by the sheer weight that is practicality and now, here I am.

Anyway, I was watching The Mummy Detectives on the Discovery Channel today. This episode, The Three Kings, showcased Dr. Bob Brier and team attempting to unravel the mystery of the three wise men and Jesus' birth. Among other things, the episode explained how the star of Bethlehem (purportedly Jupiter) appeared to move and showed the wise men where to go, and how the dream from God came to the wise men to warn them not to return to King Herod after they had paid homage to Jesus (as they were Magi and were good at interpreting dreams). During the course of the episode, it also said that Jesus' birthdate was really April 17, 6 B.C., and that the wise men had most likely visited when he was eight months old on December 19, 6 B.C. (thereby also explaining why Herod ordered all infants from two years and below to be slaughtered instead of those six months and below, which would have been on a substantially smaller scale).

In any case, with regards to the three wise men, the old paintings of the three Magi showed one young Magi, old middle-aged one and one old Magi. The remains of the Magi, apparently housed in the Cologne Cathedral of Ss. Peter and Mary (much to my surprise, as I thought the Cathedral was Lutheran when I visited the area, else I would surely have stayed in the magnificent structure and taken more photos of the Shrine of the Three Magi than I had).

Apparently, the remains of the Magi were discovered in Persia and brought to Emperor Constantine I. Around 288-337 A.D., he presented them to the ninth bishop of Milan, Eustorgio I, ninth bishop of Milan. In 1163 or 1164, the Holy Roman Emperor Friedrich I (called "Barbarossa" meaning "Redbeard," 1122-1190) presented Cologne (Koln), Germany with a gift which he had taken from Milan after he had captured the city in March, 1162 - the bones of the Three Wise Men. It is said that the remains were transported in three ships. Within a few years, a shrine to house the relics was begun.

But does this mean that the bones housed in the Shrine in the Cathedral are real? Using a rather neat bit of technology and anatomical knowledge, Dr. Brier zooms in on a photo he has of the back of the three skulls and blows up the image. The sutures (which knit together the bones of the cranium) indicate that the three are younger (sutures open), middle (partly fused), older (fused and smoothed over), meaning that they do match the painting featured earlier in the show. Also, the dye of the cloth found in the shrine, as well as the weave, look even older.

Whether this really means that the bones are the real deal remains to be seen. However, this means that the story - that the bones are among the holiest relics in the whole of Christianity - could well be true.

Do I believe in any of the above? Well, yes and no. I tend to believe in the power of science, regardless of what my readings in the Philosophy of Science (specifically in realism and antirealism) have taught me, and so, I am quite impressed by the hypothesis that Dr. Brier has put forward. Nevertheless, as people say, I won't be changing the date of Christmas just yet.

My dad bought my mum (and by extension, I) dinner at Bacco tonight. It was the most expensive dinner the three of us have had in a very long time, costing over S$200 for two appetizers, three main courses, one dessert, three glasses of wine and umpteen glasses of beer. But still, my dad felt it was money well-spent. The ambience was great, the service equally good (I do love knowledgeable waiters) and the Italian food was not too bad. We had initially decided to go there because a wine merchant who my parents had purchased wine from last year had informed them that he supplied wine to the restaurant, and hence the wine quality should've been quite good. And indeed it was. I had a nice glass of German Riesling (2003) from Dr. Burklin-Wolf, the largest winery in Germany (which turned out to have been supplied by Taste Fine Wine Merchants).

On Saturday, I had dinner with some friends at Cafe de Amigo (also known as Amigo the Bistro) at Specialists' Centre. It has quite possibly the friendlist owner in town - Tommy Lam, self-styled Wine MBA. He kept my friends and I entertained throughout with his eccentric comments, apologising to me about how they don't practise the "ladies first" policy in the restaurant, telling us how he felt his accounting exam three times while in college (after seeing my job title) and so on and so forth. The food was generally okay but there were two outstanding dishes: the deep-fried camembert appetizer (S$12.50) and the Normandy apple pie (S$7.50). And in spite of the availability of good wine in the shop (from Australia, Tommy apologised for not having any French wines that day), we didn't take any, instead opting for lemon tea.

I'm still waiting to try a glass of Pinot Noir though. Sideways has really gotten to me. And to other people as well, by the looks of it.

Watched Agata e la tempesta (Agata and the storm, directed by Silvio Soldini, who also did Pane e Tulipani) which is currently showing as part of the Italian Film Festival. I was entranced by the description of the show which said it was about a woman, Agata (Licea Maglietta), whose life suddenly feels as though it's been thrown into a strange story, and who makes light bulbs blow up when she walks past.

Given that I made street lights in London go out when I walked past, that one phrase was bound to capture my attention.

Agata, in her 40s, runs a bookstore and is able to match customers with books very well. It is this ability that causes a much younger man, Nico (Claudio Santamaria), to fall for her and eventually, after her initial hestitation on account of the age difference, they begin a relationship. Meanwhile, Agata's brother, Gustavo (Emilio Solfrizzi), a talented architect, is leading a contented life with his TV psychologist wife, Ines (Marina Massirani), when his life is thrown into disarray by the discovery that he is not in fact Agata's brother, but that he was bought for the sum of 350,000 lira from his biological mother when he was a baby. Gustavo's hitherto unknown brother, Romeo (Giuseppe Battiston), a fashion designer (if he can be called that) , is the one who hits him with this revelation, when their dying mother (and chicken lover) reveals this on her deathbed.

Thus begins a whirlwind of comedic coincidences. And yes, wacky hi-jinks do ensue. Thereafter, Gustavo withdraws from everyone he's known in a fit of despair, because he doesn't quite know who he is. He'd always thought that his father was a famous architect and that this, in turn, was his own path in life, so what does he do now that he's learnt that he's not really his father's son? Romeo, on the other hand, begins dreaming about what he's always wanted - a trout farm. Meanwhile, Agata, in a tizzy over her own love life because she's in love with an unattainable man, learns that electrical appliances go berserk whenever she's in a state of emotional excitement.

It's incredibly difficult to describe the rest of the movie without giving the whole story away, but suffice it to say that this is a whimsical, heartwarming and sweet comedy about risk taking and the importance of family.

Incidentally, this show is set in the coastal town of Genoa, a place I was supposed to go to during my trip to Italy in 2002 but which I finally decided to skip in favour of Cinque Terre, and also because I'd heard that there was a high amount of crime there due to the number of sailors passing through the city. But the movie didn't show any of that. Rather, it made the region look beautiful indeed.

Favourite moments (SPOILER ALERT):

After Gustavo tells Agata about the phone call from Romeo informing him that he was adopted, Agata responds: The mother was feeling guilty, and she desperately wanted to tell someone. Whenever she looked at her husband, she felt...
Gustavo: Did he call you too?
Agata: No.
Gustavo: Then how do you know all this?
Agata: Just improvising on a theme.

Gustavo: 350,000 lira.
Ines: It was worth much more then.

Whenever Agata causes a light bulb, a computer, a toaster, etc. to go berserk.

When Agata is talking to Arturo thinking he's Nico and confessing her feelings for him.

Romeo's incredibly bad fashion moments - and his penchant for wearing stripes and brightly coloured suits!

If you believe in love at first sight, you never stop looking.
- tagline of Closer

You'd think a movie about the darker side of love (if indeed, you could call it that) - its callousness, its casual cruelty, its capriciousness (and all other words starting with c) - wouldn't be the kind of movie that I'd be longing to see. In most cases, you'd be right. However, I've been wanting to see Closer for the longest time since it was released here in Singapore, and not least because of the gorgeousness of Jude Law.

The film starts off to the strains of Damien Rice's heartbreakingly beautiful The Blower's Daughter. A young woman - a girl even - mesmerises Dan (Jude Law) as she walks down the street towards him. They exchange shy smiles and and in a typically American move, having looked the wrong way, she steps off the curb right into the path of an oncoming car. He rushes up to her, aghast and as he reaches out to her prone body, she comes to, looks straight into his eyes, smiles slightly and says oh-so-sexily, "hello, stranger."

And thus, the relationship between Dan and the young woman (Alice, played by Natalie Portman) begins. As Dan accompanies her to the emergency room, we find out that he's an obituary writer and an aspiring novelist while Alice, a former stripper and self-described waif, has recently arrived in London from New York. A brief, charming courtship takes place between the two after they leave the hospital. They chat and they flirt; in one great scene when Dan is describing his work (in astonishment that anyone would ever be interested in his kind of job), Alice reaches out, takes off his glasses, breathes on them, cleans them and places them back on his face, all done with a tender, flirting kind of grace.

We fast forward a year or so later. Dan is getting his picture taken by Anna (Julia Roberts), a professional photographer, for a book he's written - a book inspired by Alice's life. He's clearly entranced by Anna, and they end up kissing, even though he admits a couple of minutes later that Alice is "lovable and impossible to leave." When Alice turns up to meet him, he brings her to meet Anna. She recognises the danger her relationship is facing, especially when she overhears the conversation in which he tells Anna, "I've got to see you again."

In one of the most enduring moments of the movie, Alice gets Anna to take her picture, sending Dan on his way. While her picture is being taken, the two ladies talk about Anna's life and work and all seems well until Alice turns on Anna, revealing that she knows about Anna and Dan's indiscretion. Anna apologises and attempts to reassure Alice, but Alice, against a backdrop of a gray daylight filtering in through the window, snaps, "Just take my picture!" and we are left to stare at her tear-streaked face, seemingly vulnerable, yet guarded.

Later, in a thoroughly amusing scene, Dan, after having been rejected by Anna, is in an Internet chatroom, masquerading as a sex-hungry female... by the name of Anna. Larry (Clive Owen, who plays Dan in the play) , a dermatologist and first-time sex chatroom user, ends up his victim that night. Everything about the cybersex scene (the words, the furtive way Larry glances around his office to make sure no one else can see what he's doing, the cool-as-a-cucumber expression on Dan's face as he types out his "orgasm") is hilarious. It is through this exchange that Larry gets to meet the real Anna and they end up getting into a relationship with each other.

The love quadrangle is now complete. A few years later, Dan has left Alice for Anna, who is now married to Larry. When she tells him, almost fearfully, that she's leaving him for Dan, Larry brutishly, violently interrogates her about her sexual relationship with Dan until she, defeated by the barrage of questions, acknowledges that Dan is "sweeter" and "gentler". In that moment, the love he has for her dies. "Thank you for your honesty," he says,"now, f*** off and die, you f***ed-up slag."

We see many more of this kind of scenes to follow, scenes in which the the need to know and the truth end up destroying relationships. "What's so great about the truth? Try lying for a change - it's the currency of the world," one character bitterly asserts. "Lying is the most fun a girl can have without taking off her clothes.... but it's more fun when you do," another coyly admits.

I could go on but I'd end up giving the whole story away, so it's best if you just go and catch it.

Let me conclude by saying that this film doesn't showcase love in all of its glory. It shows us how brutal and tough it can be, how insensitive people in love can be to everyone one else, how manipulative people can get after they've been hurt, and above all, how fragile love is. In an instant, everything can change. In a moment, love can end.

Sideways is a delightfully understated movie which seems incredibly real, all the more so because neither of the two main characters seems particularly likeable on paper, what with Miles (Paul Giamatti) as a depressed failed writer and wine connoisseur and Jack (Thomas Haden Church) as a fading actor and irrepressible flirt looking to get laid before his impending marriage in a week's time. Yet, because of the tender attentive way it treats both of the characters' flaws, we find ourselves genuinely liking them, even if, in reality, we wouldn't go near them with a ten-foot pole.

Miles and Jack are polar opposites, and yet, because of some mysterious way they bonded during their freshman year in college, now, over a decade later, they're still good friends, so much so that Miles - of all people - is going to be the best man at Jack's wedding, despite the former's dour appearance and dour outlook on life (partly due to depression, partly due to his own failed marriage). The movie focusses on the week before the wedding, when the two spend a week touring the great wine regions of Santa Barbara, with some golf in between. What Miles doesn't realise is that Jack has his own agenda - to get one last hurrah, one last great night of sex before committing to marriage. And on this trip, two significant people, Maya (Virginia Madsen), a waitress and wine aficionado, and Stephanie (Sandra Oh) , a wine pourer at a tasting room, cross paths with them.

It is during the week that we see how different they are and while we marvel at the differences, because of the chemistry between the two, we never ever question how and why the two have such a good relationship, even while they're yelling at each other over the most trivial matters. Jack, shallow as most actors are, is so "into the moment" that a night of mind-blowing sex with Stephanie convinces him that he's in love, and that he should postpone the wedding.

Miles, on the other hand, needs to be pushed and prodded before even managing to stumble in the correct direction, and even when an opportunity presents itself willingly, he backs away. In a beautiful scene when both Miles and Maya are sharing their philosophies on wine, with Miles expounding on why he loves Pinot so much (it's "thin-skinned and temperamental ... [and] needs constant care and attention") and she speaking of wines as if they were people she wants to meet — people like Miles, we see both of them falling (deeper) in love with one another. As Time calls it, "it's one of the most poignant falling-in-love duets in movie history, with an ending so faithful to real life, it could break your heart."

But of course, all good things must come to an end. All too soon, Jack's deception is uncovered, and this rubs off on Miles, and both of them find their liaisons coming to an abrupt end. While this is where many movies - as quiet statements of real life - may have floundered, Sideways does brilliantly, bringing in comic moments which aren't funny; they're incredibly funny. And the ending? A little unexpected, but entirely appropriate.

The cinematography too must receive special mention. The Santa Ynez area is exquisitely, lovingly filmed, and the spirit of the communities and wineries is beautifully captured. The musical score accompanying the film is subtle and managing to capture the essence of each scene quite well.

Go see the film now. You won't regret it. And you might come out knowing a thing or two more about wine. Hell, if it can make someone like myself (a self-professed hater of pretentious wine snobs) yearn to take up wine appreciation just to be able to get some insight into something which Miles and Maya are so passionate about... I think almost everyone will gain something from this show.

Memorable Quotes (and there are many!)

Miles: I don't know. It's a hard grape to grow. As you know. It's thin-skinned, temperamental, ripens early. It's not a survivor like Cabernet that can grow anywhere and thrive even when neglected. Pinot needs constant care and attention and in fact can only grow in specific little tucked-away areas of the world. And only the most patient and nurturing growers can do it really, can tap into Pinot's most fragile, delicate qualities. Only when someone has taken the time to truly understand its potential, can Pinot be coaxed into its fullest expression. And when that happens, its flavors are the most haunting and brilliant and subtle and thrilling and ancient on the planet.

Maya: No, but I do like to think about the life of wine, how it's a living thing. I like to think about what was going on the year the grapes were growing, how the sun was shining that summer or if it rained... what the weather was like. I think about all those people who tended and picked the grapes, and if it's an old wine, how many of them must be dead by now. I love how wine continues to evolve, how every time I open a bottle its going to taste different than if I had opened it on any other day. Because a bottle of wine is actually alive - it's constantly evolving and gaining complexity. That is, until it peaks - like your '61 - and begins its steady, inevitable decline. And it tastes so fucking good.

(Miles lamenting about his insignificance)
Miles: Well, the world doesn't give a shit what I have to say. I'm not necessary. I'm so insignificant I can't even kill myself.
Jack: Miles, what the hell is that supposed to mean?
Miles: Come on, man. You know. Hemingway, Sexton, Plath, Woolf. You can't kill yourself before you're even published.
Jack: What about the guy who wrote "Confederacy of Dunces"? He killed himself before he was published. Look how famous he is.
Miles: Thanks.

(When Miles is depressed over the publisher's refusal to get his novels published and Jack tries to comfort him)
Miles: Half my life is over and I have nothing to show for it. Nothing. I'm a thumbprint on the window of a skyscraper. I'm a smudge of excrement on a tissue surging out to sea with a million tons of raw sewage.
Jack: See? Right there. Just what you just said. That is beautiful. 'A smudge of excrement... surging out to sea.'
Miles: Yeah.
Jack: I could never write that.
Miles: Neither could I, actually. I think it's Bukowski.

I recently attended a forum conducted by my company as part of its diversity initiative. The topic of the day was whether women in or on their way towards senior management could achieve a proper work/life balance.

There were four speakers but only two made any impression on me; one of them was a very high-powered woman working in my company, while the other was a prominent lawyer - with an equally, if not more so, prominent husband, although I was unaware of that fact at the time. Anyway, that's beside the point. Being a young woman doing her best to cope with the long hours and lousy pay at the expense of one of the great loves of her life, I was, of course, most interested in hearing what these people had to say.

Essentially, it all boiled down to a few salient points. With the advances of technology which have now given us nifty innovations such as mobile phones, Blackberrys and remote access, it is now possible for us to work from anywhere we choose. It's not necessary to be at your desk all the time to get work then. In fact, if you wanted, you could leave the office at 6.30 pm, bring your work home with you, spend time with the kids until they fall asleep, and then continue working after that. In other words, it's now easier to fit your hobbies, passions and well, life, around work.

Women who have just given birth can make use of this as well if they don't want to be away from what's going on for too long. In my line of work, that's one of the things I'd be most worried about. My industry is very fast-paced. I struggle a little to catch up after being away for a fortnight, much less a couple of months.

Aside from technology, the speakers stated that what we as women need to do is be a little selfish. We need to consider ourselves and what we want out of life more, instead of thinking about the needs of others. And once we know what it is that we want, then we need to be tenacious enough to go after it, no matter what, and not allow anyone or anything to hold us back. In other words, we need a killer instinct in order to be successful.

The speaker I liked the most - the lawyer - was the most forthright. She put forward a lot of interesting points which, at some level, I already knew, but was not fully aware of. For instance, she pointed out that a man's career path is linear, whereas a woman's career trajectory isn't. It's more of a hyperbolic curve, because the point most men (and women) are trying their best to get a foot into the echelons of senior management, is also the same time that most women would (ideally) want to start having a family. However, jobs are designed purely to accommodate men's career paths, and not women's. Moreover, she pointed out that in order to rectify this, we'd probably need to revamp the whole system.

Another thing she said that I liked was her frank admission that after the birth of her first two kids, she was a physical wreck. She was working incredibly long hours in the office and her two pregnancies were unplanned. After the birth of the first son, she felt horrible for not being at home for him because she was in the office, and at the same time, she felt like a lousy worker for not being the last one to leave. So, she took a year off work (although still keeping in touch with what was going on in her industry) and spent time with her family before jumping back into practising law.

She also pointed out that we shouldn't regard women who choose to work and aspire to be in senior management as superwomen, but rather ordinary women, and that all of us are capable of achieving "high-powered high-flyer" status if we had that "killer instinct".

Before you start thinking that I was incredibly inspired by the forum (I was... and still am, but my natural cynicism has sunk in again), I do have some quibbles with the points brought up. First and foremost, I work in a department where the boss herself seems to consider that if we leave the office earlier than say 8 pm, then we're not getting enough work. And true enough, more work will appear on our desks the next morning. In addition, I'm far too junior for my company to give me a Blackberry to use if necessary.

Secondly, of course it's possible to raise a family in Singapore even if both you and your husband worked. Usually, the parents or the in-laws will be more than happy to take care of your kids while getting a maid is an affordable alternative. Given the peculiarities of this city, I would quite like it if we could get a Western speaker (as in high-flying female, married, with kids and based in a Western country) to tell us how she coped without having a maid or her parents or in-laws taking care of the kids.

Finally, for those of us who haven't found the perfect house husband and are doing our best to work towards a senior managerial position, how, then, do we go about achieving that work/life balance? It requires so much time and effort to meet people, much less having to filter the chaff from the wheat and then build a relationship which will hopefully last. I don't think I've got the time - or the energy these days - to be able to do that.

There're some other things I wanted to say but my notes aren't here. Also, I've been working pretty late the last few nights and I'm starting to fall asleep. I'll complete this later.

I went to Kuala Lumpur for a short three-day break over the weekend. Amazingly enough, despite the lack of activities in the city, I was happy. It felt so good to be away from stifling Singapore, in spite of the danger that was lurking around every comment because, after all, I am a rather well-to-do foreigner, despite being able to pass off as a Malaysian while in shopping malls.

I saw quite a few amusing and interesting things while I was there. I only wish I had my camera to capture all of those moments. Instead, I'll have to recount them for you here and rely on your imagination to bring them to life.

• Extremely poor planning (sign spotted in Chinese restaurant in Berjaya Times Square): "Vacancy: All Positions"
• The RM2.00 "premier toilet" on the Ground Floor of Suria KLCC. "Non-paying toilets on other floors," the sign proclaimed.
• A suspiciously high concentration of rather... shall we say, limp-wristed staff working in Zang Toi's West 57th Street Cafes.
• Outback Steakhouse near Plaza Low Yat with a sign stating that its proprietor is Santana.
• The street portrait artist with examples of his work including Osama Bin Laden and Prince Charles ("Two of the most heinous figures in the world," said my British friend) .
  

One of my favourite sights has got to be the green traffic man. Some of KL's traffic lights, instead of having the usual blinking green man that's a signal for you to hurry up and cross the road, have got the blinking and running green man. And this is no ordinary green man. Rather, he wears a hat and is walking rather funkily across the road, before he starts sprinting (i.e. the light starts blinking).

While the coach ride up was rather uneventful, the return leg, was fraught with delays. Everything that could have delayed the coach short of it breaking down happened. An incredibly incosiderate passenger held up the coach for 30 minutes which resulted in the coach being not so ahead of schedule that another coach couldn't transfer passengers to them at Yong Peng (another 40 minute wait). Then, at the Singapore immigration checkpoint, the clan of 10 Romanians/Bulgarians brought down their considerable luggage to be cleared through customs, only to return to the coach over an hour later with their bags looking rather depleted. This resulted in our alighting at the final destination at 10.30 pm, a full two hours later than we had anticipated. Suffice it to say that my butt was very sore from having sat down for so long.

Necrophilia among ducks ruffles research feathers

The strange case of the homosexual necrophiliac duck pushed out the boundaries of knowledge in a rather improbable way when it was recorded by Dutch researcher Kees Moeliker in his seminal paper, "The first case of homosexual necrophilia in the mallard anas platyrhynchos."

"Because that's what people do. They leap and hope to God they can fly. 'Cos if not, they're just gonna drop like a rock, wondering the whole way down 'why in the hell did I jump?' So, here I am, falling, and the only one that can make me feel like I can fly, is you."
- Alex Hitchens, Hitch

Hitch was a nice, sweet movie. If the main character, Alex Hitchens, had been played by anyone other than Will Smith, this movie would most likely have bombed. But thanks to Will's charismatic performance, this show, in spite of its unlikely plot and almost-too-clever tagline, doesn't come off too badly.

Will's wide grin and charming good looks are put to good use here, and though he plays the kind of smooth-talking guy girls both love and despise, he does earn the viewer's sympathy. Yes, he's a date doctor. He helps men get the girl of their dreams, through what some might consider as deceitful means. Still, because he's a discerning consultant, only helping out those whose intentions are honourable, and because he knows all too well that leaving everything to fate and chance means that in spite of a client's target's protests that she "would have noticed him" without Hitch's help, she admits "eventually... maybe", we applaud him.

Kevin James (King of Queens), as the adorable goofball, Albert, is funny in a dorky, yet not slapstick way. He's in love with Allegra (Amber Valleta), a gorgeous heiress, and declares this in an endearingly sweet speech, telling Hitch that every morning, he wakes up in pain because she's with someone else, yet he hopes that she finds happiness even if it's not with him. The scenes where Hitch is instructing him on what to do (all of which are in the trailer), such as when Allegra gives him her number, when Hitch is teaching Albert how to dance (which has made me reconsider whether I really want a guy who likes to dance) are hilarious. The chemistry between these two is great, and worth seeing the movie for.

The chemistry between Hitch's love interest, Sara (Eva Mendes), and Hitch on the other hand is almost non-existent. I almost couldn't stand Sara, even as I thought, "whoa, girl, Sara is me." A workaholic who doesn't have time for a boyfriend because her career is her main priority (so she maintains), she's wary about falling in love, because she expects men to let her down. She's described by Hitch as being "a realist, masquerading as a cynic, who is secretly an optimist." These are all things I've said and thought about myself before, so I was quite startled. In any case, I suppose we're meant to feel sorry for Sara, and maybe I almost did, but because of her highhandedness in getting revenge for her friend without bothering to find out the facts... I just couldn't take it.

In any case, Hitch ends on a happy note, as do all romantic movies. And the brilliantly painful dance scene at the end when the characters get down in a dance-off to Heavy D's "Now That We've Found Love" is incredibly funny. And as the Washington Post says, "if you still don't believe a guy like James could get a gal like Valletta, you will once you see them doing the robot together."

Memorable Quotes
Warning: Some are incredibly cheesy, but they made me go, "awww..." so there. The tie for my favourite line is between Albert's (see below) and Hitch's speech to Sara (right at the top of this entry).

Albert: You know what it’s like getting up every morning? Feeling hopeless, feeling like the love of your life is waking up with the wrong man. But, at the same time hoping that she still finds happiness, even if it’s never going to be with you.

Hitch: Here's to lying, stealing, cheating, and drinking. If you must lie, lie in the arms of the one you love. If you must steal, steal away from bad company. If you must cheat, cheat death. And if you drink, drink to the moments that take your breath away.

Hitch: No woman wakes up thinking, "God, I hope I don't get swept off my feet today."

Hitch: Life isn't about how many breaths you take; it's about how many moments leave you breathless.

Hitch: One day you're living your life, the next, you don't know how you lived without them.

"Two lost souls... fall into conversation about their marriages, their happiness and the meaning of it all. These conversations can really only be held with strangers. We all need to talk about metaphysics, but those who know us well want details and specifics; strangers allow us to operate more vaguely on a cosmic scale. When the talk occurs between two people who could plausibly have sex together, it gathers a special charge: you can only say "I feel like I've known you for years" to someone you have not known for years. Funny, how your spouse doesn't understand the bittersweet transience of life as well as a stranger encountered in a hotel bar. Especially if drinking is involved."
- Lost In Translation, Roger Ebert.

"There is a meeting of the minds (our most erotic organs)."
- Before Sunrise, Roger Ebert.

"If there's any kind of magic in this world, it must be in the attempt of understanding someone, sharing something. I know, it's almost impossible to succeed, but... who cares, really? The answer must be in the attempt."
- Celine, Before Sunrise

"Isn't everything we do in life a way to be loved a little more?"
Celine, Before Sunrise

If girlfriend material were measured in fabric, you'd be single-ply cashmere, baby. "You're open to being in a relationship but don't define your self-worth by the guy you're dating," says Sheilagh Shusta-Hochberg, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist in New York City. "If it doesn't work out, you know you won't fall apart, because it's not like you dropped your entire social life for him."

Your laid-back vibe also keeps your bond balanced. "When your guy asserts his independence, like going out with his buddies for the night, you use it as an opportunity to go out and have fun. You also know it's okay to continue to have girlfriend brunches and the occasional flirty exchange with guy buddies," says Shusta-Hochberg. Additionally, you know when to shower a guy with the right amount of TLC (like treating him to a night out) and when to demand it for yourself (like taking more airtime at dinner). That give-and-take combo makes your relationships rock solid.

I'm a Killer Catch... says the incredibly single and man-less girl.

Today, I had the following thoughts:

1. I would like to have someone I could enjoy Norah Jones with.

2. In spite of the fact that my long hours are making me terribly unhappy, I'm applying for (better-paying) jobs which have worse hours. Is the money really worth it? Or is all of this because I'm defining myself by someone else's definition of success? Am I contemplating two of the most life-sucking industries in the world (investment banking and management consulting) because I'm interested in them, or because I want to prove to myself that with my talents and skills, I'm capable of handling these high-powered, incredibly stressful jobs?

In other news... I got slightly tipsy (champagne, as always, is a weakness of mine, especially when I haven't had anything to eat beforehand) and was most likely flirting with an ang moh from my company. Oh well.

I left work at 12.15 am today... on my day off.

And I got a raise today of an extra S$7.50 per workday per month... which works out to be slightly more than S$0.50 per hour of work I do per day.

Man, if my eyes weren't so dry thanks to many hours of computer work, I'd cry.

Happy International Women's Day.

Women are women, men are men
Jaime Ee
The Business Times
8 March 2005

[T]here are men today who don't subjugate women or stone them to death, but who'll still not go out with a woman who's smarter, earns more and, well, wears the pants better than them. And there are women who claw their way up the corporate ladder only to find it's pretty lonely up there - because men are intimidated by them and other women think they're bitches. Which may not necessarily be wrong, either.

So where does that leave independent, go-getting women? Twirling their Hermes scarves around their fingers while they watch similarly successful, go-getting men go out with their personal assistants and live happily ever after - while they go home to a neutered cat?

Where's the equality, you might ask. Where's the justice of it all? And, more importantly, what does it say for the evolution of women?

The reality is, women are screwed up and so are men. That's what makes life so interesting, albeit painful. Celebrate International Women's Day if you see the relevance, but ultimately it all boils down to one thing: things change, but some things stay the same. Women are women, men are men, and never the twain shall meet. At best, we'll be able to tolerate each other. But when we finally understand and get along, that's when we'll have peace on earth. And a real reason to celebrate.

I've watched two great movies recently: Team America: World Police and Ray. Yes, two very different movies, but still, both were good fun.

First off, Team America. I love South Park and I knew I'd love this movie. I loved how Team America, in their efforts to keep the world safe from terrorism, went around blowing up monuments such as The Eiffel Tower (which in turn fell over and wrecked The Arc of Triumph) and then proudly proclaim, "It's all right. Everything's under control." I enjoyed every stupid line of dialogue, like:

Boss man (aka Spottswoode) : If we don't stop them, it'll be 9/11 times a hundred.
Team leader (aka Joe) (in shock): That's... that's...
Spottswoode : Yes. Ninety-one thousand, one hundred.

and

Lisa: Promise me you won't die.
Gary: I can't promise that.
Lisa: If you promise me that, I'll make love to you right now.
Gary: I promise.

It may not look funny when read, but you've got to see the show for yourself. I guarantee you that those lines, as idiotic as they may seem, will make you laugh out loud.

There're great scenes - but of course, seeing that it's a marionette show - illustrating how they move (I love the part where Gary's asked if he knows the distress signal, and he waves his arms around wildly) and how they have sex. Some reviewers have said that the latter scene alone is worth the price of admission. While (most likely) humanly impossible, it is great stuff to watch.

Lastly, obscene as the language may be, the end speech (about dicks, pussies and assholes) makes a lot of sense. I wonder how long it took Trey Parker and Matt Stone to come up with that incredibly wise, yet terribly vulgar speech... which was played twice!

On to a more serious movie - Ray. This movie is a little patchy in that some parts of Ray Charles's life story are just glossed over rather quickly. For instance, I couldn't figure out for sure whether his long-time manager really was embezzling money, whether it was a ploy on the part of his new manager or whether it was because his heroin/cocaine addiction was taking a toll on Ray. It was hard to tell, because they kind of skimmed over the end really fast.

What is good about the show, however, is Jamie Foxx. His resemblence to Ray Charles is scarily amazing. He looks and sounds exactly like Ray. His performance in the show is splendid, especially given his eyes were closed throughout the whole show (with the aid of prosthetics) .

And of course, the music is awesome. I've never really listened to Georgia On My Mind until this movie, and now... in spite of my instinctive dislike for it (due to the fact that I can't swing dance to it), I have to admit that Ray Charles's performance of the song is breathtaking. You can hear the passion in his voice for his hometown. And his other songs, such as Messaround, What'd I Say and Hallelujah I Love Her So, are demonstrations of his genius, of how he created new sounds by breaking down barriers between genres. The man is a genius, and I'm sad to say I only found out after he died.

Way Out West (WOW) ended the night disappointingly early at 4.30 am. Granted, they may have had to leave early as they're going up to Genting Highlands to play at tonight's ZoukFest, but still... hey, there're some of us who have to work on a daily basis, and we still somehow cope, you know? ;P

Anyway, the WOW live set started off rather slowly. Good music, but all too chill. Perfect for when you're too tired to dance and you just want to close your eyes and soak in the music. Even with tunes like The Gift and Mindcircus, it was still rather chill. After about 40 minutes, the music got pumping once they'd started playing Killa all the way till they ended with Anything But You with their great vocalist, Omi, who was really grooving. Unfortunately, the vocals weren't too strong as the bass overpowered her voice.

Jody was really bouncing, fiddling with the knobs, with his body a physical reflection of the effects that were being added to the songs. I'd love to have him made into a doll and place him next to my speakers so that whenever I play clubbing music, I can see him bounce up and down. Nick, on the other hand, was more sedate, looking like a grunge photographer with his denim jacket and glasses. He wasn't as energetic as Jody in the live set, for sure.

The DJ set, on the other hand, was fantastic. The music was incredible. For the most part, the music was progressive house, with slight trance overtones, but I was having a hell of a time, even without much alcohol. Nick was really starting to get into the groove of things, beginning to dance a little bit as he spun. Jody was still the same old, same old, and I was kind of thrilled to get his attention for a small part, because I was right up in front - for the live set and the DJ set - and you could clearly tell I was having fun because of the huge smile on my face. In fact, I danced so hard that both of my knees hurt really badly. I wasn't sure if I would be able to walk after the night and I desperately wanted some Ibuprofen - it was that bad. But true to my mantra, I continued dancing some more, even jumping up and down and pounding my feet into the floor.

Nick proved to be the better DJ last night. Jody skipped a couple of beats here and there, and overall, Nick's reading of the crowd and tune selection proved to be more accurate than Jody's. Undoubtedly, that's why he's more renowned across the globe, even to the point of having recorded several Global Underground albums. I'm glad I caught him this time, after five failed attempts previously, and don't care in the slightest that I missed out on an awesome set at Velvet by Jon Cutler, according to those who went, because last night, WOW rocked my world, baby!

But why was there no Intensify?