Conversation between a colleague and myself
He: So, the rationale behind his conclusion was incorrect and therefore, his argument was...
Me: Fallacious.
He: Excuse me?
Me: The argument was a logical fallacy, therefore it's fallacious.
He: Don't ever say that word again. It sounds too much like something else.

And so it does. Oh dear.

As a non-smoker who has encountered careless smokers on the dance floor (one which, fortunately, didn't cause me any physical injury), I'd much rather people keep their cigarettes off the dance floor.

Sure, I didn't get angry when some guy's cigarette was on my arm for like 5 seconds, during which I was trying to figure out what the hell was causing that unbelievably painful sensation, nor did I screw him over when he went, "Ouch, ouch, ouch!", looked at his cigarette and then looked at me to ask if I was okay. The burn mark took a few months to go away.

A couple of days ago, some guy at a club almost waved his cigarette right in to my eye. If I had caught up with him, he would really have gotten it.

Granted, there'll always be some careless people among the multitudes of sensible people, and maybe imposing a regulation banning smoking on the dance floor or in clubs may be overkill. However, given that not smoking won't kill you, but your smoking may well seriously injure me, I think my point of view is entirely justified.

Conversation between a young couple sitting right behind me while on the bus yesterday:

My thoughts are in brackets.

Female: I'm sorry about what I said earlier. Does this change your impression of me?
Male: I mean, sometimes I think with my other head (here, I have to restrain myself from turning around just to check if he's pointing it out.) but...
Female: I'm not a bad girl. I mean [mumble mumble].
Male: You're talking about the devil and the deep blue sea. (I'm like, WTF? What kind of an expression is that?) I mean, you're comparing well... two immoral things.
Female: [defensive blabber]
Male: I'm not looking for a bad girl. I'm looking for one to keep.
Female: I'm not a bad girl. I don't do drugs.
Male: You're talking about extremities. (Here, I found myself thinking, what's this got to do with fingers and toes? Oh.... he means "extremes". Why is their English so bad?)
Female: Look, are you worried I'll do something stupid or that I'll leave you?
Male: Are you trying to elicit a response from me? Or is this a... foreshadowing of what's to come? Look, I know the Lit term.
Female: There's no such word as foreshadowing, only foreshadow. (Yes, there is such a word, what is wrong with the linguistic abilities of both of you?)

At this point, I'm thinking, maybe both of them should apply to join MediaCorp. Goodness knows their scriptwriting abilities are about the same standard.

You scored as Utilitarianism. Your life is guided by the principles of Utilitarianism: You seek the greatest good for the greatest number. “The said truth is that it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong.” - Jeremy Bentham “Whenever the general disposition of the people is such, that each individual regards those only of his interests which are selfish, and does not dwell on, or concern himself for, his share of the general interest, in such a state of things, good government is impossible.” - John Stuart Mill More info at Arocoun's Wikipedia User Page... Hedonism 65% Utilitarianism 65% Existentialism 60% Divine Command 60% Kantianism 50% Strong Egoism 50% Justice (Fairness) 50% Apathy 40% Nihilism 35% What philosophy do you follow? (v1.03) created with QuizFarm.com

More Star Wars fun (thanks to mr brown for the first two):
Darth Tater puns written by schoolchildren: "Luke, I am your farmer" and "Trust your peelings" rank among some of the best lines.
Rebate of the Sip: Star Was: Episode III - in Singlish! Written by the same guy who brought to you the Architect speech (from Matrix Reloaded) in Hokkien.
Star Wars in Hokkien: As done by Power 98. Translation can be found here.
Daniel Wang's Star Wars comic: Another Star Was spoof as set in a local context.
Star Wars quiz from BBC.co.uk: You got 13 right! Excellent. A true Jedi master. You're probably already camping outside a cinema.
The Sith Sense: Darth Vader reads your mind.

Tower of Beer (DXO)

I'd like to know why DXO isn't doing well. My friends and I were over there earlier today at around 1 am to catch Stephane K who was dishing out good dirty house and the place was empty. We were the first ones on the dance floor and fortunately for both the DJ and the club, people started following us on after it was apparent that hey, the people on the floor know good music and they're clearly having fun.

One problem that's common with both Onyx and DXO is the lack of publicity surrounding their events. It's all fine and good to advertise on TR and Frontal Labs, but that's not good enough for the masses. You need to be in I-S Magazine and Juice at the very least.

Drinks promotions too are quite important, but there's not much point having one-for-ones and all that if the quality of drinks is lousy. The quality of drinks at DXO is surprisingly good (apparently something to do with the bulk purchasing power of NTUC), while regrettably, I can't say the same for Onyx the two times I've been there.

Also, the impression I get from others is that there's a general perception that both DXO and Onyx are beng clubs. Fair enough, that's what most of us probably thought once we learnt which companies were operating the clubs. But in my opinion, both clubs are far from beng and do have potential.

But I guess we'll find out for sure from July to October when Zouk is closed for renovations.

P.S. I truly understand that there are people out there who resent having to pay cover to go into a club because they don't plan on drinking any alcohol so to them, it's a huge cost for having to pay to dance all night. But, and as I've said many times, Singapore is one of the few places I know with good clubs which give you drinks along with your entry fee, unlike say, London. Moreover, after watching 24 Hour Party People, and learning that the great clubs in Manchester, like The Hacienda, went under because people weren't spending on drinks, but rather on drugs (the profits of which don't go back to the club management, understandably enough), I do my best to contribute to the continued survival of clubs I go to.

I'm not sure if every corporate drone experiences the same kind of sadistic thrill I feel when I read Dilbert because sadly for me, it hits very closely to home. For an example of his humour, if you're one of the few people in this world who've yet to read any of his comics, you can check out these two comics, taking a dig at the Indian Institute of Technology, who were so tickled by it that it's even mentioned on their front page.

On Thursday night, I went to the Martini Festival party at BQ Bar. I hadn't intended to stay long, just long enough to grab the free martini promised me for registering, and then possibly another, before heading home to get some much-needed rest.

By the end of the night, not only had I gotten on to the open-air Hippo Bus that led to the after-party at Ink Bar and actually gone into the bar, as opposed to walking off to the bus-stop and catching a bus home, I had had 5 martinis (of which I paid for only two), including two Velvet Hammers one huge martini (750 ml) bought for us courtesy of the kind festival organiser, 42 Below Vodka.

If you're wondering what happened to make my plans change so drastically, there were two reasons:

1. The organiser was rather cute.
2. My girlfriends were there.
   

It's a given in almost any situation that whenever my girlfriends and I congregate, and there are copious amounts of alcohol, one of us will do something crazy. This time, because I was the one so obviously lusting after the organiser, I guess it was my turn. So instead of heading home after the party at BQ Bar ended at 10.45 pm, all of us got on the bus, and followed the organiser to the after-party, conveniently ignoring the fact that we were the only young local females there.

We managed to get ourselves much-coveted and comfortable sofa seats at the club, and my friends were trying to get me to chat to the organiser when we noticed a (substantially older) local woman who was talking to him too, even to the point of dragging him onto the dance floor to sexy dance with him, which he did, for like 20 seconds before he escaped and vamoosed to the bar. Heh. (Yes, I am very capable of being bitchy and exhibiting my claws when necessary.)

Anyway, to cut a long story short, after he had gotten one normal-sized martini and the big-a**ed martini, I did what one of my friends recommended (aside: asking for advice when there's more than one of your girlfriends around is a recipe for disaster; they all have different, conflicting approaches.) and just said, "Can I give you a call some time?" just before I left, to which he said, "Sure."

And then... on my way out, I walked into the glass door. Brilliant.

Congratulations, Liverpool. I didn't think it was possible but man, did you prove me wrong. Much to my disappointment, of course, because I like AC Milan. But still. You have earned my respect like no other English Premier League team has other than my beloved Manchester United.

And don't you love the creativity of English fans? I know I always have.

The best banner in Istanbul (Taken from Liverpool FC TV):



The banner in full:
No small toffees for feast tonight
Kopites party with Turkish delight
Jose, Sir Alex... London press
All choking on sweet success
Money, not love, is your drive
But tell us... Can you count to five?

Going through the terms of the finance deal put together for Malcolm Glazer’s acquisition of my beloved Manchester United, I am appalled. As a fan, I am horrified at the amount of debt that will be put on its balance sheets. Quite frankly, this level of debt – even without performing any in-depth analysis – looks unsustainable with the interest costs alone coming up to over GBP100,000 per day. I would love to be the bank doing this deal because the returns look amazing. I mean, 6.5% above LIBOR (currently 4.6%)? Those are junk (now known as high-yield) terms! However, as with any deal with high returns, it entails high risk. That’s why the interest is so high, because the (quite high) probability of default has already been factored into the terms of the financing.

And with Manchester United’s assets as collateral? It’s an asset-light company. What assets does it have other than Old Trafford, its players and merchandising rights? Once the bank moves to enforce its collateral rights, what will happen then? Given the lack of experience the bank has in dealing with the sales and purchase of football players and property, it’s most likely going to be a fire sale.

But of course, before it gets to that stage, I envision Messrs. Glazer and sons will attempt to capitalize on Manchester United’s fame and build a block of apartments a la Arsenal’s Vi7ion. And as I jokingly called Arsenal then, Manchester United will be a real estate company masquerading as a football club.

Marco V was fantastic. His set was very hard, even harder than the last time he came... and just the way I like it. I arrived later than I usually do, only getting to Zouk at around 1 am, with a very kind friend signing me in, thereby sparing me having to fork out S$23 for the entry, seeing as I wasn't intending to buy any drinks that night. I hadn't expected my friend to be there, as the music was going to be too hard for him. But still, he said he wanted to see me (!) and so he came. I'm not sure if the pink Punkyfish cargo trousers and thai silk top I was wearing had anything to do with it, though. Anyway, after getting in, I spent an hour and a half upstairs at Members with some hardcore trance and drinking friends including CO, who only ever turns up at trance nights, and who ended up buying a round of lychee martinis for the group on my behalf.

I'll digress for a second here. I was supposed to pay for the martinis - and I agreed - but CO intervened and gave the waiter his credit card instead. He's a really nice guy and I marvel at how I've managed to get over him and the heartache and now, we're good friends. I'm still not going to learn dancing with him though. Dancing with someone can be a rather intimate affair for me, and I'm not sure if I'm ready to go down that path just yet... even if I have been bemoaning the lack of a dance partner for ages!

Back to the main topic. At 2.30, after finishing my martini, I skipped downstairs to the dance floor and did my customary incredible club dancing. As the music was very hard, I was quite tired by 4 am, but being the Energizer Bunny of clubbing that I am, I continued bouncing up and down all over the floor until Marco V ended his encore at 6 am. Among the tracks he dropped were Marco V - Automanual, Marco V vs. Bates - Nancy Sinatra - Bang Bang, Plastic Boy - Silver Bath, Prodigy - Out of Space, Chemical Brothers - Galvanise and of course, Coldplay - Clocks (Marco V Bootleg Remix). The last track got me going absolutely mental. I recognised it very early on as in spite of the volume of the bass and distortion surrounding the vocals, I recognised Chris Martin's vocals instantly and started jumping around the floor even before the beat kicked in, going to all my friends nearby, "It's Clocks! He's playing Coldplay!!" and proceeded to bounce/jump/dance even more crazily for the entire duration of the song.

At the end of the night, I staggered out of the club, only to find CO waiting for me as he wanted to give me a lift home. It was very sweet of him, even if he does do that in his own beng way ("Oi! Want lift or not?"). Heh. I got home just as my dad was preparing to go to work (!), and collapsed into bed.

A good night indeed.

Any Star Wars fan worth her salt would have discovered these two sites by now:
Grocery Stor Wars: Chewbroccoli and Yoghurt? "That's no moon... that's a melon! The Death Melon!" So bizarre it's great.
Star Wars Film Fan Awards: My personal favourite film among all those featured for the 2005 Awards is Sith Apprentice. With clever quips and parodies of other films, it's hilarious.

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Warning: Spoilers

Finally, so the saga ends. RotS was definitely better than The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones and although that's not saying much, it wasn't a bad movie either. For years now, all of us Star Wars fans have been waiting to see how Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen, wooden as usual, but surprisingly, looking better than when I last saw him), the boy/man with so much emotion for other people, turns to the Dark Side, and we weren't disappointed. Don't get me wrong. The same problems which have plagued George Lucas's other Star Wars films recur here: incredibly bad dialogue*, terribly unconvincing love scenes and a tendency to go overboard on the special effects.

But still, this movie is emotionally gripping and wrenching in a way the other movies save for The Empire Strikes Back weren't. This movie is dark, as it rightly should be. As an illustration, when Order 66 is given for the Shock Troopers (clone soldiers from the previous episodes) to exterminate the Jedi, they do so quickly without any qualms. We witness scene after scene of Jedi being shot in the back by the people they were fighting beside. And when Anakin enters the Jedi Temple under orders from Chancellor Palpatine / Darth Sidious (brilliantly acted by Ian McDiarmid) to eliminate the Jedi there, he enters the Council Room to find all the young children hiding. When they see Anakin, they ask, "What should we do, Master Anakin?" only to met with a cold Anakin firing up his lightsabre. The next time we see the children is when Yoda is searching through the corpses on the floor.

The action scenes are done very well with my two favourite fighting scenes being that of Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and General Grievous (four arms, four lightsabres) and the climactic battle scene between Obi-Wan and Anakin. I truly started to believe in Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan during the former. In the previous episodes, I've been incredibly disappointed at his lack of strength as a Jedi even though there could have been no doubting his moral character. In this movie, he kicked ass; his attitude was perfect and his clipped delivery just spot-on. From his bold, almost-mischevious manner in engaging General Grievous in battle right in front of all of Grievous's droids to his telling Yoda that they need to get back to the Jedi Temple and disable the coded message leading all Jedi into a trap in spite of the almost-certain death that faces them to his telling Anakin that he has failed him... he is Obi-Wan now, just as much as Sir Alec Guinness is.

That being said, I do have some quibbles. While I do appreciate that there are many loose ends for Lucas to tie up in the final instalment of the saga, but there were some which felt rather rushed. For instance, I don't understand how Anakin's turn to the Dark Side occurs so rapidly. It's almost as if it happened in a manner of days, or even hours the moment Darth Sidious makes him his apprentice. One moment he is appalled at having caused Mace Windu's (Samuel L. Jackson) death, the next, he's coldly walking into the Jedi Temple and exterminating the young Jedi trainees. I mean, yes, I understand that Anakin resents the Jedi at times. I mean, I would too if I were constantly being told that I've to let go of all my emotions and stop caring for people, but nevertheless, there is nothing of material significance that looks like it could possibly have triggered Anakin's incredible betrayal of the Jedi, most especially Obi-Wan, the man he purports to care about. For instance, I didn't comprehend why he was infuriated at being denied the title of Jedi Master despite being allowed to sit on the Council. It's obvious no one his age or with his experience has ever been accorded the privilege of a Council position, so why would he be so angry over not getting the title?

RotS being the prequel that it is, there is nothing that the audience doesn't expect... except perhaps the comical element as provided by R2D2 during the first 20 or so minutes when Anakin and Obi-Wan are on a mission to rescue Chancellor Palpatine from General Grievous. I never would've expected R2D2 to be able to eliminate two droid soldiers the way he did ("My eye!", oil spurting, one quick thrust of his jets and voooom! Droid flambé anyone?) and I cracked up when he zapped the droid telling him not to move (response: "Ow!" followed by the droid kicking him over).

Best moments: Other than the ones already mentioned... I always feel like cheering whenever I hear the Star Wars Fanfare. It's easily my favourite piece of music from the entire series and has been ever since I was little. And at the end, when the black plastic helmet is snapped onto Anakin's deformed face and we hear the oh-so-familiar breathing... I was so happy, I could have applauded right there and then in the cinema.

At the end of it all, I do feel a real sense of sadness... not because of the way RotS ended, but because it's the end of an era. There's nothing more we can or should expect and the only thing that we can do now is to revisit the old movies and view them over and over. Hmmm. That's not a bad thing actually. I haven't watched Episodes IV to VI in a few years now. And maybe, to pass the time, I'll take up fencing. What I would give to participate in a lightsabre battle.

*My vote for worst dialogue would be:
Anakin: You are so beautiful.
Padmé (Natalie Portman): That's because I'm so in love with you.
Anakin: No, because I'm in love with you.
Padmé: Are you saying love has blinded you?!

Don't tell me I haven't been good to you
Don't tell me I have never been there for you
Don't tell me why
Nothing is good enough
- Good Enough, Sarah Mclachlan

Over the past two weeks, I've been feeling rather down. It's as if every five minutes that I'm alone, I feel incredibly miserable, so lonely that I could cry. And add to that the immense work stress, and the feeling that I'm just not going to be able to move on from my job fast enough. I'm incredibly burnt out and there's no break in sight for me.

I went for a job interview earlier this evening, and while the interviewer said my resume looks good and that he likes me, he just doesn't have the capacity to spare to take on someone who has no experience dealing in his customers and his products. Fair enough, but after last week's interview f***-up, and how terribly unappreciated I'm feeling at work, it just seems as though I won't be able to find something that I really want for some time yet.

I've been working for my company coming to three years now... and I've been single the entire time. It's not as if work's keeping me from having a proper relationship with anyone even if I do use it as an excuse.

"I'm single but not available. I'm attached to my work."

I'm afraid that one day, I'll finally find time to get out more and then I'll discover that... maybe it wasn't work, it wasn't the lack of time, and hell, it's not even the lack of good men in Singapore. It was just me the whole time. Miserable, aggressive, unmarriageable, unwanted me.

I know I'm not lacking for good friends. It's just... I don't know. They all seem to think that I'm an incredibly tough, independent, self-sufficient person who can be counted on to give them advice or just listen if they're in trouble. And they're not wrong. I know I'm tough. In fact, it's my usual excuse.

"Yeah, I'm a little down. It's okay. I'll be fine. I'm a tough girl."

So I don't reach out to anyone, to ask for comfort when I'm unhappy. I guess I don't want to shatter their illusions of me. And I always tell myself that I'll be all right tomorrow.

But what happens if I'm not? Just like I haven't been for the past two weeks?

I saw a very hot, well-built, nicely dressed, blond, very American-looking guy on the bus on the way to work today. We both alighted at the same stop. So I did what every rational girl does.

I stalked him.

In an attempt to be more Singaporean (truth be told, I was inspired after reading a blog entry in response to this blog entry which in turn was a response to this entry), here's a transcript of my e-mail conversation with a friend about Star Wars and meeting up:

He: Went to watch Ep 3 yesterday. Wah lau. I nearly laughed when Luke and Leia were born.
Me: Hey, shouldn't we have met up quite some time ago?
Me: (after not receiving a reply for the whole day) Do'wan to meet up, then just say lah. I won't get offended. Lim bu ka li kong, hor, honesty, ah, is the best policy. So how? Can I pass for an ah lian yet?
He: Wah lau, busy lah. You think you are the only one with work, is it?

The funny thing is... neither one of us speaks like this at all in real life.

Coldplay's new album X&Y is coming out soon in June. I've only heard one song off it (The Speed of Sound) and it sounded great. It had the unmistakeable guitar-driven Coldplay sound with Chris Martin's soulful lyrics.

It turns out that one of their new songs, Fix You, was used in the penultimate episode of the current season of The O.C., to great success. They've also been playing it at their recent gigs. I really wish I could be in London to catch their tour... and while I'm at it, that I could be there 9 days earlier to catch U2 as well.

Fix You
Coldplay

When you try your best but you don't succeed
When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse

When the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

High up above or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
If you never try you'll never know
Just watch and learn

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

Whoever tells you that there's nothing to do in Singapore is wrong. Dead wrong.

We've got so much going on here: cultural events, musical performances to suit all tastes, fantastic food, good shopping, terrific nightlife and an active sports hub.

For instance, I had the opportunity to volunteer at the upcoming IOC meeting in July, the meeting which will decide which city will get to host the 2012 Olympics. Unfortunately, owing to work commitments, I was forced to decline.

In terms of sports activity, you can go wakeboarding, rock-climbing, rollerblading, hiking among the treetops, play ultimate frisbee or touch rugby... and if that's still not enough for you, there're lots of places nearby where you can go scuba-diving.

Just under two weeks ago, I found myself at Marine Cove thoroughly enjoying a free open-air jazz concert with people I hadn't met before. In spite of that, I found myself encouraging them to join me to check out the new club, Onyx.

In the last few months, there have been plenty of concerts here, including ones by Norah Jones and Lea Salonga. Last Saturday, Patti Austin performed. We have also had musicals galore such as Lady Salsa, The Sound of Music and Lord of the Dance.

In a few days time, the Singapore Arts Festival will commence, and I will be catching some great performances, namely The Busker's Opera, The Bang-On-A-Can Allstars and Swan Lake. In conjunction with the influx of tourists expected for the various shows, the Great Singapore Sale will be kicking off.

For dance activities, there's the Tango Rendezvous, an Argentine Tango festival (do go and see it as a good friend of mine will be giving a talk). For Lindy Hoppers, there's the annual SEA Jam Lindy Hop Camp conducted by the world-renown Jitterbugs Swingapore. For the extremely busy among us, there's Swingtime @ SAM, a monthly swing dance workshop conducted by the Lindy Hop Ensemble held at the Singapore Arts Museum. You can even learn exotic dancing (from Attitude Dance Studio and The Body Talks) and pole dancing (from The Body Talks) here.

Clubbing-wise, there'll be a whole raft of international DJs coming this way. Marco V will be gracing our shores this Sunday at Zouk, having just been here under a year ago (not that I'm complaining), and the Lo-Fidelity All Stars and Stephane K will be spinning next week at DXO. Hed Kandi is expected to make its debut here soon and Mike Koglin and Solarstone are slated to be DJing in the next two months. And any time you get tired of dancing, there're plenty of great chill-out places to relax at. And just to help you along, the Singapore Martini Festival kicks off on May 25th.

And yes, while I do whine every once in a while about being stuck in Singapore, I will admit that there's a lot to do here... far more than I would have admitted back when I graduated in 2002.

However, I still maintain that staying here for too long is dangerous. It makes you boring. And close-minded. And check out all the good stuff I'm missing.

Happy wedding anniversary, Mum & Dad!
If it weren't for you two, I wouldn't be here.

May your marriage continue to gleam and sparkle, just as it has for the past 30 years.

Conversations with the ex:
Me (about a friend of mine): I don't know. We just met a few months ago and we clicked instantly and we're good friends now.
Him: That's nice. It's rare to find people who click and become like you and me.
Me: No, you and I... We're much closer than that. We bonded over grapes and candles and music.
Him: True.

And maybe that's how I'll know when the next serious relationship comes along... When we find ourselves sharing grapes chatting way into the night.

One of the best songs I've heard this year is Damien Rice - The Blower's Daughter, heard on the soundtrack of Closer. Rice starts out simply, singing softly, capturing the feeling of infatuation oh so well, before breaking into the chorus repeating the refrain, "I can't take my eyes off you" with such passion, it breaks my heart. And then as his voice rises in volume and emotion, the incredible yearning you hear in his voice just blows me away. And just when you think you can't get any more emotionally involved in the song, Lisa Hannigan breaks in, asking in a soothing yet haunting manner "Did I say that I loathe you? Did I say that I wanted to leave it all behind?" and this just went straight to my heart. It's melancholy and yet so optimistic at the same time.

I've heard this song a hundred times by now, and its effects have yet to wear off.

The Blower's Daughter
Damien Rice

And so it is
Just like you said it would be
Life goes easy on me
Most of the time
And so it is (he has)
The shorter story
No love, no glory
No hero in her sky

I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes...

And so it is
Just like you said it should be
We'll both forget the breeze
Most of the time
And so it is
The colder water
The blower's daughter
The pupil in denial

I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes...

Did I say that I loathe you?
Did I say that I want to
Leave it all behind?

I can't take my mind off of you
I can't take my mind off you
I can't take my mind off of you
I can't take my mind off you
I can't take my mind off you
I can't take my mind...
My mind...my mind...
'Til I find somebody new

I went to Wala Wala last night to support my friend's band, Jon Doe, who was auditioning for an agent there. While his band wasn't as good as the resident bands, EIC and The Unexpected, still, you can see there's potential.

And because I've had a rather rough week, for my first drink entry charge, I decided to order 50 cl of Hoegaarden not knowing it was one-for-one during that time, meaning I'd have to drink 1 litre. So, up I went, clutching the huge glass in hand, and I went to join my friend who was there with his friend. Fortunately for me, he wasn't on a date, else that would have been awkward since I'd be feeling like a third wheel the whole night. Unfortunately for me, he had ordered one jug of Hoegaarden (two under the one-for-one) and he was determined to make sure both of us lovely and soon-to-be-drunk ladies would help him out.

So there I was, listening to EIC (with cute guitarist, Jack, and lead singer with nice voice, Rai, and guai lan guitarist, Gabriel, and drummer Joseph) play songs which I love to hear: Coldplay - Yellow, U2 - Vertigo, U2 - Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony, Counting Crows - Accidentally In Love, Smash Mouth - All Star and as a very special treat, Rai did a solo for Damien Rice - The Blower's Daughter, which is the most awesome love song ever for me right now... and yet, I was feeling down because of a myriad of things that've happened. There's the usual work stress, compounded with a touch of work burnout, with a dash of job-hunting and interview anxiety, and then there's the "I don't even want to think about it" more-than-social life. With all of that, I was vacillating between enjoying the music and feeling incredibly miserable in spite of the good company and the great ambiance.

But I managed to cheer up midway, thanks to my musician friend, who somehow managed to hook me up with two blind dates without my asking him to, nor did I actively object all that much. I think. So now, I'm supposed to meet a Frenchman and a cute local guy. So my straight guy friend says, which of course makes me exceedingly dubious about his judgement.

But by the end of the night, it didn't matter. I had imbibed over 1.5 l of beer, probably a record for me, was very close to falling asleep in spite of the fact I was bobbing along to the music and singing and all that, and between exiting Wala Wala at 1.45 am and getting out of the cab at my home at 2 am, I had developed a massive headache. I managed to call my friend to report my safe arrival home, brush my teeth and change, but somewhere around 3 am, I woke up with my head just throbbing and feeling rather nauseated. At least this time, despite my skipping of dinner, I managed to control it and not hurl.

I really should take better control of my drinking. But maybe when I'm 40.

On one of the online forums I frequent, one of the regulars started a thread on nice places to chill, a thread which I unexpectedly ended up contributing a lot to. Here're the places I listed or helped to rate.

• Sound Bar: Nice place by the river. Good drinks too.
• Alley Bar: Yuppie place with great ambience.
• Bar Opiume: Great decor, comfortable sofa, nice and posh.
  
• Villa Bali: Tranquil and peaceful.
  
• Upstairs@Harry's: Comfortable sofa, good ambience.
• Bar Celona: Robertson Walk has a great fountain courtyard, especially at night.
• Wala Wala: Fantastic live bands, happily enthusiastic crowd and Hoegaarden!

There's quite strong resistance to km8 though. Ah well.

On another note, I've texted and I've left a voice message on two separate occasions but I still haven't heard from him. I really do hope he's overseas and that's why he's not responding. Why is it my guy problems tend to occur in multiples?

Recently, a close friend confided that he's been having some women problems. That's right. Plural. And that's all he would tell me. This bothers me because, previously, he used to tell me quite a fair bit. It's not his sudden reticience I have an issue with, you understand. It's more to do with my hunch that I could be one of those causing him trouble.

And to tell the truth, he's a possible trouble-maker for me too, if I choose to go down that path. I'm, however fortunately, at that point when I can still hold back, trying to figure out whether I really want to jeopardise our really good friendship.

And thanks to my over-analytical, over-reactive brain, I could be reading too much into this.

But I really wish he'd talk to me, even just to chat about how bad his day has been. Even that he's not doing.

No matter. I shall take out my frustrations by smacking the pingu (current record: 588.3).

Conversation with a friend:
Me: Chus & Ceballos on Saturday at Zouk?
Him: Sounds like Mexican food.
Me: Or Pokemons.

I love latte art. When I get an unexpected design in the foam of my cappuccino or latte, it always brightens my day.

The most amazing design, though, has got to belong to this guy.

Wanna try it yourself? Here're instructions.

Check out my new briefcase.

Funky, no?

One of my regular resolutions for every year is to meet new people. It's something I've been able to accomplish with not much difficulty because I'm a rather friendly person, but still, it's always required the help of friends, as in I meet new people through going out with friends, regardless of whether these new people are friends of those friends, if you get what I mean. Basically, I need to have someone I know with me so that I've the courage to meet new people, because if I can't stand these new people, at least I still have the old friend to fall back on.

But I digress. Yesterday, I bit the bullet (giving up a beach party at km8 in the process), and I decided to attend a Jazz Singapore Yahoo! Group meetup session to attend a Jazzpiration by the Beach concert. I didn't know anyone from the group beforehand and was rather nervous, but decided, what the hey, I wouldn't lose anything other than spending a few hours with a bunch of potential nerds indulging in some great jazz by the Thomson Jive Band and some dancing.

I'm really glad I went. I had a great time and I met people who I would so not have met on a normal basis. I met a kind of geeky IT guy, a funky IT salesgirl turned copywriter, an actual sailor (a first mate!) and some people who work in the same industry as I do. And I managed to get in quite a few dances too...

And what do you know? After the jazz party, I ended up going to Onyx with them. Onyx, for those of you not in the know, is the club that's replaced Centro at One Fullerton. It seems rather promising - nice enough decor - but drinks-wise, they're expensive and a little weak. The sound system is a little too good (the bass effect almost incapacitated me when I walked across the dance floor) and though the local DJs that night were good enough, there just wasn't that vibe. Still, it's early days yet, and they've got time enough to get the formula right. (Incidentally, Onyx is also the name of a very large waste management company, so we've been making jokes about how they're diversifying - rubbish is rubbish, after all.)

There is nothing more I hate than being home on a Friday night... even if I opted to stay home rather than go out chionging with a colleague and some of his friends at Mohamed Sultan.

At times like these, djmixes2k is a great source of comfort. Happy belated 4th birthday and bless you.

Currently playing: Deepsky - Global Elements Live 28-04-2005.

What's Your Panty Personality?

You're a Thong

Hey wild woman, you let the world know that you've got your own ideas about doing things. It's not that you break or even bend the rules that much. It's more that you've got a unique style and a great attitude to match. And, even more fun, you love showing it off — that's why a saucy thong matches your personality.

You've got the confidence and pizzazz to make your way seemingly effortlessly through the world, and you probably inspire others along the way. That's wild!

What's Your Summer Style?

Your summer style is Bohemian!

You make a statement with your understatement wherever you go. You are earthy chic and have an ethnic flair. You make urban cool seem flawlessly natural — not forced — and your comfortable style fits in without even trying.

Of course you've got that suede coat, a drawer full of every shade of eyeshadow, the perfectly faded jean jacket, and a knack for looking particularly good in silver.

I've finally finished cataloguing my DJ set collection... 90 and counting! Woo hoo!

The prides and joys of my collection?

• Sasha - Live at Alexandra Palace - 1998
• Fatboy Slim vs. Armand van Helden - A Date With Destiny, Brixton Academy - 11-06-1999
  
• Paul van Dyk - Live at Club of Colors, Hungary - 1999
• Sasha & Digweed - Live at Twilo, New York - 1999
• DJ Tiesto - Live at Energy 2000

I've beInterview between Gregory T. Angela (GTA) of Metro Mix Radio and Steve Lawler (SL):

GTA: Do you see the dance floor as a place for that kind of madcap debauchery in addition to the “utopian community” that everyone envisions?
SL: 100 percent! Yeah, 100 percent! That’s the — I think — you know — let’s look back; let’s get really deep into this and look back at like hundreds of years.

GTA: Alright.
SL: Dance was seen as a form of sexual expression.

GTA: Yeah.
SL: And so for me, the dance floor is supposed to be a sexy place. It’s supposed to be somewhere you can just let yourself go and just really flaunt it out, flirt it out, you know? Sleaze it out, filth it out, dirt it out, whatever! Just get down! Just get down and enjoy—you know, everybody loves to flirt, right? It’s a great feeling to flirt or to be flirted with, and dancing is a pure form of flirting, so if I can provide an audio soundtrack to that which is very sexy and sleazy and funky and, you know, just there and just solid and chunky and dirty—I mean, that’s really what I’m about, and today about music, a bit more than I was perhaps a year or two ago where I was really taken in by the darker side of house music. And I still have that element in my music now, but what is really, really important for me — as you just rightfully said — is to get the dance floor sexy and to get it filthed up. “Let’s have a party,” that kind of thing.

Right on, Steve.

From Episode 1.14 of Desperate Housewives - Love Is In The Air:
Bree: Um, how about Boise?
Rex: Boise?
Bree: What’s the matter with Boise?
Rex: We’re going to be doing psychological role playing here, Bree, and a funny word like Boise would ruin the mood. We need something that sounds serious.
Bree: Hmm. How about Palestine?

Ha ha! Priceless.

In spite of still not feeling my best, I went ahead to Zouk to catch Steve Lawler and Roger Sanchez, including a half-hour live set by Roger Sanchez's live band. As I was on some really strong medication, I uncharacteristically opted not to drink any alcohol that night, and surprisingly ended up having a very enjoyable time, comparable to other great nights I've had in Singapore.

Lawler was on first for a two-hour set and he spun some fantastically good dirty, tribal, electro house - the kind of music that really makes you want to get down and grooooooooove to your heart's content. He ended off his set with a Thirst exclusive - the Steve Lawler remix of Donna Summer's I Feel Love, which had no vocals whatsoever in it, but was nevertheless enjoyable.

Sanchez was up next, and he kicked it off with his live set. His band was nicely interactive and full of energy, which was good, because I had voiced my doubts to a fellow club-goer that I didn't think live sets were good for house DJs (or basically any DJs who weren't Basement Jaxx). There was a very funny interlude where Sanchez and the female lead singer, Lisa Pure, ended up having a conversation with each other on their mobile phones, and another nice song probably called "Here We Go Again" with a catchy chorus I couldn't help but dance along to which went, "Up / Down / Turn Around / Here We Go Again / We Go Left / Right / Do It All Night / Here We Go Again".

Two tunes into his DJ set, however, it was obvious that his set wasn't going to come close to Lawler's for the time being, so my friend and I went off to get drinks and adjourned outside for about an hour to cool our aching feet. We went back in at around 3.30 am and Sanchez was really rocking the house this time, playing some really sexy house, ending off his set with Lil' Louie Vega's French Kiss, a tune which always gets me in the mood if you get what I mean; I was happily screaming my lungs out when the song peaked.

"Do you want one more?" Sanchez asked. "Hell, yeah" was the response he received. "S***, I don't even have to ask twice." And he dropped Sweet Dreams Are Made Of These much to the delight of the still-hungry crowd, followed by a house favourite which starts off with some piano playing but which I don't know the title of, and then came back for a second encore with a song "specially for the ladies in the house" which sounded very familiar but which I couldn't place. Possibly it's a song by Riva (chorus has something about "higher" in it, and sounded a bit trance-y).

But still, we weren't about to leave, and though Sanchez proclaimed that he was finished for the night, still we waited and screamed our desire for more. And then, to my immense surprise, the Prince of Darkness, Steve Lawler, came back on for more. And boy, did he give it to us. His encore lasted for one whole hour and by the time he finished with us, my feet were aching. But when he dropped his last tune for the night, Donna Summer - I Feel Love (this time with vocals), I somehow found the strength to continue dancing like the mad woman I was.

Simply brilliant. And guess what? I've had around 6.5 hours of sleep and I feel absolutely fantastic.

Sigh. Flame of my loins, apple of my eye... why can't I be there to watch you?