Thanks to this article from Slate, I've learnt that there are squids larger than giant squids and they're known as colossal squids. Maybe the kraken was real after all.

Also, sperm whales aren't their only predators; sleeper sharks, which are half the size of colossal squids, target them too.

The giant squid grows up to 12 m (39 feet) in length, though most of this is made up of its two long front tentacles. The colossal squid may grow up to 14
m (46 feet) or more. Sleeper sharks can grow up to 7.3 m (24 feet).

Interestingly, the sharks appear to prey on bigger squid on average than those eaten by sperm whales. Yes, there's a possibility that the sharks are also scavengers (i.e. they eat the carcasses of the larger squids) but who knows?

[/nerd]

Having at one stage in my life wanted to be a marine biologist, it was with a sense of delight that I saw the first photographs of live giant squids (first seen via Boing Boing for me) made the front page of The Straits Times. While checking out Google News for more details on this find, I stumbled upon this article from the Scotsman: Suckers for gay trysts, fiery females and rough sex - squid secrets exposed.

Apparently, female squids are not keen on getting injected with sperm, which makes it a bit of a problem for male squids which are 2/3 the size of the females. So to get around this, the males have been equipped with a particularly long penis which enables them to inject the female while staying away from her chomping beak.

But, this appears to be quite a formidable task, as "it seems that co-ordinating eight legs, two feeding tentacles and a huge penis, whilst fending off an irate female, is a bit too much to ask, and one of the two males stranded on the Spanish coast had accidentally injected himself with sperm packages in the legs and body."

Hoo boy.

Alert the media: Little Miss Random is on the prowl once again!

But before that, excuse me while I break out the ice-cream and alcohol and curl up into a little ball and cry.

I'll be fine... really. I just need a little time. And no, I don't want to talk about it.

So we're speeding towards that time of year,
to the day that marks that you're not here.
And I think I'll want to be alone,
so please understand if I don't answer the phone.

I'll just sit and stare at my deep blue walls,
until I can see nothing at all,
Only particles, some fast, some slow,
all my eyes can see is all I know.

Why do we listen to sad songs when we're sad?

In one single moment your whole life can turn 'round
I stand there for a minute starin' straight into the ground
Lookin' to the left slightly, then lookin' back down
World feels like it's caved in - proper sorry frown

Why does every song seem to mean something to us?

If I stand all alone, will the shadows hide the colour of my heart
Blue for the tears, black for the night's fears
And the stars in the sky don't mean nothin' to you, they're a mirror.

How come we continue to listen when every song just makes us sadder?

But I turn them off and tuck them away
Till these rainy days that make them stay
And then I'll cry so hard to these sad songs
And the words still ring, once here now gone

It certainly doesn't make me feel any better.

The district sleeps alone tonight
After the bars turn out their lights
And send the autos swerving
Into the loneliest evening
And I am finally seeing
Why I was the one worth leaving

But it does give voice to my pain, and I guess that helps.

John Waters Your film will be 55% romantic, 50% comedy, 28% complex plot, and a $ 28 million budget.

Filmography: Hairspray, Cry Baby, Pecker, A Dirty Shame, Serial Mom, Polyester, Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, Mondo Trasho, and more. Hopefully your entire life happened in Baltimore, Maryland, because that is where your life story will take place with John Waters at the helm. Your mother will be played either by a large transvestite or Kathleen Turner ... oh, the levels of irony! Anyway, we hope your life was full of pleasant scents because your movie will be released in Smell-O-Vision like his movie Polyester (1981), but will likely not have any dog-poop-eating such as in Pink Flamingos (1972). Johnny Depp will play your uncle.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 65% on action-romance You scored higher than 94% on humor You scored higher than 15% on complexity You scored higher than 33% on budget

Link: The Director Who Films Your Life Test written by bingomosquito on OkCupid Free Online Dating

Happy birthday, sweetie.

Like many others, I found myself suffering from Zouk withdrawal last weekend. I hadn't been to Zouk much other than for the Heineken Green Room session for Tortured Soul (a soulful house band my 60+ year old US-based uncle had heard of, astoundingly enough), having had a multitude of things hit me, ranging from conjuntivitis to an injured back to something far more serious (in an emotional way and I was really beginning to miss it.

But, being the clubbing whore that I am, I bounced off to DXO to catch Amped brought to you by the lads at Frontal, and had a not-too-bad time, given that I dragged my brother along as well... and as everyone knows, clubbing with your sibling kind of curtails you a little, moderating your drinking and definitely making sure you don't get too cosy with your boyfriend.

So, after introducing the brother to the boyfriend, my over-protective brother leans over to me and says, "if he so much as looks at you wrong, I'll kill him." "How would he look at me wrong?" I asked. "If he makes eye contact," was his reply.

Fair enough.

Anyway, music wasn't too bad. Any time they play a bootleg of White Stripes - Seven Nation Army, some Nirvana, Underworld (Cowgirl!! and Born Slippy!!! I love those synths.) and throw in a bit of The Killers and The Bravery is fine with me. Adrian (wee.like.me from Poptart) and Sue-Shan (from HSEkeeping) were pretty good, though Sue-Shan's mixing could have been a little smoother because I definitely heard some missed beats.

But for now, I'm eagerly awaiting for John Digweed on 12 November (which I might miss because of my CFA exam) and best of all, ZoukOut on 10 December!

Given that this seems to be a week of confessions (as Cowboy Caleb noticed), here are some more links:

PostSecret is "an ongoing community art project where people mail-in their secrets anonymously on one side of a homemade postcard." All of the pieces found on this site are amazing, with each postcard and every word touching me in a way I cannot explain. I'd send one in myself if I had some artistic talent. More images can be found here. For details on how this fascinating project got started, you can read this article.

Group Hug is a similar site, though, in my opinion, much less interesting because this is primarily a text-based confession site. Hence, it doesn't have the same level of artistry that PostSecret has, and subsequently, is less poignant. That, and also because the majority of the confessions entered are about sex.

Meat Katie and James Zabiela DJ Face Off, free with the September edition of DJ Mag, is awesome. I wasn't a big fan of breaks until I listened to James spin some time last year at Zouk. And of course, it helps that he's such a talented and cute geek. I'm halfway through listening to the CD, and so far, tracks 4, 5 and 6 are brilliant.

If you like James's work, you can download a five hour mix, Four.2, from Proton Radio.

Tracklist:
0. Loony Intro FX
1. Dexter 'Acid Lullaby' (Cocoon)
2. Rob Mooney & Jon Gurd 'She's a Trip' (Bass For Breakfast)
3. D. Ramirez 'Venus & Mars' (Slave)
4. Elite Force 'MindPhunkPsychadelic' (Kingsize)
5. Coburn & Anne Savage 'We Have The Technology' (Great Stuf)
6. Metric 'Hell Yeah' (Lot 49)
7. Buick Project 'At The Rave' (Electric Press with Elements of James
Talk's Remix) (Saved Records)
8. Koma & Bones 'Bounce Your Body' (Burrito)
9. Atomic Hoolagan '7 10 Split' (Klaus Mix) ( Botchit)
10. Mosca 'Meat Market Lottery Boutique' (Acid Holagon)
11. Solvent 'Think Like Us' (Alter Ego) (Ghostly Recordings)
12. Meat Katie 'More Sin' (Kingsize)
13. James Zabiela 'Robophobia' (Silinder) (Renaissance)
14. Morgan Page 'Landline'

"I think the best club night is a mixture of all different types of people. If you've got a club full of trainspotters, then you've got a dance floor that doesn't move - they're just watching. If you've got a club full of people who just want to go out and get hammered, then people go away not remembering anything, and it may as well have been DJ XYZ playing. So I think the right mixture of people is what makes a good night. Everyone is important and DJ groupies are certainly important for my ego (laughs). It's nice to be appreciated, but you can look too much into anything like that. It's all quite superficial. If I was working at burger king, then they wouldn't look at me twice."

Interesting links aka too much time on my hands:

• Think Hollywood blockbusters contain too much gore, swearing and sex? Well, gosh and darn, now here's a way you can watch that movie without being offended one iota.
• A list of all the things that've been returned to Amazon.com from Singapore because they're too controversial in one way or another.
• Give your lifestyle a radical eco-makeover: It's life-enhancing, good for your wallet, and surprisingly glamorous. (UK-centric)
• If your work is anything like mine, my guess is that you too are searching desperately for a way to work smarter.
• Lifehacker recommends downloads, shortcuts and other tips to make you more efficient. In the same vein, 43 Folders is Merlin Mann's blog about personal productivity.
• Jonathan Kent of the BBC meets Malaysia's triads: "'I admit that I am a bad guy, and that I'm a gangster,' he said. 'So who runs your world?' I asked - to which he gave a simple reply : 'The government. If the government doesn't want to be a bit lenient with us and if they are strict about everything, then there's no way that I can make a living. There's no work,' Ah Hing said."

Today's links have been brought to you mostly by The Independent.

A literary meme from MercerMachine and the post which started it all:

I am the girl who jokes about breaking other people’s hearts when, in reality, the only heart she has broken is her own. I’m the girl who’s afraid of commitment, afraid of rejection, terrified of failure, and yet, falls in love far too easily.

I'm the sister who fought with you all the time when we were smaller and who still fights with you whenever we've been in the same place as each other for too long. I'm the sister you played football with using one of her doll's heads. I'm the sister who invented "basketbrawl" having watched one episode of WWF too many. I'm the sister who loves you dearly, and has missed having you around these past few years.

I’m the girl who memorised your timetable and waited for you outside your classes, while we both pretended that I just happened to be in the area. I’m the one who sat with you watching the mid-autumn celebrations one Friday night, and who ended up failing her Economics test the day after. I’m the one who missed you so much when you went away, and whose heart you broke when you didn’t have time for me when you returned. I’m the one who wondered if I made a mistake in leaving you. I’m the one who took a year to get over you, choosing not to return to Singapore during the summer because I didn’t want to run into you.

I’m the girl who still thinks of you sometimes.

I’m the girl who got over you only to fall for you once again when you broke up. I’m the one who compromised what she believed in for a few months of happiness with you. I’m the one you taught how to kiss. I'm the one you kissed goodbye at the train station in Prague, just like in the movies. You're the one I dreamt about a few months after we broke up. I'm the one who cried when I woke up and realised you weren't around anymore.

I’m the girl who told you that she’d be there no matter what. I’m the one who got mad at you for always being late. I’m the girl whose trust you lost when you let her down once too often.

I'm the girl you spent two weeks with after having just met her. I'm the one who called you in a total panic to help her get rid of a dead cockroach. I'm the girl whose couch you slept on after having had a drop too many to drink at Zouk. I'm the one whose bathroom you threw up in when you woke up. I'm the one who gave you one of her most treasured travel souvenirs.

I'm the one who summoned up the courage to tell you that I liked you since the day we met.

I'm the one you rejected.

I’m the girl who’s slightly mad at having been born Catholic, having been born in such a small country with so many rules and restrictions. I'm the girl who needs structure in her life, for otherwise, she wouldn’t know what to do.

I'm the girl who was "Pupil of the Term" when she was nine years old.

I'm the girl you said would never get an A for Mathematics in her A Levels, but did.

I’m the girl who’s allergic to alcohol, but drinks anyway. I’m the girl you think can drink the most out of all our university mates. I’m the one who went out drinking with some Marines the first night I was in Berlin in spite of her jet lag. I’m the one who texts you whenever I get drunk, the girl you come to fetch home when you receive her texts and the one you snogged when we were both drunk. I’m the one who got sick after one glass of Malibu and orange juice, having been perfectly fine after five glasses of champagne on another occasion.

I’m the girl who wants to drink a Waterfall.

I’m the girl you call for advice, who you think is all wise and all knowing, when all she really is, is insecure. I’m the one you think is confident and interesting when she doesn’t think so at all. I’m the girl who looks at her friends and wonders why anyone would like her when there are so many other better people around.

I was the kid who couldn't turn down a challenge. I'm now the adult too afraid of what others think.

I'm the girl who desperately wants to quit her job but is too afraid that she won't be able to find work fast enough. I'm the one who longs to work in London and New York, but doesn't want to risk so much and uproot herself in case she fails.

I’m the girl you called the sweetest girl around. I’m the one who told you that you needed to meet more girls.

I am the girl who fell in love with you, knowing full well you would never return her feelings. I'm the one who misses you seconds after you leave, wondering what why she feels so strongly for you. I’m the one who wonders every single day when what we have will come to an end.

Yes, I’m that girl. Who’re you?

This meme was given to me by Dean. Thanks a lot, dude.

I don't go all out to anonymise my blog, but I also don't put out obvious signals as to who I am.
Hence, I've chosen to answer the first two sections only vaguely.

THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:
1. My first name
2. My surname
3. My very rarely used Chinese name

THREE SCREEN NAMES YOU GO BY:
1. Little Miss Random
2. A character from a fantasy series I used to love when I was younger
3. One of my favourite fruits (but obviously not its name in the English language. That would just sound stupid.)

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. My hair
2. My smile
3. The upper half of my body which just looks so good in shirts.

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU DONT LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. The way my hair starts going wild the moment it grows longer than shoulder length.
2. My jinormous feet. Actually, I'm fine with them until the sales people start commenting.
3. My big black booty, together with my thunder thights.

THREE PARTS OF YOUR HERITAGE:
1. Hakka
2. Hokkien
3. I've been told that I could be werehuman.

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:
1. Dead cockroaches
2. Live cockroaches
3. Cockroaches

THREE OF YOUR EVERY DAY ESSENTIALS:
1. E-mail
2. Caffeine
3. Music

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING NOW:
1. A rubberband (on my ponytail lah)
2. Spectacles
3. Make-up

THREE OF YOUR FAVOURITE BANDS, OR MUSICAL ARTISTES:
1. U2
2. Radiohead
3. Louis Armstrong / Ella Fitzgerald (I couldn't leave either of the jazz greats out)

THREE OF YOUR FAVOURITE SONGS:
1. With or Without You
2. Sweet Child Of Mine
3. Beyond the Sea

THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP:
1. Love
2. Passion
3. Intelligent conversation

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE:
1. Chocolate is good for your teeth.
2. It's the sugar in chocolate that causes cavities.
3. I love my job.

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE PREFERRED SEX THAT APPEAL TO YOU:
1. Height (the 15 cm rule - and this is referring to their actual height, not anything else, you pervert, you.)
2. Face
3. Eyes

THREE OF YOUR FAVOURITE HOBBIES:
1. Dancing - socially, not clubbing, surprisingly enough
2. Singing along to whatever music's playing at the top of my lungs
3. Curling up and re-reading all the books I used to read as a teenager

THREE THINGS YOU REALLY WANT TO DO NOW:
1. Sleep
2. Get a massage
3. Go to a karaoke pub and sing She Drives Me Crazy

THREE CAREERS YOU'RE CONSIDERING/YOU'VE CONSIDERED
1. Marine biologist
2. Travel photographer
3. Bartender

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:
1. Brazil
2. New York
3. Argentina

THREE NAMES YOU LIKE FOR KIDS:
1. Alessandro
2. Danielle
3. Rhiannon (Yes - my kids will hate me.)

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
1. Live in New York
2. Do a Masters
3. Mastered swing dancing

THREE WAYS THAT YOU ARE STEREOTYPICALLY A BOY:
1. I will make the first move.
2. I like to drink. A lot.
3. I watch football and wrestling.

THREE WAYS THAT YOU ARE STEREOTYPICALLY A GIRL:
1. I like shopping.
2. I'm neurotically insecure.
3. I bitch a lot.

THREE FEMALE CELEBRITY CRUSHES:
1. Er. No one really.

THREE PEOPLE WHOM I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE THIS QUIZ:
This is a moot point as most of my friends don't know I blog... and given that, they won't even know they've been given this meme... but...
1. MF
2. TY
3. And my cousin, MC.

This is going to be such a bimbo moment, but look! Piper Perabo's wearing my dress! :)

Not only is Michael Buble coming to Singapore, but so is one of my favourite musicals, Rent!

And that's not all. This time, it won't be a local (or regional) cast (no offence) but "most of the cast and crew of this Pulitzer Prize and Tony award-winning musical will come direct from New York, including its 1996 original creative team of director Michael Grief, choreographer Marlies Yearby, costumer designer Angela Wendt and lighting designer Blake Burba." (Life!, Straits Times, 14-Sep-05)

And if I haven't already blogged about it, it's being made into a movie too. Not that I'm incredibly excited about that, having already seen the inspiration for Rent, La Boheme, as a movie (boring, no matter what the critics said).

And tomorrow night, I'll be seeing The Bar at Buena Vista. I'm trying to figure out what to wear for that because I'll be going from a work-related seminar prior to that and I want to be able to get up and dance if need be!

Rent! And Michael Buble! Yay! Now if I only had the money and people to go with...

Paul Anka - Rock Swings

As NPR describes it, "the teen-idol turned Vegas lounge singer puts a crooner's spin on some latter-day rock classics, including Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit and Van Halen's Jump."

Audio Revolution liked it.

Stylus thought it sucked.

About.com isn't quite sure what to make of it, and quite frankly, neither do I. All I do know is that I'd love to swing to Paul Anka's version of Smells Like Teen Spirit... if I don't keel over from laughing first.

Ali G gives the 2004 Harvard University Commencement Speech

"It iz a well big honour to be arksed ere today. To fink dat so many great people has been educated ere like Lyndon Banes Johnson, or as he is better known - JFK, George Clinton was also ere I fink , and de one before him, and also...William Tell - is he one of your lot, probably, and dat bloke wiv de hat, but most importantly dat really fit honey from Star Wars - if u iz out dere, me'd love to - me iz stayin at de Best Western Hotel - me's got a really nice room, altho since dis morning dem has put a parental lock on de tv."

"Relationships should be brought into dis -de 20th centrury - u women out dere shouldn't have to do de cookin and de cleanin when u come home from work - u should do it before u leave in de morning."

Full speech can be found here.

While in Hong Kong, R. and I came across this delightful but expensive clothing store called Bread n Butter. The store, with colourful Russian matrioshka doll cut-outs adorning the window display, caught our eyes as we walked past. The clothes were quirky and original. Some had Russian doll motifs, one had a rocking horse with the motto "spank me" written across the T-shirt, while yet another had Alice in Wonderland motifs ironed on. Unfortunately, none of them looked incredibly spectacular when we tried them on. The one thing I did love though was a red and cyan knitted hooded jumper which looked rather grandmotherly and yet, just looked so sweet on me. However, it cost more than S$150 and there was no way in hell I was going to part with so much money for a non-branded, unlikely to be used article of clothing. Hmph.

Anyway, despite their prizes, I'm still rather enamoured of the brand, simply because of their quirky advertising and now, their incredibly cute web-site. Check it out.

Bread n Butter is available at Inhabit (Palais Renaissance) in Singapore. That in itself should tell you about the pricing more than anything I could ever say.

Two new finds this month:
Overheard in New York:
Excerpt:
Tourist: A small Coke, please.
Pizza guy: Coke is illegal. You'll go to jail. How 'bout a Pepsi?

Overheard in the Office:
The office version of Overheard in New York.
Employee #1: What time zone is Maine in?
Employee #2: It’s in our time zone.
Employee #1: OK, so what time is it there right now?

Poor DXO.

A good location, big-name DJs, quality music, strong drinks and yet, no crowd. Tom Stephan aka Superchumbo wasn't too bad last night. Though it was dirty, twisted house, it wasn't getting me grooving as much as dirty, twisted house normally gets me grooving at Zouk. The same held true for my other friends. To be fair, all of us at DXO were Zouk members, but we all agreed that DXO is a good club. The music spun is above average, the service is reasonably good, the drinks are affordably priced (one Long Island Iced Tea costs S$20) and reasonably strong (I think I'm still feeling the combined effects of that one LIIT and fatigue 12 hours later), the facilities are nice and clean, there's a food court right next door and you can get there by public transport easily. And yet, it's still not crowded. We finally concluded that DXO is, quite simply, drawing the wrong kind of crowd.

True, there are people out there who can go clubbing anyway regardless of the kind of crowd found at the place or the number of people there as long as the music is good. I am not one of them. I'm not saying I club to socialise with other people. I club to have fun alongside other like-minded people, which is why the crowd is so important to me. It doesn't matter whether I know those people as long as they and I are having fun, (potentially alcohol-fuelled) bonding over the great music. In fact, that's how I met my boyfriend.

In any case, I wish DXO the best. I may be a Zouk member but there's something sickening about the notion that Singapore isn't big enough to be able to sustain more than one mega-club.

Hong Kong continued II ...

Day 3 - Sunday - 21 August 2005:

So, after waking up bright and early at 11 am and noting much to our joy that though it was grey and gloomy, it wasn't raining, we went to check out the Goldfish Market (left) and Flower Market at Mong Kok, where they were selling - what else? - goldfish and flowers respectively. Colourful, bright, and interesting for all of 30 minutes, before we decided to head off for a dim sum lunch with friends at Zen at Pacific Place. In spite of the trendy decor and seemingly posh setting, the bill for at least eight rounds of delicious dim sum came up to an astoundingly affordable ~S$25. Mmm-mmm! Highly recommended if you're in the vicinity.



After that, we finally managed to indulge in some sight-seeing by taking a tram to Times Square, modelled after Times Square in New York and also where Hong Kongers gather on New Year's Eve. Following that, we wandered off to the Island Beverley, an upmarket version of The Heeren, where to our delight, we stumbled upon Julia's Gallery, a tiny shop selling designer brands at discounted prices (Shop no. 338, 3/F Island Beverley, Tel: 31889806, Mobile: 92108349). After not having spent much money for the past two days in what is allegedly Asia's shopping paradise, my wallet was soon lighter by 1600 HKD (~S$345) as I purchased a pink Marc Jacobs trenchcoat, an off-white Marc Jacobs military jacket and a Diane von Furstenberg Eli dress (Spring 2005 collection).

Left: Marc Jacobs military jacket (though that's obviously not me)

Right: Diane von Furstenberg Eli Dress (again, not me)

Broke, burdened and incredibly happy, we returned to Pacific Place to meet another group of friends for dinner. We had intended to go The Peak for dinner and take in the great views, but unfortunately, the rain had recommenced, so we went off to Yung Kee to try the famous roasted goose. However, the goose wasn't that great with four out of the five of us rating it a six out of 10 at best. After-dinner conversation consisted of what a male version of a tai tai should be called with xiao bai lian (a guy who lives off a women's money) and gigolo being offered up as answers. This was just slightly less intellectual than what we talked about the night before: online dating and its economic impact on prostitution (which would make a great Masters dissertation, come to think of it).

And just because our shopping appetite had yet to be sated... well, R's appetite anyway, because she still had cash in her wallet, we returned to Causeway Bay, stopping briefly to buy some snowy mooncakes from Tai Pan (the "snowy mooncakes" leader) to bring back to Singapore. We couldn't find any thing decent to buy, so we went off for dessert at Lucky Dessert (next to World Trade Centre), where we had a total of six desserts, including a delicious dish consisting of bananas wrapped in pastry (extreme right).

We were contemplating returning to the hotel when another friend of mine, U., decided to come out and see me. So he arrived at the dessert place (just after we finished dessert no. 6) and despite it being a Sunday (and he being Muslim), he decided to bring us to a nearby pub so that we could have a conversation in more decent surroundings. Unfortunately, we hadn't reckoned on the English Premier League broadcast which ensured the pub was fully occupied, even at 11 pm on a Sunday night, so we had no choice but to got Tsui Wah, a 24-hour eatery, where R. and S. ordered some more food (left) while U. and I caught up. My gosh, how much can they eat?

Day 4 - Monday - 22 August 2005:

Monday, the only day we couldn't sleep in and the day we were returning home. As if to taunt us, it was hot and sunny. Bloody hell. We headed off to the airport, cursing our luck and the fickle weather gods. Our bad temper soon vanished once we found the Disney Store at the airport where I purchased some Eeyore accessories as well as a quick Tinkerbell pin. R., incredibly enough, spent S$100 on miscellaneous items. Disney, the store that turns rational adult women into squealing, screaming kids.

And from then on, there was nothing else of note, other than T. calling to welcome me home just as the taxi deposited me at my doorstep. And the only thing I can think of to express my reaction when I heard his voice is... :D!

Bourbon Congratulations! You're 120 proof, with specific scores in beer (40) , wine (100), and liquor (86).

Screw all that namby-pamby chick stuff, you're going straight for the bottle and a shot glass! It'll take more than a few shots of Wild Turkey or 99 Bananas before you start seeing pink elephants. You know how to handle your alcohol, and yourself at parties.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 39% on proof You scored higher than 68% on beer index You scored higher than 92% on wine index You scored higher than 84% on liquor index

Link: The Alcohol Knowledge Test written by hoppersplit on Ok Cupid

Apologies for the dearth of posts recently. I'm trying my best to finish up the last post on my Hong Kong vacation and was right on the verge of publishing it on Monday night when my !$@!# PC abruptly rebooted itself for no reason whatsoever.

Meanwhile, here's an interesting article on why the world's richest nation, the United States, is asking for money after Hurricane Katrina hit.

Why does the US need our money?
Magazine - BBC News

The Red Cross is appealing for people overseas to contribute money to its Hurricane Katrina Appeal. But why does the world's richest nation need handouts?

"This is the biggest humanitarian operation in its 125-year history, we are looking at an area the size of Great Britain that has been devastated. But there are broader political questions about the response of the richest country in the world to such a disaster on its own soil." [said the Red Cross.]

At an engagement party on Saturday:
Me: Wow, she's wearing a My Little Pony T-shirt!
T. (turns to look): Oh! It's Galaxy!

Cue stunned silence, followed by incredulous laughter.

Given that he had complimented the host's (yes, male) long eyelashes earlier, it would seem that I have a knack for going out with guys who are really in touch with their feminine side.

(Updated) Later on, after writing this post:
Me: By the way, it was Heathwitch on the T-shirt, not Galaxy.
T.: Told you I could have been wrong. Galaxy has a horn, right?
Me: ... (sends link to picture of Galaxy over)
T.: Look, you can see the tiny baby unicorn horn on her head.
Me: Are you sure you're not gay?

And just for fun, play "Porn Star or My Little Pony?"

I got 3 out of 12. What were those cartoon writers thinking?