leaving a bad taste...

In the news....

- The Arts centre can have an operating deficit of $31.6 million and you can still consider it good news because the $39.7 million Government subsidy puts you $8.1 million in the black. Whoopee!

- Singapore is set to become Asia's Rivet Hub and have a thriving rivet construction industry, with the number of households required to change the aluminum rivets of their windows to stainless steel ones.
Before you start complaining about why HDB-installed rivets should become your problem, you ingrate, remember that we are all very lucky to have a Government who, out of the goodwill of their hearts, has negotiated with contractors to offer 70 cents per rivet instead of $1.
So now, if you have a 3-room flat with 12 casement windows, you need only pay $134 instead of $192 to replace all the rivets.
What Government in the world will be kind-hearted enough to get you bulk rates for repairs they force you to undertake?
I cannot wait till one of these stainless steel rivet windows falls too, and we will be told to "upgrade" to titanium rivets. At a special HDB-negotiated rate, of course.

- the key to solving our blackout problems is, hold your breath now, another committee.
"9 members appointed to Energy System Review Committee
SINGAPORE : Mr Jock McKenzie, former President for Asia, Middle East and Africa at ChevronTexaco Corporation has been appointed Chairman of a high-level nine-member Energy System Review Committee.
Following the major blackout on June 29, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan informed Parliament that the Trade and Industry would set up the committee to take a fresh look at Singapore's electricity and gas systems, and make recommendations on improvements." -Yahoo News
I say just take the senior blackout culprits out to the back of the shed and break a leg for every power failure lasting less than 30 minutes. And two legs if more than 30 minutes. All this pussyfooting is just a waste of time. Forget the Energy System Review Committee. Have a Power Failure Hit Squad instead.

- That there were mixed reactions from charities when the Council on Governance of Institutions of a Public Character (IPCs) called for greater transparency and accountability from charities, like disclosing the salaries of their top three executives.
Said Action for Aids executive director Benedict Jacob-Thambiah: "It's fine to reveal our pay to the authorities, but why do we need to tell it to any Tom, Dick or Harry?"
Er, just my uneducated guess, but because charities get their money from Toms, Dicks and Harrys?

- That if you plan to slip in the rain, make sure you do it somewhere outside the Singapore Island Country Club premises. You may encounter rich people who don't have time to help you as you lay dying there.
In fact, this member who fell should be ashamed of himself, bringing bad press and ill-repute to the esteemed club.

- no media competition does not mean the quality of the media will suffer.
Ya, in Singapore, we are used to competing with ourselves to continuously improve. Even our Government is like that one.
Singapore: We ownself compete ownself one.

- Competition Laws apply to everyone but the industries we have vested interest in. us = the Government

- That when your computer kena problem or you cannot access the network, and you need I.T.'s help, you need to send them an email

- Armed SOC cops will be patrolling Orchard Road and other public areas to project an even stronger police presence on the ground and to reassure the public and deter any potential terrorist attacks.
"Ok, are you boys ready? When I start speaking into the camera, you all start walking in step towards my camera man, ok? Look fierce and serious about fighting terrorism, ok? SGT Lim, don't smile and don't look at the camera, ok? Your eyes narrower a bit? Right! Annnnnd action!"

- analysts are baffled by the surprise drop in joblessness this third quarter, from the expected 4.5% to the actual 3.4%, a three-year low.
I have good news and bad news: The good news is, more of you will have jobs. The bad news is, you will be paid way less than what you were paid doing the same thing before, and your job will now be a contract thing.

- Singaporeans are following the US Elections with great interest. May as well, since most of us have as much opportunity to vote in the US Elections as we do the Singapore one

- That with US Elections heading for a repeat of 2000's deadlock, the US may wish to give up the Electoral College system and try our Singapore GRC system. Sure got clear winner one (give or take a few walkovers).

Looks like someone at CNN/Netscape does not like Bush very much

Music Industry: Technology is your friend, embrace it!

Here are some other possible reasons I can think of to account for the music industry's decline:

1. Competition with other forms of entertainment

2. Poor quality product

3. Insistence on sticking to an out-of-date CD format when people are listening to music differently and just want to get per-song downloads

4. High prices and making consumers buy an entire album when only one song is good

5. Suing their own customers instead of winning them over

6. Making legit customers pissed off with pain-in-the-ass Copy-Control CDs that cannot work in all audio devices and cannot be easily ripped into mp3 players like the iPod.

7. No viable alternative for users who want paid downloads (until iTunes came along)

8. Sales have not declined, shipments have, because retailers are now ordering what they think they need, and not eating the overrun

9. Britney Spears

Letter to ST Forum

Too Many Parking Lots for Disabled?

I WOULD like to ask the Land Transport Authority:
• How many parking lots are reserved for the disabled.
• The number of disabled drivers.

I ask these questions because I see reserved lots in every carpark but in the years that these lots have been around, I have never seen a car parked in one of them.

Dennis Lim Chong Boon
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Must be that "open and inclusive", "compassionate and caring" society that PM was talking about.

Mr Dennis Lim, you not being able to find a parking lot only inconveniences you for a while. The disabled have to face accessibility issues for the rest of their lives. So leave what little help the old and the disabled have right now alone.

Maybe Mr Lim can think about getting around Singapore in a wheelchair for one day, and see if he still feels there are too many disabled lots after that. I am sure he will enjoy navigating fun areas like the sheltered HDB walkways with no slopes, and MRT stations with no lifts, and buses with no ramp access.

The Real Ending of The Empire Strikes Back

A furious lightsaber duel is underway. DARTH VADER is backing LUKE SKYWALKER towards the end of the gantry. A quick move by Vader, chops off Luke's hand!

It goes spinning off into the ventilation shaft. Luke backs away. He looks around, but realizes there's nowhere to go but straight down.

DARTH VADER: Obi Wan never told you what happened to your father.

LUKE:: He told me enough! He told me you killed him!

DARTH VADER: No... I am your father!

LUKE:: No, it's not true! It's impossible.

DARTH VADER: Search your feelings... you know it to be true...

LUKE:: NO!

DARTH VADER: Yes, it is true.. and you know what else? You know that brass droid of yours?

LUKE:: Threepio?

DARTH VADER: Yes... Threepio... I built him... when I was 7 years old...

LUKE:: No...

DARTH VADER: Seven years old? And what have you done? Look at yourself, no hand, no job, and couldn't even levitate your own ship out of the swamp...

LUKE:: I destroyed your precious Death Star!

DARTH VADER: When you were 20! When I was 10, I single-handedly destroyed a Trade Federation Droid Control ship!

LUKE:: Well, it's not my fault...

DARTH VADER: Oh, here we go... "Poor me... my father never gave me what I wanted for my birthday... boo hoo, my daddy's the Dark Lord of the Sith... waahhh wahhh!"

LUKE:: Shut up...

DARTH VADER: You're a slacker! By the time I was you're age, I had exterminated the Jedi knights!

LUKE:: I used to race my T-16 through Beggar's Canyon!

DARTH VADER: Oh, for the love of the Emperor... 10 years old, winner of the Boonta Eve Open... Only human to ever fly a Pod Racer... right here baby!

LUKE: looks down the shaft. Takes a step towards it.

DARTH VADER: I was wrong... You're not my kid... I don't know whose you are, but you sure ain't mine...

Luke takes a step off the platform, hesitates, then plunges down the shaft. Darth Vader looks after him.

DARTH VADER: Get a haircut!.

"I don't know what he's thinking because he never tells me what is going on"

5 Secrets of Getting a Man to Open Up

click here

imagine...

Imagine by A Perfect Circle

A powerful video.click on the link.Real Player required.

America voted and your American Idol is...George Bush?

It looks like George W. Bush is back in the White House.

To iPod or not to iPod that is the q...

I am seriously considering getting myself an iPod but which one? I think 20GB would be enough for me. 4 gigs seems puny for the mini and $458 for it seems like daylight robbery.Of course it is the smallest and lightest of the lot, which makes it easier to lug...i mean...carry around.



The ipod mini retails for S$ 458.00 and comes with 4 GB(abt 70 hrs of music)
The iPod retails for S$ 548.00 (20 GB) and S$ 748.00 (40 GB).



The U2 Special Edition iPod retails at S$ 628.01 with 20 GB of memory.



So the question remains:which choice would make the most financial sense? I am partial to the U2 one but I have to wait 3 weeks before it arrives here. The look and the special touches make it a collectors item. Not to mention it comes with a voucher to purchase “The Complete U2” digital boxed set at discount and an exclusive U2 poster.Yeeeeah!!

Day 6 of Leon's Sabbathical- sex, guns and rock n' roll

Nothing quite a good title to grab your readers attention.

First stop: the library to return the 2 overdue books I had at Ang Mo Kio Library. Then took a walk around Ang Mo Kio central looking for an FM receiver but found none that fit what I had in mind. Wanted to take a bus to town but thought better of it when I missed my bus. So made the trek to the MRT station. While there I bought a New Paper and the November issue of FHM featuring Caroline Cheong on the cover. I will never watch Lightyears the same way again. Coincidentally, the issue came with a pair of thongs which I intend to give to Joyce. If only she will put it on and let me take a picture then I can join the contest...

...and oh...the articles are not half bad.

Took the train to Somerset. I was going to Paragon. On hindsight, I shoulda gotten off at Orchard. It seems nearer to Paragon. There I made my way up to the 9th floor for my medical review. Is it just me or are the ladies who go there good looking? If there was a contest for a clinic with the best looking babes this would be the one. I am not sure if the lady at the counter is new or what but her reaction when I handed in my urine sample was priceless. But other than that she seemed rather proficient. I sense that there is a flu bug going around judging by the people in the waiting room. Even the Doctor was nursing a runny nose. Isn't there some kinda rule where a sick doctor cannot see patients? It runs the risk of patients getting a virus from their healthcare giver! Anyway, I thought all doctors and healthcare personnel get flu shots and should not be susceptible to the flu.

After my check had been completed I was told to go down to the 7th floor for x-ray. So I took the lift down without realising that the paper I was holding had the word 'breast scanning' in bold under the name of the clinic. When I realised it I nonchalantly folded the paper in half and kept it out of view for the remainder of my trip down. There a sweet young thing told me to take off my shirt and manhandled me into position. The cheek of it all! After that she took the x-ray and told me to get dressed and wait outside. After a minute or so she told me I could go. FREEDOM!!

Then walked around the orchard area. I had time to kill as I was not gonna meet Joyce til after 6. Thought of catching a movie but was not captivated by anything at Orchard Cineleisure.Tried looking for my fm receiver and maybe an iPod or iPodMini. Went to Plaza Singapura with much the same outcome. Took a bus to St. Andrew's Cathedral and walked to Funan with the same intentions to the same outcome. Just not in the mood for shopping today I guess...or movies for that matter. Took bus 857 from Stamford Road to Yishun. A long ride, but at least I was doing something rather than walking around aimlessly intil Her Highness got off work. In the bus I perused my sealed FHM and made extra effort to conceal the white thong contained therein from the other commuters.

By the time I got to Yishun it seems that Joyce had messaged me and called me...5 times ...on my mobile. Somehow I did not hear nor feel my phone vibrate. Musta been the shaking of the bus that nullified the vibrating sensation ...or maybe...I was too engrossed in the 'articles' in the magazine.

I called Joyce back and to my dismay she told me that there had been a change in plans. Damn!!! She was gonna bring the Japanese Supplier out for dinner AGAIN so we would not be meeting today AGAIN. That is like the third time she done that in 6 days. I know it is work and all but I was so looking forward to having Joyce all to myself today and she just brushed me off like I was some kind of a bad habit. We have not had a single day together alone for a few weeks already.I had spent all that time in town and took that stupid bus ride from town to Yishun all in anticipation of meeting her. If i had known there was a 'change in plans', I could have made alternative arrangements or gone home straight after the clinic.

As a result I went to Yishun 10 to see if there were any movies to see. But by now I had no mood for much of anything. Might as well go home which I duly did.

Day 5- Through the Barricades

Was rudely awoken by my handphone. It was Joyce on the other end. She told me to prepare and come over. We were going to JB for lunch.

The name of the restaurant is Good Luck Restaurant. A name that immediately instills confidence in the patrons. The thing is they serve cheap and good seafood, especially lobsters. You can get it dirt cheap there(no pun intended).

But first (there is always a 'but')we detoured to Pelangi for breakfast. I have no idea why we have to go to Pelangi for breakfast when Penggerang is all the way on the other side of Johore.There are so many coffeshops to be found in JB and along the route to Penggerang serving good food. So after going to the various coffeshops there we settled on one where we had fried carrot cake and fried kway teow.Nothing like a cholesterol laden lunch in anticipation of an equally rich seafood lunch.

After lunch, we went to Makro and Giant near the Pasir Gudang Highway. Bought lotsa groceries. It started to rain whilst we were at Giant. So we went hunting for an umbrella and found none at the shops, by which time the rain had already started to subside.

I then made the long drive across to Penggerang for lunch. The drive took about 2 1/2 hours. We got there just before 4 where they were already getting ready to closed until 6 pm. They took our orders and served us our food and then closed the shop! Of course only after we had footed the bill.

After the late lunch we drove around the coastal area before heading back to JB. The coast was really nice at sundown and the villages were quaint for want of a better word. If they took the time to develop the place it could make for a good seaside resort. As it is it is a bit laid back and kampung-ish and transport is hell.

There was a slight jam at the causeway but surprisingly the Singapore side was rather smooth.

I drove to Causeway Point where we had desserts at the food court before heading to the McDonalds at B1 for fries.

Then drove home to Joyce's place. I parked at the void deck and help bring up the groceries and sat a bit before I was unceremoniously told to go home by my sweetheart with the promise that we would meet again the next day.

Day 4 of Leon's sabbathical- Calamine, calamine..calamine lotion

Not a very productive day.

In the afternoon went to Thomson Plaza. Bought Calamol (a calamine and menthol lotion) for my sunburn. Also bought the new DVD for the Star Wars Trilogy.

The Calamol was somewhat effective, but if memory serves me correct the normal calamine lotion is more effective than the mass produced stuff i bought.

And then....Star Wars!! Woo -hoo...really enjoyed the bonus DVD I got with the set. Which is probably the main reason why anyone would buy the Trilogy DVD set in the first place. I already have the Special Edition Star Wars set in VHS. Was cool seeing all the new stuff and bonus material.



So spent the rest of the day exploring the Bonus Material DVD.*sound of crickets in the background*