muddynights

When summer is 20C in New England

2009-07-01T23:14:41Z

Freaky weather even by New England standards. I had to stop by the nearby Starbucks (which I am not to fond of, overpriced coffee and all) just to seek refuge from the rain (rain!!) and the chilly wind. And this is supposed to be summer! Had I known, I would have packed more warm clothes instead of shorts and t-shirts. So now I am safely esconded in my charming room (with a view) in a charming flat in charming South End, trying to soothe my chilled sensibilities (and soaked feet) with EBTG.

On a stopover in Washington, I had to re-claim my bags and re-check them in. Must be some premonition, but I stared a bit longer at my luggage as it was being loaded on the conveyer belt (like I was not seeing it ever again). I landed in Boston but apparently, my bags were still stuck in Washington. Good thing I had the foresight of packing a day's worth of clothes in my carry-on. (Yes, this advice is for anybody flying any US airlines requiring connecting flights).

Early the following day, I called up the lost baggage help line to check if my bags were found. It was, but only after finding out that the staff taking calls was Filipino, based in a call centre in a suburb of Manila, helping me figure out what happened to my bags in Boston, from a flight from Singapore. At 7 am and after a gruelling 20 hour flight, it was bit too much for my brain (uncaffeinated, at that) to grasp but it sure was bewildering.

When luck has it that your plane is marked

2009-06-05T15:48:51Z

Unlike some people, I've never been scared of flying. Maybe I should.

Speculations on the final few minutes of Air France 477 (as confirmed to have likely have happened) is nothing less than chilling.

At 11 p.m. (10 p.m. EDT), pilot Marc Dubois sent a manual signal saying he was flying through an area of "CBs" -- black, electrically charged cumulonimbus clouds that carry violent winds and lightning.

At 11:10 p.m., a cascade of horrific problems began.

Automatic messages relayed by the jetliner indicate the autopilot had disengaged, suggesting Dubois and his two co-pilots were trying to thread their way through the dangerous clouds manually.

A key computer system had switched to alternative power and controls needed to keep the plane stable had been damaged.

An alarm sounded, indicating the deterioration of flight systems.

At 11:13 p.m., more automatic messages reported the failure of systems to monitor air speed, altitude and direction. Control of the main flight computer and wing spoilers also failed.

The last automatic message, at 11:14 p.m., indicated complete electrical failure and a massive loss of cabin pressure -- catastrophic events, indicating that the plane was breaking apart and plunging toward the ocean.

Plane mishaps have been to know to happen most frequently during take-off and landing. Air disasters occuring while mid-air are almost unheard of. Imagine you were watching some nutty movie, laughing your head off when suddenly all hell breaks loose.

Scary, man.

Sex trounces H1N1 and North Korea in Manila

2009-06-01T14:48:57Z

Unlike Singapore news that is almost always fixated on all boom, doom, and stale gloom, news from Manila has always been irreverently irrelevant you'd think nothing extraordinary happens at all. For the past few weeks, Manila has been fixated on the surfacing of several sex videos involving a doctor/celebrity/model and several starlets. If you think those photos of Edison Chen were scandalous (or yummy, depending on your persuasion), these videos are on a different-queerclick league (NSFW) of its own.

In keeping with the irrelevant theme, even lawmakers have been happily dissecting the sex videos using precious senate time - all in the "aid of legislation."; though for whatever form of legislation lawmakers intend to use the information escapes me. So the culprit was hauled into the August halls of the Senate, and made to answer questions like - what software did you use? where did you place the camera? Not surprisingly, those who were doing the grilling were actors themselves. (Finally, they are tackling something that they are comfortable with. Leave the heavy stuff like poverty to the serious legislators).

So while the world is worried about the economy, North Korea and H1N1, Filipinos think that a sex video takes precedence. And that, my friends, explains why the Philippines is where it is in the global economy.

When the alarm clock swats you back

2009-05-25T15:00:53Z

The curse of Monday mornings is back.

You know... when you swat the alarm clock in the morning, and the alarm clock swats you back, apart from the incessant meowing (and biting) from the Chairman to tell you that his breakfast is due.

Yes. I am back to work and the first week was a mad rush of keeping up, not to mention having to still keep up with the backlog from school.

Clinic was worse. Last week was MRI week. I hate MRI week as there is bound to be somebody not responding to treatment. I had to break the bad news to 2 people; one was a 27 year old guy with a young family.

There are a few things to be thankful about. My trip to Japan pushed through, thought that too had it's share of near mishaps. I miscalculated train schedules and almost didn't make it to board the plane for Singapore. I arrived at the airport 30 friggin minutes before flight time. The counter lady was kind enough to hastily check me in (even forgot to even check my passport), accompanied me all the way to the immigration counter, and I arrived at the boarding gate 5 minutes before boarding time (with time even to buy some stuff from duty-free). Oh. I suppose it helped as well that I've ungraded myself to business. I wonder if the counter lady would have been as helpful had I been in coach.

Come July and I'm headed to the US... on United A. I'm cringing just thinking about it.

H1N1 should learn from Mas Selamat

2009-05-08T07:23:49Z

So finally the elusive Mas Salamt has been caught in Malaysia.

"He was reportedly captured in southern Malaysia, just across the Johor Strait from Singapore, in an area that once effectively served as the headquarters for Jemaah Islamiyah."

If I recall, somebody declared in the past that Mas Salamat should still be still in Singapore because he has not been sighted elsewhere.

Border checks so tight, even the H1N1 virus couldn't enter Singapore.

Maybe H1N1 should have used a floatation device. Nobody in Singapore will ever think of that.

Pandemic shamdemic?

2009-05-04T14:59:31Z

Officially, we are in pandemic alert phase 5 - a full blown global flu pandemic is imminent.

So what does this actually mean? It means that a flu virus that was previously only contagious between animals have found it's way to humans and that these humans have been documented to be spreading this virus across 2 continents (or 2 geographical WHO areas).

But what is important to note here is that nowhere in this classification does it say that the virus is lethal.

All it tells us is that it is contagious, the same way any flu bug jumps from one colleague to another in the office. In order to find out the lethality of the virus, one has to find out the case fatality rate which is the number of fatalities occuring as a result of infection (SARS had a case fatality rate between 12 and 71%. Unlike SARS, a person is infectious even before the onset of fever). From collected reports, the current case fatality rate for H1N1 is 2.3%. But according to reports on the ground, poor access to health care may be the real culprit.

Even now, the Mexican government is finding out that a number of the fatalities were not caused by H1N1. As I said in a earlier post, most people who got H1N1 got better by themselves, without hospitalisation. Some who had the flu didn't even know it was H1N1 until they were tested. The virus can mutate to a more virulent strain but that won't be happening so soon, particularly as the northern hemisphere moves into the summer season. Like vampires, this virus cannot withstand prolonged daylight exposure. So yes, this current bogeyman is from Monsters, Inc and voiced by the lovable John Goodman.

That said, I am a bit baffled that the pandemic alert 5 has been used to justify radical measures to contain the virus. In fact, the WHO has already said that there is no point in containing the virus and measures should be focused instead on mitigating the effects of infection.

Truth be told, unless a vaccine is out soon, all of us will be infected whether you like it or not. It may not be within the next 3 months, but maybe 1 to 5 years down the road, after which you develop immunity - just like when you develop immunity to a flu strain until a new mutated strain comes along.

So how does that leave all these virus containment exercises? Like putting all the 200 hotel guests under quarantine? Temperature checks at every corner? (I wanted to go to the gym today but was deterred by the long queue waiting to have their temperature checked) Visa restrictions for Mexicans? Quarantine all Mexicans? What happens when the US numbers overtake Mexico? (The US is, after all, so much bigger than Mexico) Do we quarantine everybody coming from the US? We will need more than the Aloha Chalet to hold them all. One thing is for sure, all these exercises has done nothing to contain anxiety.

I sooo need to be convinced that this is not just a show for those who bungled SARS.

The power of new media and the lurking menace

2009-05-03T14:55:08Z

If there are any lingering doubts about the power of new media, one just had to review the role it played at the conclusion of the AWARE saga yesterday.

Weeks before, Singaporean bloggers had a field day dissecting, de-constructing and spinning conspiracy theories about the AWARE takeover. Emails supposedly confidential (and understanbly ignored by the mainstream press) found its way to the net. During the EGM yesterday, it was Twitter that was on centre stage. Twits (is that what they call them?) provided a second by second account of what was happening in real time. And since mainstream media was initially barred from entering the premises, twitter was the only source of real time information for those who were not there. Later on, people started uploading video clips on youtube. Go see how the ringleader screamed "you have no repect for your elders" or "I am on page 73." It was such a reversal of roles that guards had to stand by to prevent the tigers from pouncing on her.

To be sure, the ex-exco was already dealt a deathblow when the fundamentalist agenda was pried out of them, but it was new media that fanned the flames and mobilised the forces of the old guard. It is the collective power of individuals, busy typing away on their phones or their laptops flooding the invisible broadband highway with blog entries, forum comments and twits. These are the kingmakers of the future. But just like in any environment where the voice of the majority becomes the word of truth, the truth may not always be the truth but a matter of values or opinion. God forbid the day when new media becomes nothing more than mob rule gone legit.

AWARE drama

2009-05-02T08:12:58Z

So much AWARE drama.

The funniest twitter twit I've read so far - when the ringleader spoke up -

H1N1

2009-05-02T08:01:43Z

The first H1N1 flu joke I've heard.

Dubai and Singapore

2009-05-02T07:43:11Z

Over dinner last night, some friends mentioned that Dubai is not faring any better than Singapore, if not worse. After all, Dubai is the other self-styled adult Disneyland, fabled paradise in the desert and man-made islands with multi-million price tags; only less well managed.

Googling Dubai led me to this article in the UK Independent. It's rather long but if you are interested in the parallels between Dubai and Singapore, this article is an eye opener.

Here, off the coast of Dubai, developers have been rebuilding the world. They have constructed artificial islands in the shape of all planet Earth's land masses, and they plan to sell each continent off to be built on. There were rumours that the Beckhams would bid for Britain. But the people who work at the nearby coast say they haven't seen anybody there for months now. "The World is over," a South African suggests.

All over Dubai, crazy projects that were Under Construction are now Under Collapse. They were building an air-conditioned beach here, with cooling pipes running below the sand, so the super-rich didn't singe their toes on their way from towel to sea.

The projects completed just before the global economy crashed look empty and tattered. The Atlantis Hotel was launched last winter in a $20m fin-de-siecle party attended by Robert De Niro, Lindsay Lohan and Lily Allen. Sitting on its own fake island – shaped, of course, like a palm tree – it looks like an immense upturned tooth in a faintly decaying mouth. It is pink and turreted – the architecture of the pharaohs, as reimagined by Zsa-Zsa Gabor. Its Grand Lobby is a monumental dome covered in glitterballs, held up by eight monumental concrete palm trees. Standing in the middle, there is a giant shining glass structure that looks like the intestines of every guest who has ever stayed at the Atlantis. It is unexpectedly raining; water is leaking from the roof, and tiles are falling off.

The similarities can be unnerving. While I think it will not be that bad in Singapore, it gives credence to fears of what may go wrong in Singapore if this recession doesn't let up soon.

Babbling and rattling off

2009-04-30T17:14:35Z

Adam Lambert is off his comfort zone. Perhaps the purple hair effect is kicking in already?

The world is on the verge of a pandemic flu. Why do I get a feeling that this is being blown out of proportions? Except for Mexico, most cases recovered spontaneously. My suspicion is that the original pig-human transmission was the more virulent, re-assorted strain, getting weaker as it passes from human to human but retaining its contagiousness. We shall see.

2 exams down, one paper to write. As far as I am concerned, this journey is almost over. Hiatus almost over. Work is beckoning. I just hope this swine flu dies down before I return.

Just my luck that the deadline for turning in my final paper falls on the day when I am supposed to be overseas. Earlier than that, my supervisor is overseas and cannot endorse it. Aggravations are such a pain when you already think you have this in bag. Just another way of making me work harder for that trip. Ditto with a coming trip to the US. This swine flu swirling the northern hemisphere has certainly put a spanner in my plans. Another photo finish or no finish in the works.

Public service programme from muddy

2009-04-27T07:22:23Z

More logos from: Singapore Community Cats

One by one

2009-04-27T06:39:46Z

Less than a year after Estelle Getty passed away, Bea Arthur aka Dorothy Zbornak has passed away. It's like Harper's Island... one by one...

One of my favorite scenes from the Goldern Girls is when Rose fails to mention to Dorothy and Blanche that they were expecting a midget for dinner. The word play and comic timing is just classic Golden Girls.

Be-AWARE of those in sheep's clothing

2009-04-25T10:43:17Z

I have previously resisted commenting on the AWARE saga as I felt that there was more here that meets the eye, particularly when the new leaders were suspiciously resolute in ignoring the elephant in the room (even to the extent of saying that the elephant was not relevant). It was almost as if they were embarassed to proclaim their divine agenda.

But now that the group's true color has emerged, I have to say that is definitely not very classy behaviour, not to mention very un-Christian. As events have so far transpired, the elephant turned out to be (surprise!) the ringleader. This drama was turning out to be better than Desperate Housewives (or Gossip Girl XOXO).

Unknown becomes president. President becomes puppet. And you know what they say about puppets and puppeteers. This puppeteer was not even elected. How's that for credibility?

So how does this latest turn of events leave the new guard? Not only were they found to be deliberately lying (dear me, lying Christians) and misrepresenting themselves (they must be wearing burkas to church services to not know each other), but the underhanded tactics they employed is nothing less than.. devilishly devious. Yes people. Christianity has not tamed the human beast, at least not among these women. They are not unlike most of us heathens, only more self-righteous.

The Atheist Machiavelli would have been proud. No act is so evil that some necessity or benefit cannot mitigate it. These women certainly saw it that way. I wonder if they also teach this in Sunday School. How else to ensure the young ones know that is sometimes Christian behaviour to be unchristianly? Why be a good Christian witness when you can be feminist mentor or AWARE president? Chew on that.

Mr Wang Says So: AWARE and why you should should cancel your DBS credit cards
Towleroad: Fundies orchestrate coup of women's organisation in Singapore
Boing Boing: Christian fundamentalists hijack Singaporean feminist group
Yawning Bread: Pirate mother ship appears on horizon, guns blazing

State of affairs

2009-04-20T14:11:37Z

The state of affairs in the Waterloo household.

Mr Brown is up and about again, after playing sick for the past 2days after a visit to the vet. Chairman is still as frisky as always.

Somebody is hooked on his Korean dramas. Another is hooked on... gasp.... Gossip Girl. Evil! Evil! Stay away! XOXO

(Which is the reason I haven't mentioned anything on the AWARE saga, yet)

Okay... back to GG.

Cat talk translated

2009-04-17T06:48:58Z

I'm sure you've seen this youtube clip of 2 cats in a cat conversation.

So here is what happens when you put a babelfish in your ear and understand what they are talking about.

Meow Meow....

While muddy was sleeping, singing do re mi in public will not be allowed

2009-04-15T15:15:24Z

By now, everybody have seen this flash mob performance at a train station in Belgium.

10 reasons why this will never happen here (now):
(10) This is not Speaker's Corner
(9) It is a gay event because too many guys are dancing like Julie Andrews
(8) Singaporeans can only do line dancing
(7) Filming is not allowed so this will never end up in youtube
(6) Somebody will complain and the police will issue 'move-on' orders in the middle of the song
(5) More than 1 person is involved
(4) Processions with arm waving is not allowed
(3) They won't even be allowed to leave their HDB flats
(2) World leaders are meeting next door
(1)They fail to convince the police that Do-Re-Mi is not political song

HoloFile 264: Trying to breathe

2009-04-11T14:59:09Z

Well, I feel deep in your heart;
there are wounds time can't heal.
And I feel
somebody somewhere is trying to breathe,
Well, you know what I mean.
It's a world gone crazy,
keeps woman in chains
(Tears for Fears/Woman in Chains)

(Gay Liberation Monument at Christopher Park, Greenwich Village, NYC, 2007)

Make my day, you Hmong lover

2009-04-05T15:04:32Z

In the grand tradition of larger than life action icons uttering quotable one-liners, I was half expecting Clint Eastwood to deliver his famous "make my day" line while mocking the neighborhood ethnic thugs in Gran Torino. Alas, he didn't.

But Gran Torino makes up for the lapse by going overdrive with the ancient, cantankerous, scarred warrior/soldier transformed into neighborhood "I still have the mojo" sage storyline. Did I say lovable racist pig as well? Yes, He played that as well.

But don't get me wrong. I loved Gran Torino (highly recommended). It's the kind of film action heroes do well when they get too old to play Rambo (Sylvester S, please take note) and still look cute. But unlike other action flicks where the old hero lives to get the girl, this hero goes to his tailor, gets a nice warm shave, takes a soak in the tub and puts on a show that demonstrates how to change the world by lighting a smoke. Clint makes my day even without uttering it.

HoloFile 263: Boy from the sea

2009-04-03T05:39:50Z

I knew a boy,
he came from the sea
He was the only boy
who ever knew the truth about me.
(Pacific Coast Highway/Courtney Love)

(Boy in the beach, Boracay Island, 2007)

Adam Lambert's extreme make-over

2009-03-26T16:14:31Z

I may be proven wrong next week, but looking at the extreme make-over Adam Lambert underwent this week, it appears that the AI homogenisation process has already begun. The slick hair, almost photoshopped complexion and sans black nail polish is just... unnervingly heterosexual. Where did rainbow brite go?

So has Adam succumbed to the AI machinery? It may have been a deliberate decision by Adam himself, but I suspect AI producers having a direct hand in re-package the potential AI champ this season. We have to have an America-safe AI champ. Rainbow high (Eyes, hair, mouth, figure, dress, voice, style, movement) gives way to Johnny Cash?

BTW. Who knew that underneath all that hair and goth make-up, this guy is actually good looking?

How a Filipino can work for Bill Gates

2009-03-19T16:01:14Z

Singaporeans are kiasu (怕输). Hongkies are kiasi (怕死). I say Filipinos are aisi (爱死, want to die); as in Filipinos will do just about everything, foolish or otherwise, just to get away with anything.

I just read a joke that perfectly illustrates this (aren't all jokes based on truths?), though a bit abbreviated and made understandable for non-Filipinos.

Bill Gates organized an enormous session to recruit a new chairman for Microsoft Europe.
5000 candidates assembled in a large room. One candidate was a Filipino.

Bill Gates: "Thank you for coming. We'll do this by process of elimination to speed up the process. Those who do not know JAVA may leave." 2,000 people left the room. Filipino guy said to himself, "I do not know JAVA but I have nothing to lose if I stay. I'll give it a try."

Bill Gates: "Candidates with no experience managing more than 1000 employees may leave."
2000 people left the room. Filipino guy said to himself, "I never managed anybody but myself but I'm staying. What could happen to me?"

Bill Gates: "Candidates without management diplomas may leave."
500 people left the room. Filipino guy said to himself, "I never even graduated, but what have I got to lose?" So he stayed.

Lastly, Bill Gates asked candidates who did not speak Serbo-Croat to leave.
498 people left the room. Filipino says to himself, "What the hell is Serbo-Croat? But I've gotten this far, I have to stay on."

So he stayed and found himself standing with only one other candidate in the room. Everyone else had eliminated themselves.
Bill Gates joined both candidates and said: "Apparently you two are the only candidates with terrific management skills speaking Serbo-Croat, so I'd now like to hear you converse in that language."

Calmly, Filipino guy turned to the other candidate and said, "Kumusta ka, pare ko" (How are you? in Tagalog)

Without batting an eyelash, the other candidate replied, "Mabuti naman. Ikaw?: (Oh, I'm fine. How about you? in Tagalog)

And that, my friends, is how Filipinos can conquer the world.

Is America ready?

2009-03-18T16:25:23Z

Okay. I had to totally agree with Simon this week. What the hell was that?!

If Adam was trying to make a statement by making a country song sound totally un-country (read: you can't put me in a box, unless you give me finger cymbals, black nail paint and a snake), he sure made it loud and clear. Any lingering doubt about his sexuality was laid to rest with this performance. As Sophia will say, the guy is as a gay as a picnic basket.

Having said that, I hope it doesn't ruin his chances of at least making it to the top 3, just for possessing those vocal chops and stage presence. AI8 has already gone from the queerest top 36 to the last queer standing in less than a month, and America has never been known to be PC when it comes to who gets booted out. If any queer guy can make it as an AI champ, Adam is our best bet. Even if America does forgive Adam for his over-the-top dramatic antics on the show, some people may not be so comfortable when they see him in purple hair, locking lips with a fellow XY dude, or in a mini-skirt.

So is America ready for a queer American idol (Clay A does not count)? We shall see if Brokeback Mountain and Milk and Ellen Degeneres and Isis King and Christian Siriano has had any effect on the collective American psyche.

Yes, you've been warned

2009-03-16T16:06:04Z

Nothing like a slow day of no news to give you some riveting news in Singapore.

Apparently, the Weekend Today felt that people were taking its existence for granted, and thought we should be reminded of its important role in society. They even have the "fear appeal" headline to make sure we get the message, like our mothers telling us that the bogeyman will get you if you don't behave. Remember, "you've been warned."

According to Today, the following "compelling" reasons warrant keeping newspapers alive:
(1) Companies will see a sales slump because they have nowhere to put ads
(2) Citizens will make important decisions in the dark
(3) Discussions on important issues will take too long if tackled on TV or radio
(4) Other sources of news are unreliable

Why do I get the sinking feeling that this was written by somebody cramming for his school written assignment? or maybe it was because the writer had the impossible task of delivering on the editor's command - "make us essential." So what you do expect? Besides, only editors of such a mindset will actually allow such a piece to be published in the first place.

The last I checked, Today is a free newspaper. So I find it very strange that Today should even be worried about people getting tired of it. Or do I take it Today is scared that all their business ads will go to the internet instead? Yes, you've been warned. Give us better news or it's the dodo for you.

HoloFile 262: Worn hearts

2009-03-15T12:55:42Z

Hearts are worn in these dark ages
You're not alone in this story's pages
(World on fire/Sarah McLachlan)

(Homeless outside a train station, Osaka, 2007)