Bahloo Down Under

Confused

2007-12-19T00:00:00.000+10:00

For the first time in a long while, I feel like a kid again but not in a good way. I feel like a kid in the sense that I'm in situations I have no idea about and have no previous experience to call upon for a solution or reference. I can only hope that I don't piss off too many people while I try to figure out what it is I'm suppose to be doing.

Penang Hokkien

2007-08-18T12:38:00.000+10:00

Penang Hokkien is a unique dialect of Hokkien unique to the north of Peninsular Malaysia, especially the island of Penang. It is the Hokkien I speak with my mom and sometimes, living in Australia, I miss listening to people speak this language. I've found this podcast of people all over world who speak Penang Hokkien. Check it out.

http://penanghokkien.com/

Enjoy listening to it.

WOW!!!

2007-07-21T17:45:00.000+10:00

Today I drove the best car I've ever driven in my life. It was quick, agile and totally chuckable and had dual climate control and funky rear seats that folded every which way but it drove like nothing I've ever driven before. No wonder the Stig rates it the best hot hatch.

Now to win Gold Lotto to be able to afford the car.

Quote of the Day

2007-07-20T07:54:00.000+10:00

"The bumblebee, according to our engineers' calculations, cannot fly at all, but the bumblebee does not know this and flies" -- Igor Sikorsky, father of the modern day helicpoter.

Best Man

2007-07-16T21:36:00.000+10:00

I've never been a best man before in my entire life and suddenly, within the course of a single year, I am the best man for 2 separate weddings, one for the brother of the friend........apparently I'm one of the few single people left they know and the second, for a good friend from Uni.

I have to give a speech for both and neither can be insulting or I will be killed by the respective wifes to be. I'm not even allowed to get one of the grooms off his face (warning from wife-to-be).

Anyway, here's hoping I figure out how to be a good best man. Either that, or I'll just growl my way through it.

A Bear Lost in the Arts

2007-06-16T21:49:00.000+10:00

Next month, I will be watching either my 7th or 8th musical. I've lost count. It is going to be Miss Saigon and I'm looking forward to it. Ask me whether I like the arts and 11 years ago, I would have said no. Ask me that again now and I would say yes.

My journey to the arts started off in the Art Gallery of South Australia. It was there that I first saw the sculptures of Rodin. Little did I know the story behind them at that point but I found it fascinating. I would later go to a Rodin exhibition in the Art Gallery of Singapore, where after spending half a day there, I learned more about Rodin and the fact that "The Thinker" (which I always thought was a sculpture of its own) was part of a much larger piece. A piece that was never completed.

My introduction to the world of musicals occurred much later, not in the last century but this one. It started with a cheap ticket (front row) to watch a local production of "Rent". Little did I realise how much I would like this musical that over the course of the past 6 years, I have seen it 3 times, in 2 different countries. Watching it in New York was certainly a highlight.

Other musicals I have watched since then include "The Producers", "The Lion King", "Cats" and "Stomp". Calling "Stomp" a musical is probably a little incorrect but I'm not sure what else to call it.

Recently, I tried something different yet again. I have now watched my first opera, Puccini's "Madama Butterfly". Admittedly, it was a little tough to get into at first, what with it being sung in Italian and all but by the end of the opera (once I managed to convince myself to stay at intermission or half-time as I call it), I actually kinda enjoyed it.

So that's a short history of me and the arts. After Miss Saigon next month, I wonder what will be next. I figure I'll try a play next or maybe even the ballet.

BTW, the Crows beat the Roos by a massive margin tonight. Go the Crows!!!

A Bear's Guide to the Movies

2007-05-26T17:41:00.000+10:00

Over the past 2 months, I have watched 3 movies. 2 hits and a really big miss. What's funny about the hits and the miss is that I would not have normally watched the hits and I was actually looking forward to the miss.

First the hits. The first hit is a movie that I only found out after watching that it had won the Oscar for best foreign film. Yup, it's not even in English. It is called "The Lives of Other". A German movie with a really great story and acting.

The second hit is a British film, "The History Boys". Again, another excellent movie. Good story, great acting. It balances both the sad and melancholic story with the sharp witty, somewhat understated humour that the British are excellent at. Both these movies had minimal stunts and no special effect, CGI effects and the like.

Now the miss and this miss was really disappointing given how good its predecessors were. I'm writing about "Spiderman 3". If there was a crappier movie released this year, I haven't seen it yet. I have a feeling that "Transformers" might challenge Spiderman 3 for crapness but until I see it I can't say. What a pointless movie Spiderman 3 was. The story was horrible, esspecially for a Spiderman movie which always had better stories compared to other comic book turned movie stories. At the end of Spiderman 3, you didn't feel for Peter Parker. In fact, you think he was the world's biggest jerk and should just have been killed.

In conclusion, if you are going to watch just one movie this year, let it not be Spiderman 3.

Movie to watch!

2007-04-26T23:49:00.000+10:00

If, for some unknown reason, you only have money to watch a single movie this year, don't waste it on some American blockbuster crap. Watch "The Lives of Others". It is an excellent movie. It kept me glued to my seat for the entire 2 hours. Did I mention that it is in German and I don't understand a word of German. That's how good it is.

How to clean your car with Level 5 Water Restrictions

2007-04-08T22:37:00.000+10:00

With level 5 water restrictions coming into effect in 2 days time and my car being very dirty, I discovered a way to clean it today without using any town water at all. Also I didn't need one of those waterless car washes either. In fact, this method is free and requires only some good timing and muscle power.

Things you need:
1. Dirty car. Preferably just normal road grime. Caked on mud might be too much for this method.
2. A downpour. Doesn't have to be heavy, just enough to make the entire car wet.
3. A rag. I prefer one of those high tech cloths but a normal rag will work as well.
4. Muscle power.

Steps:
1. Drive dirty car or leave dirty car outside during a downpour.
2. Once sufficiently wet, drive dirty and wet car back into garage, carport, wherever the car is normally parked.
3. Take cloth and begin to wipe entire car. Here's where a high tech cloth comes in handy. The dirt sticks to it so when you wipe other parts of the car, you don't transfer dirt from one place to another.
4. Step back and admire you now clean car.

Easy. Have fun.

Star Wars: Ryan vs Dorkman

2007-03-18T16:47:00.000+10:00

It's only taken me 4 years to find out about this excellent piece of Star Wars Fan Film out there but now that I've found it, I want to share it. It is really excellent.

Here's the original:

Here's the sequel:

Enjoy.

Cars, Cars, Cars

2007-02-16T02:28:00.000+10:00

First of all, yes, I know it has been ages since anything has been posted on this blog. I've actually thought of abandoning this blog but I guess I still need something to do on sleepless nights.

Check this car out. It's a Holden Commodore SV6. It's got a 3.6 liter V6 pumping out around 175 kW of power and a boat load of torque. It's got a nice orange paint too. All I need is $39,000 to buy it. Anyone got $39,000 lying about they don't need and don't mind sharing with me?

Recently, I got my car, a nice Silver Colour Honda Civic, currently 8000 km on the clock serviced. It's the cars first major service. I left the car with the service centre and got it back the next day all clean and with new oil and other replaceable stuff replaced. Looks nice, doesn't it.

Anyway, that's it for a rambling post. I wanted to post about something I just found out recently but it's too gross so I'll wait for another time to post it.

Australian Idol

2006-11-26T20:38:00.000+10:00

I'm sitting in my living room watching the Finals of Australian Idol. I'll admit up front that I don't have much reference when it comes to the Idol shows as I don't really care much for it. I've seen bits of American Idol, throw up when watching Singapore Idol (it is that bad!) and now Australian Idol.

What I've noticed from the 3 Idols is that Australian Idol is the only Idol I've seen that is less concerned about looks. The good looking guys and girls only made if as far as the final 3 and the station didn't have to resort to showing ads without their faces on it.

In fact, they have performances from the Australian Idols from previous years and most of them are not really good looking or fit. The guys all have a little pot belly or really bad hair. The girls are slightly overweight and only in Australia would the 2 finalist make their grand entrance on a horse drawn cart standing on have being led in by about half a dozen cowboys.

Glad there is still a country where looks aren't everything in the Idol world.

Update

2006-11-20T00:21:00.000+10:00

It been a long while since I last added a new entry to this blog, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I've been living a new life for the past 6 months and all the excitement and adventure of a new life has yet to get old on me. Secondly, I have other things that fill my life now that the original reason this blog was born, boredom, really isn't a big thing now.

The one thing has been on my mind lately is what would you consider a rite of passage? When is it or what is it that defines when a boy is no longer a boy but has become a man in his own right, no longer dependent on his parents, able to stand on his 2 feet.

I think for a lot of people, this moment comes when they get their first job and move out of home, but is this definition correct? Do we all become men and no longer boys when we leave home?

In my mind, this rite of passage happens not when you leave home but when you no longer depend on your parents to make decisions. When you are fully capable of making up your mind on your own. When you destiny is yours to choose.

What do you think?

iTunes

2006-10-08T07:15:00.000+10:00

I have just discovered the beauty of iTunes. For the longest time, I've always wondered what the fuss was about iTunes. I guess living in a country that didn't have access to an iTunes store didn't help much with that perception either.

Now that I have access to an iTunes store, I have to admit it is good. Being able to buy just the songs I like instead of the whole album is great and at only $1.69 a song, it's not that painful on the pocket.

There's going to be people out there that will say, "why buy when you can download". I think if there was a legal option that was decent, then buy. If there wasn't, then I'm with them. Get your music whichever way you can.

For me, that way is now iTunes.

Egosurfing

2006-09-23T08:32:00.000+10:00

Egosurfing - Scanning the Net, databases, etc., for one’s own name.

I did just that recently and found that there is town in California that shares my name. It's not the biggest town in the world having a population of only 1621 people but it's a town and it has my name.

The Pope and The Quote

2006-09-18T22:55:00.000+10:00

I could do a really long dissection over what the Pope said and how he was wrong to say and that is was bad and stuff and so forth and so on but I won't. Instead I just want to point something out which I think is pretty ironic.

To quote the Pope who quoted Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaeologus:

“Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and then you shall find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”

End quote.

So the Muslim world comes out and takes offence at the quote used. Are they wrong to do that? Of course not.

What I think is ironic though, is that apart from the usual ruckus and protest this quote caused, Muslim in some parts of the world attacked churches and killed a nun.
By doing so, they have just proven that what the Pope quoted is correct and very true. Islam appears to be a religion where violence against innocent non-Muslims is accepted and apparently not a contradiction to a "God that is most forgiving; most merciful."

What is our world coming to?

Action and Reactions

2006-09-14T20:48:00.000+10:00

There are articles and stories floating out in the internet that I wouldn't have given 2 hoots about until they get the author and publisher sued. Suddenly, there this mad desire to read the original article, just to see what the big deal is. This is normally followed by either 2 reactions:

1) Utter amazement that I didn't realize this before and am glad for the libel suit to bring up this fact. An example of this would be the NKF libel suit against SPH.

2) Disbelief that anyone would even bother suing because of this.....and followed by a sinking suspicion of why are they suing in the first place. Maybe this guy is on to something.

An example of reaction 2) happened today when I read the following 2 articles.

First, the article in the Straits Times that piqued my interest:
PM, MM sue Feer for defamation

Secondly, the article that resulted in the lawsuit in the first place:
Singapore’s ‘Martyr,’ Chee Soon Juan

After reading the FEER article, I failed to see what the big deal was. To most people, me included, CSJ is just some "idiot" that doesn't know better and still believes that violence or as he puts it 'civil disobedience' can create change. Most of the time, he comes of sounding like a 10 year old who hasn't thought through what he wants to say.

So he gives this interview to the FEER. So what? If they didn't sue the FEER in the first place, I would have never read it and couldn't care less. Now, I can't help but wonder.

A Car Named Dusty

2006-09-11T21:18:00.000+10:00

My car is now 2 months and 14 days old. It has done slightly over 2000 kilometers and the gone for its first service. So far, so good. The engine has started running better once it went over the 2000 km mark on the odometer. Fuel economy is quite good, averaging 500km or so on a tank of regular petrol. No need for the premium stuff.

The car handles quite well, even over rough coarse chip roads. For a Honda, which a notorious for not having much steering feel, the Civic has better than expected steering feel. In fact, I think the wheel is actually a little under assisted, which I prefer.

Nothing has broken or fallen off. Everything works fine. I still haven't found a way to hook my iPod up to the stereo but that's more from my reluctance to spend $300 on an Dension Icelink.

I have no idea how much space is in the rear as I have never sat there. It's pretty much a nicely upholstered parcel shelf in the car. I've noticed that the 'A' pillars are really thick and it took some getting use to but once you've gotten used to it, the brain kinda fills in the blanks.

Until the next major car milestone.

BTW, the car is named Dusty for 2 reasons. Firstly, it is in memory of a pet dachshund of mine, also named Dusty, that has now gone to Doggy Heaven. Secondly, my brother said the name was appropriate because the car was really dusty. I haven't cleaned it for a while.

Crocodile Hunter Rest in Peace

2006-09-05T00:07:00.000+10:00

The news today is that the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, died today after being stab by a stingray in Far North Queensland. He is only the 3rd reported case of a fatality due to a stingray recorded in Australia. You can cheat on a lot of things but you cannot cheat fate.

The news on all channels today dedicated at least 10 minutes to him, a good 1/3 of the 1/2 hour news. On top of that, the current affairs programmes all did a segment on him. The Premier of Queensland made a statement. Even the Prime Minister had something to say. Flowers were being laid at the entrance to Australia Zoo and this continued way into the night. If anything, he appeared to be a man that has touched almost every strata of society, from the powerful to the normal person on the street.

Watching the news and seeing the reaction of the people here, it made me wonder if there was any celebrity back home, be it in the little red dot or the larger country above it, that if they were to suddenly pass away, there would be such an outpouring of emotion?

If Dick Lee passed away, would anyone care? If Siti Nurhaliza's life was tragically cut short, would most people bother? Would the Prime Minister make a statement? The Crocodile Hunter was larger than life. Does anyone back home even come close?

Riverfire

2006-09-03T18:45:00.000+10:00

Last night I witnessed one of the most spectacular fireworks displays I've ever seen in my life. Imagine an almost 2 kilometer long stretch of river and 3 bridges, and multiple buildings in the CBD, all lit up from a half-hour long fireworks display.

For me the highlight of the fireworks display was the fact that the RAAF actually had 2 F-111 do a dump and burn barely 300 meters of the ground. That was truly spectacular.

They also had the acrobatic team and these were doing loops around the city and flying really low and all......and the best part of it all, this display wasn't for National Day, it wasn't to celebrate some special event. It was just for the opening ceremony of the River Festival, a 10 day event celebrating the river that is in the middle of the city I live in.

I think, to me, that the ability to do things of this magnitude for something as simple a River Festival makes this country way better than the last one I was in. Not having to justify every single thing, to me, leads to a more creative and vibrant society.

PS. Just my 2 cents worth.....now worth more given the current exchange rate.

Wheels Part 2

2006-07-29T09:36:00.000+10:00

This is a short post to introduce the world to my very first car.

I know that people don't normally name their cars....but I'm thinking of naming mine.

Going for a drive now.

What The ....

2006-07-18T22:14:00.000+10:00

There is a town in New Zealand called Whakatane.

Go to Wiki and find out how that's pronouced.

For the lazy people, here's the link to the Wiki article.

It's a hoot.

My 2 Cents on Soccer

2006-06-27T03:56:00.000+10:00

This World Cup to me has been a little strange, almost elitist in a way. I know some people will beg to differ but everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

There appears to be a few countries which fall under the football elite. This in itself is not strange as every sport has countries that are better in it than others. What is strange is the way FIFA, via the referee's seem to be going about making sure these countries stay elite and not let anyone else beat them.

The refereeing decisions for most part this world cup has been at be mediocre and at worst a complete farce. But then I'm Asian so I have a different answer to why the refereeing decisions are so bad.

Firstly, the referees are mostly middle age men who are probably going through a mid-life crisis. Why else would they make themselves run for 90 minutes trying to keep in control a group of 22 men at least 20 years younger than they are? Also, there are no substitute referee so he can't take a rest even if he gets tired.

Secondly, they probably don't get paid a hell of a lot of money or not enough anyway to do this refereeing thing. So maybe some are a bit disgruntled.

Thirdly, there is a lot of money being bet on the World Cup. A HUGE amount of money.

So the conclusion I'm getting at in this World Cup.

"REFEREE KELONG"

Wheels

2006-06-24T18:44:00.000+10:00

The ongoing saga in my attempt to buy a car, my first car, the car I have been dreaming of since I left uni, the car a small red dot denied me, the car that motivated me to finish among the top in my class in uni, etc, etc, etc.

So, today was the day I decided I was to decide on which car maker would get my hard earned blood, sweat and tears and provide me with my very first car.

Some background first. For the pass couple of weeks, I've been trying to decided which car to get. The options have been pretty much narrowed down to either a Mazda 3, Ford Focus or Honda Civic.

Back to today. With a friend in tow, more for car colour selection (which means said friend is female), I went to test drive cars. Along the walk from my place to the car showroom, I passed by a Citroen showroom. I stopped, walked in and ask to test drive a C4.

A short review of the C4.
a) It is French and it is Citroen (meaning there is some stuff in the car which just does not make sense).
b) The steering wheel is a button and knob fest. I counted atleast 12 buttons and 4 knobs on the central hub (which by the way does not turn when you turn the wheel). None of these are clearly marked so it's more like hit a button and hope you don't kill the engine.
c) The car tries to be too smart. Go down a hill and it holds the last speed you where moving at when you foot left the pedal. Try to go to fast and it stops you.
d) Given all that tech inside, the interior sure was damn ugly.
e) 4 speed auto plus a gutless 2 liter means the car is ponderous. No fun to drive at all.
f) The funky ad with the funky dancing robot does not equate to a funky car to drive.

So, it was on to Honda after that. Along the way, we went past Volkwagen so I figure I would take a sit in the new Golf. It was ok but it doing do anything for me. Guess I'm not fan of teutonic (boring) German interior design. I'm sure it is a pretty good drive but it's not going to be my first car.

Next to VW was Honda. I went in and in under 5 minutes, I was test driving a Honda Civic VTi-L Auto in Black. I would like to get a black car but I do realise it is next to impossible to keep clean.

UPDATE!!!
At 12:30 pm on the 26th of June 2006, I paid the deposit for my first car. A silver moss coloured Honda Civic VTi-L, with a 5 speed automatic, 6 CD stacker in the dash, steering wheel buttons, alloy wheels, reverse sensors, side airbags and a 1.8l engine.

The car arrives in August.

A New Beginning

2006-06-11T00:19:00.000+10:00

Yes, before anyone mentions it, the title is cliche. I could not think of a better one. Anyways, this entry is just a short note on the difference moving from one city to another can make.

1. Starting the whole friend making thing all over again. After 6 years in one place, you find out that you have a whole lot of friends. Moving to a new job, in a new city, in a new country, you find that the number of friends you have can be counted with the fingers on one hand.....and there are still fingers to spare.

2. Trying to figure out which car to buy. Previously for me, it wasn't what car to buy but more like can I afford it and is it worth it. Right now, I can afford it and it is worth it but I can't decide which one to get.

3. Cooking. I'm not a great cook. My idea of cooking involves throwing stuff at random into a pan and hoping it works out. So far, the fried rice was ok but I doubt anyone apart from me would eat it.

4. Food. Give me Chinese, Malay, Indian food. There's only so much Western food I can take. I always knew this would be the one major thing I would miss so I guess I'm more prepared for it than I though.

5. Tax and health. People, if you belong to a country where the government has a good idea on how to do taxes and health, be thankful. I now belong to a country where tax is a real pain because it was designed by accountants who got bullied in school and decided to take it out on everyone now. Healthcare is neither privatised nor is it government run. It's this 'rojak' mixture. I've seen 'rojak' healthcare that works well. This isn't one of them.

After all that, if someone asked me if I would rather have not moved to a new country to start a new life, I would say no. The sacrifices I made to come here, I know will be worth the pain in the long run.

Life!

2006-04-29T07:15:00.000+10:00

A little bit of insight from the events of the past day.

2 things happened yesterday that bring into perspective exactly how short life is and how easily everything can be taken away. 2 events happened yesterday to remind me of this. One is sad, the other happy.

Sad
I'm a warden at the church I go to, having decided last year that I haven't been keeping up with my part of the bargain in my relationship with God. I joined a warden ministry where apart from my brother, me and another girl, the average age was above 50. Yesterday, I received news than the Assistant Group Leader of my warden group has passed away. He collapsed at the bus stop while on his way home. Even though some kind people took him to hopsital, he didn't make it. May God bless his soul.

Happy
I met up with a group of friends for dinner yesterday, it was kinda a farewell for me and new job treat from me to them. The bill came up to a lot of money. Now, the normal me would think that this was not worth it but not yesterday. Money can always be earned again but not friends. Good friendships are rare. Definitely worth the price of a dinner and drinks and more.

I never know when I will meet my friends again. Things may happen to us that we cannot predict. I treasure the friends I have made on this little island. Life is too short to be spent worrying about unncessary things. You never know when you might not see someone again.

The Hunt for the Elusive Laptop

2006-04-28T02:39:00.000+10:00

*This entry was originally going to be typed on my new laptop but I ran out of time and am now a little bored at work so it being typed out on the work laptop instead.*

I wanted to buy a laptop. I know, I know. Why would a furry pawed animal want a laptop? Well, I guess sometimes we furry animals need to surf the web, check our email and stuff too.

So I ventured out of the jungle long enough to go survey what laptops I could get. As with most wild animals and some domesticated ones, I was automatically attracted to the bright shiny surfaces of the fruity laptop. In fact, I was so enamoured by the shiny surfaces, I almost didn't notice that it costs almost double a normal non-fruit flavoured laptop. Man, when I found out, I ran back into the jungle and needed to hide in there for a while to overcome the shock.

So after some time of recuperation, I ventured out again, this time much wiser and price concious. Money doesn't grow on trees, even in the deepest, darkest forest. So after much deliberation (this would probably be considered an underestimation by some), I finally decided on an Acer Aspire (what it asspires to, I have no idea) 5762 WLMI. It didn't cost too much, approximately 121.5 honeypots, which is roughly S$2430. The monkeys have it so much better because 1 peanut equals 30,000 honeypots. They could have bought the laptop with less than 1 peanut.

Anyway, the laptop looks like this:

It has got 1.0GB of RAM, 100GB Harddisk and a ATI Radeon X1400 with 128MB VRAM and extra 384MB shared. Now I should have a better laptop than the king of the jungle. Let me go show Mowgli a thing or two.

Bahloo or Bagheera? Part 2

2006-04-14T04:13:00.000+10:00

The deed is done. The events of the day unfolded in the following manner.

9:00 am - Received a phonecall from my agent informing me that I will be receiving my contract today.

10:00 am - Hit refresh in Gmail for the first of almost 20 times, waiting for the email to arrive.

12:05 pm - Goes to the toilet.

12:07 pm - Noticed a new email in my inbox. I open my mail with trepidation and there it is staring at me, my contract.

12:08 pm - Begin downloading contract to view. Downloading fails.

12:09 pm - I try downloading again. It still fails. Curse under my breath. Frustration level increasing.

12:11 pm - It finally downloads successfully. I open it. I quickly read through it. I stop at the "how much will I get paid" section.

12:12 pm - Wonder where the calculator went. Have a quick look around. Can't find it.

12:13 pm - Finally locate a calculator. I work out my monthly salary. My heart does a few cart wheels inside my rib cage. My brain is busy trying to decipher what car to buy.

12:15 pm - Call Papa Bear to tell him the news. Briefly read out the contract to him. He has no objections. It is good.

12:17 pm - I send my acceptance and call my new employer up to confirm. A bit "kiasu" , I realized but hey, I've been on this island for 6 years. I'm entitled to be a little bit "kiasu".

12:30 pm - Happiest lunch I've had a in a long while.

6:30 pm - Meet up with boss back in office. Trying to find a good time to break the news to him.

7:00 pm - Still haven't found a good time.

7:11 pm - Yet to find a good time. Having a hard time holding it in. Colleague starts giving me funny faces.

7:45 pm - I find the right time and inform my boss. He is ok with it and seems quite nice about it. I appreciate that.

8:20 pm - I sent out the email with my official resignation. The deed is done.

Next stop, the land down under.

The Pessimist

2006-04-09T02:39:00.000+10:00

Why is it a pessimist's brain will never allow the pessimist to be happy and glad for longer than 24 hours? 24 hours ago I would say I was among the happiest fur covered mammals on this little island. Now 24 hours later, my brain is full of doubt and worries. All the watifs have started popping out.

This made me think, is it just me or are there others out there like me? I know for a fact that almost all human beings will examine anything they either dug, scratch or shat out of their bodies before disposing it. Does a pessimist take a dump, a normal healthy dump and 24 hours later, wonder if there was something in that dump that wasn't so good? Maybe he thinks he told too many people about the dump and now he's afraid people he doesn't want to know about his dump will know. What happens if this dump was imaginary and didn't happen?

A pessimist biggest enemy is not himself. Most pessimist have an ability to think of the bad stuff and then accept it. It becomes much harder when this outlook of pessimism is imparted by another pessimistic party. In short, the pessimist's pessimist. That makes a pessimist's biggest enemy another pessimist.

Anyway, here hoping the pessimist are all wrong.

Bearry Emotional Landscape

2006-04-08T09:20:00.000+10:00

The chart above represents the emotions of a certain bear over the past week. It is over a scale of 0 to 100, where 50 represents neutral emotion, anything under 50 is either anger/disappointment/frustration (normally displayed to the outside world as anger) and anything above 50 is happiness.

As can be seen from the chart above, the bear has been through a very emotionally varying week. So much so, that given the above chart, one might be mistaken for thinking that the bear is actually female. (He most definitely is not.)

One clear trend though is that the emotions seem to improve as the end of the week approached. Guess that means if you want to find bears in a good mood, look for them on weekend.

A Pun Time Was Had By All

2006-04-06T00:44:00.000+10:00

REPLYING TO an invitation to a Scientists' Ball:
Pierre and Marie Curie were radiating enthusiasm;
Einstein thought it would be relatively easy to attend;
Volta was electrified and Archimedes, buoyant at the thought;
Ampère was worried he wasn't up to current research;
Ohm resisted the idea at first;
Boyle said he was under too much pressure;
Edison thought it would an illuminating experience;
Watt reckoned it would be a good way to let off steam;
Stephenson thought the whole idea was loco;
Wilbur Wright accepted- provided he and his brother, Orville, could get a flight;
Dr. Jekyll declined, on the grounds that he hadn't been feeling himself lately;
Morse's reply? "I'll be there on the dot. Can't stop now- must dash."

Where's your sense of humor?

2006-03-22T03:14:00.000+10:00

I was doing a random surf of the Internet today and a weird realisation dawn on me. The same fact was mentioned to me a couple of days ago but it never occured to me how accurate it is. The fact is this, in the small island where this bear (unfortunately) roams, no one is ever wrong.

No one makes mistakes. There is no such things a boo-boo. If you happen to notice a fault in someone else, then the fault doesn't lie with that person but with you for having noticed that fault.

This is all the more obvious on the Internet, esspecially when bloggers from this small island are concerned. Everything anyone anywhere says about them that is less than flattering (not even bad, just less than flattering), it taken as such a major insult and the rebutals and criticism to the person who dare mention that they are less than perfect, fly so far and fast, it's probably reached Alpha Centauri by now.

Guess all I can say to the dumb bloggers from the small pathetic island is this, GET A LIFE.....you are not as famous as you think you are.

PS. Not all bloggers on this small island are bad at handling criticism, it's just the more popular (subject to debate) ones that seem to have lost any trace to having had a sense of humor.

A Joke

2006-02-19T12:53:00.000+10:00

An elderly couple is lying in bed. It is late and the man in trying to sleep. The woman on the other is feeling a little romantic so she begins to talk.

"Remember when we were first dating? You used to hold my hand all the time."

The man, wanting to get some sleep, reaches out sleepily and holds the womans hand for a short while and then lets go and attempts to go back to sleep.

Meanwhile the old woman still hasn't given up.

"Remember that after holding my hand, you would give me a kiss?"

Getting a bit irritated, the man turns over and hastily plants a quick peck on his wife's cheek and tries to go to sleep again.

The woman continued on.

"Remember how after that, you used to gently nibble on my neck."

Upon hearing this, the man angrily throws the sheets off and proceeds to get up.

Surprised and upset, the woman ask, "Where are you going?"

To which the man replied, "To get my teeth so that I can nibble on your neck."

Sh*tty Post

2006-02-16T01:15:00.000+10:00

I was trying to think of something witty to write but all that came to mind was something someone told me recently.

Ever realise that human beings are the only creature on the entire surface of the planet that has to wipe its arse after taking a dump, coz if we don't, we leave fecal matter stuck in the vicinity of the chocolate starfish and this could lead to infections and other unpleasant stuff.

Why does fecal matter get stuck? Unlike most (I was going to say all but I'm not 100% sure) mammals, we have butt cheeks that obscure the opening so anything coming out would have to first squeeze past the butt cheeks before making it to freedom. I wonder why our butts are designed this way?

Any suggestions?

The Tale of 1 Stupid Browser

2006-01-27T03:30:00.000+10:00

This is the second time I'm rewritting this coz the browser ate my entry twice in the time span of 15 minutes. It was an entry about how good Opera is compared to Firefox but after it ate my blog twice, I don't think it deserves it anymore.

So here's the gist. Use Firefox if you got the memory to spare. You won't lose half as many blog entries. Use Opera if memory is at a premium, like on my Dell which only has enough to prevent it from keeling over. Just type your blog in MS Word first, then paste it over.

A joke to end this entry.

What did the chicken say when it saw a pig?

Pork, pork, pork, pork, pork (sounds like a chicking clucking).

Somehow this joke works better verbally. Oh well.

Bahloo or Bagheera?

2006-01-24T04:02:00.000+10:00

Do any of you ever sit down and look at other people and think the following:

"Damn, I wish I had all my friends from school and uni in the same town. This way, I wouldn't be so bored all the time."

I do.....all the time actually. My life has been like a computer where every few days you need to reboot the computer to prevent it from crashing. Instead of every few days, it's every few year for me.

In some cases, it's just pressing that reset button on the front of the casing. Sometimes, it involves unplugging the power point, taking the battery out and starting all over again.

I've done the major rebooting 3 times in my life so far. The biggest reboot is yet to come but I can already see its shadow in the distance. This is the kind of reboot, where you not only restart your computer, you actually take some stuff out and put some new things inside.

You switch it back on and hope that everything still works. The green light comes on and everything is ok. Sometimes, the green light doesn't come. Instead you get the red light or no light at all.

So far, I've only gotten the green light.

So what does this have to do with the first sentence? Simple, whenever you do a reboot, you lose a lot of your friends and you'll have to start all over again with new friends and hope that within the new bunch of people you meet, there are those few that you can get along well with.

I've been lucky in that each time this has happened, I've met people I've been able to get along with quite well. On the other hand, I've lost friends and lots of them. When you no longer see each other everyday, sometimes, you just start to go down different tangents, knowing that with each passing day, you go further away from each other.

With the big reboot looming in the future, I wonder what the future holds. Will I still be Bahloo or would Bagheera be a better name then?

The Elephant and the Little Boy

2006-01-23T02:02:00.000+10:00

Here's a joke I have not forgotten since childhood. It's not the greatest of jokes but I like it so I thought I would share it with everyone. So here goes:

One day, in a vilage in India, a man arrives with an elephant. He lays down a challenge for everyone in the village.

"Whoever can make my elephant trumpet, I will give him 100 dollars."

As expected, everyone tries but no matter what they do, the elephant doesn't make a single sound, not even a whimper. They hit it, they pulled its tail, yanked its ears, they threw water on it. Nothing made the elephant trumpet.

At the end of the day as the man was about to leave, a little boy comes up to him.

"I can make your elephant trumpet"

The man says ok and ask the boy to go ahead, confident that the boy would fail. The boy goes under the elephant and proceeds to squeeze the elephant's ball. Sure enough, the elephant trumpets. Reluctantly, the man gives the boy and the money and leaves.

2 weeks go past and the man returns to the village once again with the same elephant. He presents a new challenge.

"Whoever can make my elephant shake his head, I will give him 400 dollars."

Again, everyone tries everything imaginable but the elephant doesn't shake its head. Confident that his 400 dollars is safe, the man is about to leave when the little boy shows up again.

"I can make you elephant shake its head."

Again the man says ok and lets the boy try, still confident that his money is safe. The boy once again goes under the elephant and stands next to the elephant's balls.

"Do you want me to squeeze your balls again?", the boy ask the elephant.

The elephant shakes its head.

What women want that the bear doesn't have

2006-01-19T02:23:00.001+10:00

Was talking with a few of my friends just now and I have to come the realisation that there are a few traits a woman wants in a man that I am sorely missing. So to help all the prospective would be future girlfriends of mine (those that I do not mistake for a midnight snack), here a list of what women want that the bear doesn't have.

1. The bear does not notice what you have done to your hair unless it involves something drastic like cutting half of it off, dyeing it bright pink or green or tying it into buns like Princess Leia. Perms (digital or analog) will not be noticed. Rebonding, unbonding, singeing will not be notice. Unless you are a gadget I'm planning to buy and have done some major comparison shopping, save yourself the time and frustration and just tell what you did to your hair. I don't guess very well.

2. The bear does not do shopping very well. For most days, the thought of shopping drives the bear nuts. Being required to follow someone around, trying to guess if she looks fat in something or not, if this dress is nicer than that dress, are these shoes comfy, does not do wonders for the bears mood. In fact, it could leave you with unwanted bite marks and the missing limb or 2.On some days, which normally occur only once every 6 months or so, the bear is in a good mood and is able to go shopping with you for an extended period of time. Extended in this case meaning 2 to 4 hours. No more. Anymore than that and you get back the bear on non good shopping mood days.

3. Hair. While most bears have plenty of hair all over, this bear isn't one of them. You can thank my genes for that. If anything, this bear has a lack of hair all over, even the top of the head. If you are looking for someone with a healthy head of hair and low IQ, look somewhere else. The bear is of high IQ and low hair. The reason being, the brain needed space to expand so it pushed the hair out to make room.

4. The bear will never understand why you need so many pairs of shoes. We realised that you server an important function by buying shoes. Without you buying shoes, slippers, sandals and various other footwear, whole economies would grind to a halt. People would stay. The world as we know it would end. Having said that, this does not mean that I agree with a woman having over 20 pairs of shoes. Ladies are like men and bears, 2 feet, no more, no less. Unless you are an octopus, why do you need so many pairs of shoes?

So, is there anything else you think the bear is missing that women want? Feel free to comment.

New Year, New Address, New Look

2006-01-01T12:28:00.000+10:00

It's a New Year and after some ridiculing early this year from a group of friends as to why I haven't moved the blog to a new address, considering that I've managed to secure the address I wanted in September, I've decided to go ahead an do it.

So I present to you the new BAHLOO, now available at http://bahloo.blogspot.com. The old site is now but a redirector.

As part of the new address, I figure a new look was in order. I think the new look looks a bit more professional and less cluttered. Well, hope you all enjoy it.

Welcome to 2006.

10 Things I Didn't Know Last Year

2005-12-31T12:29:00.000+10:00

Inspired by a recent article from the BBC entitled 100 Things You Didn't Know A Year Ago, here's my take on it as a way of saying goodbye to 2005.

10. Even in a clean and wholesome country like Temasek, corruption exist. No one uses the word but it is there. For the best example, please refer to exhibit A: TT Durai and his coterie of accomplices.

9. Men have a devastating effect on women. I've seen friends go from nice good people to depressed moody people all because of a guy. Don't think I need to give examples here as there are plenty all around.

8. Women have a devastating effect on men. I've seen friends (men this time) go all soft and gooey and teary all because a girl dumped him. You know who you are.

7. Flowers and paying special attention to someone do not score you the girl unless she already likes you. Actually I already knew this but I haven't put it to test for a few years until this year.

6. If your parent's try to set you up with someone and you are really obnoxious about it, be careful, retribution will come and the guy will have a damn good laugh with his parent's about it.

5. People who work in the Information System of a certain hospital grouping in Temasek are the dumbest lifeforms on the planet. Words fail to describe the level of idiocy observed in this group.

4. The Land Down Under has the world's most ridiculous approach to battling the war on drugs. If they are not careful, it's going to be druggie world down there sometime soon, if it isn't already.

3. All the so call popular Singapore bloggers, as in those that keep blowing their own horn, are among the most boring bloggers in the world. Which then makes the next day.sg blog aggregator site the ultimate most boring website in the world. Get over yourselves.

2. Certain women have the ability to shave most of the hairs of their legs except for one patch about 4 cm square which they then insist on displaying to whoever walks past. Eeeeew!!!

1. When you are in A Cesspool of Nicompoops, it doesn't really matter what you do because good work is never appreciated. Sucking up apparently goes a long way though. Sheesh!!!

Happy New Year 2006. Here's to discovering more stuff next year.

Once Upon a Time in Temasek

2005-12-23T01:49:00.000+10:00

A long long time ago, in a country not so far away, there lived 2 men. They were good friends in university. After university, they both got married and slowly drifted apart. About 30 years, through a chance encounter, they met up and realise that one had a son and the other a daughter of about the same age who were yet to married. Both families thought it would be a good idea for their children to meet.

As both their children lived in Temasek, they needed to wait till both their children return to this country not so far away to arrange a meeting. A time was arranged, when the moon began afresh for the year and the man with the son took his son to visit the man with the daughter.

The strangest thing happen. While the man's son was more than willing to just meet the other man's daughter, this man's daughter refused to come down from the high pedestal which was the second floor of the man's house. The other man's son waited patiently while the man whose daughter and house it was, along with his wife, tried their best to coax his daughter of her high horse.

After many moons, when it became painfully obvious that the daughter would not come down, the man and his son left. The man, whose daughter it was, was very disappointed and so was his wife. Nothing more was thought of it by the other man and his son.

Fast forward the story 11 moons. The son, who is working in the island of Temasek, in an effort to expand his social circle (and also because of the constant coaxing from a close associate), engages the help of a professional friend maker to increase the number of friends he has. Unbeknowst to him, the daughter of the other man had also enlisted the help of the same professional friend maker for the same reason.

A meeting was arranged between the 2, without anyone realising the events of 11 moons past. The daughter and son met over a meal. From the word go, the son realised that this was a women he would not get along with. There was a snobbish air about her that was replusive. Little did the daughter know that this was the same person she was suppose to meet 11 moons ago.

They chatted as you would over dinner and said their goodbyes at the end. The son deciding that that would be the last she evers hears of him. On his way him, he sends a pigeon to his mother, telling her about the dinner that just ended. It was via the pigeon messages that he realise who the girl he just had dinner with was.

He start laughing. His mother start laughing and so does his father. To save the face of the other man as he was the son's father's good friend, they decided not to inform the other family about what had just transpired in the small island of Temasek.

The moral of the story is:
If you decide not to come downstairs, make sure you don't end up meeting the same guy again 11 moons later through a professional friend maker and end up with the guy thinking you are a snobbish fool.

A Tale of 2 Mice

2005-12-15T00:07:00.000+10:00

Today I turn 29 and to be frank, it was the best 29th birthday a guy could get. Whoever wrote that it is the thought that counts hit the nail of the head. Of course, getting a great present helps a lot.....and did I get a great present!!!

My birthday present in broad daylight.

My birthday present with the lights off.

From the surprise on Saturday in Seremban to the dinner last night to the present today, it has truly been a memorable birthday. Thank you all very very much.

Meet the Liquefier

2005-11-30T02:19:00.000+10:00

Monday I was hot stuff. Tuesday, I discovered a new skill. I'm the liquefier. Anything that goes into me, no matter how hard, tough or otherwise, gets liquefied within a matter of minutes. No blender could do a better job than I have been able to do the whole of Tuesday. After performing this act more times than I dare to remember, I am now completely pooped (pardon the pun). Makes me wonder what's worse and harder to do. Burning stuff or liquefying stuff?

PS. There are 161 tiles on the floor of my toilet.

I'm Hot Stuff

2005-11-29T00:35:00.000+10:00

Today, the bear is officially hot stuff. Went to visit the doctor earlier today coz was feeling like shit (and looking like it too, if you asked some people). Had my temperature taken and the termometer read 39.3 C. Doctor has this look on her face. The kind of look that goes, "What? You waiting to lose a limb before coming to see me?". I got 3 days MC. Oh well, something good has come out of it after all.

Nostalgia Rules The Day

2005-11-04T02:50:00.000+10:00

Argh!!! This is the 2nd time I'm typing this post because the first got eaten by the back button. Let this be a lesson. Save. Save. Save.

Anyway, like I was saying before.....I've reached an age where I believe I'm allowed to be nostalgic (i.e. I'm old enough that I actually have more stuff to be nostalgic about than the available time over a weekend would allow.)

First of all, today I built myself an iPod dock out of Lego. This is like the first time I've built something not displayed on the Lego box in about 15 years. It's been a long time since I've tried to built something from scratch out of Lego. Admittedly, I no longer have as many pieces as I used to. I think I made a pretty decent job of it. It's still a work in progress, so I might add some stuff at a latter date....for now, it does it's job of saving me $60 and buying a real dock.

Also, Channel 5 decided to be nostalgic and broadcasted 2 movies today. Both were movies I enjoyed as a kid, one I'm not embarrassed to say I liked, the other I am a bit embarrassed to say I liked.

The first was Goonies. I have to admit, that from my point of view, this movie has aged well. Seeing after so many years (I first watched it when I was 10), I found I was still able to sit and watch the entire movie. Few movies nowadays grab my attention for more than 20 minutes.

The second was Power Rangers the Movie. This one hasn't aged so well. In fact, I actually cringed a little when I was watching this today. I guess I had less refined taste as a kid. The soundtrack is pretty good though.

While both movies had pretty corny dialogue, the Power Rangers had to be at least 10 times cornier than Goonies. It funny to think that an adult actually thought that "Go go Power Rangers" was an acceptable line to put in a script. Oh well!

Anyhow, nostalgia is good and all but I think it's time to return to the present.

Fat People are the Lorries of the Swimming Pool

2005-10-06T18:03:00.000+10:00

Have you ever been almost or actually pushed of the road and onto the muddy or sandy road shoulder because some huge lorry is coming the other way and is taking up way more road than they are rightfully allowed too? I think the answer would be yes.

I have always thought that this phenomen only happens on the roads, where the rule of size (irrelevant of what the traffic police says) always wins out.

"I'm a big lorry. You are a puny car. You get OUT of my way."

Well, sadly, this rule also applies in the swimming pool. I've experienced it first hand. It was suppose to be a nice swim but turn out otherwise. This person who is severely gravitationally enhanced, i.e. fat like a whale, decided that he was going to swim along the same lane as me. Bear in mind that the pool was crowded so this lane had about 3 other people in it including me.

So guess what happens next, he doesn't move out of the way. Doesn't even try to give way. Just swims in a damn straight line and damn slowly too. Ever climb up a mountain on a single lane road stuck behind a lorry. That's what it felt like. It was even worse if you were coming head on. It was either move out of the way or get run (swum) down by this tub of lard.

Don't get me started on the size of his swimtrunks. Given his size, they were miniscule. It was gross. Fat was flopping all around everywhere. I'm a bear and bears have a decent amount of fat so if a bear gets grossed out at this sight, it was BAD.

So the next time you are in the pool and see a tub of lard in really small trunks about to go take a swim, do the right thing. Call your local aquarium and tell that that they lost a whale and should come retrieve it immediately.

Nomination for worse movie of the year

2005-09-26T01:53:00.000+10:00

This year would be the year where the science fiction movies are so deep into fiction, you would be hard pressed to find any science in there.

The first one that comes to mind is Stealth. That movie was such a travesty to science that even Popular Science wrote an article saying what a load of crap that was. I guess it would help if there was a cute chick/great acting/decent story in the movie somewhere but there isn't. The action sucked. The acting sucked more and the plot made Swiss Cheese look solid. Jamie Foxx got lucky. His character gets killed off within the first 30 minutes of the movie. (Probably coz he's black and therefore can't be the hero.)

The second movie that makes even Stealth look good is A Sound of Thunder. I won't go into how bad this movie is. Suffice to say, I watched and felt like my IQ just went down by 50% by the end of the movie.

Attack of the Zzzzz Monster

2005-09-22T17:08:00.000+10:00

As I sit here, after lunch,
Staring at an LCD,
I feel it coming,
Lurking, waiting,
It pounces,
I'm aware but can do nothing,
I get very very sleepy,
The Zzzzz strikes again.

Faith

2005-09-09T12:21:00.000+10:00

I read somewhere that when God closes a door on you, somewhere he opens another. I think I've just been through such an experience. Nothing happens without reason. There is no such thing as coincidence. Everything happens for a reason, you just need to keep the faith and don't give up.

A Quiet Seething Rage

2005-09-07T13:25:00.000+10:00

Have you ever hated someone so much that the very sight of them makes your blood boil? That you need no reason to justify this hatred. You just know that you hate the person and you want this person to burn forever in the eternal fires of hell.

I know what that feels like. Mention this persons name to me and I seeth with rage inside. No loud voices, no rude words, just a cold quiet seething rage. A rage so bad, that if left unchecked could lead to terrible things.

Anyway, on a lighter note.....there is no lighter note. This is one damn angry rant.

The Hypocrisy of September

2005-09-06T00:26:00.000+10:00

September is the start of the financial year for the firm I work for. September also happens to be the one month in the entire year that I totally despise my bosses. Why? It is because, this is the month they are on full hypocrite mood.

- They pretend to be your best friend.
- Suddenly show an interest in the work you have been doing for them
- Make you coffee (Ok, I'm making this one up. In 100 years, I don't think my boss would ever make me coffee.)
- Want to talk to you face to face, when for most part of the years, she can't even remember your name.
- HR tells you that you need to go see your boss coz she knows she's being ignoring her minions (underlings, slaves, whatever rocks your boat.) and would like to make a change .

I could go on. Suffice to say, I don't like my firm in September.

PS. Now that I think about it, it's about the same things in August too. Just less of the ignoring and wanting to make a change nonsense. I think I'm not going like my firm in August too.

The idiosyncrasies of Work

2005-08-22T02:04:00.000+10:00

Just a few things I've been pondering about.....mostly concerning work but a couple of other weird stuff too.

We live a world where speaking is becoming passe. No one seems to talk anymore. The preferred means of conversation nowadays are instant messaging, SMS and blogging.

If you wanted to ask someone if they were free for dinner, you don't call them. You sent them a text message.
Want to ask your colleague who sits directly opposite you a question? You don't get up and walk over and ask him or her. Nope! That's too much effort. Send an instant message.
Want to complain to the whole world about something, blog about it. (Yes, I do realise the irony of that statement.)

I foresee a world in the future where man has forgotten how to talk. We just text everyone.

Notice how as people get older, they get more paranoid? I wonder if this also applies to governments. The older the government get, the more paranoid they become. Everything is suddenly a threat to them. An elected president is a danger so what do they do? Make sure the elected president is not elected. What do you have? The non-elected elected president. Hooray!!! Democracy lives on.

People don't care about politics anymore. The only people who care are the politicians and Michael Moore. For the rest of us out there, it doesn't matter who's up there. It's just going to be the same sh*t in a different flavour. More people were upset that there wasn't a public holiday than the fact that they didn't get to vote for a new president again.

Manners seem to be going down the drain. It's flu season or at least the time of the year when everyone seems to be getting sick. There's a lot of coughing and sneezing but not enough of mouth closing when sneezing. They must be thinking, "Gee, I already work in a hospital. I guess a few million more germs in the air wouldn't hurt. Helps nearby." Maybe it's worse, "It is my right to sneeze with my mouth open and darn it, I will do it even if it kills the guy sitting next to me."

Guess it didn't end up being all about work. If you have an issue with that, text me. I don't think my tongue works anymore.

Miscellaneous Ramblings Again

2005-07-25T02:11:00.000+10:00

Just a couple of random thoughts in my brain:

I've become the person my brother uses for quotes in his line of work, whether I actually said them or not. Does this constitute identity theft?

Sometimes, when you are having a bad day, at the end of day, could be around 11:50 pm, something good happens and you think, "Hmmm, maybe today wasn't so bad after all." Talk about last minute redemption

Why is it the more you want something, the harder it is to get? I worry than when I finally do get it, I would realised that I didn't really want it in the first place. Talk about wasted effort.

Natives of the forest chop down trees. Timber barons chop down trees. Assuming timber barons didn't exist, trees would still be chopped down by the natives. All populations grow. At some point, there would be so many natives chopping down trees, there would be no trees left either. I guess we just accelarated that process.

A fat man who bends over and shows the world his butt crack is considered disgusting. A fat woman? It is still disgusting. Just coz it's a woman doesn't make it any better. There is a reason the average butt crack remains hidden from sight.

Modern man is too dependant on machines. The vaccumn died and suddenly cleaning the house just became 100 times tougher.

Which came first? The man who invented the high heel to torture women or the woman who invented the tie to torture men.

It is 33 to 35 Celcius on a regular day in this country. For some unknown reason, the men have to wear shirt and ties and the women business suits. So they get very hot and the air-conditioning has to be turned up or everyone dies of heat stroke. Why not just let everyone where polo tees or other casual (less heat generating stuff)? We would save on the time spent complaining about the heat and the electricity bill for the air-conditioning.

Lastly, does it really matter where the cow produces the milk comes from or where the milk is processed? I figure the processing does more to the taste than the cow ever could. So what's the deal with the Australian milk packaged in Indonesia and sold in Singapore???

National Day Parade Rehearsal 2005

2005-07-09T19:31:00.000+10:00

This would have to be the unlikeliest place (to me anyway) that I would have ever expected to be writing an entry to this ridiculous blog of mine.

Where and why?

On the 33rd Floor of an office building, my place of work, with a bird's eye view of the Padang, where about 50,000 people are sitting and watching a rehearsal of the upcoming National Day Parade, being encouraged by cheerleaders ( I kid you not) while here I am, as disinterested as any human being could possible be about the National Day Parade and I have one of the best views in the house. Also, it's a Saturday at 5:35 pm and I'm at work!!!!

So what can I see of the National Day Parade from where I sit? I see a circular stage in the middle of a rectangular field, with seats on 4 sides and a road along on side of it. The bands are along the 4 quarters of the circular section and as far as I can tell, there's a whole lot of people of the field just running everywhere. They look like ants when you start trying to kill them, running everywhere.

What else can I see or hear? Well, everynow and then, whenever the annoucer, who by the way speaks like an "American", the whole crowd cheers. I doubt they understand him coz I think even his poor mother would have trouble understanding him.

The Surpreme Court building if finished. The flying saucer is firmly entrenched on the roof. Wish they had bother to take it away but I guess, it fits, coz everyone already thinks the judges are from another planet and now have a building to prove it.

The little ants have run of the field but for the last 10 minutes nothing has happened. The announcer is still announcing but no one has come on. No planes have flew past. Nothing!!! And the crowd cheers at nothing again.

Oh wait, they have started to sign a song.....a really bad song.....an excruciatingly bad song.....I think I will shut my ears off right now.

Oh well, I'm bored and I'm sure whoever is reading this is also bored so I'll stop here.

The Art of Blogging

2005-06-07T02:47:00.000+10:00

It seems that everyone one out there and his dog, cat or fish has a blog nowadays. Heck, even I have one and the biologist still don't know what to classify me as.....for now, I'm just that weird looking bear that types and need a new keyboard every couple of days.

Blogs, in case most of you haven't noticed, come in 2 flavours...............vanilla and chocolate.........actually, they are ones that seem to be a really boring news report on what happened to so and so at a certain time and what so and so thinks or feels about it and the other is something like this, where some large furry mammal tries to be funny (failing pitifully most of the time) on the web.

Why do I say that there is an art to blogging? Plain and simple, some blogs are just so damn boring. Others read like the Confessions of a Teenage Bimbo (problem is, the blogger is already over 20). Just a distraction, if someone who writes a blog is called a blogger, does that make the person reading it a blogee?

Now a good blog would hold the readers (blogee)'s attention and not let go. They would not try to make their point 4 paragraphs into the blog (oops!). Also a good blog would have lots of pictures (double oops!!), the skankier, the better but if I never see GOATSE again, it would be too soon. Also a good blog written by a good blogger would not be complete random. Man, have you seen the price of petrol nowadays.

So in summary, not that there's plenty to summarise, a good blog is not this one.

Goodbye Star Wars

2005-05-21T14:26:00.000+10:00

Let me get this off my chest, I am a confirmed Star Wars nut. No question about it. I'm one of the few people on this planet, (6 in total I think) that do not believe the Ewoks was a bad idea, that Jar Jar Binks should be executed and Hayden Christensen makes Keanu Reeves look like a freaking good actor. Ok, maybe on the last one, I do agreee. He can't act. Both of them.

This brings me to the main point I wanted to bring up, which is the fact that the last of the Star Wars movies are over. Finito. Habis. Kaput. The End. We seen Anakin Skywalker become Darth Vader. We've seen how the Palpatine becomes the hideously disfigured Emperor. It's over and I for am upset.

Upset not because the movie was bad. It was good. Wooden dialogue and all. I'm upset because it seems like an end to an era of sci-fi in cinemas and movies. No more Star Wars movies. No more Star Trek TV series. No more Sta Trek movies. What are us nerds out there going to watch? It's like a whole genre of entertainment has come to an end.

Are there no more good sci-fi stories out there to tell. Has space finally been conquered, explored and basically, we've seen it all? I don't think so. So come on, anyone, someone, bring sci-fi back. I'll be here waiting.

Picture of the day!

2005-05-17T02:47:00.000+10:00

Sign outside a men's toilet.

Is anybody out there?

2005-05-17T02:34:00.000+10:00

So, three blog entries later, it hits me. Is anyone out there reading this thing or am I writing for the webcrawlers and bots entertainment? I'm pretty sure they need some entertainment.

Over a billion pages out there on the internet and if you take out the porn pages, you are left with maybe 10 pages. Last time I checked, webcrawlers don't have a gender. It's not like they are both male or female, or sometimes male, sometimes female. They just don't have a gender, meaning they don't have sex, meaning they don't get turned on (or off) by porn., meaning they have a damn boring time surfing the web......that is until they reach this page, then they know there is no meaning to the web at all and they just go back to a small corner of the internet to curl up and wilt away.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes. Is anyone reading this thing? I would appreciate a commment or 2. More is always better, which lead me to think....which is always a bad idea. Seeing how difficult it was for me to get a decent name for this blog, does anyone read all the stuff out there? Are they enough eyes out there to read all these thoughts (Some pretty good. Not naming any names here.) that are constantly being put onto the internet? I'm not sure.

So, to renew my faith in blogging, will someone please write a comment.......don't make me write my own.

Random Ranting and Raving

2005-05-12T02:11:00.000+10:00

Just a couple of nonsensical stuff that has crossed my mind recently.

1. Drivers

How is it that a country where in order to get a driver's license, you take over a year (if you are really good and don't fail anything) to finish all the required classes and practicals to pass and get your driver's license can't produce any decent drivers?

For example, in the slip roads to the highways, there always traffic backed up for miles but traffic is flowing smoothly on the highway. Doesn't anyone know how to merge into traffic? Also, when in the fastest lane of a four lane highway, don't just decide to go straight from the fastest lane to the slowest lane immediately. Cutting across 4 lanes in one go is not cool.

2. Drivers again

In a country where it takes an average of 3 weeks to get a driver's license and most of people on the road drive at least 50km/h above the speed limit, which the kind of skill that would make Schumacher proud, the only F1 driver they managed to produce was a weedy idiot who didn't even manage to finish a single race. Makes you wonder how they found this jackass.

"Hmmmm, lets see who drives within the speed limit and is the safest driver on the road. He would be perfect for F1."

Sheesh!!

3. 3G

What's the deal with 3G? Ooooo!!! Video Calls!!! I must really do that on a mobile. Most people can't walk and send text messages at the same time. Now, these same people are expected to concentrate on a tiny 1.8 inch screen while walking???? I get the feeling that hospital A&E departments are about to get more crowded if this ever catches on.

Patient: Doctor, I broke my hip.
Doctor: How did this happen?
Patient: Well, I was on this video call and didn't see where I was walking.
Doctor: Serves you right. Next!

4. 3G again

I wonder if some of those telcos who paid vast sums for their 3G licenses feel like idiots about it now. Saying that 3G is taking off is similar to saying that whales are about to take to the air. Not happening.

As far as I can't tell, you can't do much with 3G. I can't even watch soccer. The screen is so small and the resolution so poor, I can't make out who's playing, much less where the ball is.

I know, make the referees use 3G phones to referee soccer games. The video of the phone is the only view of the game they are allowed. Would soccer a great deal more interesting and give Mourinho even more chance to talk rubbish.

5. This blog

This blog is turning into a cesspool of nonsense. Don't blame me. It's 12:31 am and I want to go to bed.

CVs

2005-05-10T20:58:00.000+10:00

When the last time you tried to write a CV. I'm doing right now, for the first time since I graduated (which is ages ago) and I've forgotten how much mumbo jumbo one is suppose to write in these things. I don't like blogging and I do a better job at writing this blog (some may disagree) than I do at writing a CV.

After 5 attempts, all I've managed is my name, address and well, not much else. My life seems to revolve around trying to do things multiple times before I get it right. Take the name of this blog for example.

Anyway, I figure the key points in writing ones CV is:
a) Lie
b) Lie somemore
c) Lie a whole more
d) Don't get caught lying

Oh well, back to the CV writing. Hoepfully I'll have more insights into this process after I'm done.

PS Why does modern man always makes life harder that it already is? Have you ever seen a hyroglyph of an ancient Egyptian submitting a CV? I haven't. You were either a slave or you weren't. Ah, the simple life.....

At last!!!!! %$^#&%$%#*

2005-05-10T17:04:00.000+10:00

This was suppose to be a witty first post but after spending a freaking 2 hours trying to find a blog address on blogspot that wasn't used, I lost my mood.

So here it is, the first post ever on the the Bohmox blog.

Why Bohmox? What kind of intoxicated, weed smoking individual comes up the name Bohmox? The same one that spent so long tryin to find a name for his blog because there are a 100 million people out there who already have a blog and have used every decent name in the English and every other language out there.

So where does Bohmox come from? Well, when you first try to create a blog, Blogspot ask you to enter some characters into a text box from an image they display. Well, after the 100 attempt to find a working name, mine said Bohmox. It was going to be Ahhjbb but apparently that in use by some other frustrated soul out there.

So what's Bohmox all about??? Beats me. I figure, I'm just going to post random thoughts (random being in the running for the "Understatement of the Year award") every now and then. Probably more then than now.

Have fun reading.....and if you do decide to set up your own blog, find the guy/gal/dog/cat out there who has the blog address you want and kill/threaten/main/send to Michael Jackson if under 13 years of age to release the address to you and save yourself 2 hours of your life and 10 years of your sanity.