vantan’s Neighbors

Thoughts on the 2008 vice presidential race

nobody@vox.com(allaboutgeorge) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 09:34:02 +0800

I don't think I've said anything about it up to now, and there's only (as of today) 9 1/2 weeks left.

I just read Mudflats' "What is McCain Thinking? One Alaskan's Perspective." In it, she says:

[...] Listen to John McCain and you'll hear about a maverick reformer who took on big oil, took on corrupt Alaska politicians, and whose ethics are unquestioned.

Alaskans really want to like Sarah Palin. In a state where corruption is the rule, and the same faces keep recycling over and over and over again like a bad dream, a new face, with a promise of reform seemed like a breath of fresh air. Palin defeated incumbent governor Frank Murkowski (father of Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski who he appointed to his own Senate seat when he was elected governor) because he was such an obnoxious, bloviating, downright BAD politician. This staunchly republican state voted with relief, not having to cross over and vote Democratic, but still able to get Murkowski the hell out of office. In the general election Palin swept into office running against a former Democratic governor, Tony Knowles, who was capable but came with baggage. And he represented to Alaskans more of the same, tired old-style politics, and special interests that we have come to loathe.
So, if McCain had made his selection six months ago, the squeaky-clean governor meme would have made a little more sense. But, Sarah Palin is currently under an ethics investigation by the Alaska state legislature. [...]

See, six months ago, it was pretty hard to tell the lineup of Republican presidential candidates apart -- even with a scorecard. So when I tweeted a friend a Publius Pundit vice-presidential poll, he said he was rooting for someone he thought could govern: Christopher Cox, for his conservative bonafides, relative youth and ability to shore up McCain's economic flank.

He asked me who I thought had a shot, and I told him I thought the nod would be more about campaigning than governing: "Whitman, Hutchison, Rice, Watts, Jindal, Powell, Palin, Blackburn, [Elizabeth] Dole, Steele." Of those, my friend said he thought only Watts had enough experience but lacked the desire.

I didn't give the issue any more serious thought until this morning. I'd assumed McCain wouldn't give in to his long-shot leanings. I was wrong.

Today, my friend asked me what I thought of Joe Biden. I said "Meh. I'd hoped he'd double-down on change (Bayh/Kaine) or pick Hagel or Powell or Richardson, but I'm pleased he didn't pick Clinton." I think we can all see pretty clearly what not-picking Clinton yielded.

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Was that the only take away?

nobody@vox.com(Ah Seng) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 23:12:15 +0800

Yesterday, I was at the induction course together with 36 other newbies. There was an activity during one of the workshops where everyone was all given a number and we were not allowed to reveal the number that we are given.

The game masters asked us, "Do you have any questions?" We will not be allowed to ask any questions after this Q &A session before the game.

One asked, "Where do we start from?"

The Game Master answered, "We cannot answer this question."

Then, I decided to ask for the objective of this activity.

The Game Master said that we will know it after the activity.

...and the activity started after the Game Master told us to take our position in ascending order, without stating which side we should start from.

I was holding number 2, so it was pretty easy for me. I went to the projector screen and took my position, assuming that the first person will probably take position from the screen. After awhile, everyone were in place. We started saying out the numbers that we were holding. It went on fine until 11 and someone suddenly said "22"! Ok, so everyone down the line will probably get it wrong.

So, the Game Masters were kinda happy, since we achieved their objective of showing us communication is very important and that was their takeaway for us after the activity.

However, I had some other takeaways from this activity - While communication is important, clear instructions are equally important.

1. If the people in power never give clear instructions, even if the rest are allowed to communicate, they may still get it wrong as no direction was given.

2. If people in power refuse to provide enough information for the rest to know in order to perform the given task, the outcome may not be positive too.

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I am glad

nobody@vox.com(magjunkie) — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:13:13 +0800

That this is ending soon. My patience is running out and I have no clue why I am spending so much of my time over things I have no clue about. Bleh.

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Discover the Best of the Blogosphere

nobody@vox.com(Team Vox) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 06:29:12 +0800

Blogsdotcom

One of my favorite things about working at Six Apart is that it's a company founded by bloggers, for bloggers. As a result, not only do we want to provide bloggers with the best tools (like Vox, TypePad and Movable Type), we're also committed to helping bloggers find a broader audience, and helping readers find the blogs that matter to them. And with over 175,000 new blogs created every single day, this is no easy feat.

Luckily, with the launch of Blogs.com, Six Apart is making it easy for you to find the best blogs on the web. Hand-picked by a team of passionate editors, and organized by the topics that interest you, Blogs.com will help you find blogs on a variety of topics from Life, to Entertainment, to seasonal topics like Student Life. You can also catch up on the latest buzz on the web by reading featured editorials or checking out the top ten lists.

Wondering how you can submit your blog to the Blogs.com editors for consideration? It's easy -- Just fill out this quick form. In the meantime, check out Blogs.com and let us know what you think in the comments.

Thanks for reading!

-daisy

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Fireworks Festival

nobody@vox.com(magjunkie) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 02:58:17 +0800

Towards the end of the day, I received surprise tickets to the Fireworks Festival from a colleague who couldn't make it to the show at the last minute. I didn't even know the fest was on today - that's how out of touch I am with the real world - too caught up with drama serials, mags and books. Since the tix were free, I happily accepted them.

And boy, was I glad I went! The show was spectacular. I have watched musical fountains before but musical fireworks - this is a first. I didn't know that aside from blooming flowers, fireworks can be playful, graceful, melancholic and many other things! I was amazed. Pity that I didn't have my cam with me since this was a last minute arrangement. That said, a part of me was secretly glad that I could finally focus on the blooms as they rain down on us without the need to snap frantically - for as long as they last. :)

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Book review: Marshmallows for breakfast by Dorothy Koomson

nobody@vox.com(magjunkie) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 02:48:57 +0800

I had heard various good reviews about this book before I picked it up. Maybe because of the high expectations I went in with, I was somewhat disappointed when the story didn't captivate me as much as I'd thought it would. Don't get me wrong. It's still a good story to read and definitely a huge improvement from "The Cupid Effect" by the same author. The message is stronger and characters have more soul in them. However, I noticed that Koomson tends to repeat her message over and over throughout her story - she did it in Cupid and she did it again in Marshmallows. It was as if she was trying to say something new with something already said by saying it differently.

Anyway, a quick summary of the story: Kendra tried to escape from her past back to her country, England, only to be presented with problems she thought she had left behind - emotional tangles. Only that this time, the tangles were with her newly divorced landlord and his two adorable kids who latched on to her like she was the only constant in their lives. The only one whom they could depend on and the one who made them make-believe marshmallows for breakfast when their dad was either having a row with their mum over the phone or zonked out on the sofa after a booze binge. Thing is, Kendra depended on them as much as they depended on her. Through their innocence and generous love, she saw the simplicity of life, if I may put it that way, and also found the strength to face her past.

There are good messages within the book on love and marriage - the importance of communication in a relationship and the potential damage when it's missing. Sometimes, we thought the other party would know but of course, no, they don't know what we are thinking most of the time. And sometimes it's things like these that bring an end to an otherwise good relationship. I learned bits and pieces along the way but I guess the message can be strengthened if story is more pulled together, more focused and more to the point.

Rating: 3 bookmarks out of 5

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Review: Rachel Kramer Bussel, "Spanked: Red Cheeked Erotica"

nobody@vox.com(allaboutgeorge) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 00:24:22 +0800

"[...] I love what we're doing, but I'm getting confused. I'm having a
hard time telling the truth where the truth ends and the play-acting
begins. Sometimes we act like a regular couple and do normal couple-y
things; sometimes we have really fun, playful sex. And then sometimes
we get into this other thing. [...]"

Andy Ohio's "Tied Down"

So, like, what's up with that other thing? More to the point: Were you in a playful mood the last time you had sex with someone?

I'm not talking about "playful" as in "kittenish," much less "monkeying" or "horsing" around. (Save your human/animal roleplay jokes for now, m'kay?)

I'm talking about the state of mind that has to do with gleeful improvisation, glistening wetness and gleaming smiles, glowing pleasure in the moment and getting a grip on (or getting gripped by) a willing partner.

The latest book to remind me of that delightful state, that pleasant periphery in which ludic languor lives, is Rachel Kramer Bussel's anthology of short stories. (Full disclosure: I received a review copy in exchange for a promise to write a review and post it to the book's Amazon.com listing.)

Each story is not just a rude and randy recitation of body-part motion-capture that one might plot on a graph with as little difficulty as one might play buzzword bingo with nearly any politician's boilerplate address.

It's also not just a collection of completely unlikely or implausible scenarios (airplane bathrooms, department-store dressing rooms, college classrooms, graveyards, etc.). It's called wishful thinking, not fantastic (in that other sense of the word) thinking. Maybe it's just my own imagination, but situations where a few words gone awry result in a gauntlet thrown down and then taken up sound not just likely, but like good ideas (as in Thomas S. Roche's "Pre-Party" and Kramer Bussel's own "The Depths of Despair").

It's why I'm willing to go along with Shanna Germain's "Perfect Bound" with its library-look protagonist, bookstore-cum-flytrap setting and delightfully unexpected uses for certain old-school office supplies, or Alison Tyler's "Betty Crocker Gone Bad," which turns a domestic quirk into the kind of escapade that might get left on a cable-cooking-show cutting-room floor, or Madeline Glass' "Laser Tag," which makes the best out of bad behavior at a concert and the resulting cute-meat meet-cute.

By the time you've dropped in on the grownups-go-back-to-high-school scenario of Madlyn March's "Reunion," the barn settings (yes, if you must, perhaps now's the time for your roleplay jokes) of Thomas Christopher's "Riding the Storm" and L. Elise Bland's "The Breeding Barn," you're probably several turns of the screw into certain physical symptoms that result from the consumption of well-written erotica. You probably won't even mind the workplace-turnabout triptych of Fiona Locke's "Pink Cheeks," Laura Bacchi's "Page By Page" and Simon Sheppard's "Fiscal Discipline."

Make a point of checking this book out wherever you get your hands on it, and you'll soon concur that the only thing better than bending over a well-told tale is, well, bending over a well-toiled-over tail.

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Top used vocab by peers...

nobody@vox.com(Ah Seng) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:03:54 +0800

Full-time National Service:

"Fuck"

Nexus (There is a tie here):

"Frivolous" & "Contrive"

HPB:

"Basically"

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>

nobody@vox.com(KoalaCling) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:31:43 +0800

I've just finished watching the drama series 《一切完美》. Yeah, I know I'm slow...I caught a few episodes when it was aired on Mediacorp Channel U and loved it, but as busy urban lifestyles would have it, I couldn't be with my beloved gogglebox every single weekday night.

Thanks to the wonderful Internet however, I finally managed to catch those episodes I missed. Although the downside of watching TV like this is an aching back from hunching in front of my laptop, watching five episodes back to back (pardon the pun). And a guilty conscience as well - I was supposed to do some work, not spend five hours enjoying life as a couch potato. (Hmmm, but then again, why am I feeling guilty about having a good time?)

Back to the show. Although the theme of plastic surgery is nothing new, I liked the treatment and scripting - subtle, yet impactful. There was wit in the dialogue, and in the humour, much food for thought. 能写出这样的剧本, 撰稿人的思维一定要有相当的深度。不是单纯地追求着娱乐观众, 也不是只管把故事精彩地交代出来。而是在轻描淡写中, 希望观众看了能有所启发,有所体会。我喜欢。

The casting was another success factor. The series featured some new faces and invited some ex-Mediacorp artistes to guest star in some episodes. All in all, a very refreshing change. Most memorable ones include “依然娇艳”郑宛龄，"晓莉" 郑荔 and newbie 杨伟烈, who starred in one episode. 王沺裁 and 谢韵仪 also showed a surprising chemistry in their performances that was very engaging to watch.

I just wonder if this series will be considered for a Star Award. Probably not, since it was outsourced to WaWa Productions, and is not a in-house project. Pity, coz' the series could easily be Mediacorp's 年度最佳连续剧 for 2008 (Best Drama Series 2008).

Incidentally, WaWa Productions also did a less popular series 《我们的饭店》，which also featured 王沺裁 as the lead actor. I enjoyed that series too, particularly because they shot on location at Tiong Bahru, one of my favourite estates. But the script for 《一切完美》is more outstanding. Aiya, I'd buy both series if they ever hit the shelves lah. More please, WaWa Productions!

Channel U Perfect Cut 一切完美主题曲 by 石欣卉

Links
http://perfectcut.blogspot.com

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Travelogue - Las Vegas, Chicago and a bit of Tokyo

nobody@vox.com(magjunkie) — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 22:49:48 +0800

I promised to share more on my trip so here it is. Only entries dated 5 August were written over there. After that, I either had no time to write or no access to laptop. So based on very fond memories, I wrote the rest, backdated accordingly. Here goes...

5 August 2008

I finished reading a book in the first leg of this long-awaited vacation.

Book review: Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones

His name was Mr Watts, the only white man on the island. His wife was a black woman who belonged there. As the island took its bated breaths amidst fear and tension in the wake of a civil war, and as the villagers lost their sense of time and purpose except when helicopters hovered above the trees and instincts told them to hide and stop breathing, Mr Watts decided to bring some semblance of an order to the frightened island. He stepped forward to teach the kids of the island with the only textbook available, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. With a single book, he transported them to a world out of their reach, out of their imagination – a precious journey to every one of the kids.

Some words from Matilda, the lead character in the book, to share here: “I had found a new friend. The surprising thing is where I’d found him – not up the tree or sulking in the shade, or splashing around in one of the hill streams, but in a book. No one had told us kids to look there for a friend. Or that you could slip inside the skin of another. Or travel to another place…” That’s how I fell in love with books too.

I was expecting a heartwarming read. However, I was left shaken at the end of the story. I don’t know how Matilda did it but I know many of us might never find the strength to continue after the tragic events that took place in the span of one day. One after another, she lost things dearest to her heart. She wondered herself how she could keep on breathing and how her heart could keep pumping blood through her body. She didn’t know how but that must have happened because she lived on to tell this story.

To sum this up, it’s a moving yet shocking tale.

Rating: 5 bookmarks out of 5

Glitzy Las Vegas

I have left behind the glitters and dizzying lights of Las Vegas. It is everything I expected – flamboyant, loud, lavish and expensive. What I didn’t expect was the heat. The temperature was a crazy 40 degree Celsius! How on earth do people live in that kind of heat? Every step felt like a mile in that weather but like every holiday, I miss it the minute I took a step away from it. I miss the rowdiness of the casinos (they were everywhere in hotel lobbies), the spectacular shows (free shows are available on the street), the mad buffet spreads and heck, even the sauna-like outdoors. Oh? Did I say I took a helicopter to Grand Canyon too? It was a truly amazing experience – the canyon doesn’t seem to have an end. But I shuddered when I was up there in the air imagining the worst. That’s scaredy cat me. Ok, I am now moping in a weird emptiness.

Sleepy town Burr Ridge, Chicago

Never had I had such a packed itinerary before. But yes, after four nights in Las Vegas, I am now in a sleepy town of Chicago – Burr Ridge. It’s rather far from downtown, I must say. There is a village centre which I plan to visit later in the evening when Mister is done with his conference. Weather here is cool, around 25 degree Celsius, I think. But last night, there was a horrible storm when we were out at the outlet mall. I was worried we would be stuck there. The shuttle bus driver who got us back to the hotel said we were lucky to make it back cos trees were falling down and blocking some of the roads. That sounded scary, to be honest. And despite what we said about being unlucky to have met the storm, I think we were really lucky after all.

Right now, I am here typing away, with HBO playing in the background (they have good shows on TV so lazy me decided to stay in today) and a book right next to me – getting to it as soon as I am done here.

7 August 2008 (backdated)

Chicago Downtown

We finally made it to Chicago Downtown, which is where all the happenings are and where you can find their signature deep dish pizza. After all the research and desperate questions thrown at the clueless hotel front desk, we managed to find Downtown on our own, thanks to Mister's hard staring at their transit network which looked alien to me (but I was the one who found the Magnificent Mile - their popular shopping belt by studying the street maps).

It was refreshing to be away from the quiet town where we stayed and be in the midst of a buzzing town. Else I would probably leave, thinking Chicago was a boring place. After some shopping, we went to join a long queue at Gino's Pizza to try their deep dish pizza. They took 45 minutes to serve up the dish and while it's interesting to see such a thick pizza, the taste was just ordinary. It's just usual pizza - with depth.

After dinner, it was already close to 9.00pm and we happily strolled to the nearest train station to get back to Midway Airport where our hotel shuttle would pick us up. When we reached the station, we heard announcements about some last train and people were rushing to get through the gantry. We had some problem with the ticket machine and suddenly, a gentleman walked up to us and asked where we were heading off to. Without thinking, we told him about the station we wanted to get to (that was the stop for us to get a transfer at, not final destination) and he quickly told us that the last train was leaving in less than 5 minutes' time. In a panic, we got our tickets and made a mad dash to the train platform. We just managed to get on the train - lucky us! The gentleman must be an angel from up there. If he didn't tell us, we would have missed the train and probably pay an ungodly sum to take a cab back to our hotel. On hindsight though, I wonder if we should have been more careful when talking to strangers - despite the fact that it was a blessing in this case.

9 August 2008 (backdated)

We've left Chicago for Tokyo yesterday. I should have bought all the Coach bags I laid my hands on. Reached Tokyo at 3.00pm. Left Narita Airport at 4.00pm (the part about travel which I hate is getting through the customs). Took Limited Express Keissei train to Asakusabashi and only reached hotel at close to 6.00pm. By the time we freshened up and reached Akihabara, it was almost 7.00pm. So we only window shopped a bit. However, when I had the first mouthful of fluffy white rice at 9.00pm, after about 12 days of burgers and chips, you don't know how blissful I felt. Life is good.

12 August 2008 (backdated)

Left Tokyo reluctantly yesterday - did last minute shopping at the airport and spent every cent of my yen left (that's exaggeration, if you don't recognise it already). Touched down in Singapore at 11.30pm and missing Las Vegas, Chicago and Tokyo altogether immensely. Did I go Las Vegas months ago or was it just two weeks ago that I left this place for the sin city? And I have to work tomorrow - ugh to the max.

End of Travelogue.

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