This will be the penultimate entry on this blog. There really isn't a reason to continue any more now that life's taken a different turn for me. Consider this everything I could have, and should have, said before everything became different. Thank you. Thank you for being my best friend for the last eight years, seven and a half of which was the happiest I've been in a long time. Thank you for being my lover and my confidante. Thank you for being there when I needed you; through the difficult decision to quit teaching, through the dark days after I returned from Meulaboh. Thank you for having loved me when I've already admitted I won't be the easiest person to be with. I will move on. I will take only what I need from this flat I thought would be our home for a long time. Anything else, you may wish to do whatever you want with them. It will probably take me a few trips to move what I need out. But I do have a clear idea what I'll need, and what I don't want any more. Unfortunately, because it'll take me a while to find a new place, I cannot make changes to the mailing address at ACRA yet, so most of my cheques will still come here. I hope you will keep them at a spot where I can just pick them up.I don't know where I'll go. But I do know that I'll still be in photography. So, that'll be the circle I will be running in. Take care of the mooch. Perhaps now, when it's just you, he won't attack you for no reason. He's too cute to be given away and has been great company to me on the nights when you were at work or at meetings, aggravating sometimes though he may be.I will remember the great times we've had and the bad too, for those are the times I learn from my mistakes. I still don't know what's happened between us, but as I've said: I will do whatever makes you happy, and if that means you do not wish to be with me anymore, I can accept that.Once again, I'm sorry things couldn't work between us. I still dream of that apartment in English Bay. But it seems like a lifetime away now. But you've got to know what you want in life too. I don't want to hear that you're unhappy because it's still the one thing that escapes you. So that's it. I wish you happiness. I wish you well. I wish you the achievement of your dreams. Goodbye. Boobie Talk Blonds of the world can start wailing now (from salon.com - membership required)Cancer Found More Often in Dense Breasts- - - - - - - - - - - -By JEFF DONN Associated Press WriterJanuary 17,2007 | BOSTONCancer turns up five times more often in women with extremely dense breasts than in those with the most fatty tissue, a study shows, signaling the importance of a risk factor rarely discussed with patients.On mammograms, fat looks dark, but dense tissue is light, like tumors, so it can hide the cancers. But this study confirms that cancers are also more frequent -- not just hidden -- in women with dense breasts.That means that density is a true risk factor, along with other strong predictors like age and the genes BRCA1 and 2. Yet specialists say that breast density is rarely considered with other risk factors in discussions between doctors and patients."It's been ignored to an absolutely unbelievable degree," said study leader Dr. Norman Boyd at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto.The Canadian study by cancer centers in Toronto and Vancouver focuses on how and when cancers were found over eight years in existing records of 1,112 women collected between 1981 and last year. It is being reported in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.Breast density comes from the presence of more connective, duct-lining and milk-gland tissue than fat. But a woman can't judge her own density; it is routinely evaluated from a mammogram.Previous studies had linked breast density to a higher rate of cancer, pointing to both masking and a separate biological risk.In this study, women with at least 75 percent dense breasts showed five times more likelihood of cancer than women with less than 10 percent density.The researchers went further by calculating just how many more cancers were found at screening, within the next year, and in the years afterward. Cancers found within a year were considered likely to be present, but masked, during the earlier mammogram. But a true biological risk was seen in cancers discovered by mammogram or long afterward.In this study, cancers were 18 times more likely in women with the densest breasts within the first year after mammograms -- the masking effect.However, cancers in women with the densest breasts were also more than three times more likely to turn up at the time of screening and after the first year following a mammogram. That confirms and helps quantify the true biological link between density and cancer."I think the masking thing is important, and it does happen, but the most important thing is that this is an incredible risk factor," said Dr. Karla Kerlikowske, of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Francisco, who wrote an accompanying editorial. "This probably counts for a large percentage of the cancer that's occurring."Breast cancers are the second most lethal kind after lung cancers in women. About one in eight women will get invasive breast cancer during her lifetime, according to the American Cancer Society. Last year, roughly 41,000 U.S. women died of it. Worldwide, it kills about 370,000 women each year.In this study, density of more than 50 percent accounted for 16 percent of all cancers and a quarter in women under age 56.Robert Smith, a screening expert at the American Cancer Society, said this study and its predecessors will encourage a rethinking of cancer screening.For now, women can ask their doctor about their breast density based on a mammogram and how it might affect their risk. However, experts say it's too soon for doctors to provide solid advice to individual patients.For one thing, quicker, more accurate tools are needed to measure density. Some experts believe that ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging or computerized mammograms may ultimately prove better at finding tumors in very dense breasts, but it's still unclear how much value each might yield for its cost."In a perfect world, I would have my wife do an ultrasound, MRI, and a digital mammogram," said Dr. Gary J. Whitman, a radiologist at University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. He was not involved in the study.Some believe lifestyle changes or even preventive drugs may one day be recommended to women with this risk factor.Meanwhile, specialists hope to identify genes that promote density, because they might act as targets for cancer drugs.In another study in the same journal, a research team at the University of Michigan described a newly identified set of 186 genes that appears to predict whether a breast tumor will spread.Other so-called gene signatures have been discovered for breast cancer, but this one is also linked to survival in lung, prostate and brain cancers.Oh wait. Dense breasts, not dense women... Okayy... "You are not ready!"Er, okay. Don't need to yell...***And, as it would appear, neither are you, Blizzard, as evidenced by the major crashing of the server at 4:20 am Singapore time. Oooh, not pretty. Sweetness Ah, the sweet dream-filled sleep of the balls-less and care-less. Not GST 2007 worries for this one. Five Things I should have done today: 5. Get the hair cut. It's about four weeks overdue and way too many people have asked if I'm planning to grow it out again. And I don't like looking like a toilet brush. 4. Woken up later. Had too much to drink last night (see point no. 2) but wanted to be a little more productive. Oy. 3. More work-related stuff instead of spending most of the afternoon on Call of Duty and World of Warcraft. On a related note: ding!2. Gone back to a party that was rather happening last night. Made the mistake of deciding I should stay home and spend time with loved ones. Yeah, I can be fucking stupid sometimes. 1. Give up already. You know, just give up. Why fucking try if I'm the only one doing the trying? It's fucking 3.30 am for cryin' out loud. Sometimes I get images sent from others that make me want to share them with more people:Because not enough jokes about Luke and Leia exist in this world. (Planned the storyline right from the start - yeah, right).I've always thought they were a tad vicious.And now, we get to my favourite of the lot:I case people were wondering, to 'pass' in some other countries that exist in this world means to 'overtake'.(Apart from the Star Wars one, I don't have any idea whose copyright the others belong to, so if someone knows, let me know.) Grief If you were there on the opening of the Remembering Tsunami show on 21 December, then you'll already know about the plans to have a photographer's forum at the gallery every once in a while. I'll be involved in the first one (along with some of the others who had their works shown on the 21st, of course), details follow:Topic: Photographing Grief: Regarding the Pain of OthersVenue: Kay Ngee Tan Architects, 16/17 Duxton HillDate: 6 January 2007Time: 2 - 5 pmI hope to see some familiar faces there. For The Record Not drunk. And for the record also, this looks like fun. I'll only know when I wake up tomorrow to try it and not get arrested for drink driving.And also, Nokias are still stronger than most. In image: stains where the condensation from my beer seeped into my phone. Still working. Was able to transfer some more songs onto my phone's playlist. Heck, look at the 'Additional Information' tab on the Flickr page. I took the damned photo with the phone. So there. My Life in 2006 Guess, like the missus, I'm going to make this an annual thing (as long as I remember):Figured I should start the ball rolling for 2006 before I lapse too much. When you're four tables away from me, you shouldn't be chewing your food with your mouth open and loud enough that I can hear you... Like this pigeon I found at the foot of our block recently - I do hope it's one of the neighbourhood cats that did this; better than the scary H5N1 that's going around - my hopes of getting to vote have been dashed. You'd think that with all the hands-free sets out there, and the availability of bluetooth sets - some with enough funky flashing blue lights to give even a closet beng heavy wet dreams - people would learn to drive without having to resort to actually holding the mobile phone to their ear. In the meantime, while I make plans for the next couple of weeks before I leave for Japan, more images from the two days on Ubin. 10 years as a short story. "... whatever card also can! As long as there's a card!" Been thinking a lot more about the whole theft incident and something that the client said yesterday had been festering in my mind, only to be given an airing today. Made the mistake of answering a doorbell in the afternoon yesterday. Or 'cover-up' (and a good reason not to be home this evening). Was minding my own business catching on things happening in the school with a colleague (ex-colleague, that is) when this came in: "Don't be left behind! Even Ministers blog! The new wave is Mobile Blogging! Now you can post to your blog site from your phone. Register at..." Becoming Royston is sold out.I might be wrong, but I think there're more words here... I gotta start writing shorter sentences. Vale I've been on a Manchester United mailing list for the last ten years (ever since I moved to Canada for four years of mugging and hockey and sororities) because coverage over there isn't as extensive as I would've liked. This came over the list today:"My husband was a list member for a number of years, he enjoyed reading all your comments and reports no matter where he was stationed. He was killed in action on the 12th December whilst serving in Helmand, Southern Afghanistan. Sadly missed by his wife, our three children, his dad, his brother and his very many friends."Goodbye, Danny. I remember your posts, your opinions. R.I.P.May it be a better place where you are."Frater, ave atque vale."Updated 29 December 2006:I know I'm probably overstepping my bounds on someone's grief, but I think I must:"I would just like to thank you all so very much for your kind words concerning Danny on and off the list. There have been so many from strangers to me but it warms my heart that you think enough of someone to write to his wife like this. I was going to reply to everyone personally but thought it best to write something here, I hope you understand. I know he's met a couple of you on his travels but don't know who? Danny's real name was Tim but his friends called him Desperate Dan or Danny as there was already a Tim in their small unit - he assured me that was the reason and it had nothing to do with A) his travelling ie Daniel Defoe or B) his appetite for 'cow pies' or C) because he was built like a brick ....house. And to the 'Aussie' on here? Dan liked you :)We will be ok. I'm not sure it's sunken it yet as we're used to him being away for long periods at a time. Our littlest, Sarah doesn't really understand and points at soldiers on the news and yells "Dada!" and I cry every time. But the two boys are being very brave. The eldest is 15 and has always thought of himself as the 2.i.c when dad is away. Of course, everything reminds me of him but seeing or hearing Manchester United on the news or just seeing some young lad wearing the shirt down the road, makes me feel very empty and weak, the gleam in Danny's eye whenever his team was mentioned, I'm sure you all understand. I know the boys will be watching the next match on the telly but I don't know if I can yet, we'll wait and see. Tom will carry on reading these messages in his dad's absence, he used to fill Danny in on all your news whenever he rang. Danny lived and died a hero. He "carried his radioman to safety under heavy fire" only an hour before his death. But he would never ever see it that way. He loved his job, he loved his pals. And like he always said, he's only there so they wouldn't kill each other. Dan was coming home for good this March. All these years of sharing him with the army, we was finally to have him all to ourselves. He was our hero every day. A wonderful, kind, funny man who put others before himself in everything. I apologise, I have so much to say but this isn't the place. I didn't mean to take up so much of your time. This has taken me two hours to write. Danny would be extremely embarrassed. To all of you, thank you again from the bottom of my heart. Cherish those around you, cherish them now. And to quote one of Danny's many tattoos, this one under the United crest on his chest "Forever and ever." "Think maybe it's time our men and women stop fighting the wars that no one wants them there in the first place. So I wasn't dreaming... At about 4 am this morning, when I was still awake and on WOW, I thought I felt the room I was in sway a little. I looked over at the wooden window blinds immediately and they were moving slightly. Then I told myself I've been awake more than 23 hours. I was preparing for the Remembering Tsunami show. I was grumpy. I had just put my foot in my mouth over multiple open MSN chats. It couldn't be happening. It had to be the paranoia brought about by sleep depravation and thinking too much about Thursday. Especially not around this time again. A cigarette calmed me down, but only until I saw this in today's CNA online:Title : Seven dead, 150 injured in Indonesian earthquakeBy : Date : 18 December 2006 1920 hrs (SST)URL : Link hereJAKARTA : A quake that struck the Indonesian island of Sumatra has killed at least seven people, injured 150 and brought down hundreds of homes, local officials and police said. Three aftershocks sent residents rushing out of their homes in the region, where memories of the 2004 tsunami which devastated Aceh further to the north are still fresh. Rescuers were trying to reach 20 villages which were cut off by landslides triggered by the 5.7-magnitude quake, police said Monday. The epicentre of the quake, which hit at 4:39 am (2139 GMT Sunday), was 150 kilometres (95 miles) southeast of Sibolga at the relatively shallow depth of 17.7 kilometres, geologists said. Eddy Syofian, information chief in the North Sumatra provincial government, said the death toll was seven with 150 injured, according to the detikcom news portal. Police in Panyabungan bordering South and West Sumatra earlier said that a family of four was killed after their home collapsed in Tamiyang village some 65 kilometres away. The quake also damaged a large number of homes while key roads were blocked by landslides, local police chief Rudi Sumarardiyanto told AFP. "I'm unable to go to Tamiyang to get first-hand information on the situation. Local residents have come out to help clear the road and we have deployed two tractors," he said. Some 20 villages out of 23 in the worst-hit district of Muara Sipongi were cut off, district police chief Pulongan told AFP. The fate of the residents was unknown and officials had not been able to make contact with them, he said. Pulongan said 250 homes were damaged and 16 people suffered minor injuries in the three villages which were accessible. Electricity supplies had been cut and landslides and rain were hampering rescue operations by some 100 police and soldiers. "We have set up temporary shelters for those who have lost their homes and are providing them food," he said. The quake was also felt 540 kilometres away in Singapore, the city-state's environment agency said. Singapore local radio reported receiving calls from residents who reported that their apartments were shaken by the tremor. The quake followed just half an hour after a 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit the north of Sumatra. The first quake struck at 4:10 am with its epicentre under the Indian Ocean south-southwest of Banda Aceh. "These are moderate earthquakes," said Budiwaluyo, head of the earthquake information unit with the meteorology headquarters here. He said no tsunami warning was issued for the first quake as it was below 6.3-magnitude. The Indonesian archipelago sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire where continental plates meet, causing frequent seismic and volcanic activity. Indonesia was the nation worst hit by the earthquake-triggered Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004, which killed some 168,000 people in Aceh province on the northern tip of Sumatra. A 7.7-magnitude earthquake in July on the south coast of the main island of Java also killed more than 600 people. - AFP/ms Remembering The Tsunami It's next week. Come. Listen to our stories. It Sucks When one is suffering from yet another bout of insomnia. It's worse when said one doesn't have his laptop with him so that at least he could go raiding on WoW. It's pretty pathetic, when one, in an attempt to be more productive, goes out in the middle of the night to 'shoot something' and realises that he has absolutely no idea what he's out shooting. In the end, all one does is to get dressed up and then go to the closest 24-hour coffee shop to have a teh halia.Sigh. So, we didn't win... But what's wrong with this picture?1. Director for one of the films gets up before the the announcement of the winner of the Best Actress award and moves to the end of the row of seats to wait for the name to be announced. 2. Producer of another film thanks the jury for the win, and then mentions how much he enjoyed spending the last 7 days with them, visiting Uniquely Singapore. 3. There were ties. Shared awards (well, actually not shared - there was one for each winner). Then again, I'm just glad I got to dress up. And to be in the same room as Anthony Wong and Cecilia Yip. But I'm swearing off formal-wear for the next two months. Sometimes, it's just not worth it to dig out stuff from your wardrobe to look good. Especially when no one in the theatre even realised we were in it. Next time, we'll get a $1 million dollar budget, requisition guns and blow up a mountain. Forget the $10k budget that we spent on Becoming Royston, let's splurge. The dinner at Empire Cafe and the drinks after that at Loof was good though.Ah, wallowing. Good once in a while. But, next screening of the movie for the people who missed it on Tuesday will be announced. Stay tuned.Updated 8 December 2006, 4:04 am:OK, so now I'm drunk, and I can say whatever I want that I wouldn't say normally:Kelong!That's pretty much all I have to say. Or not. Am I upset about not winning? Perhaps. See here. Or not. I'm more upset for the others who might have stood a chance if people weren't already a shoo-in for the award. C'mon. Anyone who came for the rest of movies would have known the field Becoming Royston found itself in. An explosion? Guns? A film made with 200 people in the crew? Jeezus Christie. We were lucky if 6 people showed up. And our budget? Already mentioned (see above). Fucking hell. How the heck were we supposed to compete with that?And how about how we were informed at the very last minute about little events with the jury where we could've tried to tripod them a little? A networking session with the nominees and the jury on Monday, at 6 to 7 pm. And we were told at 6.30 pm? Lunch with the jury and the STB people on Tuesday at noon, and we were told at 10 am? A rehearsal for the Awards Night at 2.30 pm on the day itself and we were told just the evening before*? And what did we do when we were there? Pretty much getting ignored, sitting at the back of the hall and then leaving after waiting 40 minutes for the jury and the other nominees to arrive, and having the rehearsal last a grand total of 10 minutes. How about a speech at the start about how we were all winners because we were already nominated? Fuck that. It's one thing to be already nominated when the field is still open. But not when the winners have already been decided beforehand. Winners? Hah! No wonder some people don't attend the Oscars. I'm not normally this sore a loser, but when all these things happened and when I was witness to all these things:What's wrong with this picture?All I can say again: KELONG!* And why the fuck were we there in the first place anyway? People already knew who won, right? Sold Out Becoming Royston is sold out. All tickets for the Arts House screening of the movie, which is the closing film of the Asian Festival of First Films, were snapped up last Thursday. Thank you all who got the tickets.For the rest of you who couldn't get a place in the 80-seater, watch this space. We might have another screening after the festival's over. The horror... The horror... It's kinda strange to be at home on a Thursday night... can't remember the last time that happened. So strange that I was watching the heresy that is The Amazing Race Asia. Still bad. Still won't watch it. Not unless there isn't anything else on TV. Fallen You are The DevilMateriality. Material Force. Material temptation; sometimes obsession.The Devil is often a great card for business success; hard work and ambition.Perhaps the most misunderstood of all the major arcana, the Devil is not really Satan at all, but Pan, the half-goat nature god and/or Dionysius. These are gods of pleasure and abandon, of wild behavior and unbridled desires. This is a card about ambitions; it is also synonymous with temptation and addiction. On the flip side, however, the card can be a warning to someone who is too restrained, someone who never allows themselves to get passionate or messy or wild - or ambitious. This, too, is a form of enslavement. As a person, the Devil can stand for a man of money or erotic power, aggressive, controlling, or just persuasive. This is not to say a bad man, but certainly a powerful man who is hard to resist. The important thing is to remember that any chain is freely worn. In most cases, you are enslaved only because you allow it.What Tarot Card are You?Take the Test to Find Out. Ah, Real Life In the studio now, going through the language for the subtitles for the feature-length version of the movie when it gets shown at the AFFF - where it is the Closing Film for the Festival and will be shown at the Arts House on 5 December, 7.30 pm. Then it's Awards Night on the Sixth. Time to go look for something more formal than what I've been wearing for the last three years. (And if you click on the link to the movie synopsis and all that, I'd like to clarify that I turned to photography full-time in 2003 and not scriptwriting as stated. Yeesh!)The movie's also going to appear, in its 30-minute short film version, at the Jakarta International Film Fest (JIFF) where Babel is the Opening Film. How stressful is that?Still, I think everyone's kinda happy that the movie is getting three screenings during that Festival.In the meantime, this is my online reminder for the missus to print out the application forms (which apparently have not been submitted - even though it had been agreed that we'd do it on 1 Nov):Yeah, let's stop with the lies already. Because The asshat doesn't know that without my laptop, I cannot really respond to the meme, though I'm doing it now anyway:Science Fiction Book Club Meme:Instructions:“Below is a Science Fiction Book Club list most significant SF novels between 1953-2006. The meme part of this works like so: Bold the ones you have read, strike through the ones you read and hated, italicize those you started but never finished and put a star* next to the ones you love.”1. The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien *2. The Foundation Trilogy, Isaac Asimov3. Dune, Frank Herbert *4. Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein5. A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin6. Neuromancer, William Gibson7. Childhood’s End, Arthur C. Clarke8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Philip K. Dick *9. The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley10. Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury11. The Book of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe12. A Canticle for Leibowitz, Walter M. Miller, Jr.13. The Caves of Steel, Isaac Asimov14. Children of the Atom, Wilmar Shiras15. Cities in Flight, James Blish16. The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett17. Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison18. Deathbird Stories, Harlan Ellison19. The Demolished Man, Alfred Bester20. Dhalgren, Samuel R. Delany21. Dragonflight, Anne McCaffrey22. Ender’s Game, Orson Scott Card23. The First Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, Stephen R. Donaldson24. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman25. Gateway, Frederik Pohl26. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling27. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams *28. I Am Legend, Richard Matheson29. Interview with the Vampire, Anne Rice *30. The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin31. Little, Big, John Crowley32. Lord of Light, Roger Zelazny33. The Man in the High Castle, Philip K. Dick34. Mission of Gravity, Hal Clement35. More Than Human, Theodore Sturgeon36. The Rediscovery of Man, Cordwainer Smith37. On the Beach, Nevil Shute38. Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C. Clarke39. Ringworld, Larry Niven40. Rogue Moon, Algis Budrys41. The Silmarillion, J.R.R. Tolkien42. Slaughterhouse-5, Kurt Vonnegut *43. Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson44. Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner45. The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester46. Starship Troopers, Robert A. Heinlein47. Stormbringer, Michael Moorcock48. The Sword of Shannara, Terry Brooks *49. Timescape, Gregory Benford50. To Your Scattered Bodies Go, Philip Jose FarmerAnd now I tag the following, who may have better luck than I with these titles:TymWahjBokoChrisssyPackrat Outbid So something before 12.34 pm yesterday, one of my quotations for a job was 'outbid by a very aggressive young photographer who is keen to build up his portfolio'. Outbid?Nah. I'm pretty sure it's more like 'underbid'. And 'keen to build up portfolio' sounds like said someone offered to do the job for free. Can't get more outbid than that, I suppose. Funny how it is that I lose jobs in Singapore because I'm too expensive to be worth the cost, and I lose jobs overseas because I'm too cheap to be good - a.k.a. Reason #11 Why Singapore Sucks and I Wanna Be A Quitter. Note the difference?Someone once told me, "In this line of work, you can do a good job, a cheap job or a fast job. But the client can only choose two."Oh well, c'est la vie. Just as well there's something else that's coming up that might be more interesting, if I can pull it off. Was interviewed on 93.8 Live yesterday, all the nominees for the Asian First Films thingy. Walked into the booth like a boyband we did, according to R. Yeah, I'm probably the member most likely to end up in rehab. It was just 15 minutes, which including the traffic report, sponsored by King Koil (doing!), and right about when people'd be just coming back from their lunch breaks and/or taking a nap under their tables.Hmm. There's another one today - my fourth - smack in the middle of the day again, and when I'm supposed to be helping with the subtitling for the movie. It's still fewer than what the others have gone through, but I'm not complaining. Hate them. Always have. My Ears! My Eeeeaaarrrssss! What is it about one of these neighbourhood karaoke parties that draws people, who think they can sing, to belt out ballads, badly, at the top of their lungs?Oh look, another SMS record. Big whoop. Can we get some real news on the boob tube some time? You Have To Be Shitting... [pause 3 seconds] Me You cannot be serious right?One night after the premiere of that thing that violates my eyes when placed in comparison with the real deal, you're showing some event at a Zouk-esque location congratulating yourselves already?Jeeesus. Can anyone say 'Mediacorpse' much?Let's see, what's good about it.Er, it's only an hour long?Better yet, what's wrong with it?How about a host who looks like a gerbil on drugs when he's explaining the rules and the tasks and who's nearly overtaking that other one who used to host the Pyramid Game in being, er, boring? Yeah, that one who does the reception on the mat with the scripted, "Congratulations, [insert names of contestants], you are team number [count to three] [insert team position]." Yeah, that one. Gimme Phil, not a pill. Editing. Oh are the teams going the right way, are they not? Who knows? Who cares after a while?And that crock of shit about having a predetermined non-elimination first leg? What the fuck is that? Oh wait, yeah, we gotta keep the viewers interested, so let's not eliminate someone in the first episode and then lose the viewers from the country where they're from. Well, good on you. But I think it's a fucking crock. And the main reason why I'll be gladly going down to Walas for my weekly pilgrimage and leaving this crock of shit unwatched. Mondays, on the other hand, I'll stay in. Computer's down again, by the way. Seems like the graphics card this time: I'm getting the Clan MacLeod tartan pattern on my screen. So again, I'm depending on the generosity of others. In the meantime, some thoughts to tide o'er the downtime:1. So what's the point of having a website where people can buy tickets to watch your movies at your cinemas and then only have one line open and then having people all queue there anyway?2. Macs hate World of Warcraft. 3. I kinda enjoyed watching Goodbye Boys (or Boy on the ticket) even though I'd thought it was a rip-off of Stand By Me before I actually watched it. Review to be posted once I get my computer back. In the meantime, watch it. 4. There's nothing like walking down to the neighbourhood barber and finding out that he's moved elsewhere - it's still within walking distance but sweat-inducing - and then realising the buzz cut, when properly done, is a magnet for women wanting a quick rub of the head. Not Quite The Best Morning But it was a damn good night. Little wonder since I was slightly (only slightly) smashed last night. Let's see:1 x pint Erdinger Dunkel5 x pints Guinness4 x mugs Heineken2 x glasses Merlot3 x shots TequilaAnd the band. Who had a number of musicians from other bands (and even the guy who makes the pizzas at Timbre) playing with them through the night.And the birthday boy who gamely got up on stage to sing U2's 'One'.And the afternoon wasn't too bad either: 'V For Vendetta' on DVD with the Crew on the Fifth of November. Remember, remember... They Do? Was minding my own business catching on things happening in the school with a colleague (ex-colleague, that is) when this came in:"Don't be left behind! Even Ministers blog! The new wave is Mobile Blogging! Now you can post to your blog site from your phone. Register at..."Uh, right. Whatever. Just because they climbed onto the bandwagon late doesn't mean anything to me. And if I wanted their views, I'd stick to the rags we have at the newstand. In the meantime, more sad stories about dead-cat-on-head-dude:Apparently to appear tougher, or cooler, or just to make friends, DCOHD decided to line his table with empty alcohol bottles. Now, we are talking about a school here, so it's inappropriate. For sure. I mean, the worst I did was to have a bottle of Absolut under my table and the Uncle Jimmy in my overhead cabinet-cum-bar. What makes it hilarious, the bottles were empty pussy drink bottles - we're not talking JD, Black or Blue labels, or even a good, old-fashioned 80 proof vodka; we're talking drinks with mixers, fruit juices and god-knows-what because I don't. But I guess my other colleagues are already relieved that he no longer has pictures of bodybuilders (or rather, one particular bodybuilder), fully oiled, on his desktop and screensaver. Still, I gotta admit, toupees have gotten to look really good, even though they still don't blow in the wind. Finally, what's the point of having a TV screen at the back of headrests in taxis when the reception blows so bad, that on the 20-minute journey I was on yesterday, it was only running for less than 2 minutes? Seen And Heard Because you already shelled out the big money on the COE for a big car, you can pretty much park anywhere you want.Because milk is sometimes better than beer.(Circled portion says "Japan.") Because Hiromi is such a good, strong, old-fashioned Czech name. Because sometimes, I still have the stomach(s) of a cow.