Angel (The Real Life of Angel Deverell)


I just saw 'Angel' this at GV Europa this evening. British-Belgian-French production in English. Pedestrian period drama. Protagonist was an obnoxious, unlikeable writer. 5/10.

I finished my first sketch for this year. Forest with a dolmen. Uninspired. Ack.

Tree



Simple pencil doodle, drawn in a few minutes. Heh.

Borders Discounts

25% off for one full-priced book. Click here for coupon. Offer expires on 12th June 2008.

In an eyeblink, it has already been two years since I met up with Anthony and Tze Kwang. I will probably meet them some time next week.

It's also been a while since I had dinner with Kelvin. Has it been six months? I will see him next week too.

Heheh. A week of meeting people. I will probably arrange to meet Teck Loong for coffee too.

I picked up the 'Daywatch', 'Hot Fuzz', 'The Brave One', 'American Gangster', 'The Invasion' and 'Resident Evil: Extinction' DVDs at Video Ezy at Thomson Plaza today. These were ex-rental DVDs and they were going cheap.

I got 'Resident Evil: Extinction' by mistake. I had seen that. Oh well.

Narco: The Secret Adventures of Gustave Klopp


I have been meaning to watch this. I finally watched it on DVD this evening. Amusing French drama and comedy about a man who suffers from narcolepsy. When he sleeps, he is a superhero. Unknown to him, his ability for illustrating his dreams is exploited by those closest to him. A drama about life, love and friendship. Entertaining but not exceptional. Worthwhile watch. 6.5/10

Slow day here. I was at Thomson Plaza for some banking matters and had lunch at the food court there. Then, I spoke to a representative from a credit bureau. Yes, a debt collection agency. I am thinking of hiring them to collect debt.

Cathay

The original Cathay building was the tallest building in South East Asia sixty years ago. Sadly, there is almost nothing left of the original structure. Instead, another unsuccessful mall was built in its place. Sad.

I just got back from HMV. I picked up the DVDs of 'A very long engagement', 'The Diving Bell and the Butterfly', 'Fight Club' and 'The Deaths of Ian Stone'. I picked up 'The Illusionist' a few days ago. I wanted to watch 'The Orphanage' but the DVD was 44 dollars. Way too much.

What a fine day! It's not hot either. Cloudy with blue skies. I wish I could be outside.

Hillside



10 cm x 12 cm pencil doodle. Imaginery hillside in the Greek countryside with temple, columns, trees, waterfalls.

A Descent into McDonald's Hell

Last night, I had the worse burger yet from Carl's Junior at Plaza Singapura. The Portobello Mushroom Burger was soggy and the greens were nowhere in evidence. The burger was nothing like the picture presented and promoted. It had only been a year or so since this new joint landed on our shores and it seemed that Carl's Junior had descended to the depths of the quality found at McDonald's. I didn't feel good after that meal of sorts. I rarely eat burgers anyhow but now dining at burger joints is almost certain to be rarity for me. Oh well.

Books I am reading

Over the weekend, I read a few chapters from 'Between Two Oceans: A Military History Of Singapore From First Settlement To Final British Withdrawal' by Brian P. Farrell, John N. Miksic, Malcolm H. Murfett, and Chiang Ming Shun and 'The Age of Everything: How Science explores the Past' by Matthew Hedman.

What are you reading at present?

Potential Premiership Relegation Candidates

I was thinking of the potential relegation candidates. The goals scored and goals allowed records of Fulham, Wigan, Sunderland and Bolton are quite similar. Without purchases of new players, these four teams are going to struggle.

Meanwhile, between West Bromwich, Stoke and Hull, I see that West Bromwich has the best scoring record, while Hull has the best defensive record in the Championship League. I think Stoke and Hull will struggle.

West Bromwich has Kevin Philips while Hull has Nick Barmby. I suspect that West Bromwich will survive. We will have to see about purchases.

Right now, I predict:

Sunderland
Hull
Stoke

The sunkened ground has been filled in. Well done PUB for the swift action taken!

Delicatessen

Kelvin lent the 'Delicatessen' DVD a few months back. After all these years, I have finally watched the 1991 Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet directed black comedy about a butcher and his tenants. Ha ha ha. A post-holocaust world of a sort where a household had resorted to eating new people under their roof. Then, one day, the butcher's daughter fell in love with a circus clown who had just moved in. The clown was the object of everyone's hunger. Such an eccentric vehicle with a whole range of human emotions, love, humour, malice, hunger, and more. The incredibly well-crafted scenes were magnificient. It's so whimsical unlike the rather contrived and commercial Tim Burton flicks. 7/10.

Water Fools

Some rather blurred photos of the waters after the event. It was too crowded to get a decent view until after the event. Heh.

The Grand Admiral's Golden Barge

We went for a spin in the Grand Admiral's Golden Barge. It's powerful! Highly impressive!

One Night at Starbucks II

One night at Starbucks

Starbucks at Orchard Road, next to the Heeren. Images taken by His Majesty, Willie, except for the last one.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

I watched the highly-hyped instalment of Indiana Jones last night at GV Grand at Great World City. Well... 6/10.*

A tired franchise with self-congratulatory folks. However, I believe what they are selling here is nostalgia. And nostalgia with self-referential humour and large doses of sentimentality will sell, meaning that this will be a huge commercial success. The Spielberg and Lucas mafia are clearly banking on that.

There were computer-generated graphics used of course but a lot of the stunts were actually the same old tired jump out of the truck/amphibious vehicle/4X4 vehicle fights that we have seen before. The model builders were extremely busy in this one.

Ford is obviously not able to match his previous physical endeavours. His stunt double was, of course, very predominant!

Oh, there were Thompson SMGs and AK-47s of course. For reference, my ratings of the current and previous ones were:

Raiders of the Lost Ark - 7/10
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom - 4/10
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - 4/10
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - 6/10

Again, those are my ratings. Yours will, of course, differ.

I think if you like conspiracy theories, you will like this one.Flying saucers, alien autopsies, Peruvian formations, El Dorado, Cities of Gold, lost civilisations, government conspiracies, KGB, pyschic research. That sort of fringe conspiracy stuff!Even the atomic bomb in a Cold War paranoid setting!

The movie was great fun. Pure escapism.

*Previously, I was hesitant when it came to a quantitative rating. Well, I have changed my mind.

Water Fools, Ilotopie!

The Water Fools event at Boat Quay was fantastic. A lady with a brolly peddling on a huge bicycle on the surface of the water, a car towing a caraven circling around, a huge paddle wheel with a man running inside and a lady in a ballroom gown mounted on top, gondolas and more. Best of all, there were fireworks shooting off from poles mounted in the middle of the river. Phantasmagorical! Magnificent! It's quite a spectacle! Highly recommended! Do go!

It's on tonight and tomorrow night at 8:00 pm at Boat Quay! Not to be missed! GO GO GO!

On Facebook, the Network pages are being removed. I have created a new group to replace the Singapore Network page. Do join us. Join our forum. Discuss things! Make friends! Intelligent discourse! Small talk! Everyone is welcome. It's completely open and there will not be any heavy-handed moderation. Click here to join.

Yesterday was a day of emergencies. Hectic.

Last night, PUB put two metal plates on top of the area where the ground was sinking. I think they will be embarking on some work this weekend.

I think the depression has increased in depth by at least four centimetres. Argh.

It's difficult to win when the deck is stacked. There was a call for proposal that appeared only for a few days. Then, it would vanish. Strangely enough, it would then appear again. I had submitted in these situations for a few organisations which I would not mention. After all, I am not going to implicate anyone based on a few suspicions. In this case, if the buyer genuinely wanted competition, why not hold the window wider by allowing a longer period? Had the sale already been promised to a specific party and the call for quote a mere formality to get around a requirement? Frustrating? Certainly.

I should have done to Borders this evening if not for the downpour. DRAT!

Oh no! The ground is sinking! I see a depression in the ground. Hopefully, it is not serious.

I have called PUB.

Cityscape

Cityscape

Organisation


I'm re-organising my contacts on Windows Live Messenger. High frequency chatters, etc. Heh.

Smile!



Pencil doodle.

Illustration Friday theme: Wide

I should really get back to wargaming and also playing German games. It has been a while.

I just got back from a run. Phew! What a warm day!

Books I am reading

I just finished 'Marines on the Ground: Operation Iraqi Freedom 2' by Gordon Arthur and 'The God Delusion' by Richard Dawkins.

I started on 'Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and other Animals' by John Gray and 'God is not great: How religion poisons everything' by Christopher Hitchens. I was also reading 'Japanese Castles in Korea 1592-98' by Stephen Turnbull.

What are you reading at present?

Homage

When the Almighty Celestial Emperor Loh deigned to visit his subjects in Singapore, we turned up and escorted him while he inspected his dominions.

Here we were at Keppel Island a week ago.

Emperor Loh imparted his LANgendary abilities here in a LAN centre at the Bugis Junction.

Meanwhile, the Grand Admiral Brian fumbled with his camera.

But he could not hack it. His Royal Holiness, God of Gods, The Emperor Loh showed Brian how. Easily done as He is the Great Deity.

All bow down before EMPEROR LOH!

Camden Medical Centre

Books

I picked up the following at Borders a week ago:

'The Future of the Brain: The Promise and Perils of Tomorrow's Neuroscience' by Steven Rose
'The Portable Atheist' edited by Christopher Hitchens
'Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life' by Daniel C. Dennett
'A History of Western Philosophy' by Bertrand Russell
'Religion Explained: The Human Instincts that fashion Gods, Spirits and Ancestors' by Pascal Boyer
'Daniel Dennett (Contemporary Philosophy in Focus)' edited by Andrew Brook and Don Ross
'Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and other Animals' by John Gray

I finally finished 'The God Delusion' by Richard Dawkins last night after being distracted by many other pursuits previously.
A most intelligent and eloquent polemic, a pleasure to read.

Evening