Thanks to our launch party sponsors, we had many wonderful prizes for those who joined us at Smoove in Ministry of Sound for the grand event. The fantastic giveaways brought many smiles all around.
But the biggest brightest smile of the night... belonged to me of course. I had so much fun hosting the launch party! : D
Special thanks to all the contestants who joined us in the cage. All the fun and excitement could not have been possible without your energetic participation. And heartfelt gratitude to those who applauded, cheered and hooted!
I have to say I was VERY distracted by the graceful (not to mention GORGEOUS!) presence of Ms Olsen...so much so that I fumbled when pronouncing her name during the portal launch formalities. But Ms Olsen was kind enough to forgive my mistake and gave me some very encouraging feedback after my emceeing job was done.
If you were paying attention, Ms Olsen began her address by sharing with us her thoughts on the passing of Mr Rajaratnam. And I thought it was cool, that we were graced with a moment of sobriety and remembrance (with thoughts of a pioneer who spoke to us Singaporeans about "moneytheism", "kleptocracy" and proposed to us the conceptual framework of "a global city" during our kampong days).
Mr. Rajaratnam gave us many reasons to celebrate.
So when Ms Olsen finished her heartfelt speech, I shouted, "AND IN LOVING MEMORY OF MR. RAJARATNAM....LET US PARTY HARD TONIGHT!!!!!!! YEEEEEAAA~!!!!"
Live on. Without silence, we cannot hear the song. The seasons flow. the words roll. and where were we?
Yes!
We were at the Youth.sg Web Portal Launch Party.
From left: Emcee "Reckless" Khoon Ronald "Youth.sg Ambassador" Susilo Emcee "Miss Nice-nice" Elaine Eunice "Grace in motion" Olsen
1) Sleepzzzz 2) Brown rice with anchovies and cabbage 3) 床前明月光， 疑是地上霜，举头望明月， 我是郭德纲 4) Blogging at youth.sg abt my sizzling saturday night 5) Reading abt Catholic and Protestant blood-grudges in "How Soccer Explains the World" 6) Exercise and Pizza package 7) Stocks and shares discussion with my cousin
Learning about the blood-soaked history of sectarian feuds in Glasgow and Belfast whilst journeying through the world that Celtic and Ranger soccer fans lived in was cool.
Reading about my hero's ["Guo De Gang" (郭德纲)] exploits in the Chinese papers (AFTER watching some thought-provoking opinions on cultural conservatism in China) was the best!
"As already explained, CDMA uses a radically different approach to what GSM does. It assigns a unique "code" to put multiple users on the same wideband channel at the same time. The codes so-called "pseudo-random code sequence" is used by both the mobile station (handset) and the base station to distinguish between conversations. This gives a greater level of privacy and security to the communication.
As far as radiation level concerned, CDMA is the most harmless one among all existing technologies. Of course, it transmits microwaves while on standby mode, like other technologies do. However, CDMA technology checks 800 times per second its transmission level. Therefore, radiation level is 10 times less than GSM. Another important thing to point out is that CDMA system transmits signals only when the user starts conversation. Simply saying, when you're listening the other ends conversation, you are not affected by microwave as the speaking person does."
If we lived in a CDMA world, we would be using beautiful Japanese mobile phones like these.
( For the full gorgeous catalogue from AU mobile, go here. ) _______________________________________________________ technorati tags: Singapore CDMA Technology
Girl: You know, sometimes I just feel like breaking down and crying. Guy: Wanna get some pizza? Girl: Seriously, life can be so hard sometimes, I really can't take it anymore. Guy: Have you considered suicide? Girl: Fuck you! Guy: Well seriously, you need to stop complaining about life or just kill yourself and get it over with. Girl: Fuck you. I'm getting off at the next stop and going back home. Guy: Wanna get some pizza?
From platoon mates who probably would've slit each other's throats with pure contempt.....to a sunday afternoon together as urban-art-guerillas (haha, fancy name aint it?) to.......realising we're both Ken ramen connoiseurs.....to becoming fellow hitchhikers with beautiful dreams n forgetful minds.
it is a joy to know you are leaving ; )
becuz...i guess sg was always a tad constipated for someone with your uninhibitions.
im not sure how u viewed the separation with ur 'sg significant other' ....but well, who knows, the "toyko significant other' you might meet could be the pornstar..i mean, princess of your dreams.
dreams.
that's what you wrote about in your farewell letter isn't it?
enjoy your sorbet. i'll be joining you in Asakusa for sushi as soon as i get my shanghai serenade out of the way.
chunks from the life pie, Kh@@n!
---------------------------------
I am thankful that the good God creates us all ignorant.
I am glad that when we change His plans in this regard, we have to do it at our own risk.
It is a gratification to me to know that I am ignorant of art, and ignorant also of surgery.
Because people who understand art find nothing in pictures but blemishes, and surgeons and anatomists see no beautiful women in all their lives, but only a ghastly stack of bones with Latin names to them, and a network of nerves and muscles and tissues inflamed by disease. The very point in a picture that fascinates me with its beauty, is to the cultured artist a monstrous crime against the laws of coloring; and the very flush that charms me in a lovely face, is, to the critical surgeon, nothing but a sign hung out to advertise a decaying lung.
Accursed be all such knowledge. I want none of it.
------"Academy of Design," letter to San Francisco Alta California, July 28, 1867 , Mark Twain
----- Original Message -----
From: "j*n hawie chow" To: undisclosed-recipients, : Subject: Go, Going, Gone Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2006 01:50:30 +0000
dear beautiful people,
the world is beautiful indeed i think it seriously works just think hard, concentrate hard, and then forget about it and it'll actually comes true our dreams i'm talking about here
ok, perhaps it aint applicable to all, perhaps it's just meself but there's an upshot, you'll have a free guide (on my off day) in tokyo whenever you drop by, just drop an email along with yourself
got myself a temp job at a peaches sweet guest house www.andon.co.jp is the website, contacts & addresses are there, i'm here at this email addy
i look forward to 'serving' you there then i should be there from feb to may, perhaps with some hardwork i may get an extension i'll cya there
To make this trivial world sublime Take half a gramme of phanerothyme
Humphrey answered :
To fathom hell or soar angelic Just take a pinch of psychedelic -------------------------------------- And so, Cary Grant took some LSD and said,
"I have been born again,"
"I have been through a psychiatric experience which has completely changed me.
"I was horrendous. I had to face things about myself which I never admitted, which I didn't know were there. Now I know that I hurt every woman I ever loved.
"I was an utter fake, a self-opinionated bore, a know-all who knew very little. I found I was hiding behind all kinds of defenses, hypocrisies and vanities. I had to get rid of them layer by layer. The moment when your conscious meets your subconscious is a hell of a wrench. With me there came a day when I saw the light." -------------------------------------------------- Technorati Tags: Cary Grant LSD
I look up at the clouds my cameraman is filming. I look at the trees and fruits and organic vegetables under the gentle rays of the morning sun. I look at the funny faces of the 12-year-old thespians in the video camera's LCD.
Sometimes, it magically appears, when I stop talking;
when I shout "action!"
when I remember
when I forget
Sometimes it dances for me, twirls and swishes by,
when you smile. when you laugh when you giggle
Alchemy.
Fleeting.
I look at the view before me --- A bit of the esplanade, a chunk of The Fullerton, some small boats sailing by, a broad limn of amber in the evening sky.
I look at her.
I look at them.
I look at us.
I look at the boats.
Idly by.
I imagine.
Idly by...
Earl Hines is at the piano. His cigarette dangles.
I click on the URL.
I type on the keyboard.
I flip through the magazines.
I do push-ups. I wear my jeans. I do pull-ups.
I look out of my room's window.
I walk. I run. I swim. I stare at the black and white keys on my piano.
Love circles. An unseen orbit swiveling. The theory I hold on to. That summer. Out in the sea and on the raft we gathered. The infinite haze of light blue above us exhaled with recognition. The sky knew it well. Mysteries of fate buried within.
Naked as infants we were in a stolen moment. The beauty of imagined eternity. To the end of untouchable destiny. I could almost distinguish. The edge of the sea. I floated. The bubble of exquisite joy. Blossoming ecstasy inside my body.
And when I turned I recognized all of you. We cradled for the glory of light. Our fragile skin yearned for a close-up of delicacy. An explicit nature of all bubbles. Tiny as the existence of a flute-like murmur. I attempted to sing. No voice came out. The moment of truth. Suffocated under the bell jar. The anticipated explosion we had to bear.
Silence itself spoke. We never dared to declare. The reason. The outcome. When our hands joined together. Amid affections. Something happened.
Local cultures are “not frozen spatially and temporally, awaiting the annihilation by the foreign” (Wang 1997, p. 18). Cultures and values are not static, monolithic creations.
Despite the global capitalist domination of production and distribution means by the West, Western cultural products and their inherent values do not automatically occupy a supreme or superior position in the Chinese consumer’s cultural landscape. ----------------------------- Translation :
Eminem does not outsell Jay Chow in the Chinese hip hop scene.
The hottest comedian in the Chinese speaking world now is NOT Jon Stewart.
Jon says : Chinese food is delicious
------------------------------------------------ Some younger Chinese might say that title (hottest comedian in the Chinese speaking world) belongs to a Taiwanese showhost --- Wu Zong Xian. 吴宗宪
嘿嘿！每年净赚 几千万！！
But if you ask millions of Chinese people in China, well, they'll say it's GUO DE GANG!! 郭德纲
德云社班主 ：金牌匾，粉皮墙。来的都是客，全凭嘴一张。
He is a living Xiang Sheng* 相声 legend who has been bringing the house down with his awesome performances.
* a traditional Chinese cultural performance featuring two [usually quarrelsome] stand-up comics *
I got to know about Guo De Gang recently thanks to the special Chinese New Year telecasts of his performances by Phoenix TV (For Sg viewers, that's channel 50 on your basic cable channel buffet menu).
From global trends to local subcultures, Guo weaves down-to-earth details from the everyday lives of mainland Chinese, with hilarious observations that meander from the White House, to a tree with a Goat in his backyard.
When you watch Guo perform, you will be amazed by how he lets contemporary punchlines party with traditional Xiang Sheng structures in a cultural and artistic fusion.
I've tried Googling for "Guo De Gang" (in English) but none of the first 10 results will bring you to websites that will explain to, or show you how fun he is.
....all monsters and dust, with everything priced above its proper value. I think you will tire first, all the same."
--- Lord Henry, "The Picture of Dorian Gray", Oscar Wilde
