A memory to haunt my reverie
25/11/2006
Of all the things Neil Gaiman has written – and I’ve read many – Stardust ranks in my top 5. Ok maybe 3. I love it.
And now it’s a film!
The problem is I can’t remember much about the story anymore, besides the fact that it’s about a young boy’s quest for his love, and his growing up in the process. I’m going to have to read it again.
It’s a universal theme – that the journey is more valuable than the destination, though it doesn’t always seem that way.
I’m convinced Michael Scofield is an INTJ.
More all in
01/10/2006
All in is really turning out to be a good serial. Sure there is the obligatory love story. That’s a given. But it’s a tragedy without being overly weepy.
If there are three Korean Dramas you have to watch – besides the flaky funny love stories I succumb to for the eye candy – these are it:
- Fashion 70s: set during the Korean War, about a pair of girls whose lives were switched.
- Lawyers: has my favourite Kim Sung Soo in it as a diabolical lawyer who is more than he appears to be.
- All In: stars my favourite Korean of the week, LBH. He’s way hot for an old guy, but he’s got that low maintenance look that is rare in a Korean film star.
Ah hah! Looks like Lee Byung Hun speaks English. And pretty well too. That gives him another 10 points in my little black book.
Speaking of books, I’m convinced that 40% of a book’s success is it’s title. Honestly. Thats why no one wants to read something called A Book on C/C++ but everyone would want to read something called Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Similarly, who’d read something like Short stories: All the Stories I Failed to Complete, when you’ve stuff like Angels and Visitations, Smoke and Mirrors and now, Fragile Things.
Love Neil Gaiman. Now I just have to go home and figure out if I’ve already got Angels and Visitations before I order it again.
kin chan nah
24/07/2006
I went Raffles City this weekend and boy is it a different place. The entire basement turned into 3 basements. I miss the old office so badly. I miss walking to Raffles City after a long day. I miss it all.
Something struck me while I was at MPH. There were rows and rows of new age business books – not your Management Principles or Organisational Behaviour. But rows of How to make money on Google. What is kick ass advertising. How to start an internet business. How to make money on Ebay. How to win like Apple. How to be like Jack Welch.
It pains me that there wasn’t a Yahoo! book anywhere in sight. There have been books about Yahoo!, and a few about the famous Jerry and Filo, but they’ve all fizzled out along with the .com bubble.
Have they lost their loving feeling? Is there nothing awe-inspiring about the worlds biggest internet company anymore?
That was a painful jolt back to reality. Just when you think you’re walking on sunshine you’ll step into a puddle and trip on your face. Because life has a sense of humour.
Am I Right?
04/01/2006
WFH
Today I resolved to complete some of my tasks at home, after dinner because it was a crummy day to be in the office. It was raining, and the first workday of 2006, and I should start the year in a aza-aza-fighting sorta way, right?
But here I am three hours later, restless, sniffling, headachey and tired. Aiyah. How can like that?
Maybe it’s the negative energy I’m accumulating for swearing under my breath at
- all those fatass indolent oafs who can be found stuck to the grab poles in public transport. I find that one of the most inconsiderate things to do: depriving everyone else in that cluster something to hold on to so you can rest your fat ass around the pole shows a complete lack of civic mindedness. You’ll see these oafs in MRTs and at the exits in buses.
- the SFP and SFL who just drift around the streets obstructing anyone who has a life. The SFL [Sei Fei Low] is the male counterpart of the SFP. A good collective term for both would be SFY [Sei Fei Yeah].
- mindless drones who like to stand right in front of the lift doors – as if they’re the only people taking the lift. Look, people WILL walk out of the lift. Just because there are no yellow lines painted on the ground, doesn’t mean you can’t apply the “let passengers alight first” rule to lifts!
I need to find out how to swear in Korean.
Fat Charlie Nancy
In better news, I finished Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. Not the best thing since sliced bread, but it was certainly better than a lot of other stuff I’ve been known to pick up from time to time. That’s what I like about reading the same author. There’s hardly any other way to describe the kind of fiction I like. Back to the Gaiman, it was light and quirky and generally a pleasant way to pass the weekend while I just stayed in alternately in the loo or in pain. I’ve also been thinking about Stardust again. It is such an enchanting story – it’s about fairies, and is sorta Sandman-esque.
Just started on Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. It’s kinda like what you’d get if you squished Neil Gaiman and J.R.R Tolkien together. It’s a light, somewhat quirky read, yet it’s got these weird details and footnotes. I’m personally not a big fan of fancy footnotes. Clever – somewhat. Distracting – terribly. It’s a thick book though, so I hope I finish it, like I finish all the Gaiman books.
Yay! Day 3 in the year and I’m already reading more. Hee. Goodnight.
I read: Coraline by Neil Gaiman
25/06/2004
It’s hard to describe Coraline
It’s a children’s book – but I don’t think a kid under 3 would quite get it. I could be wrong, the kids these days seem to start with an IQ of 130 out of the womb or something. But you’d let a kid read Roald Dahl, I think the kid can read Coraline. It’s kinda like that.
It’s interesting, I like the themes in the book, and what the protagonist Coraline embodies. It’s an intelligent girl, curious, spunky and really a typical kid. She gets thrown into a strange situation and she doesn’t lose her compassion. I really like the character. It’s really nice that he wrote about a normal kid, without heaps of supernatural powers, with just courage and good sense.
It’s not a terribly complex book, it was short, and I got the paperback with few pictures. Still I enjoyed it immensely, and I can’t wait till my niece grows old enough to appreciate it. Till then, the book is mine.
Getting up early, train rides, and Ethan
19/03/2004
Survivor Update
The latest casualty in the real-est reality show was Ethan Zohn, Mr Survivor Africa. I am upset that he got voted out, he was fun to watch because he was usually 2 steps behind. Nonetheless, he sucked it up like a man when he knew it was him, and left gracefully.
Waking up is hard to do
Am in surprisingly good spirits even though I slept like maybe 5.5 hours last night and got up too freaking early! It was a nice train ride to the office, given it was rush hour (or perhaps remnants of it). I am beginning to enjoy the morning commute, I think it’s because of the MP3 player, and feeling like I’m back in school again. It’s been 6 weeks since I gave up the cab routine and so far it’s been fabulous. Even that time when I stupidly took the wrong train and only noticed 3 stops down, and the ride in the right direction kept stopping every 5 minutes.
New Loot!
I couldn’t resist, and opened my new loot today! Couple of days back I went shopping with Sharks and this is what I got:
Make a Difference Skin Rejuvenating Treatment (aka moisturiser)
I *really* like this one. The texture of this is like Clinique’s Moisture Surge. It’s kind of gel like and light. Unlike Moisture Surge, it doesn’t leave your skin sticky. It leaves a fantastic satiny feeling like A Perfect World White Tea Guardian does. I like it so far, will report how it feels in the morning.
20 March 04, 11am or thereabouts: Nice feeling still on skin. Not sticky or oily. Feels soft and well rested.
Night-a-mins Moisture Lotion (aka moisturiser)
I haven’t found anything I like better than the smell of Night-a-mins before bed. It’s really relaxing, and it helps me end the work day.
Well, I’m getting off the internet now
To get back to wood pulp and glue. My reading backlog has now burgeoned to
· Neverwhere – Neil Gaiman. Which came first – the movie or the book? In this case, the movie (the script to be precise). Both are good.
· The Ultimate Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams. Supposed to contain answers.
· Unfinished Tales- The Lost Lore of Middle-earth – J.R.R. Tolkien. In a bid to make sense of everything.
· One Hundred Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Apparently highly comic, and deeply tragic at the same time. My kind of thing.
· The King of Elfland’s Daughter – Lord Dunsany. Fantasy probably began here.
· The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It got a little sappy, and I stopped, but I’ll get to it!
· The Rape of Nanking – Iris Chang. Nothing like a little Chinese History.
- while I take my time to savour Good Omens again.
The Gaimans on the way:
· The Day I Swapped My Dad for 2 Goldfish
· Angels and Visitations
In my wishlist:
· Signal to Noise – Gaiman and Dave McKean! Should be awesome.
· Coraline – this should be the last Gaiman for now
· 1984 – George Orwell. Looked good in the Apple Ad.
· The Ground Beneath Her Feet – Salman Rushdie .
I really need to read everything before a fire breaks out or something…
The more I have the more I want
16/02/2004
Material Girl
So my attempts to lessen my material wants have gone to the trash, seeing how I just ordered 3 new books (and I requested them signed, no less). Having less in my life is probably going to hurt more than I’m expecting.
Since we’re talking about it
I ordered
- Angels and Visitations
One of the first Gaiman books I wanted. It went out of print by the time I got a job and could afford anything on Amazon. So here it is, back in print and I’m a happy camper. - The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish
Another one that will eventually go to the niece / nephew. But I suspect I’ll end up keeping it… - Neverwhere
Depending on how this one goes, perhaps I’ll get the series on DVD too. Everyone says its great, but this is one of those where the synopsis on Amazon made it look bad.
The reality of it all
Since I’m a bigger book/dvd hoarder than I’m willing to admit, time to figure out what needs to be sacrificed to feed this habit. I guess Origins will have to take a backseat.
So what’s the key takeaway?
That I’m still fascinated with myself. Nirvana is going to be a tough place to get to at this rate.
The Wolves In the Walls
14/02/2004
Getting them started young
I bought The Wolves in the Walls yesterday at Borders. I’ll try and get Coraline next. I’ll give them to Ernie when she’s 3 or before if I won’t be around. Nothing like getting a kid hooked on the coolest dude in print, right?
Happy Valentine’s Day
People used to believe that birds find their mates on Feb 14, so Happy Avian Sex day while you’re at it.
Ok, I know I should totally lighten up. Maybe next week. But not today.
