the year in numbers.

i'll be sailing in the ocean off fremantle perth. away from 26th december to 6th january.

passed my final theory test on monday, booked my practical test for 5th march.

jan 23 - mogwai live in singapore.
mosaic music festival!
march 14 - psapp
march 15 - brad mehldau trio, yellowjackets, of montreal. spoilt for choice!
march 18 - battles
march 20 - the cinematic orchestra
march 22 - naturally 7

as for this year, there were more offputting than heartening moments. and the totally awesome heartstopping moments were rather lacking in number. 2 of those moments would have been in qingdao... a laser standard in 20 knots and swell, and getting signatures from some famous figures. actually, collecting a sheet of paper which read '40 points' was pretty awesome, and as long ago as that may seem, it still counts as 2008.

then there was mono playing halcyon (beautiful days), victor wooten's looping solo, marcus' sax and stanley's double bass solos.

i still remember 2007's heartstopping moment.

ok let's move out. juno tomorrow, swan river the day after.

engine brake.

driving around in a big car, spouting big words,

i feel too old too soon.

amazing grace

asked, not unreasonably, to be given some time to do something a bit more productive and meaningful over the new year.

i was used as target practice. i can imagine hearing 9X19mm parabellum rounds whistling past.

The name Parabellum is derived from the Latin: Si vis pacem, para bellum ("If you seek peace, prepare for war"), which was the motto and telegraphic address of Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken.

i still believe people are by nature good at heart. that people at least tend not to want to cause harm to others without reason. the evidence i see somehow seems to point to the contrary, and i feel i'm being hopelessly optimistic of the human nature.

i keep dodging. questions and glances. a bit like george bush.

next year's concerts look great.

the problem.

i just saw the white and blue 'ib' logo adorned on an mrt advertisement on the way home. promoting the president's challenge.

if i were supposedly a global citizen,

why do i have to carry an ugly green ic and why do i require a passport to get me through various customs?

on the way home i also passed by teresa ville, where hwei yen's wake was held.

why do people hate other people to the point that they will want to put 7.62mm rounds through each other.

sure, there are people that i don't like being around with. there are people that i try to avoid, and yes, i'd say there are people i hate. though i'd imagine it would be a very tiny number. right now i can only think of 1 really.

surely, i'd never find the motivation to cause grievous harm to any person.

and yet, just go look at the news everyday to see that there is a serious problem with the human psyche around the world.

and a problem needs a solution.

jens lekman

1st december.

i do hope there's a band to back him up.

scrabble and chess

that's how i'm keeping myself occupied during the long hours. now i look around thinking of 7 or 8 letter words.

watch me breeze right through this.

time can bring you down

time can bend your knee
time can break your heart
have you begging please.

tears in heaven got me into trouble last week. eric's trademark tune relating to his son conor and his dad.

and now i'm listening to neil young's 'words between the lines of age' and jeff buckley's famous cover, 'hallelujah'.

Well I heard there was a secret chord
That David played, and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do ya?
Well it goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall and the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah.

with the birds i share this lonely view.

she seized cecilia's sissy sissors to the seizure point.

i feel guilty for taking every opportunity to make jh feel guilty on monday. could see this coming, but it still sux.

a while back i read anthony keidis' autobiography 'scar tissue'. anthony keidis is the front man of red hot chili peppers. it was shocking at first to read about how he started smoking pot and 'scoring' acid and girls and finding time to form a band and make music. about halfway through the book i realised it was all one big circle of sex, drugs, rehab and touring and it got really boring. heck the sentences read as though he had written them high.

now shu fen has placed eric clapton's autobiography in my hands. it looks like it was written sober at least. which perhaps makes the stories less exciting than anthony's. but i do at least hope it shows more depth to his character. slowhand does at least make music that i want to replicate.

1 year and 1 day left to ord!

dreaming through the noise.

i think it's been a while since i've put up lyrics.
vienna teng's 'recessional'.

It's so beautiful here, she says,
This moment now, this moment now.
And I never thought I would find her here,
Flannel and satin, my four walls transformed.

She's looking at me, straight dissenter,
No room at all for any other thought.
And I know I don't want this
Oh, I swear I don't want this
There's a reason I don't want this
But I forgot.

In the terminal, she sleeps on my shoulder,
Hair falling forward, mouth all askew.
Fluorescent announcements beat their wings overhead:
Passengers missing, we're looking for you.

And she dreams through the noise, her weight against me,
Face pressed into the corduroy grooves.
Maybe it means nothing
Maybe it means nothing
Maybe it means nothing,
But I'm afraid to move.

And the words, they're everything and nothing;
I want to search for her in the offhand remarks:
Who are you, taking coffee no sugar?
Who are you, echoing street signs?
Who are you, the stranger in the shell of a lover,
Dark curtains drawn by the passage of time?
Oh, words like rain, how sweet the sound.

Well anyway, she says, I'll see you around.

i love the simple, lonely guitar line. fits the story like the final jigsaw puzzle piece. falling into place.



tomorrow i'll be marching down orchard road in my number 1 uniform towards the istana. how exciting.

also, a dialogue between dr. house and dr. wilson while examining house's leg with mri:

Dr. Wilson: [through the loudspeaker] House, this is God.

Dr. House: [in MRI chamber] Look, I'm a little busy right now. Not supposed to talk during these things. Got time Thursday?

Dr. Wilson: Let me check. Oh! I got a plague. What about Friday?

Dr. House: You'll have to check with Cameron.

Dr. Wilson: Oh! Damn it! She always wants to know why bad things happen. Like I'm gonna come up with a new answer this time.

[Cuddy bursts in]

Dr. Cuddy: House...

Dr. House: Quick, God, smite the evil witch! [Wilson wisely says nothing]

Dr. Cuddy: Are you sitting on evidence that your patient was sexually abused by her father?

Dr. House: God, why have you forsaken me?

lists.

in bali,
i grew a fondness for playing 8-ball.
i saw shoppers squeeze and shove and shout to take a queue number to get 20 min inside the 90% discount area at a billabong factory outlet sale.
i played a fender stratocaster in public with the amp turned on pretty loud. i was sweating.
i watched house for the first time ever.
i had dunkin' donuts for the first and last time ever.
i learnt that jeremy tan has a younger brother called jeddy.
i counted many many zeros to pay bills and didn't enjoy it.
i saw victoria do some serious laser wave surfing.
i sailed my first ever real laser standard regatta and came in second.

i missed broken social scene when they played the mosaic festival this year. now stars is coming on jan 7 and i hope i can make it. if i'm going australia i might miss it sigh.

thunder.

kinetic.

i'm sure i don't harass my mom as much as jeremy.

today i handled a manual car for the first time ever.

You're being took for a ride
Plan on it, lazy
Please keep moving
Better keep moving
Don't fall asleep at the wheel
I waited for you but you never came
Please keep moving
Better keep moving

i'll be in bali from 2nd to 14th october for the asian sailing championships.

quotes of the day

"America's economy is facing unprecedented challenges. And we are responding with unprecedented action."

newsweek comic -
client to banker: i'm here to ask you for a loan.
banker to client: funny, i was going to ask you the same thing.

on the inauguration of the large hadron collider in switzerland, "CERN says any black holes will evaporate quickly and harmlessly."

broken records is a band from scotland that has got an even bigger sound than the arcade fire. listen to "if the news makes you sad, don't watch it". and the news does make me sad. almost all of the time.

yesterday i had one of the most exciting nights ever. highlights - the feeling you get when s.m.v. step out onto the stage... just whooooo! victor wooten playing around with the looping machine was inspired. marcus miller and his sexy bass clarinet. and stanley rocking the upright bass was awesome.

let's get funky.

where are you going?

after i missed a couple of marks, windshifts and finishing lines in 2006, i tore a strip of masking tape, plastered it to the deck of my laser between the cleats and the mast, and used a marker to write

where are you going?

onto the yellow tape.

it's still there and it's still there for a reason.

I am no superman 
I have no answers for you 
I am no hero, oh that’s for sure 
But I do know one thing 
Is where you are, is where I belong 
I do know, where you go, is where I wanna be 

Where do you go
Where are you going

Let’s go

a blank sheet of paper and a pen and earphones.

it's been a while since i've written any ideas for projects. this one will be a bit more important. this will be about my future. we'll see where this goes within the next 3o mins shall we. after which i'll try and record this 'mixed' day i've had.

turn off the lights, sit in a darkened room. light a candle.

(i'm lazy about the lighting the candle part though.)

listen.

Blue caravan.

also, is it just me or does it seem that our generation's lyricists just don't hold a candle to geniuses like simon & garfunkel, bob dylan, etc. take the classics, stairway to heaven and hotel california for example.

on friday i talked to dylan about respect, chain of command, stereotypes.

like sitting outside the principal's office.

i had a most topsy turvy wednesday, one moment i was enjoying match racing, the next i was unexpectedly called up to return to camp, feeling all dreadful and fearing further punishment, and really unhappy with the person who was not picking up my repeated calls. who got me into this mess.

the worst part is that because of this i missed seeing u-bolt break the 200m record which i had been looking forward to. seeing a replay never quite feels the same as seeing awesomeness live.

the episode is over and i've learnt my lesson, in future i shall make it official. and the future is thursday. that sounds funny.

sigh i've done like 5 duties in 5 weeks and it's not like i'm signing extra or anything. 5 X 16hrs is pretty much 80 hours that have just slipped away like that.

. . .

well beijing 08 is over and london 012 is in the sidelines and that means i'm gonna have to think a bit more about what i want to do.

everybody's waiting for the hero
but the hero is in everyone.

no one remembered to tell victor that the bass is meant to anchor the band. not go off on your own tangent and leave everyone else in the background. the other videos are amazing.

thank you ahm for letting me see the singapore team back this afternoon.

mindblowing stuff.

man these last few days have so many awesome stories.

but before all that i gotta state my new resolution which is, wait for it:
never to let another unproductive afternoon slip away like today.

it won't be easy because of the stagnant atmosphere. ok now on to greater things.

. . .

let me see. i've got 3 or 4 stories. it's almost as if Singapore's medal tale is the least captivating of the lot.

usain bolt strolled through the last 20 or so metres in the 100m race (that's the last fifth of the race to put it in perspective) and had time to strike a picture-perfect pose for the world to see as he came across the finish line in 9.69s. i'm still awestruck. the craziest image was the freeze frame photo showing everyone else leaning their head forward for the line, with bolt 2m ahead of everyone leaning backwards with arms outstretched in celebration.



on to sailing. our good friend seng leong rounded the top mark in race 8 in first place! i gotta go ask him about that one. he eventually finished that one in 3rd. manyi did not want to be outdone and went ahead to post a 3rd in her 9th and final race as well. something to be cheerful about!

most spectacular, incredible, (insert superlative here) story of the day is of the 49er medal race. first, read this. then read the resulting protest decision here. nice to hear that on a day with capsizes, equipment failure and everything at stake, the great danes didn't give up, and common sense ultimately prevailed.

well, those were the highlights. i got to see my good friend play o'clock senses, play matchbox twenty's unwell and switchfoot's on fire, and met many other people.

oh, and by the way, singapore does have a silver to her name now.

people can hide behind a mask,

long hair,
make-up,
sunglasses.

people can also hide behind many meaningless words,

headphones,
a psp,
a revolving rubik's cube,
silence,

and lies.

some hide unconsciously,
and needlessly.

08

the 470s start racing today, the lasers, tomorrow. here.

yesterday tao li clocked a time of 57.54s to qualify for the final, to be the 8th fastest swimmer for the 100m butterfly of all time. today she finished 5th in the final with a time of 57.99s.

long overdue pictures from qingdao. my favourite is the last one.

i dare you to move.

transport really is a headache. rush here rush there. skive here. skive there.

and in the end. procrastinate everywhere.

'move!'

. . .

i have four friends. one is getting married in january.

one just broke up.

one just turned 21.

one is already married and has a son named travis.

maybe redemption has stories to tell.
maybe forgiveness is right where you fell.
where can you run to escape from yourself.
where are you gonna go.
where are you gonna go.

salvation is here.

shearwater's 'home life' is epic, john mayer's 'slow dancing in a burning room' is catchy but the rest of continuum is fantastically disappointing.

it's really about time

i've decided against heading down to terminal 3 tmr morning. partly cuz it's a long ride after that, partly cuz i don't want to disturb the still waters again,

partly cuz thoughts have started swirling round my head again, and i think i've seen enough of my qingdao-bound mates for now. strangely. as i write this now i know i'm going to be writing this down for a while tonight.

having talked a bit with sl and pm i now gain a better understanding about the extreme sacrifice needed for something as monumental as the olympics. having talked with ying hao i now understand some of the considerations of going to sydney. at least i know one person heading in that direction.

for a while i've been very happy leading a simple life and just following where the days and months have led me. when i say happy, i mean it. it's really paid off, i mean what more could i wish for?

but 8 months have breezed past and i do have to start preparing for the years ahead.

maybe i need a bit more 'drive'. yea that must be it. maybe i need a license or two.

then again. why so serious?

heath ledger was phenomenal, but i'm not so wow-ed by the rest of the movie. one of my favourite parts was when the prisoner on the second ship said 'i'm gonna do what you should have done a long time ago.' and throws the detonator out the side. and when the joker was frustrated by the delay in the hospital blast. sick.

this is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.

it's about time

two straight days of 16 knot winds makes for a rather weathered lightweight laser standard sailor. but boy the downhill ride is totally worth the time and torture going upwind. it's like the reason we're all in this for. swell!

container packing day is always a trying time for everyone. for some reason people just get all irritable and fussy, refuse to communicate clearly what they want or need to do, and end up making others feel bad as well. well be glad it's all done now, and i won't be involved in it for at least a while.

today was exciting cuz we got to shake hands with the president halfway through the day, with the entire boat park surrounding us, a whole mess of people taking photos and making a big scene really.

i became a tourist for one and a half hours this morning, capturing images of that red circular structure that appears on the news, as well as other things that caught my eye in this city. because the connection is a bit dodgy i'm gonna post some when i get back home in slightly more than 24 hours time.

this trip has been memorable and totally worth it, and it's almost over, except for tonight, where i'm hoping i can enjoy my free time for that little longer before i have to return to mowbray reality. i do miss my epiphone actually.

a good year

i've been listening to shearwater live, and opeth's watershed. i admire those bluesy solos. i wish i could translate the tunes in my head directly onto the fretboard sometimes.

yesterday i walked around the boat park with victoria, a plain white beijing 08 shirt, a permanent marker, a cardboard backing, and a smile, and some nice words like 'hello, good morning!', 'we're from singapore!', and 'we hope you have a great olympics!', and accomplished this:

ben ainslie, malcolm page, nathan wilmot, among others. great guys!

today i was promoted to lance corporal!

things are looking pretty rosy eh.

'pardon my lips, they find joy in the most unusual places.'

fly boys

mr tim lim left yesterday.

i've been watching a lot of movies. i watched half of 21 (until i was bored) and jumper on the plane. currently i'm getting used to having star movies on my tv screen, having watched pink panther, fly boys, goal 2 and the last king of scotland.

unfortunately the best movies have to be in the 10-1am time slot. the last king of scotland was monumental.

dead calm.

i am david sparkle, you are there.

there's been a lot happening recently. on thursday i got my wish, hearing the kidnapper bell, yearning and halcyon (beautiful days) live by the jap band mono. it was an eye-opener in more ways than one, seeing the inside of zouk, hearing unabashedly loud atmospheric layered guitar noise. fun!

as you can see, i'm the only one here whose forehead is fully exposed.

i can't help thinking the bottom left signature looks like a doodle of a person playing a cello.

envy are coming to play esplanade on national day, but surely i've had enough with mono to be happy.

instead, there's a mouth-watering opportunity to catch stanley clarke, marcus miller and victor wooten set their basses / double basses alight on a september 19 evening. the youtube videos are quite stunning.