all tied up in knots

Before i start rambling on about serious stuff, or maybe not really that serious stuff (for today), just thought i would post a link to this useful webpage. Took the link from GQ, and it will come in very helpful to all who need to put on a suit, or just wear a tie.

A very comprehensive guide to ties.

Enjoy!

Been checking out some of Mr Brown’s podcasts.
Lots of interesting stuff, so please go check it out and give his site more traffic!

Oh man, check out this drum video.
This guy drums darn well, and JUGGLES too!
Even non-drummers should check this out.
madness.

Just feel like posting up a whole bunch of links today instead of writing.
No inspiration.

Here is a link to the future of transportation.
It looks cool, is fast, and is environmentally friendly.
What’s not to like about it?
Hope all cars look and work like that someday.

After so many years of coming out with hit album after hit album, I still like the classics of U2. With or without you.. One.. Just timeless classics.

And lastly, the more important news i just read off a link from intelligentsingaporean regarding the failed bid of the substation to hold a substation street party.

Here is the link to the brilliant writeup by yawningbread.

I know a lot of singaporeans will go “so?”.

Coz too many singaporeans are just not interested in the arts. Maybe its coz they equate arts with drawing, paintings, dali sculptures, exhibits at the biennale, classical music, weird plays, ballet, etc.

But art is so much more than that.
According to wikipedia, the arts is “a broad subdivision of culture, composed of many expressive disciplines.”

I don’t know about you, but i feel that the arts gives every person that avenue of free expression. Expressing what one feels, what one truly thinks without the masks of being politically correct or not stepping on anyone’s toes. Which is why i guess the arts can sometimes make people feel uncomfortable.

 

Because it is supposed to. (in a way)

 

There is something wrong, something amiss, some darkmatter, lingering within the human heart and the human mind. And the arts allows these locked-away thoughts and emotions to be brought to awareness. It also points to the flaws of humanity and paints a picture (be it visual or aural) of something which was previously a thought, previously intangible.

 

I’m trying to finish up this post quickly by the way, coz i need my sleep. So what i say might not make too much sense, and could be riffs – meaning slightly smarter comments – or just plain nonsensical rambling.

 

The limits of permissable free expression in Singapore has been brought into glaring light with the recent turn of events during the IMF/World bank summit. So there is no need for me to comment on that. Just follow the links on intelligent singaporean, xenoboy, yawningbread, etc.

 

Let the links lead you to whereever it leads you to. =)

 

Oh no, losing my train of thought.

 

Time to sleep.

 

And eka just pointed out to me that I made a rather silly comparison of attending gigs and listening to indie/experimental/rock music versus clubbing and dancing music.
Yea, those are very different things and thus a little off comparing them.
My bad.
The point i guess was about the stuff that is being fed to the masses, and what the masses want. It’s all about listenable music. Familiar stuff. Stuff that’s been said and done before a million times. But of course it is very difficult to be truly original as almost everything has been said or done before. However, with radio music, it’s sometimes just cringingly cliche. Overplaying of songs, etc.
But, who am i to argue about the laws of demand and supply?

 

Back to the subject of the arts.

 

If we aren’t given the liberty to freely express ourselves,
and we are all brainwashed to think that there’s a price,
a HUGE price to freedom of speech and expression,
how then will the arts here grow?

 

But of course we know that the whole point of the arts here is to complement the economy. To make singapore a more liveable place so that the foreign talents will set foot on this sunny island and make this their home. In the end, it’s back to square one, the question of economic benefit.

 

We and our overobsession with objectivity.

 

Just because something cannot be objectively quantified , does that thus make it that much less important or irrelevant or not even worth thinking about?

21 grams

Just happened to come across yet another thought-provoking post. This time from xenoboy. I don’t know what it is with me, but seriously, if you surf around some of the blogs and links and allthatstuffthatisalsolinked on cyberspace, you discover a lot of interesting things. Just looking at wikipedia every other day, you learn something new each time! (but quickly forget it too). Especially refreshing (and this would also make you quite disillusioned and jaded) is the views and reports on foreign presses. It’s nice to read something without a superpro-gaaaaahmen stance for a change.

Are we selling our souls?

Ser-diiiiii-yah!

Pardon the incessant rants about the gaaahmen and the like recently. Cannot help it, thanks to all the action, pr booboos, standoffs, crazy security, and just everything.

You cannot help but think about our freedoms.
Trade-offs.
Are the trade-offs for real? Or have we all just been brainwashed from day one and likeeverobedientdrones have grown to hold dear to this philosophy that we need all the extreme measures and limits of expression to keep singapore peaceful and prosperous?

Interestingly, after reading this, this, and this…
And also reading some other contrary views like this…
and then discovering some interesting stuff about the Hydra-Wolf…
and then seeing some views on scholarships…

Well…

Shows how fragmented the views and beliefs in s’pore are.

I’m not going to comment on the above blogposts, but will leave each to form his/her own opinion after reading them.

I do admire the courage of csj though.
He’s a smart chap i believe. And to throw away one’s career and cushy lecturing job to pursue personal freedoms, freedom of speech, political freedoms…
He has definitely blazed a ballsy trail.
Albiet he has sometimes done things which I don’t believe to be very smart, but well, what do i know. I’m just an armchair observer.
We also all know the press quite well by now, and how the side of the story they present is well, yeah, you know. That point needs no mentioning especially after how the GEs were handled. It definitely opened up (and clouded up) many young minds though.
It’s quite apt, in all this furore about freedom…

to remember our national pledge.

We, the citizens of Singapore
pledge ourselves as one united people.
Regardless of race, language or religion
to build a democratic society
based on justice and equality
so as to achieve happiness,
prosperity, and progress for our nation.

Just read it again. And again.

What do you feel?
What do you think?

got brain?

Was about to sleep, but came across this brilliant piece from theintelligentsingaporean.

It’s about the whole dilemma facing singapore right now. And i truly do believe we’re at crossroads. So, what will happen in the next 5 to 10 years? Will anything change?

Here is the post i was talking about. Do check it out. 

oh the silence

Came across two interesting write-ups in yawningbread.

Restful quiet or sterile silence?

Wow! Great! The PR disaster of gargantuan proportions was a great great success! Everyone loves us, our systems, our efficiency! Money well spent!

Sad, sad.

And i do sort of agree with the what the writer says about this whole vicious cycle of fear and self-censorship. We do not dare speak. Even when we feel it’s right, even when we know we are right, we still should shut up, for fear, fear of stepping on the wrong toes, fear that big brother’s watching or listening in, fear of losing our job, fear of getting sued for defamation, fear of getting sued for defamation, oh have i said it yet? Fear of getting sued for defamation. And what do we all do at the end of the day? Just go back to our daily routines, back to the daily grind, self-censor our words thoughts and actions, and be the obedient silent yes,sir! citizens we were told to be from the day we were born.

sigh

parallels

After reading and surfing around, i just had to blog about this.

It certainly couldn’t have come at a better time (or worse depending on your bias) for our gahmen. We’ve even made it to the main page of google’s news. headlines baby!

What parallels could one draw from the NKF scandal? Don’t forget, don’t forget.

And the story of the moment: the protests, bans, police actions, etc.

Both articles taken from yawningbread.org

Also check out my link to intelligent singaporean.
A collection of links to articles and other interesting posts and stuff.

I’m now wondering.

Like in the case of the nkf…

Could the current action against the FEER cause any backlash?
Furthermore with the international furore and tonnes of international delegates flooding our little island… What is to be of this entire debacle?

let’s all sit tight and watch it all unfold

how much is too much?

Just can’t help but post yet another link i found today. This time, it’s a draft of a book to be released in the near future. Yet another marketing kinda book. I know, I’m getting to be a bit of a marketing geek, but it’s fun this way.

Draft chapters of the to-be-published “New Influencers” book

Interesting stuff.
Stuff that shoudln’t be ignored, as it is a phenomenon which is perhaps reaching its tipping point. So, for those who aren’t even aware of the extent of influence of blogs and forums, and even more so, for marketers who aren’t in the loop of these developments and are still stuck on the traditional marketing mindsets, sales mindsets, the 4Ps taken in its simplest and textbook-like form, and think starting a blog will solve all one’s marketing woes, well, good luck.

The world is changing way too fast, and consumers are moving faster than businesses.

Implications for businesses?

Mass market mindsets shifting to niche markets.
Market segmentation now takes on a whole new meaning.
Disconcerting and confusing?

I think it’s very exciting and interesting. =)

riffs, rants and RSS

Been surfing around the web quite a bit today.
Me bad, especially when i should be working.
But will get down to clearing up some work very soon!

Over the past week, I have been allowing the tech-geek side of me surface once again. Honestly, I have not been surfing the web that much for a period of time. Was for quite a while mainly surfing for cool youtube stuff, razorramonhardgay, music vids, new songs, new bands to check out, yadayada. But lately, the blogosphere has been very interesting. Especially upon the discovery of blogs like seth godin’s blog, malcolm gladwell’s blog, and a couple of others which I have promptly added to my “surfs” links on the sidebar.
Mr Brown’s blog has also been pretty interesting, just that I have never really followed his blog closely until lately.

Till very recently, riffs have only meant one thing to me, which is that of guitar licks or musical phrases. But from reading some of these aforementioned guys’ blogs, who are riffing on and on about web2.0, riffs have taken on a new life of its own.

According to dictionary.com, a riff is “A clever or inventive commentary or remark: “Those little riffs that had seemed to have such sparkle over drinks… look all too embarrassing in cold print” (John Richardson). “

So now when people are sharing new and wicked ideas, its riffing.

But it does make sense though.
Coz when musicians talk about riffs, it is basically talking about song ideas. Lines to make up a new song. And good guitar riffs are extremely powerful and sometimes timeless.
Think smoke on the water. Or Smells like teen spirit.
So it makes perfect sense to me to use the term “riffing” to mean exchange of ideas. Coz from these main idea seeds, spring up the bigger picture concepts which are then formed.

Now, when will drum-speak become used for idea-speak?
Perhaps when something hits me, when I suddenly get that inspiration to make some idea/word-associations using drum-speak, yeah.
Chops, Pocket, Paradiddles, Flams, Ruffs, Ghosting… Hmmm.

Here are some interesting articles I came across lately.

35 Ways you can use RSS today

Becoming a full-time blogger?

Pretty interesting stuff if you ask me.

And once again, it shows the inventiveness of the US.
As Singapore is sort of still playing catch-up with the concept of branding and marketing, and most people in singapore still equate marketing with sales, the ingenious marketers in the US have moved onto branding, permission marketing, viral marketing, blog marketing, etc etc etc.

And i really have to get the hang of RSS.
Gotta sit my lazy butt down, scour for good RSS readers, and learn more about this new thing that is changing the face of the web.

I think in a few years, it will change the way everyone reads the news.

icky mornings

The train (or MRT rather) ride to work in the mornings can be quite irritating. Especially when the train driver apparently doesn’t realise that the cabin is about stuffed full with people, and does nothing to the aircon thermostat.
I mean, come on, you have a good airconditioning system installed throughout the train, and you barely turn it on, such that I feel a breath of fresh/more-cooling air blow on me the moment I step out of the train doors.
And by that time, I already feel sticky and have bits of my shirt sticking to my back no thanks to the stuffy and warm train cabin.

If only these mrt drivers would blast the aircons, especially in the mornings!!
The close to 9am time is when the sun is out, blasting irritating heat waves on us, and the air is humid as well, making everyone uncomfortable.
And especially for people like me whose body temperature is most comfortable in colder temperatures like maybe 26degrees… It would make the morning rush hours so much more tolerable with a cold freezing cabin.

It would also inadvertedly squeeze more people onto each train.

Stuffy cabin with aircon which feels like its malfunctioning…
People want more space, want to stand under a nice blast of cold air.
Thus they won’t want to squeeze. Who likes rubbing backs with others who have sweaty backs? I don’t think anyone would want to squeeze into a cabin like that.

But…
With a cold freezing cabin.

Oooohh.

Everyone’s gonna want to be closer to others.
Body heat would then be highly desired to keep oneself warm.
People would probably not mind squeezing, coz its not stuffy anymore.

And then, morning train rush hours won’t be so icky.
At least all the working people can get to work without their shirts sticking to their backs. And it really is quite tak glam to go to work with a shirt that is basically sticking to your back. Ergh.

Blast the aircons!

Gotham city

Gotham city, originally uploaded by backbeats.

This was taken on one of those gloomy afternoons in office, where the weather was just totally dark and depressing.

Looks quite like a scene of Gotham city taken right out of a batman movie.