Quote of the Post: "Red meat is NOT bad for you. Now blue-green meat, THAT'S bad for you!" - Tommy Smothers

Random Playlist Song: Muppets - The Cat Came Back

***



Iraqi Driving License

***

Wowbagger commented, in a previous post's comment thread, that: 'I find HvK's conducting often overly "heavy". He flooded the market with his recordings, but most of them are mediocre.'

I wouldn't quite go that far. His other stuff is okay, it was just the particular track I heard that day.

***

The definitive lyrics from Zlad's "Elektronik Supersonik":

Hey, baby. Wake up from your asleep. We have arrived onto the future and the whole world is become...

Elektronik, Supersonik
Supersonik, Elektronik

Hey, Baby. Ride with me away.
We doesn't have much time.
My blue jeans is tight.
So onto my love rocket climb.
Inside tank of fuel, is not fuel, but love.
Above us, there is nothing above, but the stars, above.

All systems gone!
Prepare for downcount!

Five, Four, Three, One, Off-blast!

Fly away in my space rocket.
You no need put money in my pocket.
The door is closed, I just lock it.
I put my sparkplug in your socket.
The sun and sky is bright like fire!
You and me gets higher and higher.
Part of communication wire!
Only thing can stop us is flat tire.

Hey Love Crusader, I want to be your space invader.
For you I would descend the deepest moon crater.
I is more stronger than Darth Vapor!
Obey me, I is your new dictator.
For you is Vee'noose (Venus), I am Mars.
With you I is more richer than all the Tsars!
Make a wishes on a shooting stars,
Then for you I would play on my cosmic guitars!

Ladies and Gentlemens
Fast-en your belt seats.
We has commenced our descent,
I trust you enjoy this flight,
as much as you enjoy this accent.

Now, Back on earth is time for downsplash.
Into sea of eternal glory my spaceship crash.
People have arrive for to cheer me from near and far.
And as I block I open door and shout:
"I am world's biggest washed up superstar!"

As for sure as the sun rises in the west
Of all the singer and poets on earth, I am the bestest
Come, let me put ring of Jupiter on your finger,
Then like a smell around you I will ever linge.
Okay, it's time for end, no more will I sing.
Let me take you back in time.
I want for you to experience "Big Bang"!

*Shows Nuclear Explosion*

Long Live space race!
Long Live Molvania!


I still prefer Gunther.

Ed: One line corrected thanks to En Ming. That's what you get when you nick lyrics from elsewhere!

***

Apparently Nata de Coco didn't come from Malaysia after all, but is a traditional Filipino dessert:

Nata de Coco Case Study

***

Sometime ago, I suddenly got deluged with Friendster messages from assorted strangers from around South East Asia, all wanting to be my "friend". Freaky, very freaky. This is another reason why Friendster is evil :)

***

At first I thought luvacguys was a big joke. After all, you had lines to the effect of "Ahhh! So nice smelling" (when describing the secret toiletries he used for radiant skin) and gushing over cute AC guys by a male who proclaimed that he wasn't gay (bi at most). I can't quite remember what he said, or exactly how he said it, and he purged most of his archives, but those who read his gushing will know what I'm talking about.

Now, he seems to have morphed into a homophobe who throws biblical passages about with wild abandon. Still, no one reading his writing would think that any sane person could write the following in all seriousness:

"They are not only UGLY in the insides, but UGLY on the outsides!!! These people God will repay what He owes them. Okay to summerise it all: stupid ugly inside-and-outside people know shit! STAY AWAY FROM THEM!!! DO NOT TOUCH THEM!!! DO NOT LET THEM INFLUENCE YOU!!! THEY WILL MAKE YOU UNCLEAN AND IMPURE!!!"

and:

"I will take down the gay shops in heeren. I will take down that toto/4d/soccer betting corner in Cheers store in Cineleisure. You guys must buy and watch that "Mother Theresa" VCD from Sembawang music shop. You guys must see and/or buy that "World Hunger" T-shirt from 77th street in Heeren. So many guys in town wearing pink. I am not gay. This is me as a non hetro and non homo guy writing my blog, like it?"

Now, with his launching of a personal attack (a laughably bad one, I might add) on someone, I am forced to conclude that it is either a very sick parody, or a product of a truly deluded mind.

"There is nothing more for me to say to you Adri, except to take things easy and get your emotions in check before you ever leave the house. Camomile tea would help, and not too much spicy food like onions and garlic, they will truly MAKE one horny so cut it down please."

I really don't know whether to laugh or to cry.

***

Judge found dead mouse in beer - "The first thing I did was scream in horror. Then I screamed in revulsion. Then I dropped to the ground, holding my head in my hands while I was still screaming... My wife ran in, holding our one-year-old, and she started screaming and the baby was screaming because she didn't know what was wrong with me"

Create Your Own Thomas Friedman Op-Ed Column

Operation Mandatory Patriotic Tattoo

Women Reportedly Plowing Naked in Nepal - "Female rice farmers are plowing their fields at night in the nude to please the rain god during a dry spell in southwestern Nepal"

The Little Mouse That Wasn't - "After six years of regulations and restrictions that have cost builders, local governments and landowners an estimated $100 million, new research suggests the 'threatened' Preble's mouse in fact never existed"

Church compounds the sins of the fathers - "In the past, when the church refused to take responsibility for sexual abuse by its priests, it compounded the damage by transferring them to other parishes. Today, their destination is other countries."

Piracy no stranger to Christian tunes - "Christian teens are stealing Jesus music.... at nearly the same rate as secular music is being pirated by non-Christians, according to a new study done for the Gospel Music Association. The findings were a jolt to many in the evangelical music industry, who expected churchgoing teens to be mindful of the Commandment, 'Thou shalt not steal'"

Scientists 'see new species born' - Doubtless Creation 'Scientists' will have some disingenuous way to pooh-pooh this amazing event

Quote of the Post: "The tooth fairy teaches children that they can sell body parts for money." - David Richerby

Random Playlist Song: Burns and Smithers - Look At All Those Idiots (from the Simpsons)
Very appropriate for my rant of the day (see last part of this post below)

***

Fahrenheit 9/11 may not be the most truthful of movies, but it sure is entertaining, especially in its first part. Some of the conspiracy theories drawn are too improbable and improperly substantiated, though, and he omits things here and there.

(Under the Hot Lights, More Distortions From Michael Moore)

In other news, in a book fair at the Concourse set up by The Word Shop, I bought Michael Moore's "Dude, Where's My Country" for $10. Considering that the cover price is more than $20 at bookstores, it was a good deal. Incidentally, The Word Shop seems to have disappeared into the void in the face of its [superior] competition. I wouldn't even have known about that they were behind the book fair if not for the plastic bag I got (or maybe the Word Shop had nothing to do with the fair, and the bags were bought by the fair's organisers at The Word Shop's Closing Down Sale). The Word Shop is dead. Long live The Word Shop)

***

What will NSFs do with their extra 6 months?

"7. Seek psychotherapy to deal with lingering Sunday night book-in depression "

This should be: "7. See a psychiatrist to deal with lingering NS-inflicted depression"

***

I have no idea what the guy behind http://luvacguys.blogspot.com/ is trying to do.

Now he seems to be going on a gay-bashing (or at least tut tut-ing) rampage, and has been using the Bold HTML tag even more freely than Wo-Hen. I was more entertained by his gushing over AC guys, really.

Then again, this line is hilarious: "The majority of gay people I never remember doing things to help the homeless, the elderly, the sick, the disabled, the young, the unfortunate, intellectual disabled, all because they think they themselves are the sick, the helpless, the needy for their stupid perfect partner, they think they are the most needy people in the world! All their energy and time goes to their worthless branded shopping, their clubbing, their movies, their restaurants, their cafes, their parties, their weekend getaways, their resorts, their holidays!!! They stay in their high rise condos, their big houses and fast cars, being totally indifferent to others. The gays say, "I am clean, don't touch me you unclean people!"."

Amazingly, there are people who don't seem to realise that it is a joke, and have been flaming him all this while (if, by some chance, it *isn't* a joke, please shoot me now).

***

Stupidity knows no bounds (repost of a Friendster bulletin I put up)

Now, the few of you who are still actively using Friendster might have seen an alleged "Latin Prayer" being circulated on Bulletin Boards lately.

Amazingly, this chain letter (or prayer, if you like) is powers of magnitude more powerful than all the other chain letters out there. While those only threaten to leave you shagless, loveless or at most kill you, this one has power over the lives of your whole family. Wow, just imagine that.

I would like such amazing power too. Not to put a death curse on the families of all the idiots who read my obviously fake chain prayer, but to emotionally blackmail gullible fools into wasting bandwith, pissing sensible people off and making other foolish nincompoops circulate the balderdash that I've written around the world!

How stupid are you? Do you really believe some rubbish posted on a Friendster bulletin board which you haven't even read and can't even understand, can have an effect on you?

Sheesh, the bastard who started this ridiculous joke couldn't even get his facts right - the damn thing isn't even in Latin, for pete's sake. Latin does not have upside down question marks, tildes or other squiggly signs over the letters. Everyone has actually been forwarding a Spanish prayer (of sorts). Hell, it isn't actually a prayer, more of a homily about how to pray, part of which reads: "No, we are giving the Praise to our God. He it is the object of our praise.It is the reason thus we sang, reason why we sounded our instruments of [untranslated word: punyeta]. We cannot be singing to the light one without giving the weight him that deserves to be singing God to him." No part of the homily says anything about death.

If you were only stupid enough to believe in this nonsense, you can still be forgiven. But if you actually reposted this chain "prayer", you are not only stupid, but horribly evil. Is it not enough for your family to die? Do you want the families of all your "friends" (up to all 500 of them) to have a curse of death over them? Shame on you. You deserve to go to hell. Or you would if it existed (and millions of innocent people were condemned to burn there for all eternity by a "loving" god, but that is another rant for another day), so I will just excoriate you selfish and malicious people here.


The original "prayer" is posted below for reference

"This is a latin prayer. And you have opened it. And because you did open it, you will repost this bulletin if you do not want the members of your family die in a year's time. I'm not kidding around. You do have the option to ignore this message and death knocks at the door of your family. Have fun! P.S. Don't change the SUBJECT TITLE of the MESSAGE. Adios! Avada Kedavra!

THE PRAYER OF DEATH:
El tiquira con vosotros mes tera dima ul
kevadra,
ses avada, mi jubilo con de los requerrimos,
unta
de pondresita kon cantamos, remanso tu sus lomis
enta dira ela proteuera, lumos esta di ridikula
pontre se mundo de adios. mustros monda, el
tiquiera. Cada vez que elevamos nuestras voces
en
alabanza y adoración al Demoño, es necesario que
lo hagamos bién, entendiendo lo que le estamos
diciendo. Es por ello que la Palabra de Dios nos
enseña que debemos usar nuestro intelecto para
entonar cánticos al Satanas. Es tan sencillo
como
comprender lo que estamos cantando. Es procesar
cada palabra que estamos entonando, haciéndola
brotar desde nuestro corazón, y dirigirla a
nuestro paliente. Recuerda que no estamos
cantando por cantar, ni estamos entonando
cánticos para escuchar lo bonito que se oye. No,
estamos dándole la Alabanza a nuestro Dios. Él
es
el objeto de nuestra alabanza.Él es la razón por
lo cual cantamos, por lo que sonamos nuestros
instrumentos de punyeta. No podemos estar
cantando a la ligera sin darle el peso que
merece
estar cantándole a Dios. Que las palabras no
salgan de nuestros labios, sólo porque nos
sabíamos la letra de tal o cual canto, sino que
sea brotando desde nuestro corazón, expresando
al
Señor todo lo que Él es para nosotros. Si vamos
a
entonar un canto que diga por ejemplo: "Tu
eres
Bueno", que realmente estemos comprendiendo
lo
bueno y maravilloso que Él es con nosotros. Si
estamos diciendo: "Tú eres grande y
fuerte", que
todo nuestro ser lo esté proclamando. Si estamos
cantando: "El gozo que el Señor ha puesto
en
mí",
¿estaremos en una actitud de seriedad o de
tristeza?. Al contrario, debemos expresar lo que
estamos diciendo, por lo tanto debemos estar
contentos, gozosos y sonrientes al proclamar
estas verdades. Y si estamos cantando:
"Enciende
una Luz y déjala brillar", ¿Porqué hay
algunos
que elevan sus brazos? Éste canto, al igual que
muchos otros, son para cantárselos a nuestros
hermanos, en alabanza al Señor (Alabanza es
hablar de Él a otros). En cambio si estamos
entonando un canto que diga: "Tú eres
Santo,
Santo, Santo", ahora es cuando debemos
elevar
nuestras manos y nuestro corazón al Señor y
adorarle. Debemos usar nuestra inteligencia al
cantar alabanzas, es muy importante. No
olvidemos
que "Grande es Jehová y digno de ser en
gran
manera alabado". por lo tanto debemos
alabarle
como Él lo merece, con todo nuestro corazón y
cantando con el entendimiento , proclamando y
declarando lo que Él es. Si estamos celebrando
que Cristo ha vencido a todos nuestros enemigos,
entonces alegrémonos y declaremos con toda
convicción ésta verdad. Si estamos cantando que
nos rendimos a Él, pues que sea una realidad y
que Él gobierne verdaderamente sobre nuestras
vidas. Yo te animo a que uses tu inteligencia al
momento de cantar y entrarás en una nueva
dimensión de la Alabanza de nuestro Dios. Avada
Kedavra. Nema"

Quote of the Post: "Psychiatry enables us to correct our faults by confessing our parents' shortcomings." - Laurence J. Peter

Random Playlist Song: Tartini - Sonata In G Minor - The Devil's Trill - 1 - Larghetto Affettuoso

"According to historical tracts, while fast asleep, Tartini dreamt that the Devil stood at the foot of his bed, trying to bargain for his soul. So Tartini challenged the Devil to a musical duel. 'How great was my astonishment,' Tartini wrote, 'when I heard him play with consummate skill a sonata of such exquisite beauty as surpassed the boldest flight of my imagination.' When he awoke, Tartini, attempting to reproduce the netherworldy music of his dream, wrote 'The Devil's Trill,' a sonata in G minor that is one of the finest pieces of music ever written; in short, a masterpiece."

***

Does anyway want a polish Windows XP SP1 CD?

I downloaded the wrong ISO and burnt it without checking first. Bloody hell.

***

Amusing field reports:

"Imagine 4 days of fun in the sun at Sentosa. Law camp was not it. No, law camp was 5 days of mucking around NUS whilst listening to bimbos and watching otherwise normal guys act cute along with their 19-yr old xiao mei mei counterparts. Law camp was 5 days with a certain member of an RI/RJ fraternity. Law camp was full of Hwa Chong and RJ ppl. An already bleak picture by now. So everyone tells me that law girls should be smart and chio. Well, chio maybe, but definitely not smart. Maybe book smart, but uber bimbotic nonetheless. And i can't abide bimbos. No matter how chio. No compromise there. To paraphrase the most uber-made-from-parts-of-other-bimbos bimbo, 'This is MRT what, not bus, cannot use coins...' said in reply when someone requested to borrow coins to pay for a temp EZ-Link... it seems that social acceptance requires going to Mambo every Wednesday, Wala Wala every Thursday, any random place on Fri to get piss drunk, and some other random club/hostel room on Sat for the same reason as Friday. In fact, my first OG outing is going to be a trip to mambo-land the following Wednesday. Naturally, I'll be out of the country. Preferably somewhere with more intelligent beings, e.g. the moon."

I hope the camp I'm going for turns out better.

***

Singabloodypore - Yet another alternative news source for Singapore news. Of course, this only focuses on the bad stuff, so you may not get a full picture. But then, the Nation Builder Press doesn't often write about the bad stuff in the first place, so. See also WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN [till the next boo-boo]

Mad monk's member features big in Russian erotica museum - " Measuring 28.5 centimeters (about 11 inches) -- allowing for shrinkage caused by pickling -- Rasputin's penis displayed in a tall glass bottle is, to put it delicately, a big attraction at the museum."
But the kasachok he danced really wunderbar (whatever that means)

Indian Spiderman to wear sarong - "Spiderman will put on a sarong and fight the bad guys through the rickshaw-clogged streets of Bombay in an Indian version of the US comic classic... Peter Parker, the American who becomes a superhero thanks to a spider bite, will be replaced by Pavitr Prabhakar who gets his crime-fighting powers from a Hindu holy man."

Chain Mail Bra - And with this, I have finished reading the extensive collection of descriptions of medieval weapons and armour on that site.

"A duck's quack doesn't echo. No one knows why" - Ever heard this alleged trivia bit? Find out how you've been mislead all these years - The duck's quack echo myth

Just when you think you've seen everything, along comes the Impulse Computer Accessory. First a USB light, then a USB fan and now this.

***

Something Quanteng sent me:


Buffet at Singapore (sic)

The Fullerton Singapore - Gourmet Buffet Dinner
Where: Town Restaurant (tel: 6877-8128)
When: 6.30-10.30pm, Mondays to Saturdays
Cost: Starts from $28+++

What: Rolled out on April 8, the buffet allows diners to mix and match meals. They can pick from various main courses and help themselves to
the Gourmet Appetiser Buffet and Gourmet Dessert Buffet, which cost $20+++ and $15+++ respectively on their own. There is also the Seafood Tower at $28+++ per person or $48+++ for two. Or they can opt for the Appetiser and Dessert Buffet ($25+++), Seafood Tower and Dessert Buffet ($65+++ for two) and Seafood Tower with Appetiser and Dessert Buffet ($98+++ for two).


Conrad Centennial Singapore - Big Breakfast Buffet
Where: Oscar's Cafe & Terrace (tel: 6432-7481)
When:7am-3pm every Sunday
Cost: $28+++ (adult); $14+++ (child)

What: Launched in March this year, it serves everything from muffins to dim sum and seafood fried rice. The highlight is the vitamin corner, which includes a juice bar. From 11am, pay $40+++ to combine the breakfast spread with the carving of the day.


M Hotel Singapore - Sunday High Curry
Where: Cafe 2000 (tel: 6421-6222)
When: Noon-3pm every Sunday
Cost:$28+++ (adult); $14+++ (child)

What: What started off as a pure curry buffet in February this year now includes a Western spread. This includes roast prime ribs and Yorkshire pudding. The fish head curry is highly recommended.


Shangri-La's Rasa Sentosa Resort - Brunch 'N' Plunge
Where: Sharkey's (tel: 6371-1071)
When: 12.30-3pm
Cost:$39.50+++ (adult); children 12 years and below are charged half price.

What: Enjoy a great sea view and free use of pool facilities as you tuck into the buffet introduced in June last year. Barbecue items such as pork ribs and tiger king prawns, and local favourites like fried oyster omelette and kueh, dominate the spread.


Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel - Children's Buffet
Where: Cafe Brio's (tel: 6233-1100)
When:Noon-3pm every Sunday
Cost: Free for kids aged 10 and below, accompanied by adults paying for the Sunday brunch ($50+++ or $65+++ with free flow of champagne, wine and beer)

What: The spread made its debut last year and offers such items as mini hot dogs, burgers and chicken nuggets. There are also activities such as magic shows and balloon sculpting.


Raffles The Plaza - Plaza Market Peranakan Buffet
Where:Plaza Market Cafe (tel: 6431-6156)
When: Noon-2.30pm and 6.30-10.30pm daily; high tea from 12.30-5pm
(Sat,Sun & public holiday)
Cost: Lunch costs $25+++ (adult) and $13+++ (child); dinner costs $30+++ and $15+++ respectively; high tea is $23+++ and $12+++ respectively

What: The showcase of authentic Peranakan cuisine was introduced last year and the ayam buah keluak and durian pudding have won fans.


The Fullerton Singapore - Chocolate Buffet
Where:The Courtyard (tel: 6877-8129)
When: 8-11pm every Friday and Saturday
Cost: $24+++ (adult); $12+++ (child)

What: Since 2002, chocolate lovers have been indulging in treats such as the chocolate mango yoghurt mousse. The drink station with its premium chocolate-blended drinks is the highlight.


Shangri-La Hotel - Coffee Garden's Seafood Extravaganza
Where:Coffee Garden (tel: 6213-4275)
When: 6.30-10.30pm daily
Cost: $61+++ (adult) and $31+++ (child). It used to cost less than $25.

What: The seafood buffet made its debut in 2000 as an occasional special and was made a daily affair in February this year. The over 100 items range from barbecue lobster to Norwegian salmon dishes.Italian, Indian and Japanese sections offer pizzas, curries and sashimi.


Meritus Negara Singapore - Local Delights Lunch Buffet
Where: Claymore Cafe (tel: 6831-6686)
When: Noon-2.30pm Mondays to Fridays, except public holidays. Brunch is served on weekends from noon-4pm.
Cost: $16.90+++ for weekdays and $19.90+++ for weekend brunch. Children pay $9.90+++ for both.

What: It started off as the Yong Tau Foo Buffet in 1997 but local favourites like laksa were added last month. The duck noodles and prawn mee soup are big draws.


Swissotel Merchant Court Singapore - Buffet Lunch & Dinner
Where: Ellenborough Market Cafe (tel: 6239-1848)
When: Noon-2.30pm, 6.30-10pm daily
Cost: $19.90+++ for lunch and $24.90+++ for dinner on weekdays,
$25.90+++ for weekend dinner. Children pay $11.90+++ for lunch,
$13.90+++ for weekday dinner and $14.90+++ for weekend dinner.

What: This spread with a strong nonya component has gained fame since 1997 and the star remains the durian pengat, a yummy mousse. Other must-haves include the slipper lobster in black bean sauce and abalone mushroom noodles.


The Ritz-Carlton Millenia Singapore - Sunday Champagne Brunch
Where: Greenhouse (tel: 6434-5288)
When: 11.30am-3.30pm every Sunday
Cost: $88+++ (adult); $45+++ (child)

What: The extensive spread launched in 1996 includes 25 appetisers, 50 types of farmhouse cheese from France and local, Indian and Western specialities. There are 16 sections in all, including the popular oyster, sashimi and souffle. Wash everything down with Moet & Chandon champagne.


Four Seasons Hotel Singapore - Sunday Brunch At One-Ninety
Where: One-Ninety (tel: 6831-7250)
When: There are two sittings: 11am-1pm and 1.30pm-3pm
Cost: $68+++ (adult) and $30+++ (child); Pay $98+++ to add free flow of Veuve Clicquot champagne.

What: This eight-year-old brunch has 20 hot and cold stations offering fresh oysters, sukiyaki, dimsum and pasta. The sinful dessert buffet station carries 25 sweet treats. Kids get their own spread and activities.


Hotel Inter-Continental - Olive Tree Mediterranean Buffet
Where: Olive Tree Mediterranean Restaurant (tel: 6431-1061)
When: 11.30am-2.30pm for lunch (Mon-Fri) and 6.30-10.30pm for dinner (Sun-Thu)
Cost: $39+++ for lunch and $52+++ for dinner. Free for children under seven years. Those aged between seven and 12 years will be charged according to their age. For instance, a seven-year-old will be charged $7+++ and a 10-year-old will pay $10+++.
What: It has attracted a strong following since 1995. The menu changes daily and offers more than 20 items, including the popular seafood on ice and pasta.


OLD FAVES

Copthorne King's Hotel - Penang Buffet
Started: 1972 and charged $16
Where: Princess Terrace (tel: 6318-3168)
When: 11.30am-2.30pm (3.30pm on weekends and public holidays) and
6.30-10pm daily
Cost: $28+++ (adult) and $20+++ (child);

What: One of the best-known spreads around, this buffet used to feature 28 items but now offers about 40. These include must-have dishes such as Penang laksa, Penang Hokkien mee soup, and Penang char kway teow.


Grand Hyatt Singapore - The Pete's Place Salad Bar
Started: 1973 and charged about $9
Where: Pete's Place (tel: 6416-7113)
When: 11.30am-2.30pm (Mon-Sat) and 6-10.30pm daily
Cost: $16+++; It costs $19.50+++ if you throw in soup and dessert and $26+++ with the pasta main courses. Children pay $19.50+++ and get the whole works.

What: Toss your own greens from the fresh selection of 20 main salads, nine toppings and five dressings. If you are going for the pasta, try the signature dish, Cioppino, a tomato-base seafood pasta.


Royal Plaza On Scotts - International Buffet High-Tea
Started: 1980s and charged $8.50+++
Where:Cafe Vienna (tel: 6589-7799)
When: 3-5.30pm (Mon-Fri); Noon-5pm (weekends, eves and public holidays)
Cost: $18.50+++ (adult) and $9.25+++ (child) for weekdays and $24.50+++ (adult) and $12.25+++ (child) for weekends, eves and public holidays

What: Launched in the 1980s, the spread includes more than 80 Asian favourites and Western treats, of which the bread and butter pudding is most famous. It is also one of the few eateries in town that serve halal buffets.


Goodwood Park Hotel - Local High Tea
Started: 1980s and charged about $10
Where:Coffee Lounge (tel: 6730-1746)
When: 2.45-5pm daily
Cost:$18.80+++ (adult) and $9.40+++ (child).

What: started as a Straits Chinese spread now comprises more than 20 items, including dimsum and local and Western fare. There are also cooking stations that whip up roti prata and popiah. The apom berkuah with banana sauce, a Peranakan dessert, has been the hot favourite since day one.


Hotel Phoenix - International Buffet Lunch & Dinnerbrp
Started: 1985 and charged $10.50+++ and $12.50+++ for lunch and dinner respectively
Where:Phoenix Garden Cafe (tel: 6233-6129)
When:Noon-2.30pm and 6.30-10pm daily; a Local Hi-tea Buffet is also served daily from 3.30-5.30pm. Cost: $23+++ for lunch and $25+++ for dinner; children pay $16.50+++ and $17.50+++ respectively

What: There are about 50 items in the spread, more than double that when it made its debut. More soups and salads are now on offer, to suit the health-conscious palate of Singaporeans today. The signature dish roti prata - is a must-try, as is the durian cake.


Hotel Royal - Tropical Peking-Style Steamboat Buffet
Started: 1985 and charged $9.90 and $12.90 for lunch and dinner respectively
Where: Jade Room Restaurant (tel: 6251-8135)
When: 11.15am-2.30pm and 6.15-10.30pm daily
Cost: $13.80+++ for lunch and $18.80+++ for dinner. Children pay $9+++ and $12+++ respectively. On weekends, eves and public holidays, adults pay $16.80+++ and $19.80+++ respectively.

What: The tangy dipping sauce, concocted from 13 ingredients including sesame, peanuts, chilli and vinegar, is the secret weapon here. Diners can take their pick from 32 items, including sea cucumber, fresh prawns and peking dumpling. There is also a choice of 10 cooked dishes such as fried chicken wings.


York Hotel - Penang Hawkers' Fare
Started: 1986; original price not available
Where: White Rose Cafe (tel: 6737-0511 ext 1156)
When: Held traditionally during school holidays in March and September for 17 days each time, the buffet sometimes has an extra run in December.
Cost: $21.80+++ (adult) and $17.80+++ (child) for lunch and dinner.

What: The first-come-first-served spread is one of the most widely-anticipated culinary draws here. Hawkers from Penang's Gurney Drive set up stalls offering perennial favourites such as Penang laksa, cuttlefish kang kong and crispy lor bak.


Raffles Hotel - International Buffet High Tea
Started: 1991; original prices not available
Where: Tiffin Room (tel: 6331-1612)
When: 3.30- 5pm daily
Cost: $31.50+++ (adult) and $18+++ (child)

What: The high tea has earned a name for its indulgent spread and service. The scones with jam, butter and whipped cream, chicken pie and dim sum are top draws. Tiffin Room is also famous for its curry buffets.


Meritus Mandarin Singapore - International Buffet
Started: 1994 and charged $39.50+++ for lunch and $45+++ for dinner
Where: Triple 3, The Buffet Restaurant (tel: 6831-6271/72)
When: Noon-3pm and 6.30-10:30pm daily
Cost: Lunch costs $41.80+++ (adult) and $24.80+++ (child), while dinner is priced at $52+++ and $32+++ respectively.

What: Formerly known as The Stables, the restaurant now offers more than 60 dishes, comprising 22 appetisers, 20 types of hot food and 20 choices of dessert. There is a different theme each month, but the baked honey-glazed ham, roast prime rib of beef, salmon sashimi and rock oysters are trademark items.


Last but not least ..... cheapest buffet at Marine South .... est SGD12.00 per head in open space........

Quote of the Post: "Misquotation is, in fact, the pride and privilege of the learned. A widely- read man never quotes accurately, for the rather obvious reason that he has read too widely." - Hesketh Pearson, Common Misquotations (1934), Introduction

***

Tasmania Travel Journal, Part 3:

General Comments

In Launceston there was a night tour available to go and see Fairy Penguins (aka Little Penguins). But unlike for the more popular and commercialised Penguin Parade on Phillip Island near Melbourne, non-flash photography was allowed on this one, unlike for the former (for which they're still offering a semi-lame explanation).

In Singapore, my mother's room is like a freezer, but overseas she dresses like she's in the arctic. Go figure.

Aussie coins are wretchedly big and heavy.

Apparently guilingao contains turtle :0

Day 5 - Launceston

In the morning, I felt that there was a buildup of pressure in my alimentary canal. My mother claimed that it was due to over-consumption of carbonated drinks, though past empirical evidence had shown no correlation between the two.

At breakfast, I didn't eat much - perhaps a few grams of scrambled eggs, a few baked beans, a small sausage, a poached egg minus the yolk and a small bowl of cornflakes. On returning to the room, I wanted to spend an hour or so huddling beneath the blankets and feeling sorry for myself, but my parents, not understanding the concepts of fixed and variable costs and the old adage "penny wise, pound foolish", forced me to go on a 3 hour long Launceston city tour because it had "already been paid for". Using similar logic, I suppose I would have had to go even if I had just been discharged from hospital following a car accident.


For the first part of the tour, I didn't feel so bad. We visited the City Park and saw an enclosure with Japanese Macaques.

After a while on the replica tram, though, I started feeling sicker. Listening to the guide drone on with obvious pride about the town's 19th century buildings (including one in which anaesthesia was used for the first time... in Australia), which Launceston had a lot of since they stopped tearing down in 1950, didn't help, since 19th century buildings do not impress me if the only thing they have to recommend them is their age (you need 17th century, or at the very most 18th century buildings to do that).

The tour ended at some pub-restaurant, with a complimentary hot drink. My parents wanted to each lunch there, but by this time I was already so sick that I had lost my appetite. Letting my parents enjoy their complimentary drink and eat their lunch, but not consuming mine (pity, since it had already "been paid for"), I strode out of the restaurant and headed to Cataract Gorge.


Just "15 minutes walk from the centre of the city" (it took me maybe 10), Cataract Gorge was a sight to behold. The chairlift across it was proclaimed as (according to which source you read) either the longest single span (you knew there had to be a qualifier, didn't you?) chairlift in - wait for it - the southern hemisphere (Hah! Fancy that. And as if Zimbabwe and Argentina are much of a competition) or in the world, which apparently has had a 100% safety record since its opening in 1972. At least they weren't as implicitly dishonest as the people who proclaimed the chairlift at Arthur's Seat "Victoria's longest chairlift".


The chairlift cost $7 for a one-way trip and $8.50 for a return ticket, and one of the men operating it told me that there was a trail to return to Launceston from the side of the gorge from which I'd disembark, the "Zig Zag track", which would only take 5 mins longer to walk than the main trail, so I decided to try it, wanting to look at the view and scenery from and at the other side.


I was conned. The damn thing was actually a hiking trail: rocky and uneven, wet and muddy in many places, so steep in many others that I had to climb down rather than walk or step down, with no signposts along its length and with numerous side trails branching from it at various parts. Once again, I felt the characteristic heart pounding in chest, lungs gasping for air, waves of heat emanating from my body feeling that I seem to be getting at least once during each recent holiday.

After I finally emerged from the wilderness, I skipped Penny Royal Gunpowder Mill due to a lack of time to go to the Queen Victoria Museum at Royal Park. I was rather pissed off because my Fodor's 2002 Australia guide had said that admission was free, but when I went there I discovered that since their opening of another premises at Inveresk, they had started charging A$10 in a joint ticket for admission to both places, and I didn't particularly want to see the exhibits at the other place.


Besides seeing Tasmanian Devils, I also wanted to see Thylacines, albeit stuffed ones, and saw 2 I did. The museum also had a bronze age bracelet and spearhead - with no note as to where they had filched them from, a collection of stones (so now I know what such funky rocks as malachite, galena, aragonite and crocoite crystals look like) and the largest collection of snail shells that I had ever seen. Just like the Singapore Science Centre, they also had a sneaky money-raising exhibit, disguised as a scientific demonstration: what you do is drop a coin through a slot, and it will roll around a vortex, accelerating as the distance it travels each cycle lessens, until it reaches the bottom of the vortex, and the diameter of its orbit is almost zero - then it falls through a hole and is collected at the bottom of the apparatus, to be collected by the janitor at the end of the week.


The most exciting thing in the museum, however (besides the Tasmanian Tigers, of course) was the "No Touch Sanitary Unit" made by Initial. Notice how the motor keeps the lid up without you needing to use your hand. Ah, the wonders of modern technology!

Later, I was walking in the shopping district and I saw "scrunchie ponytail holders - also can be used as a bracelet or anklet". Bah. It's evil marketing like this that makes people screwed up.

Day 6 - Cradle Mountain

This day we went to Cradle Mountain National Park, along the way passing through and stopping in Sheffield, a town with many murals.


Thanks to Cradle Mountain being further inland and higher in altitude than Launceston, it enjoyed snowfall from time to time, like the day before we arrived and the day we were there.


I think I hadn't seen snow since Plaak, and its novelty had not worn on me (and still hasn't). With all the luscious, clean snow, it was a pity I had no one to have a snowball fight with (I threw a snowball at my mother but she didn't get the hint and only complained that it was painful).

Day 7 - Launceston

Our coach back to Hobart was scheduled to depart at 3:30pm, so we had about half a day to wander. I wanted to go off somewhere earlier, but my father said that he wanted to go there as well, so we should go together. I waited for him and we left later with my mother, but then they suddenly decided to go off in a completely different direction, wanting to walk through the park and recce the (short and distinct) route to the bus terminal for our afternoon transfer. So once again, I set off on my own, despite the paranoid protests of my mother, who was afraid that "something might happen".

Since I had the joint ticket for admission to the other premises of the Queen Victoria Museum, I decided to use it, even though the exhibits there weren't exactly captivating. There was an art gallery of ghastly modern art, for example. Even one of the better ones wasn't exactly impressive - in "Girl reading" (1955) by Jack Carington Smith, the girl looked more like a boy.

On our arrival back in Hobart, it was already 5:30pm or so, so it was cold and dark, and we didn't want to take any chances with what food outlets were open on Sunday closing before we got our dinner, so I lugged the luggage back to the hotel while my parents went to eat at Fish Frenzy and pack dinner for me. It wasn't quite as nice packed, but somebody had to lug the luggage back to the hotel and check in.

Day 8 - Hobart-Melbourne-Singapore

We flew Jetstar to Melbourne, but this time I didn't miss hearing my boarding sequence number, so I had time to examine how Jetstar didn't have as many characteristics of low cost airlines as I thought it should have:

- it had an inflight magazine
- there were reading lights
- instead of a plastic covering at the headrest, they still used the classic disposable paper cover
- there was a tray table for dining

We had almost 5 hours to wait for our connecting flight from Melbourne to Singapore, so I got to know all the airport shops very well. At one of them, they were selling weird CDs:

- "Mystical Orbits - The music of HILDEGARD von BINGEN and BIRGITTA of SWEDEN with Rumi poems."
- "The Holy Grape CD - BAROQUE & RENAISSANCE WINE DRINKING MUSIC for connoisseurs."
- "Drive to Work - The music of ANTONIO VIVALDI and HAIKU MEDITATIONS for traffic jams."
- "Get fit with JS Bach - Listen to divine music and Follow 11 illustrated exercises."
- A "Slow Down Madly Romantique Kit", including a CD with 18th century music and "ancient fragrances" (rose, jasmine, ylang ylang and sandalwood) to smell when listening to the music

Our flight back to Singapore was on British Airways. BA's "World Traveler Plus" (aka Economy Plus) Class lets you play video games from your seat, but normal Economy doesn't have any. Bah. Also, there are no individual air-conditioning vents for each seat, so we were very hot throughout the flight. However, the adjustable headrests on BA Economy seats are better than the ones on Emirates; on Emirates the headrests can be moved in the same direction that your head would move if you shook it vigorously. However, when you lean on the headrests, they tend to fold back to their original positions, so this is very annoying. On BA seats, however, the headrests can be moved in the same direction that you would nod. Thus, when you lean on them, they are firm and do not collapse.

As with Qantas, I liked BA's censorship policy. It wasn't explicity stated, but I inferred that it was similar to Qantas'. For example, "Something's gotta give" was rated "12A" - "May be unsuitable for children under 12. Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult". Its content was not so explicit as to deserve the next highest rating of "15" - "This film may have a fairly adult theme. It may contain some scenes of sex and violence or some bad language".

So children over the age of 12 were treated, on the flight, to a brief shot of Diane Keaton's frontal nudity. I recall that when the same show was screened in Singapore, albeit under a PG rating (which actually means almost the same thing, for I doubt children under 12 watch movies alone), we did not get to see her aged teat, due to Singapore's insensible attitudes regarding non-sexual nudity.

Singaporean censors seem to think that glimpsing a female nipple will suddenly magically corrupt our youth. Somehow, though, exposing the rest of the breast is okay - just make sure to cover that brown bud or you'll lose that PG rating! It's also fine to make explicit references to sexual acts and activity, or even to show people in the act of coitus, as long as no female nipples can be seen. In an ironic way, I guess it is analogous to many Singaporeans' hypocritical Victorian attitudes about prurience - they publicly condemn and revile it, but secretly revel in debauchery in private. Similarly, prostitution is legal here while porn is not (the reverse of the situation in most countries. Interestingly Singapore is probably the only non-Communist, non-Muslim country to ban porn).

I was reminded of the scene in Goodbye Lenin where a West German was walking around the apartment naked. The scene was totally non-erotic: arguably it was just social commentary by the director about the decadence of the West Germans who walked about naked at home in blatant displays of immorality. As was the clip from a porn video of a woman licking whipped cream from her unnaturally huge breasts; it expressed a negative opinion about pornography (or at least that mindless variety) and painted it in a bad light.

Incidentally, I wonder what rating Eyes Wide Shut would get under the current movie rating system. The first impression it probably gave everyone was of being a graphic depiction of various mass orgies disguised as an arthouse film, due to its esteemed director. In reality, content-wise the film is as far from being a porno flick as it is possible to be, especially given the graphic sexual content in most modern media. Not only is it coldly unerotic, greatly disturbing and thus libido-dampening: the film promotes the good old fashioned values of fidelity, trust in your spouse and the futility of participating in mass orgies, even if they are quasi-religious tantric rites. Surely this is what our government, soundly grounded in traditional Asian Values (TM), wishes to promote? Anyhow, rating something R(A) or R21, if you prefer, just makes it more desirable and thus more widely watched - exactly the opposite effect they are presumably aiming for. And as a side effect, it increases piracy, so the movie industry suffers as well.m

Random Playlist Song: Mozart: Requiem - Introitus
This movement in Karajan's 1976 version is much too ponderous for my liking. At many times, the slow and drawn out singing, devoid of energy makes me desire requiem aeternam myself, if only so I won't have to listen to it. So much for branded music.

He Who Must Not Be Named: is it me or are you incredibly pretentious with regards to your music criticism?

Me: I have always maintained that I have very plebian tastes, and my observations and critiques rarely use proper terminology

***

I have another gmail invite languishing in my account.

To thank all you fans/groupies for your support, I am once again putting it up for grabs.

Get it while it's hot.

***

Fulsome praise:

"This is a very intelligently written social comentary on life in RJ, life in the army, and life as an ostracised retard. Agagooga is Rafflesian of course. And my evil long lost twin. His lifestory reads like mine, until the instant he put RJ over Hwachong in his JC application. Now you can read how the tragedy unfolded after that here."

Pity the site is static, or I'd contact my (good) long lost twin.

**

More on Gunther:

"This is the worst song I've ever heard. It's hilarious, I admit, but Gunther looks like a 1970's trucker or something, and the video is like cheesy soft porn, which makes me laugh until my sides hurt. "you touch my tralala"??? Is this for real? I know it's a huge hit in Sweden, and I guess if you're at least a decade behind, this would appeal greatly. Not that anything "up to date" is necessarily any better. :T"

"Gunther rocks my world HE'S SO SEXY!!! I LOVE this song!!! let me touch your tralala Gunther!!!"

"You are the man, the myth, the legend. Rock on!"

"Gunther is the MOST SEXY THING ALIVE! I love this song, even iff it is laughable! And how could you NOT love the Gunther Mullet! It's so 80's hot!! I would totally be this guys lovetoy!"

"OMG THIS SONG KICKS ASS!!! HOW GOOD IS IT. I WENT TO SKOOL WITH IT ON MY MP3 PLAYER AND SHOWED MY FRIENDS AND EVERYONE LUVED IT. AND I LOVE THE GUYS MULLET. IT TURNS ME ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"


Maybe he should be my new idol. But I already have 5 idols, 2 of whom are singers, so it would be a bit of a squeeze. Unless I kicked someone out.

"And remember...
The four main things in Günthers life are Champagne, Glamour, Love and Respect!"

Günthernet now has a "Günther lovecontest 8 weeks competition"! 8 lucky winners get to be in the next music video with Günther! Too bad I don't live in Sweden, Norway, the UK or Germany.

"Thats right! I want to surround myself with people who enjoys champagne, desires glamour, drinks champagne and who loves a lot. So, just get that phone and be creative! Dazzle me! Record your vision of me and my way of love, tell my your feelings for the "Günther way"... or me ;) And I´ll take the best and put her/him dancing in my next musicvideo. So you can be famous too! And - of course - help me spread my vision of true love!"

It goes on to say: "If the winner is under 18 approval from parent is necessary, in case of any travels to filming location, a parent must accompany.'

I leave with you the Günther ecard

Quote of the Post: "People who have no weaknesses are terrible; there is no way of taking advantage of them." - Anatole France

Random Playlist Song: King's Singers - What's in a tune?
Yet another of the songs from my old, super-long playlist that I've finally found again, this piece is a medley of popular classical music pieces like Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, Air from BWV 1068, Brandenburg Concerto 3, Water Music (I like the way they imitate trumpets). Now if only I could find Sourwood Mountain...

***

In the days of yesteryear, formal letters written for Chinese exams were always addressed to 10 Kay Siang Road (Xiang Lin Lu) and to 5 (?) Kim Hua Road (Jin Hua Lu), the former being the address of the old MOE.

Now that MOE has shifted to Buona Vista, and 10 Kay Siang Road is now Republic Polytechnic, do they still use the same addresses?

My research so far has been inconclusive.

***

About the best advice I've gotten about growing my hair out is Yiliang's "wear a cap", since that supposedly makes it softer. I'm sure there are many more tips out there!

***

Another priceless Foxtrot strip. To think that this guy has a physics degree.

**

Venturing onto Chinese MP3 search engines, I found "八骏赞". Well, three versions actually but only two were what I was familiar with, and one was a 22kbps 22khz WMA file. Unfortunately, I couldn't find "云飞天不动". Damn. And the first version of "远方的客人请你留下来" I found sounds like it was sung by sluts and pimps (thankfully I found a proper one after sifting through many versions hateful to the ear).

The Chinese really like to sing to synthesised music. Maybe they can't afford real orchestras or even pianists. And some of their soloists have this overblown way of blasting notes,.

There was also "这是一个小世界", but I don't think I would have liked that :X

***

"I've no objection to boy singers as such, quite the contrary in fact since I've gone out of my way to hear the best boy choirs in the world (various English cathedral choirs). No, the problem is these particular boys, compounded by Harnoncourt's direction. To my ears his boys do not sound like choirs of angels (which I believe Bach intended), but rather like the boys from the 'Lord of the Flies'. Their lack of beauty and innocence may be a social artefact, perhaps reflecting Germanic notions of 'masculinity', but more likely it is indicative of the decline of a once great Germanic choral tradition."

***

Fondly Fahrenheit (On the right wing ruckus about Fahrenheit 9/11):

"If ever a president deserved to be the subject of a vitriolic, one-sided, emotionally manipulative diatribe of a documentary, Bush is it.

[...] But if [the movie] does play a little loose with the facts, omits some key details, implies more than it can prove, and generally takes after Shrub with a cinematic hatchet, I won't be surprised. But I also won't mind.

For years now, Limbaugh, Coulter and their inferior imitations have been passing off their slanted misreadings, unproven allegations and flimsy lies as factual reporting. When caught out on a lie or a smear, they either ignore the evidence, or - like Limbaugh - retreat into the phony defense of arguing that all they're doing is expressing a subjective opinion. 'I'm just in the entertainment business,' Rush likes to say.

Well, now there's someone on the left who knows how to play their game, and play it brilliantly. Moore may be an egomaniac, and a huckster showman in the best (or worst) tradition of P.T. Barnum and Walter Winchell, but man, he's effective. He's learned to play the mainstream media like a Stradivarius.

No wonder the right wingers are scared of Moore - he's even better then they are at using the media as an unwilling amplifier. Which is why all the conservative caterwauling and all disapproving tut tuts from the 'responsible' press have only helped ensure Fahrenheit 9/11 a wider distribution.

In other words, Moore's managed to break the code. He's figured out how to sell an angry radical (or at least semi-radical) message to a mass audience.

That's a major accomplishment. And if the end result isn't exactly my idea of a civilized political discourse (I'll reserve judgement for now) it clearly is a powerful and successful example of fighting fire with fire.

And right now, a little fire may be what the American left needs most."

***

Shoveling coal for Satan

"Courage is a willingness to face real risks—your neck, or at the very least, your job. The journalist with courage would have threatened to resign rather than repeat George Bush's justifications for invasion before it began. I don't remember anyone resigning last winter... If journalists had courage, they would form unions and refuse to work for any company that made decisions about editorial content based on the bottom line, on profit."

Journalists report, they do not necessarily try to verify everything they say, for if they did they'd die of exhaustion. Reporting George Bush's alleged justifications for invasion is one thing. Parroting them mindlessly is another. And as I recall, even at the time there were people who questioned his justifications.

News is not and was never meant to be truth.

***

Is nature ever evil? Religion, science and value (edited by Willem B. Drees)

This collection of essays, billed in its blurb, as marking "a fascinating contemporary return to a persistent cultural debate" is largely clunky and flummoxing (at least to laymen and those who aren't students of philosophy or theodicy).

You can't totally fault the book, for it is really a collection of papers written for a conference, "Is Nature ever Evil, Wrong, or Ugly? Neutrality and Engagement in the Scientific Study of Reality", but the thing is that it is placed in the category of "Popular Science" when it is nothing of the sort, containing, as it does, talk of Bayesian models, probability equations like: P(E|D & K) >> P(E|~D &K), and talk of monozygotic and dizygotic correlations

Nevertheless, there are interesting nuggets here and there:

"Tragedy versus Hope. What future in an open universe?" by Arnold Benz:

"Thesis 4. The new does not emerge from nothing, but is a new organization of existing or decaying entities.

Physical theories describing the formation of the universe are still very speculative and unproven. Nevertheless, it is imaginable that the universe could have formed from a vacuum containing zero energy but obeying all physical laws known today. It could have 'borrowed' energy against gravitation during a fluctuation in the primary vacuum. It would follow from this vacuum hypothesis that the universe did not originate from nothing, but from a physical entity, the vacuum, and according to pre-existing rules."

Intriguing, for is not a vacuum literally "nothing"?

The next bit is slightly longer:

"Thesis 7. The universe and its development appear to be optimal for human beings. However, there is no scientifically provable hope for new beneficial development.

The universe has properties that are necessary for the developments that have led finally to the evolution of living beings. The basic physical parameters are precisely such that life could arise. The properties of the carbon nucleus, for instance, are favourable for its easy forming in nucleosynthesis, but this is not so for oxygen, the element that would have depleted carbon otherwise... There are many more such fine tunings of the universe that are necessary for our existence.

The anthropic principle states that the observed cosmic and biological developments are the a priori condition for the possibility of cognition: 'What we can expect to observe must be restricted by the conditions necessary for our presence as observers' (Carter 1974). To put it more simply, to make it possible that we can wonder at all why the universe is as it is, the universe must be exactly as it is, for otherwise we would not be there to wonder. This principle proceeds from the tenet that the human being is part of the universe and has originated according to natural laws. It reminds us that, as for any observation, the limits of the measurement apparatus (in this case the observer himself) must be taken into consideration.

[...]

To explain coincidences on the level of the whole universe, there appear to be three possibilities:

1. There are physical reasons, which we still do not understand, why the universe must be exactly as it is (a casual explanation).
2. There are many universes. We inhabit one that has the correct characteristics for evolution and for life (a selective explanation).
3. The universe is given a direction, the goal of which is to create life (a teleological or purpose-oriented explanation)."

I would say that the coincidences do not need explanation, for that is the nature of probability, and as pointed out earlier, "the observed cosmic and biological developments are the a priori condition for the possibility of cognition". Alternatively, as Stephen Jay Gould is quoted in another essay:

"something has to happen, even if any particular 'something' must stun us by its improbability. We could look at any outcome and say, 'Ain't it amazing. If the laws of nature had been set up just a tad differently, we woudln't have this kind of universe at all.'"

"Improvable nature?" by John Hedley Brooke:

"In a memorable aphorism [Darwin] wrote that the contented face of Nature is but a mask. The unmasking was a staggering experience because one was brought face to face with the enormour extent of extinction. Once unmasked, what were Nature's imperfections? For one thing, the sheer volume of pain and suffering... Nature could be repugnant as well as diseased. The revulsion Darwin experienced when thinking of the egg-laying habits of the Ichneumonidae is well known. Such behaviour meant a gruesome death for the caterpillar in whose body the eggs would hatch. This was one of the 'horridly cruel' works of Nature on which a 'devil's chaplain' might write.

The instability of Nature was arguably another imperfection. During the Beagle voyage, Darwin witnessed the devastating effects of an earthquake. Would Paley's natural theology have been quite so plausible if England had been ravaged by such disturbances?"

I'm sure Paley would have found a way to reason backwards from his a priori conclusion to rationalise England being ravaged by an earthquake, and reconcile it with his Natural Theology.


Anyhow, my next read is definitely going to be less dry and technical, for today I collected the book I bought from Amazon.com:

Atheism: The Case Against God
George H. Smith

"Does a god exist? This question has undoubtedly been asked, in one form or another, since man has had the ability to communicate. . . Thousands of volumes have been written on the subject of a god, and the vast majority have answered the questions with a resounding 'Yes!'"

"You are about to read a minority viewpoint." With this intriguing introduction, George H. Smith sets out to demolish what he considers the most widespread and destructive of all the myths devised by man - the concept of a supreme being. With painstaking scholarship and rigorous arguments, Mr. Smith examines, dissects, and refutes the myriad "proofs" offered by theists - the defenses of sophisticated, professional theologians, as well as the average religious layman. He explores the historical and psychological havoc wrought by religion in general - and concludes that religious belief cannot have any place in the life of modern, rational man.

"It is not my purpose to convert people to atheism . . . (but to) demonstrate that the belief in God is irrational to the point of absurdity. If a person wishes to continue believing in a god, that is his prerogative, but he can no longer excuse his belief in the name of reason and moral necessity."

"Should be taken seriously by Christian theologians..." - The Christian Century

". . . welcome, hard-hitting." Publishers Weekly


Perhaps one day I will get the other books in the Skeptics Bookshelf series.

Latest completed project:

Shaw vs van Swieten: A comparison of the lyrics in Robert Shaw's take on Haydn's Creation with the original's

Nick Jones notes, in the booklet accompanying Telarc's 2 CD release of Robert Shaw's version of Haydn's Creation (with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Chorus), that the English libretto prepared by Baron van Swieten in parallel with the German version was:

"weak, straining with over-flowery language and convoluted word order to match the poetry of Milton, and van Swieten's command of English was not nearly so good as his German. The resulting English version is often incomprehensible, at times downright ludicrous, speaking, for instance, of the 'flexible' tiger where 'supple' would be a happier choice; in the description of new-created man we find:

The large and arched front sublime
of wisdom deep declares the seat"

Thus, Shaw undertook to come up with a new translation:

"not only to repair the worst lapses of the published libretto, but also 'to unite Haydn's minutely picturesque musical language with the colorful and understandable English text which it deserves'"

Some, purists especially, might take issue with Shaw's rampant and liberal rewriting of the lyrics. It is not the mission of this page to evaluate the relative merits of Shaw's translation and the original, but merely to compare the two translations. I started on this page after failing to find Shaw's lyrics anywhere, and hope that this will be a useful resource for those who seek to compare the two librettos.

The Shaw lyrics are as printed in the booklet accompanying the CDs, and the original lyrics have been taken from a site at random (http://www.geocities.com/thedarkrequiem/bvscreation.html) and edited for spelling. They seem to be the lyrics that the Academy of Ancient Music under Christopher Hogwood used in its 1990 recording of the work; there probably exist no definitive set of lyrics, so if the version below does not concur with the one you might know, I do apologise.

Comments are welcome, at: gabrielseah[at]hotmail[dot]com or with the feedback form.