Bottled in Extreme Clarity

Good ol Hall n Oates blasting from design dept’s speakers…

When they insist on knowing my bliss
I tell them this
When they want to know what the reason is
I only smile when I lie, then I tell them whyyyyyy
(Because your kiss) your kiss is on my list
(Because your kiss) your kiss is on my list
Because your kiss is on my list of the best things in liiiiiiiife
(Because your kiss) your kiss is on my list
(Because your kiss) your kiss I can’t resist

Because I AM that old.

… found out this morn that the design dept. had lined up in front of admin to ask for aspirins the whole of this month. Im needing one right about now.

Moving on…. one day L (a visiting, working “expat”) had come up to me to ask if i tot Zeta Bar’s live-in band’s lead singer was hot. Id seen him gyrating and doing stuff on stage to most of the females’ delight. I, for one thought it was a change from seeing the female singers usually doing it. He was living it up more than his female song partner on stage, too.

I replied, “He behaves hot, but dont know if he’s really hot-lar.”

L was silent. Then she said… “She goes to gym with me, and one day she asked me to join yoga with her…”

Oops.

L adds, “Yoga?” She makes a face. “All the guys who are drooling over her said it was the biggest mistake of my life.”

Last nite’s Zeta Bar had a totally different crowd, guys and gals in evening wear cos of the hotel function earlier upstairs. The three familiar girl faces i usually see at the bar, were missing. And we even changed from our usual spot… instead of at the back of the bar, we moved a little up front where there was a bird’s eye view of the whole place. And comfortably settled to cuci mata, particularly one with a magnificent nose whose profile we could not stop staring at.

One birthday was even celebrated… and at the end of the night we could chat with birthday boy, L’s friend and another in the logistics business etc etc….. some opinions were made thereon. Its all funny when I think about it.

Now, i remember why i hate talking in bars (maybe the headache and trying to keep from lolling over didnt help). The noisy racuous Hoe House crowd is no different from that of an upmarket bar… Hoe House crowd is honest about the whole thing cos they take it for granted. Bars like Zeta just want to be more classy about it.

Here’s an entry I did near a year ago… basically how i view the whole thing:

SOCIAL ETIQUETTE - the unconventional version

Do you find yourself a relatively unfriendly person? Do you roll your eyes when it comes to having to bond with people or even talk to them about family, work, mutual friends, personal matters or the meaning of life?

Here are some ways you can try to get through it… you may even find that its not as un-fun as you think…
First of all, why am i writing this? For the very reason that I am that exact same person.

However, hanging out with the people that I have as well as 31 years of experience has given me a certain skew of life. I shall try to impart as much as I can for you to decide what you think best suits you and your situation.

1. Socialising is much like beer drinking - you drink, get high and laugh dementedly. The aim is to amuse yourself. But somewhere along the line, you may discover that you’d like the others in the group to feel comfortable and to also laugh along with you. Its nice to be able to contribute to a situation where everyone is having a good time.

2. If you find that you are not in the mood to laugh or are in fact, in a bad mood…, keep your shit together and out of the way. The others can have a good time, without your shit spilling all over into the scene.

3. Laugh at yourself - you wont see these people again. Or rather, you dont see them all the time and what they think about you doesnt really matter as long as you achieve #1 and the feel-good high that comes about as a result. I have an Uncle to owe for introducing me to the concept of, “Nobody earns your living but you. They dont put clothes on your back, they dont put food on your table, but you do. I am what I am, and I dont need them to accept me.” Thank you, Uncle.

General rules to follow if there are non-locals on the scene (doesnt always apply, there are pleasant exceptions to the general rule) - everybody else who arent M’sians will be better drinkers than you (unless you are Indian or Jason or Jon or Nigel etc).

Find your limit, and stick to it. The aim is to achieve a pleasant high without the raging hangover the next day.
- Keep an open mind. It takes all sorts to make the world that we live in today. You arent the only one inhabiting this planet and what you dont know (or may know) about the person next to you, is not your concern. Offer courtesy always, help if it is needed but until then, you are as different to them as they are to you. -
Never take things for granted - before plunging into a social situation, clear your head of perceptions. Make no assumptions. Something new and different is happening all the time, and there are new things to be discovered. (This is getting getting a little bit tough to maintain, for me. Waiting for a miracle.)
- Screw the details - your life is your own with the people who matter most to you. You have done your part to society by being considerate and respectful, so contentedly make your exit and get on with your world.

babyboo: Dadda keeps me booger-free!!!

First birthday and still orange-haired…. sniff…. getting all mushy now…

All i saw in the invite was Mines City Resort… how was i to know Palace of Golden Horsies is within Mines City as well, hello? The real venue didnt register (was in blur mode), so off i went happily to Mines and basically spent half an hour running around the Mines area - convention center, the hotel the shopping area, before got confirmation it IS at Golden Horses.

Took a cab which costed an exorbitant RM20 - curses!

Got to the event which was nowhere near even starting….so off they ushered us to lunch because VVVIPs were nowhere nearby.

Finished lunch then fidgeted again. It was taking too damn long…and was about to get out of there when caught up with an industry veteran who is leaving to work in Spore. How does one manage the Singapore cost of living? Dollar for dollar its still ok. Its not as bad as many would think.

This isnt the only move… lots more of other movements are happening in the industry, as well. Things sure wont be the same around here.

Still experiencing stress pangs…. have been skivving off ciggy after ciggy from the design dept… the other day kicking the football around and throwing the stress ball here and there… the end is nowhere in sight.

Excerpt from http://yodel.yahoo.com/2006/11/16/bix-joins-yahoos-social-media-mix/

The social media phenomenon is fed by human needs for self-expression, feedback, generosity, and, to some degree, good old-fashioned voyeurism. Today, we add more food to Yahoo!’s social media menu: Bix, a budding social media service that almost anyone can use to create, enter, and judge a contest. If you’re an American Idol fan, think of it as an opportunity to play the role of a Fox producer, a contestant, and Simon Cowell.

Where is all this heading to???

… looking thru channels and came upon one which may seem hi-tech and interesting at the time it was made. Was going to dismiss it but saw who was starring in it - a very young Angelina Jolie.
How did that girl manage to change her voice since all that time? She’s about one of the only few females who actually looks better when she gets older too. Awesome.

November already…. almost the end of another year and Im tempted to remark the same old same old that happens around this time of the year…. “Time flies by so fast”. But what a year it has been.

Around this time last year, too i had started this blog. It was probably one of the more useful things Ive done for myself. Even though its opened up a few cans of worms, but its mostly been all good. And when I cant truly rant here, I do it somewhere else, and I have to say it has been more constructive than anywhere else.
Funnily i’ve also started a sort of photo blog. For all the times when pics are more effective than words, nothing beats dumping dozens of pics onto a website for peeps to see it for themselves.

Heard a funny convo today… sis was talking to nephew about his brother.
“If i can only buy one X’mas present, who shall i buy it for?”
“Buy it for di di…no, no….buy it for me!”
“But why for you and not di di?”
“He doesnt really care about presents anyway…..”

Speaking of brothers, have started hitching rides to work with younger bro as he has started working again.
There’s nothing worse on the nerves that early in the morning, than to have to hear him cuss and swear at other drivers.
I learnt a lot… as well as how dead set he is in his ways.

At the traffic lights, vehicles were turning to the left but he was set on waiting in queue to take the route straight ahead.
“Why are you going this way?”
“Less traffic lights.”

I can SWEAR that the left turn, would save him from a narrow and winding route as well as at least 5 mins. But he refuses to budge.
Sometimes i suggest another route…but he absolutely refuses to listen, and I know it as i see him quietly processing the way to his favourite and most travelled path - Kerinchi Link.

He loves Kerinchi Link. Its this long almost deserted road of who knows how many kilometres and he takes to it like a duck to water… pressing on the oil and i think secretly enjoying the soft purr of the engine as his car speeds unimpeded on the highway. He loves the sense of control.

I also think he enjoys some traffic jams. After swerving here and there and cussing drivers, he seems to know when a jam will start and takes out the ciggies for a puff.

Saturday today…. i reckon tomorrow will be a full day. Work is far from over.

Yesterday was a full house, events-wise and had to forego watching the Bond movie for the second time. For the record there were five separate vendor-sponsored screenings of Casino Royale the past three days, with more to come. No sign of Happy Feet yet.

Evening time, me and colleague had trudged our way to KL Sentral’s Showroom, The Loft to witness the 100 millionth Laser Jet celebration. By the time the night was over, I was having Mamee curry soup and expressing some opinions in not implicit terms at all. If i didnt experience over 6 years of it myself, i would never believe that anyone could be so egotistical, stubborn and so damn blinkered.

I seldom get along with girls and only a few I would term real friends.
Once in BKK, made the mistake of going with a group of girls to the night market. The shopping experience turned into one long nightmare as 2 hours dragged into three and then four. They would stop at every single stall there, pick an outfit, test it, try to get a concensus and if not move to the next outfit then next then next and most times even back to the first one!

I JUST DONT GET IT.

Drink friend herself said it, “The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world? It actually destroys it.”
I’m still buggered by last night (or rather this morning).

Only 4.30 and the day doesnt stop at six. Onward to Zouk later to see new machines.

GAH!

…da bomb, action-wise.

Caught something like the premiere to the latest Bond movie, Casino Royale…a lil upset that Happy Feet is premiering today as well, but most companies are sponsoring tix to Bond movie instead.

Anyway, the Bond movie opened up with a pretty thrilling chase sequence which maybe went on for about a full 20 mins…twas breathtaking watching the bad-guy cum bomb maker weave in and out, jump here and there, scale up and down a half-constructed building ala Mike Jordan, Jet Li and the probably with the help of very thin cables. Bond was in hot pursuit, always just a hair’s breadth away and trying his darndest to keep up (white men cant jump).

I highly recommend that part at least… its mostly action packed till about near the end when it all meanders to Bond’s romance with the customary Bond babe.

Though I have to add, the part where she drowns is pretty enthralling as well. To have all that water rush into her lungs, squeezing all the oxygen out of it.

Happy Feet, when? ……WHEN???

Not exactly sure what private alpha is… right before beta i guess. But anyways managed to get hands on an account courtesy of nice person…. cant wait to play with Wablet… hopefully next week lar… deadlines tomorrow.

Also, this morning:

Azza says: If you buy a notebook or desktop and declined to use the pre-installed Windows OS, you could call the manufacturer and get a refund on not using the OS… lol.. its in EULA fine-print.. lol
cat says: niiiiice
Azza says: but nobody reads the EULA
Azza: lol
cat says: shame
Azza says: i tell u.. even the vendors they themselves don’t know
cat says: the print too fine
Azza says: u should do a tip of the week
Azza says: especially those who intend to install linux on their notebooks
cat says: yea tip for oni one week and then after that how?
Azza says: find others lah, duh..
cat says:……………….

As soon as I read the EULA (which is gonna be never)

…thinking of Vista-ing your machine?

Good news if you are thinking to buy Windows XP Pro or Media Center Edition within the Nov, 2006 to Feb, 2007 time period… be sure to look out for free upgrade announcements on your favourite PC vendor website, on 15th November, 2006!!!

And check out your Gmail if you have it…. good new look with great new features…