I am of the opinion that cute monkeys exist only in cartoons and figments of people's imaginations.

Don't like monkeys. Bleagh. Besides, how often do you see a primate softtoy?

*Bleaghs somemore*.

:P

Chao! Io vado a casa! ('hello. i'm back home' in italian)

Anyways, i'll try my best to update the blog. will be somewhat busy.

Left my laptop at the bangalore airport. Thank goodness my mom's still there. The keyboard i'm currently using has a faulty spacebar which intermittently refuses to work or coughs up a double space. Not conducive to the cathartic process that is blogging.

Might just want to post pictures when my laptop returns (hopefully!). But you know my ambivalence towards uploading shots of trips and whatnot...

Oh well :) Silly keyboard!

Something from last year:

Source: Reuters

Airline sacrifices goats to appease sky god

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Officials at Nepal's state-run airline have sacrificed two goats to appease Akash Bhairab, the Hindu sky god, following technical problems with one of its Boeing 757 aircraft, the carrier said Tuesday.

Nepal Airlines, which has two Boeing aircraft, has had to suspend some services in recent weeks due the problem.

The goats were sacrificed in front of the troublesome aircraft Sunday at Nepal's only international airport in Kathmandu in accordance with Hindu traditions, an official said.

"The snag in the plane has now been fixed and the aircraft has resumed its flights," said Raju K.C., a senior airline official, without explaining what the problem had been.

Local media last week blamed the company's woes on an electrical fault. The carrier runs international flights to five cities in Asia.

It is common in Nepal to sacrifice animals like goats and buffaloes to appease different Hindu deities.

Source: NY Times

Well, this speech is sort of a representation of the goals and ideals of the Obama-presidency, in the way both are steeped in historical precedence, as the media has been having it. Well, his campaign was built on the bedrock of 'change' but going through the speech, especially with the past 8 years in one's head, one can't help but get the impression that the new commander-in-chief sounds a bit too idealistic. Too much NATO, too little shock-and-awe with MAD detente. We all understand President Obama has to cultivate a culture and tradition about the 44th presidency, but hopefully, he goes straight on straight down to business starting tomorrow.

Still, in all sincerity, God bless the America and the new President.

Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address

Following is the transcript of President Barack Obama’s Inaugural Address, as transcribed by CQ Transcriptions:

PRESIDENT BARACK Thank you. Thank you.

CROWD: Obama! Obama! Obama! Obama!

My fellow citizens: I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors.

I thank President Bush for his service to our nation...

(APPLAUSE)

Hmmmm, if i had a spot of cash, i'd watch the UK market.

Housing prices have gone south, losing anything from 10 to 30% (generally) of the previous high. Well, a discount might not necessarily represent the true value of a property. Well, as a n00b all i can say is that it would be interesting to monitor how low housing prices go and if there are bargains (i.e. selling under a property's value) to be made.

And don't forget the currency exchange factor. The pound is trading at 2.19 to the singapore dollar when i check last night, down from 2.27 in early december. This is roughly a third down from the 3.2, 3.3 highs last year.

Imagine if you bought a prime property (let's say, in central london. property in prime locations nearly always have buyers. for the same price, i'd choose a small apartment in central london as opposed to a bungalow in a village somewhere) now when the pound and uk housing prices are low, and then wait for the market to go up again, and together with it, the exchange rate. That would be quite some thing.

Ah well, pity my n00bness.

Well, my current msn nick is just a first-thought response to a friend's picture in heart thingamajig nick:

'If you were in my heart, you'd be an embolus.'

I'm so embarrassed at the way my smarts are coming across.

I'm sure quite a number of locals would have read the ST's article on MINDEF's recruitment drive to fill '2 000 positions'.

Let me just try to couch this in as neutral a manner as possible.

Well, aside from the considerable few/many who eagerly anticipate, in their teens, two years of servitude, then serve that decade (including reservice) with a smile and the knowledge it's the best thing that's ever happened, before going on to retire and miss the annual mandatory holiday from civil life...

...most readers of the article would, under first impressions, rightly assume that it wouldn't be quite so difficult considering nearly half the population has interned with the organisation in various branches and divisions and whatnot. The implications are for you to contemplate.

However, this does come as a surprise of sorts, i'd suppose.

Comeon, afterall, since when did the army ever fall short of personnel and productivity goals? :)

Article: Straits Times (The complete article's in the newspaper itself)

Here's a beautiful duet i found on youtube.

No idea what the song means, but it's an endearing performance nonetheless.

YouTube -?? ???????

I think i'm getting addicted to deadlifting.

There's a strange allure to it. Like a game of tetris.

I did a light set of deadlifting with my chest workout (can't wait to free bench again once pip or zh become available) today: 80kg X 10     110kg X 6     125kg X 3

Actually, i deadlifted partly because i had just bought a weightlifting belt earlier in the afternoon from the royal sporting house. New stock still hasn't arrived since the last time i asked several months back. Quite fortunate to have spotted it as it was the last piece...

Ben soh could apparently do 180kg X 5, which frankly, is quite scary. At 120, the bar starts to bend noticeably. I wonder what it would be like at 180.

The 125kg bar:

Hello, my apologies for not blogging recently. My already-questionable grasp of the english language has been steadily deteriorating, and i'm decomposing into a mindless git. And besides, i've been very busy.

Will try to start posting stuff again.