Faye

The past few weeks have been so filled with Faye Wong songs that even Michelle has commented on it.

I used to be a huge fan of her music back in the 90's and had picked up all her albums in that period. It tailed off in the 00's as Faye herself slowed her musical career down but I've been revisiting her back catalogue recently.

While she has come up with some mainstream Hong Kong-style cantopop music early in her career, I find that the bits I like the most are when she eschewed convention and went her own way. That's when the stuff that she came up with was strong enough to stand on it's own and bear repeated listening decades after it was produced.

Soup's up!

One thing that Catriona has definitely picked up from her papa is a love for soup. This probably extends to fruit juices as well but it's really soup that's more likely to stir the taste buds.

Now, since we didn't consiously encourage her to like soup, we'll have to chalk this one up for Nature in the Nature vs Nurture debate.

And look ! She's all dressed up and ready for school. Teenagers these days .....

Only a Farm Kid would say This ....

When you're from the country ~ you look at things a little differently...

A Montana rancher got in his pickup and drove to a neighboring ranch and knocked at the door. A young boy, about 9, opened the door "Is your Dad home?" the rancher asked.

"No sir, he isn't," the boy replied. "He went into town."

"Well," said the rancher, "Is your Mother here?"

"No sir, she's not here either. She went into town with Dad."

"How about your brother, Howard? Is he here?"

"No sir, He went with Mom and Dad."

The rancher stood there for a few minutes, shifting from one foot to the other and mumbling to himself.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" the boy asked politely. "I know where all the tools are, if you want to borrow one. Or maybe I could take a message for Dad."

"Well," said the rancher uncomfortably, "I really wanted to talk to your Dad. It's about your brother Howard getting my daughter, Suzie, pregnant."'

The boy considered for a moment. "You would have to talk to Pa about that", he finally conceded. "If it helps you any, I know that Pa charges $500 for the bull and $50 for the hog, but I really don't know how much he gets for Howard."

The mind boggles ....

but it's funny.

Gaya mesti ada...

Came across this website which is basically just photos of people wearing fashionable clothes on the street.

Not models or celebrities - just normal people. Like you. Like me.

Here's a sample :

What I like about it is that the photos posted are very good 'portrait' shots. Photos that I would love to have taken myself. Aahhhh....... wishful thinking.

The website : http://thesartorialist.blogspot.com/

additional shots for CNY

These photos are from Michelle's brother who is still fooling around with his new Nikon.

We skipped the traffic jams this year...

Just got back from the Chinese New Year hiatus and am grateful once again for a safe journey AND a crime-free house to return to.

If it's true that a picture is worth a thousand words, then I've said a lot in this post.

@ Old Town LCCT before the outgoing flight

as usual with the girl, everything new is an experience to be enjoyed

the heat wave was everywhere

but the light made for some pretty good photos

the shadows turned out alright too

this swing was lovely

Pop bottles - I don't think that they can be found in KL any more

even the local graffiti was artistic - I saw an elephant AND a cat here

This is neither Crouching Tiger nor Hidden Dragon. It's Howlin' Wolf.

cakes in bite-size pieces

breakfast

Richard of York gave battle in vain

Ludo - I haven't seen this played in a decade

I'm putting in a plug for Air Asia as because of Tony, everyone can fly

salute to Malaysia police

I found this in The Star front page yesterday, rightly capture the sentiment of Malaysian towards traffic police.

Proof that Catriona's picked up on adult behaviour

not quite Oliver Twist!

We sometimes ask Catriona to help out with simple household chores and, as you can see, she's getting the hang of it.

We've got the Roon

A glance at this Premier League goal scorers’ chart will show that allegations of Manchester United being too reliant on Wayne Rooney are very much justified.

2009/10 Leaders :	Premier League
PLAYER	GOALS
Wayne Rooney	21
Dimitar Berbatov	8
Antonio Valencia	5
Darren Fletcher	3
Michael Owen	2
Michael Carrick	2

Rooney’s scored more goals on his own than the other five players listed combined. While I'm sure that Sir Alex and the fans are very excited by Rooney's form, there is much to be concerned about in this situation.

For comparison, own goals account for 8 of United's 61 in the Premier League thus far - which is the same number as Berbatov and joint second behind Rooney.

On another note, if Nani’s ‘goal’ here is voted as United’s goal of the season, it would be one of the very, very, very rare occasions when an own goal is declared as goal of the season.

The truth

So for all those who think Catriona looks like Michelle, you have got it wrong.

It hasn't always been the case though.

The conclusion I can draw from this is not so much that Catriona's face is still changing but that Michelle and I look alike.

Goldilocks & the 3 Bears

There was a time when Goldilocks and the Three Bears was a regular read for Catriona, courtesy of a lovely 3-D book given by Aunty Audrey. It was a beautifully made book which I probably liked more than her.

Now, why do I bring this up ? Because that's the first thing I thought of when I saw this modern re-telling of a classic fairy tale.

Chicken Soup for the Beer Drinker

From the archives :

"Sometimes when I reflect back on all the beer I drink I feel shamed. Then I look into the glass and think about the workers in the brewery and all of their hopes and dreams. If I didn't drink this beer, they might be out of work and their dreams would be shattered. Then I say to myself, "It is better that I drink this beer and let their dreams come true than be selfish and worry about my liver." ~ Jack Handy

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"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day. " ~ Frank Sinatra

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"When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading." ~ Henny Youngman

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"24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not." ~ Stephen Wright

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"When we drink, we get drunk. When we get drunk, we fall asleep. When we fall asleep, we commit no sin. When we commit no sin, we go to heaven. Sooooo, let's all get drunk and go to heaven!" ~ Brian O'Rourke

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"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." ~ Benjamin Franklin

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"Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you that the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza." ~ Dave Barry

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BEER: HELPING UGLY PEOPLE HAVE S*E*X SINCE 3000 B.C.!!!

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Remember "I" before "E", except in Budweiser.

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To some it's a six-pack, to me it's a Support Group. Salvation in a can!

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And saving the beer for last, as explained by Cliff Clavin, of Cheers.

One afternoon at Cheers, Cliff Clavin was explaining the Buffalo Theory to his buddy Norm. Here's how it went :

"Well ya see, Norm, it's like this... A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Excessive intake of alcohol, as we know, kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine.

That's why you always feel smarter after a few beers."

Back in the old back yard

Just got back from a weekend in Penang where the bulk of it was spent at the USM Chess Open Team Event. Felt kinda weird playing again in a team that was trying to win something - it's been a really long time since that last happened.

Still, the team got the best spot that it could realistically achieve and I didn't totally embarrass myself so that counts as a pretty decent weekend. The medal became a toy for the girl, as usual.

Playing for OFA, affectionately known as the Old Folks Association

I did get Michelle to bring Catriona for her first sight of a chess hall. As far as she was concerned, it was just a lot of toys in the room.

She was much more interested in the beach where she sold sea shells by the sea shore.