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2008 round-up

Bet you thought i had abandoned this blog. Been meaning to post, but somehow never got around to it. Will make more of an effort for 2009. In fact, planning to leave work before sunset and have more time for gym, dance, charity and friends. Work life balance, eh. Anyway, here's my 2008 compilation reflecting what i've been doing/liking/experiencing over the past year:

1. Alone In Kyoto / AIR [Trip to Japan in November. ok, so i didn't go to Kyoto, but Tokyo is an anagram of Kyoto, hehe.]
2. Mansard Roof / Vampire Weekend [funky african-style group from columbia uni - check it out]
3. Mamma Mia / ABBA [loved the musical, and the movie was so kitsch it was good. where else can you see colin firth and pierce brosnan singing and dancing?]
4. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger / Daft Punk [mainly for cool youtube video, see: http://ie.youtube.com/watch?v=K2cYWfq--Nw. it takes a while to start, so hang in there]
5. One Way Or Another / Blondie [Veronica Mars sang it and i play it on Guitar Hero]
6. The Rip / Portishead [Portishead is back!!!! their third album is worth the wait]
7. White Winter Hymnal / Fleet Foxes [obligatory dave-influenced track - gets stuck in your head after a while]
8. Recipe For Love / Harry Connick Jr [Ok, he didn't sing this during the concert, but it's one of my fave tunes from him]
9. Leaving On a Jetplane / Chantal Kreviazuk [For all the travelling i did - Adelaide in Feb, Michigan in April, Denver in June and Japan in November]
10. Cantelowes / Toumani Diabaté [Fantastic fingerwork, would love him at DFP]
11. Gypsy / Jesse Cook [one of my first picks for DFP]
12. Into the West / Annie Lennox/London Philharmonic Orchestra [Lord of the Rings concerts ended our season with a bang]
13. Fix You / Coldplay [Wonderful rendition in 'Young at Heart', a documentary about an octogenarian choral group]
14. If I Were A Boy / Beyoncé [Relatively late discovery, like the lyrics]
15. Inní mér syngur vitleysingur / Sigur Rós [the Icelandic band does happy with style]
16. Somewhere Beyond the Sea / Frank Sinatra [Finally made it to Sipadan for end of the year diving]
17. Anyone Else But You / The Moldy Peaches [Sarcastic yet sweet movie, soundtrack rocks]

Let me know if you want one.

pp pulling power

ouch! why would anyone want to pull a buss with their p*nis? check out the female driver's face in the bus...

two for the price of one

adulterers beware!

a note of caution for my sister, the new Michiganese.

dying for a wii

a morbidly funny story in today's Sun.

limelight

it's not every day i get a mention in the papers, so it was nice for my friend in press places to slip one in. see if u can find it.

bodek, the new movie

a take on borat by satirist, amir muhammad in yestereday's NST

taipei 'thing

Wonder how they 'tampered' the female mountain god?

emoticon-less

been guilty about not posting, so will fill the void with the ever hilarious amir muhammad. i always enjoy reading his thursday satire column in the nst and today's had me rolling in laughter.

as an occasional blogger and who rarely uses emoticons, i wonder how long it will take for MALAS to get on my case.

papa and me

next month, it will be 6 years since my father died. although physically absent, i often find myself thinking how much like him i am - a traveler, organiser, people-needy and always hungering for a new experience. his little habits and idiosyncrasies still haunt me - his qi gong at lake gardens, walking around the garden doing his breathing exercises, his frequent use of (lake club) napkins and his beloved radio.

for as long as i can remember, papa had his shortwave radio by his side - in the house, in the car, on the bog. you name it. his station of choice was the bbc- world service. we listened to 'Just a Minute' with Derek Nimmo and Kenneth Williams with glee, trying to catch a repetition, hesitation or deviation. however as we grew up, we dismissed his choice of entertainment, prefering Smash Hits and Top of the Pops. pretty soon, we tuned out the constant drone of his trusty black sony radio.

so i find it quite ironic that i have now adopted my dad's radio habit. Not with a short wave radio, but with my beloved ipod and the podcasts i have become addicted to. From Slate's Explainer to NPR's Brini Maxwell's Hint's for Gracious Living, and of course BBC Radio's NewsPod. Guess you're laughing at me now, huh, pops.

well happy anniversary, hope you know that we all miss you loads (hope your BBC radio signal is loud and clear). [click on the picture to see my dad - the only chinese there]