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this guy’s foot smells like feet
Last Tuesday, if you were lucky enough to count yourself among the decision makers of the world or at least those who report on them you would’ve seen me at the IMF/ World Bank event at the Esplanade. Alternatively of course, you could’ve just watched Mediacorp news and seen me hanging around in the background, doing something stupid no doubt.
It’s not actually in my job description, but one of my clients was involved with the event and thus for most of the evening I acted as a token representative of the Malay race (okay there were plenty of other Malays there, I just had to point out that being a typical Singaporean thing the event revolved around food and was neatly divided into sections for Chinese, Malays, Indians and Others) and had to serve gado gado to the delegates. It was fun in that it kept me on my feet and paid, although Bono wasn’t there unfortunately. I did get to see Eunice Olsen and V.Lo (ho ho) representing for all the wonderful Eurasian women in this country, and I saw Jearina there as well, being her lovely self and doing her best to sell salad which unfortunately really doesn’t scream Uniquely Singapore. She mentioned some Yemeni men proposing to her and I have to wonder why nobody asked to marry me, or even why I can’t get my mack on.
The evening ended with a fireworks display and while it’s always fun to see things exploding I think I’m jaded by the whole deal.
On another note, my feet hurt like hell that day. I spent a lot of time on my feet, it’s true, but mostly I blame my Doc Martens. They hurt when I got them years ago, and they hurt now. I wore two pairs of socks (ankle socks underneath a normal pair) just to avoid the blisters that normally come when I wear them. I have two pairs of ankle high Doc Martens which I’ve had for years, one black and one brown, old enough that I’ve had them since the days when all Doc Martens were made in the UK. The brown ones are wonderfully worn in and they’ve never hurt my feet, but I can’t wear them as dress shoes. The black ones are newer (relatively) and I can wear them as dress shoes but they’ve always hurt. I’ve been looking to replace them recently and noticed a decent pair of ankle high Hush Puppies which I’ve tried and are thankfully comfortable. They’re a little on the pricey side considering I’m trying to be thrifty, and I’m still shopping around but for comfort’s sake I’d say those were pretty good.
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Farah Adibah (yes, the name change has been confirmed) has been sick for awhile now. She’s still her active self, but yesterday she had a temperature and had lots of phlegm and didn’t sleep or eat well. God willing the medication helps. I’d like to say I love her very much and if you care to it would be nice if you’d say a prayer and/or send good thoughts her way.
Peace.
Lupe Fiasco - Food & Liquor
Lupe Fiasco - I Gotcha
Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor dropped 19th September. I haven’t seen it anywhere yet, but check him out he’s dope. The beat the Neptunes gave him for this one sounds a little like the Nina Simone keyboards Kanye sampled for Kweli’s “Get By” (which I’m sure he reused for John Legend’s “Used to Love You”) but maybe it’s the staccato (I’m sure I’m using the right term, but it’s been awhile so correct me if I’m wrong…maybe “stabs” in the popular hip-hop vernacular is more accurate) keyboards that make it sound like that. Lupe still sounds fresh on it though.
Lupe Fiasco - Daydreamin’ (featuring Jill Scott)
The lovely Jilly from Philly on the track.
MTV is reporting that Lupe is out of commission with strep throat though, and had to cancel a few dates touring. I’m guessing it’ll probably be awhile before he comes to these shores again,
Pitchfork review: Lupe Fiasco - Food & Liquor
And because so many people hit my blog looking for Lupe’s “Muhammad Walks”, here’s a link to a site that actually has the track for download (you can also find it on one of Lupe’s mixtapes, offhand I can’t remember which one though). It’s weird that less than a year ago, I first heard about Lupe when some people on Okayplayer were saying Kanye bit the idea for his Diamonds remix (the “conscious” one) from Lupe’s reworking of the original and nobody knew who Lupe was and now he’s making magazine covers left and right.
Technorati Tags: lupe fiasco, food & liquor
field trip
Last Wednesday had lunch with Kim at Eatzi’s Place in Simei, which is basically Jack’s Place, but rebranded as a halal eatery. The set lunch menu isn’t bad for the prices, although the grilled chicken thing I had was essentially a chicken chop. A good one, though. We talked about a whole bunch of stuff, and she talked about the stuff she’s doing with Kerry (quote not to be taken out of context) for ACRES. She found out a whole lot of things, like how badly the zoo (the Singapore Zoo, mind you) treated its performing animals before pressure was placed on it to do otherwise, how poorly prepared even a government body like the AVA can be and bear fighting in Japanese zoos. Some of it led me to question some of my assumptions, but I think that’s a good thing. A healthy sense of skepticism is necessary sometimes.
Anyway, we went to the Asian Civilisations Museum at Empress Place. Kim is sadly still looking for a good home a job and with the frankly absurd way the school was basically trying to strong arm her she’s applied for a dozen other things, including a spot at the ACM. I mean, I keep telling her that Hooters is always looking for people, but does she listen? Nooo.
and what will i wear to the prom?
Big day at work today.
And I get two pimples.
Now Archie will never ask me to the dance!
Mos Def arrested outside MTV VMAs
Props to Mos Def for doing a show for the people, but even though I still pull out The New Danger once in awhile nothing he’s done on that album or most of his work since then moves me the way anything on Black Star or Black on Both Sides did, or anything else recorded around that time for that matter. The song he’s performing in the video is Katrina Clap by the way, Mos Def’s protest song about the piss poor government response in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It’s based off the instrumental to Juvenile’s Nolia Clap and it’s mixtape fodder basically. Hurricane Katrina hit last year on the same night as the VMA’s which explains Mos’ timing.
I might consider getting Tru3 Magic (the upcoming Mos Def album) but I’ll probably check out the reviews first before I do. I’m far more interested in hearing what Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor is going to sound like.
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I’ve never laughed harder at a thread on a forum than I did at this one.
Technorati Tags: mos def, lupe fiasco, jay-z
turning that frown upside down
“How did difference become a disease?”
Fugazi - The Argument
I had wanted to post a link to the 400 Frowns page, which is a symbolic show of resistance towards the IMF/ World Bank agenda but the situation’s changed slightly.
Singaporean activist arrested
Singapore police probe three for IMF protest plan
Maybe there’s a point in arguing that the vast majority of protests are non-violent and that the reason why things like the black bloc in Seattle 1999 is the same reason why someone choosing to blow himself up makes the news rather than someone sitting at home readin the Qur’an. That people who sit around talking rationally rarely make the news unless they’re already in seats of power, in which case rationalism makes little difference. A reason in pointing out that a plurality of opinions offers people the information necessary to build a progressive society (“happiness, prosperity and progress“).
I’m not sure I see it anymore.
UPDATE:
Singapore Police Force Media Release: Three Singapore men providing statements
Not arrested.
is it better to burn out, fade away or become a Broadway musical?
Of all things, there’s now a High Fidelity musical. Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity was one of those great stories where the movie made several noticable changes from the book (most notably of course the change in location from Hornby’s London to Cusack’s Chicago) without actually losing too much in the process.
Can you tell I’m a fan?
However, it seems unlikely to translate very well to a musical form least of all because it sacrifices the rock roots of both Hornby and Cusack for typical musical theatricality. The songs simply make no sense within the context of it being about an indie vinyl store owner. I doubt I’ll ever get the chance to actually watch this (not that I expect it’ll play for very long) since there aren’t any more trips to New York on the horizon, but I guess you never know. Essentially I’m not sure they “get” the appeal of the story but I’m not a naysayer.
At least the lead (no word on whether he’ll playing Rob Fleming or Rob Gordon though) has no illusions on his indie cred.
What music do you like?
I’ve seen Rush, like, seven times.No indie cred, then.
No indie cred. Correct.Have you studied the clerks at Other Music?
You mean, what other music do I like?No, I meant Other Music, the store.
Oh, other music stores?
…and…
Who’s your audience?
Nick Hornby fans, though I guarantee they’ll think, I’m going to hate this. And that’s cool. I’m just gonna do my shit and hope that I have work for a couple of years.
Other Music’s an excellent store by the way, you should check it out if you’re ever in New York City. Once I’m done with Pynchon’s The Crying of Lot 49 (required reading… I don’t get it yet) I think I might just read High Fidelity again. Of course, I’ve got a whole bunch of books on my shelves that I either want or need to read that I haven’t done so. Perdido Street Station I’m still in the middle of, when I last left the pace had just picked up. It seems interesting but it really takes its time to build up the novel’s world and get to the action.
High Fidelity the Musical on Broadway - Official website
Stereogum - High Fidelity: The Musical
dsng.net - High Fidelity as a musical
Q&A with High Fidelity actor Will Chase
Technorati Tags: high fidelity, musical, nick hornby, john cusack, will chase
household of three
Watching Grey’s Anatomy does anybody think it’s kind of strange how much alike Katherine Heigl and Sara Ramirez look like each other? Maybe it’s just me.
*cue “Let’s Get It On”*
Technorati Tags: grey’s anatomy, katherine heigl, sara ramirez
Rock Star: Supernova - The Penultimate review
Ryan Star - Back of your Car
Truth be told, I’m actually kind of glad Ryan Star is gone from the competition. I don’t think he would’ve made a nice fit with Supernova and besides that, as talented as these guys are their songs kinda suck (I’m talking about Supernova of course). I’m not sure who told Gilby Clarke, Jason Newsted and Tommy Lee that they could write lyrics but I haven’t been particularly impressed with the results so far. I wish they’d just give the contestants instrumentals and let them write the lyrics for the originals like they do in the songwriting clinic. I’m sure Ryan Star will benefit from the publicity he’s gained from the TV show and I wish him all the best. He probably could afford to be a bit more loose and natural onstage, but he’s a pretty good songwriter, a decent voice, and he knows how to play to the audience. I’m sure he’ll be making Billboard again.
I think he would’ve gotten the encore a third time for his original but the producers had chosen instead to go with showcasing Dilana’s mistakes not once but twice on the elimination round. There’s probably a good chance that they did in fact choose to eliminate Ryan rather than Storm or Dilana for the sake of political correctness, but I stand by my opinion that Ryan’s style wouldn’t have gelled very well with these 80s rockers.
