So, the days of intermittent internet connection are still upon this household. The situation hasn’t gotten worse, but that is hardly any cause for joy because it sure ain’t getting better fast enough. Getting cut off every 3-5 minutes is not fun, nor is it an expected feature of our subscription. Our fingers sure don’t need the exercise that we have so patiently endured for the past four days, when we have to perpetually keep an eye on the connection status icon so that when it starts to blink again, we get a window of 2 minutes to refresh all our dead tabs before the connection dies again. So, dear Starhub, I sure don’t need PR-ish words to make me feel better. All I need and want from you, right from the start (it’s like you haven’t been listening!) is a fast and stable connection that I pay for every month.
In better news, my ibook which I gave up for dead in 2005 is once again alive! Thanks to a kind, generous, brilliant and regal friend who helped to swap a new hard disk and reinstall the OS. Woohoo. I think my cold war with this laptop is now officially over (yup, typing this from the relative comfort of my bed. Posture is all wrong but one night wouldn’t kill, I guess).
It is odd. I used to not like working on the laptop very much, but I am quite enjoying myself now. The screen is tiny (12″) and everything I dislike about the laptop has also been revived, but somehow this is a much better experience. Maybe it is enjoying the much privileged status of being a new-old toy. Maybe it’s got to do with the fact that I have another computer that I can go torture, should the need for more processing juice arise, but this is not bad for just doing light mindless tasks.
Went for a Film Fest screening yesterday afternoon. Laila’s Birthday was a great show. A light-hearted show set in much less cheerful circumstances, and there is much optimism even when the propensity for the opposite seems to rear its head at every turn (and for good reason too).
(But dear lady who was sitting next to me and yammering randomly through the entire show: Shut up, please. No one really cares for your observations. He’s having a nervous breakdown? We aren’t blind, and we aren’t deaf. If your friend happens to possess the emotional and intellectual capacity of a walnut, knowing that there is illy coffee in Palestine won’t do her much good. Really, that’s his taxi? Gee, didn’t see that coming. Actually, you know what, I think your friend wanted you to keep quiet too. You are the pistachio.)
A Million Little Pictures:
During the summer of 2009, one thousand artists from around the world will document their lives in 24 frames using a simple disposable camera with a flash.
On September 25th, 2009, an exhibition housing over 24,000 photographs will be constructed to take you on an adventure through the lives of these thousand artists.
Sounds fun.
9 Comments »
April 21, 2009 @ 01:41
ahh! i wanted to catch ‘laila’s birthday’ but the thought of going out on a sunday is scary.
oh, that reminds me! someone i know who works for the film fest has 10 complimentary tickets to tues’s 7:15pm screening of “xiao shu’s going home” and wed’s 7:15pm screening of fish eyes. you want? i can probably ask to reserve for you. but i’m not sure if there are any more tickets…
ohx2! i was looking for stuff on ‘a wild sheep chase’. then came upon ‘hear the wind sing’ and ‘pinball, 1973′. 2 books that came before ‘a wild sheep chase’ which are part of the ‘trilogy of the rat’ series. anyway, these 2 are so hard to find apparently but some kind souls managed to put up pdf copies (yay for internet!). just thought you might like that. i know i would cos i need to know about the rat. strangely, now that i’m rereading, i don’t know why i have no recollection of the plot in ‘a wild sheep chase’…
i’m a little too active at this time of the night. ha! can’t be help… heh…
April 21, 2009 @ 01:46
sorry, forgot the links…
pinball, 1973: http://www.themillions.com/2007/05/rare-treat-for-murakami-fans-pinball.html
hear the wind sing (you gotta sign up though but it’s free and i think it’s a pretty cool site): http://www.scribd.com/doc/13062180/Haruki-Murakami-Hear-the-Wind-Sing
April 21, 2009 @ 08:52
haha, yeah, sundays are horrible in town. i wouldnt had gone but i was supposed to also see ‘wendy and lucy’ that day (though the screening got postponed). bah, i doubt i can make it for the screenings today and tomorrow though. i have ‘wendy’ tomorrow, heh.
thanks for the links! damn, now i want to just stay home and read those stories. i bought ‘vintage murakami’ yesterday. a little silly i guess, since it doesnt have anything that is not already published. re: forgetting plots. isnt that good (kinda, though i would probably hate it)? it is like reading it for the first time
April 21, 2009 @ 10:58
‘wendy and lucy’!! i think maybe i will see if i can go for the 2nd screening. i don’t know yet. too lazy to step out and it’s friday night! plus, i think sistic is acting out again.
so far i’ve only seen one film at the film fest (complimentary tickets!) and it was only so-so. i can never look at the listings from the website. i need the programme booklet. the word is ‘need’ or else i cannot get the idea of the films in my head. i only got the booklet last thurs…
April 21, 2009 @ 12:05
no, i know just what you mean! because i need the booklet too. i cant digest the info from the site. too many to go through and i like to just take my time leafing through the booklet and reading the synopsis.
sistic is a cow.
April 21, 2009 @ 21:44
good to hear you are enjoying yourself, despite a crappy internet connection. there seems to be a lot of adjectives applied to the friend who saved the ibook, but hey, one who saves a mac is a good man.
now reading dance dance dance. a bit late into the game, eh? heh. suddenly remember the time i mailed kundera (?) to you. life is random. okay, i am talking too much.
April 22, 2009 @ 00:35
haha, my internet connection is back! they changed the modem (apparently, its been phased out and couldnt handle our plan, wtf!). the mac-saver sometimes reads this blog (when i force the link on him) so i thought it wise to shower extravagant praise just in case.
hmm kundera. damnit, i vaguely remember this, but my memory is fuzzy (just like all his books that i’ve read..). how are you liking ‘dance’ so far? are we fueling murakami book sales in singapore? heh!
April 22, 2009 @ 15:07
but that local only connection gets to me. although i suppose it is possible that those non-local sites are suffering from connection problems? wah that time i saw sta-hub’s standard PR email, I wanted to bash my head against the wall.
i am liking dance dance dance so far. a bit out of the world, but more acceptable than elephant. hee.
April 24, 2009 @ 00:52
yeah, im still getting ‘local only’ connections quite regularly. arghs. oh well, am just happy (for now) to get a stable connection.
enjoy DDD! i thought it was surprisingly down-to-earth (for him lah). i wonder if he will write another sequel to this.