Maintaining this blog gives me an idea of the pressure that people who work in the creative industries have on a daily basis. Even for the naturally gifted, it is not everyday that the ideas flow like water from a tap. Some days there’d be momentary gushes, some days it’s a trickle and on some other days nothing would flow.
And now that I’m sick, I’m glad that I don’t work in the arts. Not only is one easily distracted or void of original thought, anything remotely inspiring has no effect whatsoever. I am, for all intents and purposes numb to everything around me.
I don’t laugh, I don’t cry, and I don’t react. All I care about is wanting to get out of this funk and feeling normal in mind and body again.
So I wonder how do the creative types cope when they are in my situation and they got a deadline? Do they steal or plagiarise? Or will they be lazy about it? These are the thoughts that hit me when I first heard on Triple J’s Hack program about the story of Virgin Mobile Australia using flickr photos in an ad campaign of theirs.
Legally they were entitled to use the creative-commons photos and they did provide links to the original flickr pages but ethically, it would have been nice if they had notified the photos’ owners about their use. What also complicates matters is the presence of third-parties (ie. faces of people) in some of the photos, who never consented for their likeness to be used commercially.
Bonus: for more stories of people and companies being caught copying and using others’ works without attribution, check out you thought we wouldn’t notice.
My brother Marvin next afternoon after the wedding in Penang, June 2007
The whole day today I wanted to crawl back into bed. Even as I drove away from the house, I wished I didn’t have to go to work. But as I’ve already taken two days off work this week, I felt obligated to show my face. It didn’t help that business is usually slower after the end of the financial year in June. So there I was, battling lethargy and body aches struggling to stay awake.
With ample free time and the Internet, I finally realised that I had a bad case of the flu and I also kicked myself for not going to the doctor when it first hit me. There are anti-viral drugs that would have nipped this in the bud. I decided to make a doctor’s appointment for Monday anyway - don’t know what good it will do this late because a flu usually runs its course out 7-10 days, but I’m hoping that it can be knocked off earlier. Even if it’s only a day or two earlier it’s better than nothing.
Until then I’m looking forward to two full days of sleeping. That’d be sooo nice.
We wade through the bad dates so that
we might be lucky enough to stumble onto a good one
(picture credit: Tombre @ stock.xchng)
It could be any kind of situation where two person could meet, but mostly where the first few encounters involve shallow chit-chat, alcohol consumption, attraction to their looks and maybe even a little dancing. Or it could be mostly virtual: numbers or email addresses were swapped early on, and flirty messaging ensued.
Then you decided to take it to the next level by going on a proper date where you’re both sober, where you see each other in brighter lights and you can hear each other speak properly. Suddenly all that mysterious and flirtatious fun you had before isn’t so mysterious or fun anymore. In a split second, you’ve changed your mind about the other person.
The polite thing to do would be to at least sit through the date, but then comes the tricky bit: how do you end the date without giving the other person hope of another one, but without being cruel and heartless about it?
Are there any other alternatives to saying, “I’ll call you” as a soft let-down? Do you sugar-coat it even more by saying, “Thanks I have a lovely time. We should do this again soon”? Or would that be giving the other person false hope? Another one that I’ve heard used is, “Give me a call sometime” which is of course, code for “please don’t”.
Out of the above, I’ve used “I’ll call you”. Think I deserved my dry-patch now?
And if you were the unfortunate person who got pre-dumped, how many ignored calls or messages would you allow before calling it quits? My limit is two. If the person is into you, he or she won’t be ignoring your calls and messages.
Human courtship, eh? Sometimes I wish we can skip it all and just get to the point. It’s hard enough to look for someone who you can start a relationship with. In between all the potentially good ones, you gotta wade through the ones who are maybes only - the ones where you have to be evil and be a totally cold bitch or bastard with.
The ones which will make you question yourself, “Who am I to be rejecting him/her?”
Too many questions. And I’m still sick so this is too much thinking for one night. But feel free to continue in the comments.
Jan Tik @ flickr
(via everystockphoto)I took a day off today because I’m sick and have been running a fever since this morning that wouldn’t go away. I’m getting chills and body aches. Paracetamol hasn’t worked in reducing the fever.
I’ve been drinking lotsa water and fluids including fruit juices and Gatorade. I’ve dunked my feet into a bucket of cold water, and throughout the day I’ve slept with a wet towel around my neck and on my forehead.
Is there anything else, any other home remedies that you can think of? Let me know. Otherwise, I’m hoping that the fever will run its course by tomorrow. If not, it’s another sick day. Can’t help it - I’m not going into the office where the air-conditioning will make me feel worse.
Oh, you know how they say grown men become the biggest sook when they get sick? Well, it’s true. I really admire how my mother can still cook and clean when she’s sick. Me, I can’t even type this without feeling sorry for myself (like it’s such hard work!!!).
Alrighty, see youse tomorrow. I need to crawl into bed now.
Picture from “White Men Asian Women, “A website celebrating the unique attraction, relationships love and sex between white gentlemen and Asian ladies.”(sic) Go on, click on the link. I dare ya.
Out at The Deen on Saturday night, I made small talk with two Aussie dudes who had wildly opposite opinions about Asian women. And mind you, these conversations were in a club and were fueled by alcohol. What they said were sexist and misogynistic. I didn’t correct their misconceptions or whatever, I just listened. Their statements are not logical or factual, and these two guys do not represent all white dudes. So take a deep breath, and hold back the pitch forks and flames.
With that out of the way …
Conversation #1
Guy #1 was at the bar and proceeded to show me and Simon a picture of him and his Asian girlfriend.
Me: Hmm, pretty. She Chinese, Japanese or … ?
Guy #1: Chinese. I only f*ck Asian girls. I’ve only ever f*ck one white girl.
Me: Why’s that?
Guy #1: White girls are all about themselves in bed. Asian girls like to make you happy.
Me: But you’ve only been with one white girl …
Guy #1: *didn’t hear me* And, Asian girls may seem quiet outside but they are freaks in bed.
Me: Very nice. High-5! (hey the conversation was already ridiculous, a Borat impression now wasn’t out a place )
Conversation #2
Guy #2 works for a mining company in Kalgoorlie and is in Perth on his rotating leave (2 weeks on, 1 week off). It’s a gold-mining town with a population size of 30000. I’ve never been there myself but I’m imagining that the only Asian women there are the ones working in the Chinese restaurants or in the famous brothels on Hay Street. Incidentally, Simon was born in Kalgoorlie.
Guy #2: So I’m seeing this Chinese girl in Kalgoorlie.
Me: Yeah? How did you meet her?
Guy #2: In a Chinese restaurant.
Me: Of course, of course.
Guy #2: She’s boring though.
Me: Oh yeah? Why’s that?
Guy #2: She doesn’t like going out.
Me: So she doesn’t like drinking then?
Guy #2: Nope - she likes hot chocolate.
Me: Hahah. Sorry, that was funny. And what, every time that you see her you are at home?
Guy #2: Yup.
Me: Well, look at it this way. At least she’s low maintenance.
Guy #2: I’ll drink to that.
These are some photos of Penang streets and buildings. The above is the very British looking Georgetown Chambers in the middle of Georgetown. It doesn’t look to be in use anymore and it definitely has seen better days.
This is how a lot of streets in Penang look like. Note the plethora of signs in Chinese - Penang is the only Malaysian state with a Chinese majority. Along with Singapore and a few other territories, Penang used to be part of the British Straits Settlements. They share similarities in buildings and the look and feel in the older areas. That is why even though Singapore is a lot more modern than Penang, parts of it like Geylang felt familiar to me.
This is a very traditional general store. Stores like this one used to be in every neighbourhood. Their numbers have dwindled due to the spread of supermarkets.
This is a funny picture which I find ironic. I shall leave it to you to determine what the irony is.
A few of you have asked how is Snoop doing since the day he got back from his surgery a little more than a month ago, so here are some pics and a short clip. Don’t ever say that I don’t anything for ya.
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