I speak Canadian, not English, eh....

Just happened to take a walk through the HDB improvement exhibition that is being shown here in Yishun for the next couple days. All I can say is that even though I am not qualified to own one of these places, and because my wife is not over the age of 35, she can not own one singlely herself (or so she says) I am still awed at the great expense that the gov't is going through to upgrade all these HDB flats for the people at such a low cost. I mean, upgrading the entrance door grill, doors, refuse chute, and toilets/bathrooms for a 3 room flat will only cost a person $20/month for a year to upgrade those items. Not bad. Not bad at all. Though it must be my North American/Caucasian way but that faucet spouting out of the toilet top to wash your hands (thanks to my wife for clearing up that you wouldnt brush your teeth in that sink) is something that kind of creeps me out. I mean, I know that the tank water held there would be different from the water pushed through the faucet; and even if it was sucking water from the holding tank, the water is clean and uncontaminated. Still, kind of creepy washing your hands in water coming from a toilet and then walking out. Kind of not really screams hygenic.

Also, I am starting classes tomorrow to get a TEFL certificate, though after the last 2 weeks here in Singapore I think I should be taking English classes instead of teaching English classes. I thought I spoke English well, I thought I communicated well, but after spending 2 weeks here I realize that I obviously speak Canadian but not English. How have I come to realize this? Simple logic. When I talk to people here in Singapore at either a restaurant or store to ask for an item, I pronounciate, speak clearly and in the end get confused looks. When the person asks questions to me I find myself leaning into them going "EH?" and they have to repeat what they have asked. Only then do I figure out what they say and can respond. I thought that perhaps it was my hearing that was the problem since I find that my wife, my sister in law and pretty much everyone that talks to me mumbles. The hearing loss theory was scraped because I found myself able to sit at a table and hear people conversing in different languages that I couldnt understand, or even hear what the people at the counter were ordering 5-6 feet away and yet when I was standing face to face with people, I couldn't grasp what was being said. Obviously, it is my poor grasp of the English language that causes the problem. Guess I speak fluent Canadian, just not English, since I have been turned down by a few english schools here because I dont have teaching experience and "English is spoken widely here".

I guess another thing that makes me sort of laugh is when I read a sign or hear something that is not correct English but some people say there is nothing wrong with it. There is a sign in the coffee shop that I walk past with my wife on a regular basis and there is a sign that reads "Outside food are not allowed to consume in this premises" in English under some chinese words which I assume read roughly the same thing. Now when I read that I gave a laugh, read it to my wife and she said "yeah, you arent allowed to bring outside food into this area and eat" I said that in my mind it means that outside food can not come into this premises and eat food, which I found to be really discriminatory of the people for not allowing food to come into this place to eat just because it was 'outside' food. You couldnt post a sign that read "Indians are not allowed to consume in this premises" so why are you discriminating against outside food? This got me a shake of the head and a 'you got a screwed up mind' and she went back to her tea.

The other thing I scratch my head at, and also think that I obviously speak Canadian and have a very weak grasp on the actual English language, is in the PSA about the bombs in the MRT stations played in the downtown underground sections. The lady goes to the duty officer through the intercom to report the suspicious bag and says "he said the bag was not his but I saw him putting it there". Now, for me I would say that the -ing use of put to be a present action and not a past action that he obviously did since he is no longer there. I thought she would say something like "I saw him put it there". You either are 'putting the bag under the seat' at this moment in time, you 'put the bag under the seat' or you are 'going to put the bag under the seat' in the future. Just like you 'jumped into the lake' in the past, or you are 'jumping into the lake' now or you will 'jump' or you will be jumping into the lake in the future. Perhaps this is one of those things were proper English would say 'I saw him putting the bag there' to be correct and my horrible/slangish Canadian gets in the way. The video has to be correct because if a PSA is going to be shown repeatedly on a loop every 5 minutes or so, and with the PAP push to speak proper English to the citizens of Singapore without S'inglish or slangs, wouldn't they insist that all public service announcements have perfect English? Would be sort of hypocritical for them to say "speak English properly" and then put out a video/book in under their direction with improper English.

a great mind is a terrible thing to waste

what does an engineer do when they are newly graduated, looking for work, too much free time on their hands and single in a large split level condo or house? well, here is an idea:

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1777554

I have to admit, I remember seeing these machines in the malls in Edmonton when I was growing up and they were amazing to me then. To see this done with household items around a house....it is truely mind boggling.

Sound bite for the day

I find it rather coincidental that this article has surfaced on one of the web pages that I read, since my wife and I are currently trying to find a place to rent in Singapore and I am getting frustrated with the discrimination of "no china allowed" or "no indian allowed" restrictions that are posted outright on the internet. Looks like there is some discrimination as well in the states, though it is more of a personal choice in what the person decides to do with their life/bodies than what they were given at birth.

The one thing that I had to sound bite for today was the reaction of one of the owners of the building when he said:

"(we) reject prospective tenants who have... tattoos exposed on the neck, head, hands and wrists, or large tattoos that cover over 40% of the lower or upper arm."

"We do not discriminate. The above applies to persons of any race, color, gender, etc."

we do not discriminate, we just wont rent to anyone regardless of their race, color or gender that have tattoos? yeah, ok, so what exactly is discrimination? Those crazy americans, always out to do something funky.

I do remember a case here in Canada not too long ago where a tenant was a smoker, rented an upstairs loft from a landlord who became pregnant and when the tenant was asked to stop smoking, she refused and it was taken to the landlord/tenant board and it was decided that the tenant could keep smoking and the landlord had no right to ask her to stop smoking. Just wonder if this is similiar to the case in the states where the landlord is saying 'we wont rent to you cause of your tattoos, but remove the tattoos and we would be happy to have you'.

I also enjoy how the American tenant board says that the decision not to rent to tattooed individuals is unfair but not illegal, unless the tattoos are specified to a persons religion. So, why should those in a religion be excluded from this loophole while those that do it out of love and devotion arent? If you tattoo because it is a religion, arent you doing it to show your love and appreciation for something...and if you tattoo because you love the art and want to show your love and devotion of it, then wouldnt your religion be called 'art loverism'? Think if this guy started the cult/religion of tattooed people they would let him rent in the units? hmmm, either which way, still gonna laugh on that discrimination sound bite.

http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=57db782b-9874-4b37-aa00-0402ab8a7ab1

Some SA Apartments Banning Tattoos
Last Update: 9/25 11:22 am

(Clear Channel) It's against the law for landlords to discriminate based on the color of a person's skin. But can they reject you because of what's on your skin?

Some San Antonio apartment complexes are refusing to rent to people with tattoos and body piercings.

Gilbert Carrillo thinks tattoos are an artform. He's been to tattoo conventions and one of his tattoos was featured in a magazine. "Ever since I was 18, to now, 25, bit by bit, covering up here, covering up there."

But last month, Carrillo's tattoos kept him and his wife, Melissa, from moving into an apartment complex called the Villas at Medical Center. "We liked the apartment, we brought them a check for the deposit and a check for the application fee," says Melissa.

Later, Gilbert went by to look at the apartment wearing a short sleeve shirt. The next day, the Carrillos were told they didn't qualify to live there, because the tattoos on Gilbert's arms violated the policy on personal appearance.

"For them to be so judgmental on a person's appearance, and for them to judge someone based on them having a tattoo is just ridiculous, you know," says Melissa.

The Carrillos were also upset that the manager refused to refund their full $70 application fee. But mostly, they feel the policy is discriminatory.

So the Trouble Shooters went to the Villas at Medical Center to hear their side of it.

The manager, Daisy Salazar, said she wasn't allowed to talk to us. "We have our own lawyers, I can't speak to anyone," said Salazar.

But we didn't give up. We contacted one of the owners of the apartments: A southern California doctor named Edward Frankel.

Frankel e-mailed us a statement saying his apartment complexes do, in fact, "reject prospective tenants who have... tattoos exposed on the neck, head, hands and wrists, or large tattoos that cover over 40% of the lower or upper arm."

Frankel says, "We do not discriminate. The above applies to persons of any race, color, gender, etc."

Frankel, and his partners, have purchased numerous upscale apartment complexes in San Antonio and Dallas, where they've also banned pierced eyebrows and tongues. Tenants can't have more than one nose piercing, or more than five earrings.

Local fair housing officials say the rules may be unusual, but they are not illegal.

"Refusing to rent to somebody because they have tattoos may be unfair, but it's not discrimination under the fair housing act, unless the tattoos are specific to the person's religion or national origin," says Sandy Tamez of the San Antonio Fair Housing Council.

After the Trouble Shooters started looking into the case, the apartment complex refunded the Carrillos' full application fee.

But the couple is still angry that a landlord would consider body art to be the mark of a bad tenant.

Canadian border guards, cant hit a moose at 10 feet

Ahhh, gotta love the Canadians. When I heard that they were going to arm the border guards I was pleased and said it was about time. I remember an incident when the US police force called ahead to the Canadian border guards and told them that a known murderer, possibly armed with a sawed-off shotgun, was approaching the border and the guards were asked to detain him til the police from the US got there. Yeah, I have been to a few of the border crossings in Canada, and unless you are going through some majorly huge area like Niagra Falls or the ferry crossing in Vancouver to Washington, there really isnt anything more than a shack and possibly two guards sitting back playing solitare on the computer. How are Canadian officials, with no weapons, supposed to detain an armed murderer? I mean, Canadians are known for being polite, but I really don't think the guy is gonna respond with "Please, remain in your vehicle and please do not pick up the shot gun. Thank you. Would you like some Tim Horton's coffee and donuts while you wait?"

Now reading this about how the officers failed the proficiency tests. Wow, that is another thing that is truely Canadian. Some people I have known in Singapore have said things that made me think that they thought we were like Americans in Canada. Given our first hand gun at 12, know how to shoot it by 13 and gang bangers by 14. Maybe in some areas of Vancouver or Toronto, but on the whole, I think Canada is a pretty relaxed and laid back peaceful place. I mean, in all our years we have only had one political assassination and that was the BQ, and we all know how screwy they are in Quebec so that doesn't really count. The assassination wasn't even against the Prime Minister. Against him all we have ever done is egging them, and we have taken up our national past time of throwing pies at the premiers of certain provinces. Not exactly a bunch of wild and crazy psychopaths, huh? Though, we do seem to have a few drive by shootings, a few stabbings and quite a bunch of 'hunting accidents', but other than that, we really arent that big on the whole gun thing.

What I found most amusing was the fact that the guards "...needed fitness training so their arms remained steady during the shortened shooting training which caused fatigue." Don't tell me that Canadians daily exercise of using the remote to surf through hockey games and Wheel Of Fortune isnt enough to keep our arms strong enough to fire weapons.

Well, it is a good thing, no matter if they can hit the broad side of a moose at 10 feet or not, that the border guards are now armed and safe, even if it took 20 years. Now, we can work on the 20 years it is gonna take for the politicians to agree that guards in prisons require stab prove vests when handling prisoners.

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/story.html?id=fc21bd3f-a8e9-4c89-94d1-6df130e24918&k=67478

Border guards flunking shooting lessons
Still, they want to be armed

Doug Williamson, The Windsor StarPublished: Tuesday, September 25, 2007

They wanted to carry guns, but one in five Canadian border guards have been flunking their shooting lessons.

"Eventually, they will be armed. But not everyone is going to qualify," said Marie-Claire Coupal of Windsor, fourth national vice-president of the Customs and Excise Union, adding that the 20-per-cent failure rate applied across the board.

Coupal said part of the reason 20 per cent of trainees have been flunking out is the relatively short firearm training period of three weeks, compared with 16 weeks for RCMP officers. Most of the failures were in the 25-metre shooting qualification requirement - a long distance that doesn't reflect normal border conditions, she said.

As well, some officers needed fitness training so their arms remained steady during the shortened shooting training which caused fatigue.

Union national president Ron Moran said that last Friday, 24 out of 28 trainees qualified on their first try, reflecting changes made in the training program after the initial failure rates were noticed. He said those that initially failed to qualify should be given another chance. He added that the union is not advocating that unqualified offiers be pushed through.

"The employer has as much of a vested interest as we do," Moran said.

A spokeswoman for Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said Tuesday that 20 per cent of the training class in July, and a smaller percentage in August did fail to qualify. But changes have been made to provide more coaching and 12 additional hours more practice time on the shooting range, for a total of 50 hours. In addition, other measures, such as not conducting the shooting range test on the same day as the written exam, have been implemented. She said the government expects the failure rate to drop when the September group graduates.

"The changes have been made," said Melisa Leclerc. "It can't be too easy (though)."

The government has announced that up to 4,800 land and marine guards will be armed eventually. This summer, 11 armed guards took up their posts in Windsor and Sarnia, and more were headed to Ottawa or B.C. for training. To date, 80 armed guards have been deployed across Canada. Airport border guards are not armed.

Coupal said the 25-metre precision shooting requirement is unrealistic under border conditions. "That's where we're losing most of our people. It's physically demanding on them."

Those who fail to qualify will get another crack at it, she added. "As it stands they're supposed to get two tries. They're just in the first round. These people will be going back for a second round."

Coupal said it is not known what will happen to those who fail to quallify.

"All that hasn't been worked out yet," she said. "I don't think that CBSA was ready for this."
Officers who qualify will carry nine-millimetre Berettas, and are also assuming more law-enforcement responsibilities. They'll be able to arrest and detain drunk drivers and people named in warrants until police arrive.

Leclerc said if an officer doesn't pre-qualify for training, or fails to qualify after two tries, every effort will be made to transfer him or her to a job where carrying guns is not required.

Initial estimates pegged the cost of arming Canada's border guards at $781 million, after the union lobbied for two decades for the right to carry weapons.

It is estimated it will take 10 years to complete the training and arming process.

They punish you for having an opinion in Singapore?? in that case..me PAP friend

After reading this news article today online (http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/301874/1/.html) about the two racist blogs taken offline. If any of the Singaporean Gov't officials at the MDA come across my blog, please take into account these words by some Singaporeans commented on another blog:

Chee_Bye_Capt_Canuck said...
i have a funny feeling that this capt. canuck is just a PAP mole. His logic is damn bloody idiotic: there has to be political leaders making millions.Siao chee bye this capt. why must it be a necessary condition that leaders make millions? They ain't doing a proper job in the first place.

to chee_bye_capt_canuck, don't get so worked up over him. he is damned cheap angmoh fry, can only afford sgd 800 to 1.1k for accomodation.it's very obvious that he is helping to sing the pap tune. for a person to regurgitate pinky clown's mee-siam-mai-hum logic, you automatically know his intellectual capacity. pappies shld confer honorary citizenship to this foreign- meddler-of-local-politics and ask him to serve 2 years of ns as well. see how fast he will slink back to canada.LOL

PAP..yeah, team...Don't cane me or beat me. I good expat. Friendly. Nice. Good good man am I. Obviously these Singaporeans need to be sought out and disciplined for their racist attitudes towards caucasians. I no sedition person like these two.

Devil is in the details....

I think my wife hit it on the head this morning when she said "my hubby, has one f#$ked up mind". Yeah, I would be the one that would go along with that. After all, I read a little snippet in the paper today with the headline "Man attacks with stool in pub: gets jail". I read that to my wife and asked her "what do you think this article is about?" and she responded with the right answer that a man at a pub attacked another man with a bar stool (because the other man stole his seat). Yeah, this was the second thing that ran through my mind. The first was a story about a man that went a little nutty in a pub, came out of the bathroom with a 'stool sample' (piece of crap) in his hand, went up to another man and threw/hit him with it. Yeah, what can I say, I am a little messed up boy.

Then I put my foot in my mouth concerning the Public Service Announcement about terrorism and the MRT, but due to Singaporean restrictions on public speech in voice or internet, dont think I can repeat the discussion I had with my wife. Needless to say, my nasty free Canadian attitude and mind got her pissed off, as well as possibly any Singaporean within ear shot that was listening in.

After going through all this, my warped mind took a new turn. How is this for a revelatoin, I have now lived in two cities in two different countries that are, or have been, the murder capital of that country. Yes, it is true. I was living in Edmonton that held the distinct honour of being known as the murder capital of Canada until there was a double homicide in Winnipeg one night and only a double stab maiming in Edmonton and Winnipeg took hold as the murder capital of Canada. I think it has been fluctuating back and forth with the recent shootings/stabbings so not really sure, but it is true that I lived in Edmonton and was living in it at the time it was murder capital of Canada. Then, I sat back and realized, I am currently living in the murder capital of Singapore. Not only that, I am living in the drug capital/car theft/assault/sexual assault(rape)/petty theft/gang banging (and every other federal offence in the law books) capital of Singapore.

Kind of scary considering when I was in Edmonton I wasn't in the capital of any of those crimes since I believe the drug capital was Fort MacMurray (though I also heard Vancouver was a really close second, if not first). All those other crimes had other cities to be known as the captial of that crime, and yet, here I sit, in the mega-crime capital of the whole country of Singapore. Wow...it is really mind blowing. But, then I ease my fears and worries when I remind myself that whereas Canada has thousands of cities/towns/hamlets/villages within the country, Singapore has only one city. Funny how you can take a statistic and without putting forth the parameters, make something out to be worse off than it really is, huh? Guess it is true that the devil is always in the details.

Rules for the rulers and the ruled...

Ok, I am mad so this is gonna be a huge ass rant entry with really no wit or thought which, come to think of it, really wont be that different from the rest of my entries, huh?

Here I am, in Singapore, and am told by my wife that since the Canadan dollar is up higher than it has been in a long time, it would be wise of me to go and change in some more of my travelers cheques for dollars and take advantage of this trend. So, today after I met her for lunch, I went to the nearest money changer that we have always gone to at the Northpoint shopping centre:

M & M Ismail & Co
930 Yishun Ave 2 #01-K2 Northpoint Shopping Centre Singapore 769098
t: 67558445

I had been there a few days previously and managed to change in $2000 canadian travelers cheques and $35 in US dollars for Singapore money at a rate of 1.5. I know, that was a great deal and I felt that something was up but not really gonna mention anything since I trust that this is a normal currency transaction. I show them my wares (travelers cheques), they give me an offer (1.5), I gladly take the offer and we buy/sell our items together. Here I am again, at the same store, showing them my travelers cheques. He takes all $5000 of them, looks them over and goes "oh, you were here few days ago with $2000 travelers cheques" and he pulls out the travelers cheques I signed and gave him back then. I looked at the signature, saw it was mine and said "yes, that was me". He then smiles and says "you owe us $90".

Yeah, needless to say I was a little taken aback by this statement. I asked 'pardon?' and he said that he gave me the American exchange rate for them and not the Canadian and it wasnt til they took the cheques upstairs that they noticed their mistake but by then I had left the counter. I could give the whole Abbot and Costello banter back and forth about the whole event but basically these were the two positions that were being taken:

M & M Ismail & Co - Mistake was made by them in patrons favor few days ago, patron owes changers $90.

Patron - Money changer made a mistake in favor of the patron, big ass notice on the money changers board reading "NOTICE: Customers are required to check their amounts before leaving the counter. The Management disclaims responsibility for any miscalculation after their leaving". Therefore, the mistake was done, we both checked our amounts back then, both were happy back then, I left with the amount and nothing was said.

I kept repeating the point about the sign and the windfall in my favor and he kept repeating "you owe us $90". I even went as far as saying "ok, let's reverse the situation and say you made a misteake and cheated me out of $90, could I come 4 days later and get it back from you?" his response "no, that didnt happen, you owe us $90". Back and forth this went, me realizing what was happening but trying to show him that according to his own rules of business that states the patron has to check for amount being correct, he should be responsible for checking and making it right before patron leaves. Both times, back and forth it went him not comprehending what I was saying, me not wanting to give up $90 for a mistake that he made in my favor.

I would have taken the travelers cheques at that point and said 'nope' and walked away but he had them all in his little glass cage and the only way for me to reach them would be to stick my arm up to my elbow in and grab them from his grasp. Now in a counter where they cane you vandalism and execute you for even possessing an amount of drugs over a certain limit, I had huge visions of what would happen if I reached into a secured money changing location to grab travelers cheques. So, with my travelers cheques held hostage by this individual, what could I do but say "ok". At one point I had not one, not two but THREE people with thick Indian accents trying to explain the situation to this dumb little Canuck that couldn't seem to grasp the situation that he owed money to these money changers.

When I told my wife about this situation, I basically got the idea that it was my fault. I should have held all the travelers cheques in my pocket, asked what the exchange rate was and only after it was set in stone, handed over the travelers cheques. Not sure how that would have stopped him at that point for taking the cheques and holding them and then telling me about the money that was owed. Apparently the common practice for dealing with money lenders is to treat them like theives and dishonest folk. I thought dealing with lawyers, politicians and drug dealers in Canada was bad, obviously I have not been prepared or taught how to deal with the low lifes that practice business here in Singapore.

Anyways, that is just my mindless rant about M & M Ismail & Co in Northpoint shopping centre here in Singapore. Not like anyone in Singapore even reads this little spot in cyberspace so not like it is going to hurt their business any if I say 'be warned. Go somewhere else. These money changers may be pleasant but if a business person doesnt practice their own rules of checking amounts before you leave, then they really arent worth doing business with'. So, like my wife says about the gov't, police, laws and social stigma in Singapore "there really isnt anything we can do about it, so might as well just smile and go along with it". So, I will smile, I will go along with it, and I will take all my money changing needs to another location and not go near M & M Ismail & Co ever again. I also feel I can write this because I am not slamming Singapore or the Singaporean way of life, just slamming a business that I feel has treated me unfairly.

new foods tried

Ahh, my little world has gotten a bit bigger. Normally, for the last 32 years of my life, when people have asked me "what do you like to eat?" I could honestly look them in the eye and say "I have no preference, I will eat anything" though I would prefer not to have spicey foods, I still would be willing to try one here or there to give it a go. However, recently with the Mooncake festival happening here in Singapore, I can not say that now. I have to say that I really don't like the mooncakes. I have tried the cooked ones from the store and I tried a homemade one that wasnt cooked (something about a snow skin?). BOth of these cakes have had the strangest texture I have ever eaten. The only time I have ever experienced something like that was when I ate a durian cream puff where my tongue was saying 'not too bad' but there was a part of my brain going "this is soooo wrong". Took me 5 bites of the durian puff to get that feeling, but it took me one bite of the mooncake to get that feeling. Oh well, they say that experience is the good thing that makes a person stronger and more worldly. Guess I was just caught in a rut eating the same foods over and over again and now I am experiencing newer foods out here in the wide wide world to expand my pallette.

Canadian baptized into Singapore

Well, I think I have been 'baptized' and am now an expat living in Singapore. I would say that I am a true Singaporean now, but I still hold my Canadian passport, actually wait til all passengers have alighted from the MRT before pushing on and will not jaywalk across 4 lanes of busy traffic instead of waiting the extra 15 seconds for the walk signal to turn.

When I saw the movie Singapore Dreaming, there was a part where the father comments about how disgusting it was that people urinated in the lift. Then, 30 minutes or so into the movie, the son-in-law, for some reason, decides to urinate in the lift after he got a parking ticket for parking in his HDB area. There is even a sign in the lift that says that 'urinating in the lift is a crime under the Environmental Protection Act'. Now, for some strange reason, I always figured that that they exagerated for the movie and the sign posted in the lift was Singaporean way of stating the obvious just in case someone thought someone comes home drunk on a friday night, 3 am, about 2 cases of beer in his blatter and cant wait to get up to the 6th floor and then run up 2 flights of stairs to his flat cause the elevator doesn't go to his floor directly. However, yesterday and then again today, I have been baptized.

9:30am, Yishun area, going up the HDB elevator, I found myself standing on one foot surrounded by a puddle that was slowly inching around me. I thought it was coffee or possibly a breakfast drink, but there was a strange off scent of asparagus in the air. Then, yet again, this afternoon around 5pm, same life, I got on and the strong aroma of urine was worse, so that was a definite. I have to say that I didn't do a dip test (dip the finger in and smell the liquid, like they do in all the horror movies and all) or really get down there to smell the liquid, but it had an off yellow color to it AND the lift did have the aroma that I find in most campsite toilets in Canada. So yeah, am gonna be firm on this belief and say it was urine.

So, yes, I am now truely baptized into the Canadian Expat living in Singapore by urine in the lift. I feel so....local now.

prostitution girls in alabama

Now, I have always been a proactive speaker of legalizing prostitution. I mean, as long as it is not forced or some sort of slave trade then it should be fine. If a lady wants to sell her body for money, then go for it and why should the law stop her. I mean, essentially what is the difference from a woman going up to a guy and saying "$100 for sex" and a girl picking up guys in a bar and making them spend $160 on drinks and dinner and then going home and having sex with them. At least in the prostitution area the girl can pick and choose where the money is going instead of just selling her body for drinks and food. She can get a nice car, apartment, education or hell even donate the money to charity like the strippers did in Edmonton when that one kid was diagnosed with a terminal illness and the strippers did that charity work.

However, in this case in Alabama, my speaking out for the injustice of arresting these two ladies go beyond the freedom aspect of prostitution. It speaks down to the area of leave these two alone cause if they are able to find someone that is actually willing to have sex with them AND actually pay these ladies the money, then more power to them.

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/14140253/detail.html

I mean, look at them. WOW, that definitly takes one desperate man to be willing to pay that kind of money for that. If this was perhaps a set up for some reason, then why not charge them for the set up not the prostitution. Maybe these ladies found a married man to coerce into having sex with and then black mail him for more money or else they will tell the spouse or even black mail the guy saying "pay us $1000 or we tell your friends that you slept with us..and we have pictures", then charge them for blackmail. But $30 for a threesome with these two girls? man, that is definitly a good sign of 'supply and demand' cause there is a lot of supply and these two must be in low demand, throwing the price down a WHOLE lot.

Canadian High Commission, PDAs and family in Singapore

Well, my first half week in Singapore. So far, things are going alright. Have had a few rather interesting run ins with the inlaws. Though, granted, not really a face to face issue but more a behind the lines issues that are being passed through my wife to me. For me, I am hearing about things that I wear that are not really acceptable in some eyes and am being told to change it just to keep people happy. I also hope that in return, the inlaws are getting some info on things I find rather interesting that might be changed or accomodated. Hey, I can dream....

Though I did learn that the Canadian High Commission here is truly a gov't run organization. We got there to have to sign in at the basement with our names, date, time in and ID badge number they provided, went up to the 11th floor, talked to the security guard (who, I swear, asked 'apply for?' though Ee swears he asked "what are you applying for?"...not sure if the 'what are you...' is automatically heard by Singaporeans who are used to speaking in broken english without nouns, verbs or adverbs and such..who then told us that everyone was out at lunch, to go down the elevator and come back in 30 minutes. Returning in 30 minutes we had to sign in at the basement with our names, date, time in and ID badge number they provided, went up to the 11th floor, talked to another security guard who had us sign in AGAIN and took our laptop, MP3, camera, cell phone and basically anything electronic, walked through a metal detector and sat in the waiting room for 5 minutes then we got to talk to the 'receptionist'. Found out she was the almightly receptionist who answered questions the same way 'go to this web site, read about it, go from there'. Ahhh, the wonders of the internet...reduce the use of actually talking to a human and getting them to explain things to going to a webpage to get the information, that we already went to and got the run around on it cause it is basically the worst navigational website I have ever seen. Even better, I think i was in a no win situation. I ask her one question at a time, she gives one answer at a time passing papers through the little security grill work and then expecting me to leave when I have so many questions. Near the 3rd questions he was pissed. Though, I have learned that when I ask all my questions in one breath, people get annoyed at me and answer one and then ask "what else did you want to know?" and then get annoyed when I ask question two. Ahhh, so nice to know, that when it comes to Canadian officials overseas, we get all the run around, just minus the cheery canadian smiles that you get in the actual Canadian gov't buildings on Canadian soil.

As for the webpage I was given, truly it is a work of the gov't. Instead of them actually having a person there that I can go up to and ask "hey, I am a Canadian Citizen living in Singapore and will be working. I really don't want to pay income taxes in two countries cause, hey, let's face it, both countries have high income tax, you tax me twice and I am pretty much broke. How can I file in only one country?" and I get a simple answer from people that know what they are talking about. Instead, with the wonders of the internet, I get to go to a place and, in the privacy of my own home and on my own time, I can get the gov't run around and walk away with absolutely no solution to my problem whatsoever. Ahhh, Gov't incompetance has found a friend in internet confusion.

Other than that, things are going as I remember life in Singapore from my many visits. Holding hands with my chinese wife in the mall will get me glances, hugging my chinese wife in the MRT will get me head shakes and glances, and if I dare to actually kiss her anywhere in public (MRT, street, mall, stores) I get glances/head shakes and glares all in one. At first I thought it was the racial thing where people dont approve of interracial relationships. However, after hearing the MM and PM talk about how Singapore is a cultural/racial accepting nation, I really couldn't blame it on that. I mean, how can a $2,000,000 politician be wrong? Got to be paid for something. So, I guess I get those glares because Singapore is definitly a very reserved country in the froms of Public Displays of Affection (PDAs) and I will have to learn how to keep my hands/lips to myself and off my wife.

Also, wonder how long it will be before I can walk through a mall without being accosted by tailors wanting to make me a suit for cheap price, and the trishaw bicycle people to not try to catch my eye and wave me in for a ride.

Canuck in Singapore

touch down. After a rather 'fun' trip of curses and problems, I have landed in Singapore and ready to start my new life here with my wife. So far, it has been like our normal life. Living in a hotel for a couple days to have some privacy, then live with her parents for a bit while looking for a place to rent. So far, that has been a bust since the cost is rather high, plus I think once the landlord hears I am caucasian, the door somehow shuts rather quickly. Oh well, with perserverance and all, I am sure we will make due.

All I have to worry about now is to get my visa extended since I only got a 30 day pass to stay in singapore, and now have to go to immigration on Monday and beg for more time to get a longer pass to stay. Gonna be interesting, cause if Singapore Immigration is anything like Canadian immigration, this is gonna be a run around.

The greatest adventure is nearly upon me. Spent the last two weeks saying goodbye to friends and family, shaking hands, giving hugs, tearful farewells and the like. Just wish I could have stayed in one space for the last 14 years, cause my friends are pretty much scattered around. Had to do quite a trip driving and all to say good bye to people. Seems the whole gang is growing up and all. One has a house and kid already there, and the other has a house in the near future with another wedding happening, me moving away to Singapore.

Things that have had me sort of laughing? First off is the looking for an apartment to live in. Luckily, my wife has been doing the looking and trying to find a place though we have decided that we wont really 'view' a place til I am there so that she can get my input into the place and we can make a joint decision. I browse through the ads now and then, but when I get to ads that actually say "No India or China" or "Malaysians Only" or "No Malay workers" has me sort of shaking my head. I was told this was because some people have worries renting to certain people because there is a trend that some people are just unreliable. I have heard that in Canada as well, though we call that stereotyping and discrimination. Even though it does exist, there are laws that are out there that stop it from happening. Just the blatant "NONE OF YOUR KIND" is sort of interesting in my mind.

But, as for Canada, I have my utilities canceled, bags are packed, people said goodbye and wife waiting patiently for me in Singapore. Now all I need is an over zealous customs officer, bucking for a promotion for more pay, to find a small little thing wrong with my travel documents and send me back to Canada. But will see what happens in the future.

global mobile return tests...

While waiting for a doctors appointment I came across this little article in Reader's Digest:

http://www.readersdigest.com.au/content/global-mobile-phone-test/

What struck me as memorable about this test was the fact that I too lost a cell phone but not in Canada, but in Singapore. I lost a cell phone in a cab, we called the number 10 minutes after we realized it was gone and a guy answered and we heard him give directions to a location and wouldnt talk to us and we never saw the phone again. Funnily enough, 2 days later, I was out with my wife and I saw a phone on the floor of a busy mall at a McDonald's. I instantly asked her if there was a 'lost and found' in the mall and she replied that she did not know. So I turned to the lady behind the counter and said "I found this phone on the floor. Can I leave it with you to return it if someone comes looking?" She smiled and took the phone and we left. I would have kept the phone and waited for the individual to call it or at least call a few numbers in the memory to locate the owner, but we were just leaving to catch a plane in 2 hours, so figured that was the easiest way to get the phone back to the owner.

The one thing that got me totally by surprise was the look on my wife's face when I handed the phone in to be given back to the owner. For four hours afterwards, she kept saying things like "that was a new phone. we could have kept that phone and resold it and gotten the money back on the phone that you lost plus had a few extra to spend on the vacation" To this day, I am not sure if she was joking or serious about the whole keeping the phone and reselling it. Guess at a 53% return rate in Singapore compared to a 93% return rate in Canada.

Internet People

Dan Meth and Micah Frank, I salute you...this is awesome. I remember so many of them..how many do you remember?

To all the freaky internet people out there that made my weird life look sane, I thank thee....

pen is mightier than the sword

Yet another cartoon causes problems in the world today. Just like when those dutch cartoons caused major problems of fire bombs, riots and deaths, I am sure that this cartoon is, yet again, only the beginning. Sure, Yellowknifers say that they will forgive Edmonton. Sure they say that the cartoon was disappointing but they will let it pass. Oh, I don't think so. I am sure that in the near future, Edmontonions vacationing in Yellowknife might find themselves being spirited away in Canadian Armed Forces choppers to safety after their hotel is besieged by hundreds of irrate Yellowknifers out for blood.

Cartoonists, when will they learn that the pen is often mightier than the sword.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/News/Edmonton/2007/09/07/4476251-sun.html
Cartoon cut deep
Yellowknifers bombard Sun, radio station over Oilers toon
By NICKI THOMAS, SUN MEDIA

For the past week, irate Yellowknifers have been inundating the Edmonton Sun with letters about an editorial cartoon that unfavourably compared their city to the Alberta capital.
But like the parent of a naughty child, Yellowknife isn't mad at Edmonton - they're just disappointed.

"We were disappointed that we would be the brunt of such an awful, awful cartoon," said Joanne McKenzie, host of Yellowknife's Mix 100 morning show.

McKenzie said that the radio station received hundreds of e-mails and phone calls from people who were offended by the catty cartoon.

"People got a bit defensive."

In the cartoon, Oilers president Pat LaForge stands with general manager Kevin Lowe beside a sign that reads, "Welcome to Yellowknife, N.W.T."

LaForge says, "Of all the places to hold rookie camp ..."

"... It makes Edmonton look like a great place to live," responds Lowe.

"... Brilliant," says LaForge.

Proud Yellowknifer Bob Ross posted the cartoon at his sports bar, Surly Bob's.

"It's easy for people who've never been to another city to criticize it," he said.

Ross received a lot of feedback on the cartoon, but said he couldn't repeat most of it.

"They were disappointed that people would crap on the city," he said, adding that the people of Yellowknife take a lot of pride in their hometown.

McKenzie explained that another reason Yellowknifers were so hurt was because they like Edmonton and are very supportive of the Oilers.

"We feel very close to Edmontonians," she said, adding that the cartoon felt like a shot from a bigger brother.

"I don't think either (city) needed to be run down."

Sun Media cartoonist Tim Dolighan admitted that he didn't know his Aug. 29 contribution had caused such a stir.

"I'm kind of surprised that people read it," he said from his home outside Toronto.
Dolighan said that in his cartoons there is an ongoing joke about the Oilers and Edmonton's inability to attract players.

He was understanding of Yellowknife's hurt feelings, saying that if he were from the city, he might be upset too.

"On the other hand, it's just a cartoon," he added. "I'd apologize because it wasn't meant to offend people."

So Dolighan is sorry, but can the city of Yellowknife forgive the city of Edmonton?

"Yellowknife will forgive Edmonton with some apology and nice things," joked Mayor Gordon Van Tighem.

To ensure the incident didn't go unnoticed by city officials, Van Tighem sent notes about the cartoon to several council members as well as to Mayor Stephen Mandel.

He also encouraged Yellowknifers to send photos of their beautiful city to the Edmonton Sun.
But Yellowknifers will soon forget all this unpleasantness, he said.

"Editorial cartoons last a day. Then they're in the canary cage."

My dad...

I have heard that a boy first idolizes his father, then hates his father, then befriends his father and, in the end, is his father. I always wondered about that since I did idolize my father when I was growing up with all the things that he did for my brother and I. Games he played, things he taught us to make us adults and mature. Though I dont think I ever went through the hate stage, but I did befriend my father and we are good friends now. Though, something happened the other night that gave me the glimpse that I am becoming my father.

My dad was basically the 'sex' scene in the lion king, or the erection in the Little Mermaid. He was a man that would walk through life totally G rated but every now and then he would slip in a totally innocuous little comment that a 10 year old or lower would think is strange way to answer a question but an adult would look at him and go "my god, you said that to a child!??!?!". I later found out that he was doing this for his own amusement but also to test to see how we were growing up, if we were listening to him and also to see if we not only listened to the answer of the question but also thought outside the box enough to see the double meaning in his words. I did that the other night with my own nephew.

My brother, nephew, neice and I went out to dinner and on the ride home I was being quizzed by the nephew. Got the usual math questions of 36 times 5 or 4,002 minus 453. I thought without a pen and paper I was doing good. Then we switched to science. Was fielding most of the questions pretty good but then I got asked "what in the woods is wasted?". For some reason, without thinking, I answered "well, that would depend on how close the woods are to the high schools". I got a glare from my brother and confused looks from my neice and nephew. The question was repeated and I had to give my answer of "nothing".

After I got home and went through that again and again, I got to thinking that the answer I gave would have been given to me by my dad. So, I guess that I am either my dad at heart and just need the right stimulus to bring it out, or I am slowly becoming my dad either way. Though, I can honestly say, that if I can even turn out to be 1/10th of the man that my dad is, I think I will have become more of a man than most of the people I have worked with or met.

Don't pay any attention to the man behind the curtain!!!

In this world there are two types of people. Those that see a magic act, go 'wow' and gasp and then walk away with the beauty and magic in their hearts. Then there are those that see the magic, tape the performance, watch it in still frame by frame, disect every single aspect of the act til they can say "HA, the bird goes up his jacket here, comes down his arm there and comes out there! mystery solved."

Question is, at what point do we film and pick it apart or do we sit back and go "wow, what a wonderful act" and leave the mystery to the unknown?

http://news.sympatico.msn.cbc.ca/Entertainment/ContentPosting.aspx?feedname=CBC-ARTS-V2&newsitemid=davinci-method&showbyline=True

Researchers uncover Leonardo da Vinci's method stroke for stroke

Italian researchers say they have been able to reconstruct for the first time, stroke by stroke, how Renaissance master painter Leonardo da Vinci created his works of art.

Artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci, who died in 1519, is known for his vivid, lifelike paintings such as the Mona Lisa.

Investigators at the University of Florence have uncovered Leonardo's method of creating his works by using a scientific device to analyze the painting Madonna of the Yarnwinder.

In the oil painting, completed in 1501, Leonardo depicts the Virgin Mary holding the child Jesus, who is looking at a yarnwinder being used to spin yarn.

"For the first time we have managed to reconstruct his work step by step, like as if watching him while he painted," said Cecilia Frosinini, one of the researchers.

"We have been able to understand what type of painting materials he used, how many layers of colours were applied, and in what thickness and sequence." The researchers used what they call a nuclear accelerator device that launches particles at high speed to decipher the painting technique.

The examination showed that Leonardo applied thin layers of paint directly on the canvas. Different colours were layered on top of one another to create a rich texture.

Leonardo, who died in 1519, is considered among the greatest painters of all time, renowned for his Mona Lisa and The Last Supper masterpieces. The artist, who was also a scientist and inventor, was largely self-taught and left works of art that are acclaimed for their vivid and lifelike qualities.

His painting techniques and futuristic designs continue to attract scientists. A high-resolution 3-D laser scan of the Mona Lisa by Canada's National Research Council in 2006 revealed the woman who sat for the Mona Lisa painting may have been pregnant or just given birth.

Scientists discovered the Mona Lisa was wearing a translucent gauze garment over her dress - a garment known to be worn by women of the time during or after their pregnancy.

Man, life makes you laugh

wow, so many things happen in this strange little city I am in that you just got to laugh yourself silly over it.

First off, I have come to the conclusion that I am a caveman walking through the space age. Yesterday I was out walking around and thought I would meet out up with my father who was out walking. By force of my mother (you know, the She Who Must Be Obeyed in all families), he is on a cell phone family plan and carries a cell phone. Just in case he is out of ear shot and mother feels the need to call and nag or ask a question she already knows the answer to. I thought I would call him on the cell, find out where he was, meet up with him somewhere and go from there. After all, you have the technology on you, use it..and it was sort of an emergency. So, I went looking for a pay phone. I looked through 2 malls and 3 stores, not a single pay phone. Direct lines to cab companies or hotels, but no pay phones. One mall store owner even told me that there wasnt a pay phone in the entire mall I was standing in. I remember a time, long ago when horses and buggies roamed the streets apparently, when you couldn't walk into a mall without having a row of 4 pay phones there. Now, I think I have to go to the phone company building and they might have a pay phone in their lobby.

Then there was the case of the cement. Apparently there is a corner in this city that has been torn up for the last 2-3 months, with barracades around it and making people that want to walk on that side walk on the street for a bit and risk being hit by the horrible drivers out there. Finally they got the cement crew up here and they poured the corner nicely. They then posted a guard on the street corner to stop people from writing their names or symbols into the cement. I drove by the corner a few times and saw the guard there, my family walked by the corner and saw the same guard there, we estimate that the guard was out there for at least 10-12 hours, guarding this little patch of cement. Well, we had to walk past this little patch of cement coming home from the movie and there were three names "Justin", "Marie" and "Violet" along with a symbol of some sort (possibly that graffitti gang art you see scrawled on the walls sometimes) in the cement. 10-12 hours of guarding, and in the end still had the names put into it. Makes me kind of wonder, how boring is it in this place when the only fun and interesting times that you can have is to wait out a guard of wet cement for 10-12 hours til he goes home so that you can run out there and carve your name into the half dried cement? I must be out of touch with reality cause no matter how many times, between the ages of 6 and 32 that I walked past a patch of wet/half wet/nearly wet cement, I never had the urge to reach down and put my name/face/hand/foot print in the cement. Guess I just don't seek immortality like some people out there do.

Though, one thing happened today that made me have one small glimmer of hope for the future of the children today. In the movie theatre, movie is about to start, a row of 5 seats is taken up by a man and his two little kids when a girl, that couldnt have been more than 8 years old, walks up to the man and in a polite tone of voice without fear or malice askes "excuse me sir, are these seats taken?" and gestures towards the two remaining seats. No "Yo, wuz up with these seats?" or just sitting down without asking if they were taken, or even no swears or cusses. Just a polite and respectful question to ask if the seats were available. Just hope that this little girl can keep the politeness and respect going and she doesnt turn into the punks of 12-18 year olds taken over the streets today.

Underdog - Movie Review

Ever watch a movie that has such conflicting emotions about it that you are wondering what you really thought of the movie? That is how I feel about Underdog. At the moment, the 32 year old in me is screaming out "my god, what a waste of time and money." whereas the 8 year old inner child in me is crying out "that was hilarious!".

I have to say that this was a pretty good family movie that a kid could probably sink their teeth into if they are in to the wholesome family fun movies. If the kids you have are totally into the death, destruction, and swearing movies where it really isn't a movie unless at least three things explode or someone has an attitude towards parents, then they probably won't like this movie in the least. The characters are totally stereotypical beyong belief. Underdog is a wholesome character, the two female love interests of both characters (human and dog) are too cute for words and perfect in manners and person beyond belief. The sidekick is soo stupid and...well, a side kick beyond any meaning of the word. The evil genius is your typical evil genius with the far fetched cartoon demands and simplistic evil plan that can be foiled.

There are a few one liners that made the old person in me groan and yet at the same time made the 8 year old child in me laugh. While the plot is simplistic beyond belief and got a 'oh come on' from the adult, the child was clapping for joy. There really wasn't much in the way of character development, plot, story or even depth to who they were, but let's face it, at 8 years old where your best friend on the playground today is the one who brought the coolest toy to play with, depth and tricky plots really don't mean much.

So, yeah, take your kids to see this movie but really dont look for the whole depth or complex movies. If your kid watches Halloween, Friday the 13th or The Others and finds them exciting and a cinematic piece of genius, then dodge this film. If your kid still giggles and laughs at Stuart Little flying his little plane, then this is probably the movie for them.