11th May 2005

I am still in HK! But have hardly seen the place, just the office where I have been spending far too much time.

22nd April 2005

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned

I’ll tell you my story brother, I wish I’d never been born.

Slow gin fizz sure works fast

When you drink it by the pitcher and not the glass

I am Hong Kong bound and I do not know when I shall be home. Off to the Lion’s den to work on the big deals going down. I shall emerge blinking and bleary eyed from the boiler room to the bright blue skies of the front office, where real bankers run free and untrammelled. Oh yes the Suaku boy rubs shoulders with les grandes fromages. I am concentrating on survival first.

Tis the season of the bi.. oh yes but I have seen some great Theatre recently.

In order I watched I went to see Boeing Boeing, which was entertaining if rather too farcical for my liking. The joke was funny-ish at first but by the second half had worn thin. The comedy was all based on slapstick rather than dialogue and I much prefer a witty, drole script to a madcap one. Most of the audience was laughing simply because of the accents, which were amusing hybrids of Singaporean and the accent they were trying to ape. The Hong Kong Hostess being particularly mind-blowing!

Soon after the slapstick of BB I went to see the sublime double bill of Two women and a Ghost and La Musica. Two French short plays, which were expertly done by the World In Theatre company,  http://www.france.org.sg/article.php3?id_article=1110 . The first a whimsical story of a dead man watching his mistress and wife meet for the first time. Though he, interestingly, is far more concerned with his own death than with either of them; much as they apparently do love him. I imagine ones own death would take up ones thoughts but it is intriguing the way he pays them no heed at all.

If it could be said that the male lead had it too good in the Ghost (and he seems to have the two wrapped around his finger! - shame he is too dead to enjoy it) the male lead in La Musica is wracked and tormented trying to come to terms with his feelings for his estranged wife. La Musica is simply two people talking, my favourite type of theatre, cerebral, dialogue-based and laced with heady emotions. Of course it is so French, I mean all that stuff about shooting her; ‘I thought I did not love you so there was no point in shooting you’ That has to be the world’s greatest expression of the age-old sentiment ‘you only hurt the ones you love’. I also loved the immortal line ‘Some women have affairs, I go to the races!’ Which upset the male lead far more than any affair would. The theatre company were kind enough to invite us down for tea and biscuits after the show, which were most welcome because the intensity of La Musica and its ending (how could he leave I could never have!) had left me in need of some sustenance.

Hard to find stuff on the net on it, but this is a review from a 93 production in London   http://www.cix.co.uk/~shutters/reviews/93037.htm   Though the review is not as positive on the play as I am!

One thing I pondered when watching La Musica is how the two lead roles had all the material things anyone could want, careers, money, the chances to travel (oft referred to as an easy method of escape) and they both even had partners. But without each other they were deeply unhappy. So what is really valuable in life?

Enough of such meandering profundity, the last show I have seen in the last fortnight was Duets. Another cerebral play in a small theatre this one was more stylised with long musical breaks and pauses. But the dialogue when it appeared, was excellent; witty and entertaining and I enjoyed the dynamics of the relationship between the English husband and Singaporean wife. Plenty of Singaporean jokes as well but no actual Singlish, so that was a novelty and of course having no Singlish means you have to script wittier jokes. Over the top Singlish is so funny there is less need for witty writing.

On the whole the play was positive I felt affirming the delights of the mundane. Life is just better as a duet!

14th April 2005

Free to do what I want any old time!

The betrayal was worse than I thought, since Oct, way before the sojourn.  

Oh well forgetting that, what about my trip to London and Paris I just snuck in before Easter. It was my parents 35^th wedding anniversary. 35 and they are still, well snoring on the sofa, not bad. These days a relationship of 35 days is quite something, 35 years is mind blowing. Not that it seems anything but as natural as breathing (snoring) for the both of them, and for us, the lucky offspring. Actually dad likes a kip on the sofa but what he has done to the house is amazing. Now there is a real man, he built a garage out of kitchen himself. I can hardly fix a blocked sink and he can build a whole kitchen. I am a boy with much to learn.

So quite a few generations of O’Brien’s were present from Aunty Jessie (dad’s eldest sister) at 95 to Timothy O’Brien’s collection of tiny offspring. I am running out of space on this site so I shall have to store the photos somewhere.  

Contrary to popular belief the food I had in London was excellent and the weather was sublime! But it certainly is hern gui back home these days.

Paris was wonderful, I love it more when I do not do a touristy thing; though the canal trip was a bit ‘touristy’ it was off the beaten track enough to be interesting. And of course the best part was the company over there, who looked after me so well! So I owe Natacha and Frederique a royale welcome should they venture East. Life in Paris is so different to Singapore, the bo bo (bourgeois boheme) concept has not really made it here though I think I should try and introduce it. Anyone have any ideas how bo bo could be in Singapore? Hmm lets think

1. Coffee at TCC and a take-away Roti Boy?  nah
2. Shopping at Lot Road for furniture and drinking Dempsey road winebar.. closer but probably still no cigar
3. Drinking at balaclava, supper in Geylang? hmm we are circling BoBo territory without quite making it.
4. Wala Wala for drinks, dinner at Chom Chom, supper in Siglap. Trendy but trying too hard.  

The search for raffishness in Singapore is an ongoing quest. Holy blood, Holy Grail, holy prata.

I need to write soon about the film Er Ling Si Liu and the book Rubicon, Anthony and Cleopatra and of course finish off talking about Baudolino

And La Musica, best play i have seen in Singapore so far.

16th March

Here I go again on my own

Why give up an entire forest for the sake of just one tree.

Ben Wightman?!

Thanks to all my friends who have rallied around. Appreciate it!

I shall do my next update from another country, coming soon! And won't be anything to do with fallen trees.

20th February 2005 

I am not trying to pull you

Even though I would quite like to

Yes I think you are really fit

Really fit, but don't you just know it

A new year and I am hoping that I have had all my bad luck for the year over with and can get on with it now. First ill as soon as I got home from Xmas, then the Arsenal throw away the league and then the betrayal. Oh well at least I got a shed load of Valentine's cards... oh..

Updated this site at least with my Japan stories, now this site is utterly packed and I may have to create another one for the next holiday. 

I have read a few books since the last update. First one was a history one, the history of Byzantium.  That is of course my favourite historical period, though it is depressing to read of how it was exterminated by the Turks, having been betrayed by its fellow Christians in the West. Of course it brought it on itself through particularly bad government but when Constantinople fell we lost our contact with the Roman Empire and that is the saddest part of all. Modern Greece is a pale shadow of what Byzantium was. I am not sure what new I learnt from the book, it has no great thesis on the downfall of the Empire and what would be interesting is an analysis of what legacy we have from the Empire. My hunch is that World Was one really destroyed the last traces with the expulsion of Christians from Istanbul. The rise of Western Christianity killed it in the East, no one harmed the Empire more than the Venetians and others, they sowed the legacy we have today in their greed. Had things gone well for the Romeii then Christianity would have spread to Northern India. All of the problems we face today can be traced back to the 7th to 15th century history of the Byzantines.

Following on from the factual book I read the fictional one Baudolino by Eco. Set during the 1204 sacking of Constantinople by the Latin Crusaders it feauture the eponymous character narrating to Niketas (who was a real chronicler of the time) his life’s adventures as adopted son of Frederick Barborrossa. Eco spins Baudolino’s story through history, myth and philosophy as the Italian knight tells his tall tales. The book has three major parts, first it has how Frederick and Niketas meet amongst the pillage and chaos as the greatest city in history is destroyed and relics disappear forever. Then Baudolino tells of how he met the Emperor, studied in Paris, befriended philosophers and rogues and wooed any lady he came across. The final part is the story of the Knight’s quest into the magical Orient searching for Prester John and his lost Christian kingdom. Amongst the mythical creatures he meets Eco has fun with his philosophical and theological erudition referring to every Christian heresy one can list from its first five centuries and devoting a loving chapter to the Neo-Platonism of Hypatia. So if anyone is in doubt about homoousis and homoiousis and why it is worth killing someone about the difference, this book can clarify. Especially if you want to know what the original meaning of Ponce was.

7^th November (Happy Birthday Pamela yesterday!)

I see my light come shining, from the west down to the east

I’m in pain and misery!

One reason is due to the imminent and untrammelled murder of women and children about to be unleashed by this man http://www.michaelmoore.com/index.php ; no not Michael Moore he just terrorizes cheese burgers, I mean the grinning imbecile in the photo! The one who won because Americans care more about gay marriage than budget deficits, war dead and the destruction of civil rights. I think all these middle-Americans must be gay. Their problems with their own Id and sordid inner lusts lead them to campaign for the merciless persecution of anyone different from what they consider the norm. Funnily enough for the rest of the world marrying your uncle and burning crosses on lawns isn’t considered particularly normal. This whole US independence 1776 thing needs to be reviewed in my opinion.

Liberal Americans, realizing they are the brink of extinction have taken to looking for Canadian spouses in order to escape, this website has the details  http://www.marryanamerican.ca . Soon it’ll be like that film with Charlton Heston (how appropriate) that one where the whole town is mad and under the influence of some religious lunatics and Charlton fights them off with his personal arsenal of weapons (see the NRA has a point after all). Pretty soon Boston, New York and San Francisco will be denuded of all liberals and will be over-run by oversized trailer-park reared Midwesterners walking the streets looking for gays, liberals and Frenchmen to lynch. Oh yes this is the new world order Bush Loco Uno prophesised.

Am I perhaps not doing enough to reach out to the religious right? Should I try and build bridges with the moral majority?

 My critique of Bush’s tenure thus far was summed up in my mail to Julie last week.

 If I was an American I would be very upset that my Government had got deeply into debt in order to

1. Fight a war

2. Give tax cuts to the rich

 When there are serious long-term concerns about how to fund healthcare, pensions etc. In pure economic terms you can either fight the war or cut the taxes, but to do both is just insane.

It is like the American public who have all withdrawn their household equity to splurge on SUVs and boats and new kitchens and are now in debt up to their eyeballs. It is going to be very painful one day.

Unless of course you are rich, Bush has been pretty good for people who are very well off. Well off enough to never have to care about public health care, pensions or education. All of which will become virtually extinct if this carries on.

Any levelheaded normal 'conservative' would regard Bush as a spendthrift lunatic driving the country deeply into debt. And we haven't even talked about oil yet which was cheap as chips two years ago and is now going through the roof thanks to Bush's war, budget deficit and energy policy.

We had 8 years of peace and prosperity under Uncle Bill. The feel good factor was there, everyone was doing well and the budget was in surplus.

Since George has taken over we have had stock markets crashes, widespread headline bankruptcies, spiralling deficits, spiralling debts, plunging US Dollar, horrific terrorist attacks, war everywhere, poor employment levels and Dick Cheney

And he still won.

And my second causus miserium (I love inventing Latin, as if I could actually remember any) is the stumbling form of the mighty red and whites since we were burgled at the Muppet Theatre by Riley the c***. Again last night we threw away a lead and this one could have been much worse. How must Henry feel? He works so hard to score a precious goal and then we throw is away immediately. Our wantaway skipper has to take a hard look at himself and get back to basics. He looks a shadow of the player he was in 98. Can he actually be getting a little old for this box to box stuff.

Still is it some consolation that the goal scorer has such a cool website http://www.akiriihilahti.com/en/history.html  and his is a fan of Dostoyevsky

To cheer myself up right now I have the Band live at Watkin’s glen on the CD. An excellent gig indeed; Watkin’s glen was of course the biggest Rock concert of all time. To read about it check it out here http://www.echoes.com/rememberaday/watkins.html

Those were the days! But no pleasure without pain, the conditions were dreadful. I wonder if someone has the whole thing on film somewhere?

OK time to go shoot Republicans and Man Yoo fans, thanks Charlton, for the right to bear arms.

16^th October 2004

In the dead of the night, in the still and the quiet

I slip away like a bird in flight

Back to those hills; the place I call home'

VOTE KERRY

Or Rather (VOTE OUT BUSH), please the human race deserves another chance.

REGIME CHANGE now! OUST THE REPUBLICAN GUARD!

Hello So long since I wrote something and I have not even started putting up my Japanese tales and I have plenty to say after my excellent holiday out there. But I think Will has more to say seeing as he did so much stuff after I went away. Have to thank all my friends in Tokyo for looking after we two hobos when we were in town.

I recently read Camus’ ‘The Fall’; a very disturbing monologue from a disturbed Frenchman in Amsterdam (Jean Claude Baptiste). The book is all about self-deception, how we lie to ourselves to build up our image of what and who we are. Then along comes something, or a series of things, that tears apart the tissue of self-delusion we have created and the truth can drive one insane. Not the Jean Claude is exactly insane, rather he feels he was insane and can now see clearly; the judge-penitent.

Walking at night by the Seine all alone you hear a splash, what would you do?

I am having some very peculiar dreams as per usual, the highlight has to be having a fight with Wayne Rooney after accusing him of diving, but did he really deserve me throwing a frying pan of hot oil over ? Ya defo! And what was he doing in my old house in Ringwood Ave anyway.

All my friends are getting hitched and I am missing all the weddings. That is a bit sad; can they not have a wedding dinner here in Singapore too, pah typically thoughtless of them.

Saw a very interesting film called Ripley’s game last week. Anyone interested can look it up here http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0265651/ it does seem to be connected to that other film that had the character Tom Ripley but this is a 100 times better thanks to a much better script and cast. A film that should have made waves at the time but passed unnoticed. Tense, complicated and multi-layered I really enjoyed it. Something different and how many films stand out these days?

Enough of this I want to start putting the boot into Scum U two weeks till kick off.

Oh and kids remember Bush = forces of darkness, Kerry = hope.