Cereal Musings

I’ve looked at love from both sides now
From give and take, and still somehow
It’s love’s illusions I recall
I really don’t know love at all

Only the phoenix arises and
does not change.
And everything changes. And
nothing is truly lost.
- Neil Gaiman’s “Sandman”

A few of my good friends have posted Valentine’s Day blog entries, so, feeling vaguely lemming-like, here’s mine, heh. Going through the news yesterday, I came across anti-Western Hindus in India threatening young couples who celebrate today, and Indonesians warning their countrymen of the pernicious influence of this day. Many of my buddies are also gagging on the crass commercialism that blankets all communal occasions. I think, however, that while Hallmark days are cheapened by the whoring of sentiment, it doesn’t change the fact that people still want love. There’s only so much you can cheapen love by celebrating it - it has an immunity threshold. Plus, I realised years ago that it’s not about whether an occasion is important to you - it’s about whether it’s important to the people you care about around you.

So, with that in mind, here’s a song for everyone:

Late on Monday morning, I enjoyed one of the only redeeming aspects of working the occasional night shift. Lying on a sun chair next to the pool, reading, listening to my iPod and sipping a cool drink is not a bad way to spend the day, especially if it’s followed by a nice dip in the pool. Alright, more than a nice dip in the pool - more like lap after lap to cover my cardio quota for the day, but you get the idea. Kind of reminds me of kicking back in Phuket around the turn of the new year, only a lot more quiet and unhurried. It’s interesting how much has changed in the relatively short time since. Some things don’t, of course, like sky and water. This particular photo is of early Monday afternoon, but it’s pretty much what I see daily since I still manage to squeeze in a short swim before an afternoon shift, and there’s still some sun left when I get back from a morning shift. You gotta count the blessings.

Speaking of the sky, one of the classic luxuries is to look up and watch the clouds flirt with the sun. It’s even better when you have a megapixel phone camera to capture a moment.

I won’t cry when the silver lining shows
But you’re right
You understand
You ride with both hands
- Mew, White Lips Kissed

What a unique night it’s been.

Let me focus on the booze. No, booze is too pedestrian a term for the wonderful elixirs the Ds so graciously offered me and Warm. For example, I had some of the nicest Bloody Marys in a while. Also, it was refreshing to have a Bloody Caesar because I think Clamato (tomato with a dash of of clam broth) make a divine base for a cocktail.

Especially interesting was one of the most unusual Scotch Whiskeys I’ve ever tried - Nikka, which is incredibly flavourful, unexpectedly strong, and a startling maroon colour. Wow!

Stand by for pictures once I get the Ds to email them to me!

Read more about it here on Being Warm’s blog.

Singapore’s main English broadsheet used this picture on the front page, and it made such an impression that I had to post it here. Bones of a man and woman embracing each other, dated between 5000 and 6000 years old. I couldn’t take my eyes away.

The first photo has different lighting from the one used in the newspaper, and the second one has the same lighting but is a closeup. Both are from Reuters.

You can read more in this Associated Press wire story.

Vampires have always captured the popular imagination (Buffy, Angel, Blade, Underworld, Lost Boys, etc) and I grew up reading everything from Anne Rice to good old Bram Stoker. Yes, vamps are ostensibly a supernatural/occult idea. Being the cerebral creature I am though, and having never quite weaned myself off Joseph Campbell’s psychological approach to stories, what interests me most about these bloodsucker tales is their symbolism. I mean come on, seducing, biting, sucking, drinking, swallowing - it hardly takes a genius to see the sensual appeal. Distilled carnality, inexorable appetite, unfettered by scruples… mmmmm.

My favourite vampire TV series of all time is Forever Knight, which ran from ‘92-’96. I think it’s by far the most stylish, best cast, least corny, and most human ever made. Here’s a really tasteful montage from the series set to K’s Choice’s very appropriate song Not an Addict:

Here’s a droll soundbite from Lacroix (played perfectly by Nigel Bennett):

Humanity is delicious, is it not?

And here’s a song I can say with some certainty none of you readers will remember - Lori Yates’s The Hunger, from the soundtrack of the series:

You must give in
You must give in
A game that you can’t win
The Hunger

So, you’ve heard an obscure song on your favourite internet radio / music streaming site that you can’t find anywhere else, but don’t know how to record it onto your PC?

Let me help.

• Macheads should download Wiretap (It’s shareware but unregistered versions are still perfectly functional; just with fewer options)
• Windows users should grab freeware Stationripper, OpD2d, or one of these.
• Lovers of Linux flavours can try Streamripper, which seems to already be part of the FreeBSD standard distro.

All the programs work in roughly the same way - you start the program, stream your audio, and press Record. Whatever plays on your computer’s soundcard gets recorded. Voila.

Audio is intercepted as it leaves your soundcard, but before it reaches your speakers. Those of you worried that someday soon, this avenue will be cut off to you, probably needn’t fret. A few years ago, my buddy SH and I were discussing ideas for a newspaper technology story when he pointed out that no matter what kind of DRM (digital rights management) is slapped onto your PC, audio still has to come out from an analog audio jack. Plug in any form of audio recorder - even one using primitive cassette tapes - and you can record your audio. Nothing short of a complete migration to digital audio cables will change that, so rest easy for now.

The Net interprets censorship as damage, and routes around it.
- John Gilmore (Electronic Frontier Foundation)

Most computer peripherals these days are connected via USB (universal serial bus) cables, which, as the name implies, are pretty darn universal. It doesn’t matter if you’re using a camera, phone, printer/scanner or external hard drive, just stick a USB cable into it, make sure the other end goes into your PC, and you’re good to go. Best of all, USB is hot-pluggable, which means you can (usually) connect/disconnect stuff while your computer is running, without having to reboot.

USB is so convenient I’ve almost forgotten the bad old days of traditional serial cables and parallel ports.

If only our bodies were that easy to disconnect and reconnect. I used to be a swimmer jock back in school, but in the years since, I thoroughly unjocked (yes, I just invented that word). These days, I’m busy rejocking (yes, another new word) while the good ‘ol metabolism still has a vague memory of healthier days, and hasn’t yet succumbed to Alzheimer’s.

Inspired by S.H.E’s magical installation of Mac OSX on her IBM Thinkpad I decided to try the same thing on my Intel-powered Mac.

Well, not exactly the same thing, since I already had both Mac OSX and Windows XP running natively on the computer. It’s just that now I have Mac OSX running on Windows running on a Mac. Now that’s meta!

Can you spot which one’s the “real” Mac OSX?

Well, I won’t tell you, though I will point out that Neverwinter Nights 2, the latest greatest Dungeons & Dragons RPG, is running on the second screenshot.

And, for good measure, here’s an extended screen capture across my two screens (I’m running a dual display setup):

A big thanks to FlyakiteOSX for making this happen, and all for free. There’s actually a way to do the same thing to OSX, but I’ve definitely had my fill of topsy turviness for a while, so I’m not going to try it.