How?

How can it possibly be September already??

The Eastern Bloc Series

One of the good things about living in places that aren't as politically correct as, say the UK or Australia (though I guess Singapore is politically correct in..other ways..) is the cool toys you can find.

At Toy's R Us you MAY find a waterpistol, or a ray gun or maybe a good old cowboy-and-indians six-gun. And if you find the latter it'll have a huge bulbous red thing on the end of the barrel so that the police don't accidentally shoot the 5 year old holding it.

Wandering down to my local toy shop today I was very pleased to see 'The Eastern Bloc Series, Toy Replica Weapons of the Cold War'. They had M4 carbines, AKSUs, bolt action rifles - all for 3 year olds and over.

Of course, I bought one for my son. For when he is older. An AK-47, to be precise. 1:1 scale. A boy should always know his weapons, you know, the difference between an assault rifle and a sub machine gun, or a tank v an artillery gun, that sort of thing.

Anyway, this obviously brings up the whole 'parental responsibility ' thing. To put this into some perspective, the pic below shows an actual present that he received for his not-very-old-at-all birthday a few days ago.

A kid's accordion. Great. That'll have the neighbors round.

I've hidden it. That's responsible parenting...

Love it or hate it, Indo

Point Break Indo hit Cannes with an announcement from Essential Entertainment yesterday, with Jan de Bont as the director.

There isn't much middle-of-the-road reaction to this on the internet - either it's a sequel too far or it's wild and crazy good. Of course, it'll be the latter......

sword stylization with belladonna

"A belly dancer's guide to powerful and purposeful sword technique: This DVD includes sword technique for both held and balanced moves, and is a complete primer for adding sword work to your dance repertoire. "

I just...never...realised....

If you want to learn, be my guest:

http://www.filmbaby.com/films/2706

In truth though, I'm a little more concerned about the Ikea snake.

i before e

I saw this sign in Hong Kong, and, having spent much of my formative years in Germany (and learning how to order pizza and beer), found it hard to contain my childlike mirth.

If the same mirth doesn't immediately take you then I suggest you move quickly on without google-ing. It's surprising what a difference 'ie' and 'ei' make in some languages.

Plus: I always feel embarrassed taking photos of signs. Why?

gone flying

Standing in the rain, both hands full, waiting for a cab? No worries. Taxi drivers in Singapore can help you. They have some internal mechanical device that allows them to open the rear passenger door for you. Which is nice.

Or it would be, if ALL taxis had it, and if it didn't open the door with sufficient force to kill a poodle. As it is, so few of them use it (or have it) that when they do open the door for you you're invariably taken completely by surprise. And as you are usually carrying shopping and children and possibly poodles, which is presumably why they have opened the door for you in the first place, it's all the more difficult to manoeuvre your kneecaps out of the way.

It seems churlish to complain, I know. Perhaps if they wait until the taxi stops before they launch the door at you it might be better.

fame and numbers

The thing about Singapore is that it's small enough to pretty much guarantee that you'll bump into people you know. Or recognise. So, knowing that the guys from 'Heroes' were in Singapore today I knew that, if I hung out long enough at Delifrance in the Funan centre, I would bump into Greg Grunberg, and chat, briefly and inanely, about stuff.

I didn't bump into the Cure when they were here though. Maybe they went to Sim Lim.

Thinking about it, I must bump into Asian celebs alot, without realising who they are. I've been briefed recently about some of them, and they seem to be known by numbers. 715, for instance. (When I was at prep school my number was 151, so I'm not quite there yet). I might allocate everyone I know a 3 digit number, because I'm terrible with names. I only need 2 digits for now, but I'd like the system to be futureproof.

Anyway, did I tell you about the time when I sat next to Tony Blair and his family at the theatre in London....?

...it's the little things...

Open letter to manufacturers of kitchenware:

Please please stop making things that become water traps when put upside down in the dishwasher. This will go some way towards stopping me swearing within range of my son, when, every morning at 7.30 without fail, I pour cold water over my legs while trying to empty the dishwasher while giving him breakfast, making coffee and working out if any neighbours can actually see me stumbling around the kitchen like a loon.

I'm not great in the morning. Cold water doesn't help.