Miki

He hardly poses, I mean stay still, for shoot. These are rare. :)

In The Ladies .......

Found in the cubicle in the Ladies at 4th floor, Nex Serangoon.

Micro

Finished this entertaining, engaging fast-paced techno-thriller by the late Michael Crichton in a mere 3 days period. I didn't know that the author died of throat cancer on November 4,2008 till I read the last page about the Authors. It mentioned that Crichton was well into the writing of this novel at the time of his death, and Richard Preston was selected to complete it.

The back cover blurb:

In a locked Honolulu office building, three men are found dead with no sign of struggle except for the ultrafine, razor-sharp cuts covering their bodies. The only clue left behind is a tiny bladed robot, nearly invisible to the human eye.

In the lush forests of Oahu, groundbreaking technology has ushered in a revolutionary era of biological prospecting. Trillions of microorganisms, tens of thousands of bacteria species, are being discovered; they are feeding a search for priceless drugs and applications on a scale beyond anything previously imagined.

In Cambridge, Massachusetts, seven graduate students at the forefront of their fields are recruited by a pioneering microbiology start-up. Nanigen MicroTechnologies dispatches the group to a mysterious lab in Hawaii, where they are promised access to tools that will open a whole new scientific frontier.

But once in the Oahu rain forest, the scientists are thrust into a hostile wilderness that reveals profound and surprising dangers at every turn. Armed only with their knowledge of the natural world, they find themselves prey to a technology of radical and unbridled power. To survive, they must harness the inherent forces of nature itself.

The stories is about one of the nanotech companies, The Nanigen MicroTechnologies corporation has developed revolutionary shrinking technology based on tensor fields, an extremely high-intensity magnetic fields. Not only can they reduce machines and robots, they can reduce living human beings and then decompress them to full size. Once they become a threat to the evil Nanigen's president, the seven graduate students and an unlucky Nanigen employee are shrank into half an inch tall micro humans, who manage to escape into Hawaii's forest before they are killed. Here starts the quest to barely survive the hostile surroundings (inserts, warps, spiders, poisons & venoms, and chemical defenses of plants, all deadly to micro humans) and to find their ways back to full size before they would suffer internal Hemorrhage with a prolonged stay extending out to only a few more days in the micro-world.

I've 'learned' quite a bit about inserts' behaviour. Though I swear not wanting to experience it personally.

@ Hard Rock

A night at Hard Rock Sentosa with my brother, sister, brother-in-law and the kids on last Mon.

Sinful place Candylicious, largest candy store in Singapore.

Woods In The Books No2

Because of Affordable Art Fair, and because of heavy downpour out there, I get stuck at Millenia Walk, a place that I hardly go on last Sunday. So me and my incredible decided to explore the shopping mall to kill time. To my astonishment, Woods In The Books, an indie bookshop specialises in picture books has open a second outlet there. Nice.

Though I had refrained myself to buy those truly lovely picture books for now ;-( (space, space, space!!! Doesn't all humble booklovers like me always face this problem?) , I still purchased two small books as a consolation.



These are the books.

alter.sg is is an independent travel guide showcasing alternative lifestyle in Singapore. What Gives Us Our Names, is one of Babette's Feast titles published by MATH PAPER PRESS during Singapore Writers Festival 2011. MATH PAPER PRESS is a small press publishing by BOOKSACTUALLY that deals with short experimental novellas, poetry and essays. I really salute Kenny & Karen, the lovely and friendly booksellers, who dedicate wholeheartedly in supporting local authors, and making the reading scenes in Singapore more interesting.

.....

Meticulous Art II

Joe Fenton's artworks not only detail and gorgeous, but also make you feel fantasy, as there are lots of interesting creatures in his works.

Meticulous Art

Discover these incredibly detailed artworks using dip pen and Indian ink by Latvian artist Aleksejs Konahins. Phew !

Future Science

Very fascinating ! This is indeed a more 'accessible' and readable summary of the latest thinking/theories and discoveries by eighteen bright and innovative young researchers. At least, for general audiences like most of us, except Anthony Aguirre's essay about infinity which really made me cracked my head and to no where far. ;-(

I personally favor Daniela Kaufer and Darlene Francis's "Nurture, Nature, and the Stress That Is Life" and Laurie R. Santos's "To Err Is Primate".

People are different—from other animals and, perhaps more interestingly, from one another. One important way we differ from one another is in how we respond to stress. Why is it that when faced with the same challenges, some of us crumble, some of us survive, and some of us even thrive? How we react to stress matters; it is intimately tied not just to our vulnerability to disease states and pathologies but to our general health and well-being.~ "Nurture, Nature, and the Stress That Is Life"

Why do house sellers, professional golfers, experienced investors, and the rest of us succumb to strategies that make us systematically go wrong? ~ "To Err Is Primate"

Go and read the book. Definitely open your horizon.

Bibliomania

An extract from Phantoms On The Bookshelves by Jacques Bonnet.

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After that, a strange relationship becomes established between the bibliomaniac and his (or her) thousands of books. The same relation as between a gardener and an invasive climbing plant : the plant grows all by itself, in a manner invisible to the naked eye, but at a rate of progress that is measurable after a few weeks. The gardener, unless he is willing to chop it down, can only indicate the direction he wants it to take. In just the same way, prolific libraries take on an independent existence, and become living things. ("To build up a library is to create a life. Is is never merely a random collection of books" - The Paper House.) We may have chosen its themes, and the general pathways along which it will develop, but we can only stand and watch as it invades all the walls of the room, climbs to the ceiling, annexes the other rooms one by one, expelling anything that gets in the way. It eliminates pictures hanging on the walls, or ornaments that obstruct its afvance; it moves on with its necessary but cumbersome acolytes - stools and ladders - and forces its owner into constant reorganization, since its progress is not linear and calls for ever new kinds of division. At the same time, it is undeniably the reflection, the twin image of its master. To anyone with the insight to decode it, the fundamental character of the librarian will emerge as one's eye travels along the bookshelves. Indeed no library of any size is like another, none has the same personality.

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Hi me. ^^

Another book that I've read recently is The Book of Paper, which features a series of essays written by artists, architects and scientists, all of whom have unique approaches to paper. I especially like 'Beneath the Surface' by Miri Golan, a pro origami artist who has taught at a school for students who have been temporarily withdrawn from mainstream education due to emotional and behavioural problems.

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The paper, mostly square, cut accurately, of the right size and flexibility, is suited to my purpose. When I look at the paper on my table, it is blank. Every fold reduces the area of the paper, but it acquires more layers. When a student comes to my room, we first fold without talking. Every fold releases more emotion and pressure, until the student is able to relax. Then we start to talk and expose more layers of feeling. In the process of the folding, the paper changes shape. Every time, it appears to be something else, such as a kite or a rabbit ... but it is not. Eventually it will become exactly what we want it to become. When a student folds they release their emotions; their eyes seem to suggest what they are going through. I then raise other points, which enable the student to slowly turn anger and confusion to options and possibilities, from which they can grow.

The paper is used as an important surface for learning. In the process of folding, we discover different angles and polygons. Take a student who has trouble coping with traditional classroom teaching: they can explore geometry in the paper they are folding, learning to calculate angles and identify polygons. This knowledge can later re-emerge in the student's regular geometry class, strengthening their confidence, self-image and ability to learn.

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Truly amazing !

MIKI

These are the most recent shots I took using Canon EOS 60D. The textures, or technically resolution, are damn good. Love it ! Pretty much tempted to buy one myself.

Beautiful Monday

These lovely photos by Brazilian photographer Marcelo Gomes have definitely brightened up my Monday.






Who says images must be sharp sharp ? Often out of focus and off centered, his subjects are captured with remarkable vibrancy and colorful hues.

During train ride .....

During my train ride this rainy morning, there is a lady reading The Mephisto Club sitting next to me.

I've captured these 2 lines from the book. Yeah! I got nothing better to do with my eyes. :)

'There is a butler here ?'
'Oh yeah. We're talking about this kind of money.'

Make any sense ? Not to me. Haha!

The Book of Illusions

The back-cover blurb :

Six months after losing his wife and two young sons, Vermont professor David Zimmer spends his waking hours mired in a blur of alcoholic grief and self-pity. One night, he stumbles upon a clip from a lost film by silent comedian Hector Mann. His interest is piqued, and he soon finds himself embarking on a journey around the world to research a book on this mysterious figure who vanished from sight in 1929. When the book is published the following year, a letter turns up in Zimmer's mailbox, bearing a return address from a small town in New Mexico, inviting him to meet Hector, Zimmer hesitates, until one night a strange woman appears on his doorstep and makes the decision for him, changing his life forever.

This is indeed an engaging book, and believe it or not, this is also my first read of Auster's novel. Though I've heard quite a bit of his early works, especially The New York Trilogy.

Auster paints such a vivid picture of the silent-era movie star and his life that it makes you wonder if this is fiction at all. It simply very believable. A check on the Internet confirmed my curious. No. He didn't exist. Instead, Duke Special, a songwriter and performer based in Belfast, had released an album, The Silent World of Hector Mann (same title as David Zimmer's book), featuring 12 songs inspired by this fictional character.

Some passages I noted down :

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At this moment in history, everything withers in a day; whoever lives too long dies alive. As we move through life, we leave behind three or four images of ourselves, each one different from the others; we see them through the fog of the past, like portraits of our different ages.

What matters is not how well you can avoid trouble, but how you cope with trouble when it comes.

When a man has nothing to look forward to, he might as well be dead.

If i had it in me to laugh, then that meant i wasn't entirely numb.

ABSOLUT

I'm a fan of Absolut Vodka. Not the liquor itself, but the distinctive bottle shape. Have been collecting the bottles in the past few years. This is one of my favorites.


Love their advertising campaigns as well.

Recent Purchases

Here are my newly acquired companions :

L’Étranger | Erika Altosaar
Published: April 2011
Edition: 29/500
Details: Newsprint portfolio; 12 pages; lose binding; 11.25" x 15". Printed in the USA.
ISBN: 978-0-9830081-1-8



Dog Ear | Erica Baum
Published: 2011
Details: Perfect-bound. 72 pp, 7.25 x 8.5 in.
ISBN: 978-1-933254-71-5





The Doodle Notebook: How to Waste Time in the Office | Claire Fay
Publisher: Thames & Hudson (25 Feb 2008)
ISBN-13: 978-0-500-28739-2

Indie : Littered with Books

With some luck tonite, I was able to knock off earlier and visit the newest indie bookstore @ Duxton Road which is a mere 15 minutes walks from my workplace.

Littered with Books is a independent bookstore housed in a conservation shophouse with an interesting range of carefully selected literary, popular fiction, non-fiction, crime and thrillers, sci-fi, fantasy, travel narratives and childrens books. I am totally in love with this charming and quaint place. So much better if there is café.

To my surprise, I've found quite a good choice of books on books, my favourite genre. \^_^/






These are what I've bought :
- Phantoms On The Bookshelves by Jacques Bonnet
- Rereadings edited by Anne Fadiman
- The Book of Illusions by Paul Auster
- The doodle Notebook : how to waste time in the office (Yes! That's right!) by Claire Fay

Adding four more books is no such a big deal since my room is already littered with books. Haha!