Bathroom Singing

Do you sing in the bathroom?

If we were in India, we could consider taking part in "Bathroom Singer", a new singing contest. Which reminds me of the "Live Your Dream" advert with chubby bathroom singer belting out My Way.

Well, I used to sing in the bathroom but hardly do so these days. Not sure exactly why I sing less these days though.

Someone has suggested that bathroom singing could be a way to gain better work/life harmony(hee!). If you make it a point to sing a song or two each time you shower, at the start and then at the end of the day, and with all the gusto that goes with such singing, I am sure it will give a lift to the day. Hopefully it is harmony for the neighbours too. Haha!

And not forgetting to turn off the water while soaping and singing - do need to save water.

Lah More

I still remember this to be one of my earliest impression of classical music, and Carmen in particular. Not that I knew that it was Carmen that I was listening to. Later, I also realised that this tune was used in a famous Chinese oldie too.



Sesame Street was definitely one of those childhood tv shows that cannot be forgotten. Watching the current series just the other day and seeing computer animated alphabet blocks in the opening sequence shows how it is keeping up with the times and yet the muppets are still there. Remember Oscar the Grouch?

I am looking forward to the "I Love My 70s Childhood" exhibition coming up at Pauseability. While it is a small-scale show, it is nonetheless a rather personal one.

Booked

Well, I enjoy reading and going to the library.

One of the things I enjoy about being at the library is the accidental discovery of a gem among the shelves. Same for surfing the web. David Shenk warned about the problem with just having niche media where you are only looking at things that are of interest to you. I can just imagine how much I would have missed if I stuck only to the shelves or webpages that I am interested in.

I like the bookcart in the photo above. It is one of the entries for a Pimp My Bookcart Contest.

And on the topic of books, it is interesting to find out that while many of us would think the increase in literacy in the middle ages is due to the invention of the printing press, it is really related to availability of cheap paper which were made from rags, including underwear and discarded clothes due to the Black Death. Who would have thought that wearing underwear led to increased medieval literacy. Ha!



Meanwhile, I am reading Susan Greenfield's, an acclaimed neuroscientist, Tomorrow's People. Extending from on her knowledge of neuroscience, she speculates what the future might be like in lifestyle, work, education and even terrorism.

Meet the Artist

A simple but wonderful session with Jacklyn, the first artist who is exhibiting at Pauseability. Friends who came by enjoyed the casual time and some even tried their hands at creating their own masterpieces. (Pardon the poor camera work.)



After everyone left, it was a pleasant surprise to meet Wai Mun and her husband, and it was great having dinner with them.

And sadly, I discovered that my online catalogue has been hacked. Sigh! Hope I can restore it quickly and also learn how to make it more secure.

Risk-Taking on Order

Through Tomorrow, the Bulletin of Singapore Bloggers, I came across this blog entry by Gary, an American who spent a year here in Singapore. In it, he reflected on his experience here even as he packs to move on somewhere else.

While he conceded that Singapore is "every bit a miracle", he felt that we were just too boringly predictable, orderly and compliant.

This is not exactly a very new observation since our leaders have specifically set themselves to work on making us more innovative and less risk-averse. In schools, we have been talking about Innovation and Enterprise. So, in true Singapore-style, we have made this our national agenda.

Is it too early to tell if we will ever succeed with this tried and tested top-driven method? Or is it time to be innovative even in tackling this? But to chose the latter would mean taking a risk - risk that it might backfire, risk that it might create an unexpected mess. In some sense, we seem to be bounded by our very own success, even as we grapple with the realities of the new creative economy.

Setting up Pauseability has been my own learning about taking risk. It has been a mix of exhilaration, doubts and simply not knowing. Could I have learned as much if I had stayed on within the system? Perhaps the opportunities to do so have increased but my guess is that it would still have been different.

Interacting with the people who paused by the shop has also been instructive. Most of them have found it quite inconceivable that they are just to play and create with the provided materials without specific instructions given. Some of them said that this is just how the pragmatic Singaporeans are. Or is this just a universal aversion to uncertainty? I hope that many will find Pauseability a good "laboratory" to experience a little risk-taking, creativity and even a little chaos; to learn to see possibilities.

Creativity, risk-taking, even a little chaos are what have been said to be needed to have that je ne sais quoi in our city so that we can surge ahead. On first impression, these things do not appear to be able to happen by order but perhaps in our truly unique way, we will prove that it can. It is just that we will need to succeed real fast.

And here is a good example of not getting caged in. Clever idea eh?

Accidental Masterpiece

Yet another book that I stumbled upon in the library. I like the subtitle which says: on the art of life and vice versa. From talking about a collector of light bulbs to a photographer who braved being lost in the south pole, Kimmelman writes beautifully about appreciating art and also seeing life artfully.


Yesterday, Jacklyn brought her art pieces and I had a good time arranging them in the little exhibition space in Pauseability. I am grateful that she has given me the honour of expressing myself in the display. Just before closing the shop, I laid back on the daybed and in just the spotlight meant for the gallery and the music of Pink Martini, took moments to enjoy soaking in the collection before me. It was lovely.

The exhibition opens on Thursday. Sure hope some folks will pause by to enjoy as well.

Yummy Funny

My brother offered this almond cookie to me recently (clearing CNY goodies? Ha!) Unlike the usual ones from China, this one is yummy and comes with crunchy almond chunks. Thanks bro! From Macau and pretty nice packaging too.


And if you like seeing beautiful packaging, look at this very colourful flickr collection of Japanese beverages. Some of them are funny too.


Talking about funny, what do you think of the collar on this shirt? Well,huge collars and bell bottoms were the fashion in the 70s. I am still looking for stuff for the "I <3 My 70's Childhood" exhibition. If you have a shirt or a pair of pants from the 70's, or artwork, photos or any other artifacts, please do lend me a hand. This show is scheduled for 19 July at Pauseability.