MDA Senior Management Rap

"Government rap", like "economy cheese" are two words that should never be put together. Watch for the awesome consequences.

Via Mr Brown, L'infantile terrible of Singapore.

Two Stories of Love

Want to read a story about love?

You could go to the news and see this heart-warming story of boy sees girl on subway, boy makes website seeking girl, boy finds girl, boy and girl's story gets optioned for a movie.

Get your fill of:
-Cute kids in love
-NYC dating 2007
-Fashion tips to get noticed on the subway
-Warm and fuzzy love

Or, you could go to an arty cinema near you, preferably one where the concessions counter is actually smaller than the tickets counter, and see Ang Lee's Lust, Caution.
The gut-wrenching story of girl disguises herself as tai-tai, girl meets boy, boy whips girl.. aagh just go see it!

Get your fill of:
-Asia's Clarke Gable, Tony Leung
-Shanghai in the 1940s
-Awesome vintage cheongsams (!!)
-Love as performance

In case the above ramblingly incoherent alphabet collection didn't do the film justice–

From Ang Lee's essay on Lust, Caution, about Eileen Chang, who wrote the original short story:
She understood playacting and mimicry as something by nature cruel and brutal: animals, like her characters, use camouflage to evade their enemies and lure their prey. But mimicry and performance are also ways we open ourselves as human beings to greater experience, indefinable connections to others, higher meanings, art, and the truth.

FreeRice

The only time I'd hate to be 25 and long to be 41..

How to Carve a Pumpkin

So you all know I am nothing if not hugely inept at bunging things on here in a timely manner. Hence my Halloween update today, which is creeping onto Melbourne Cup day. Ack! Too many festivals involving strange outfits to celebrate!

This was my first 'real' Halloween, so I thought I'd share with you how I carved a pumpkin. For most non-Americans it's a complete mystery.

First, get a carving kit. It's a book of design patterns with some crazy little tools attached to the front. There's a few saws, a scoop and a couple poke-y things.

Then, get a pumpkin. I got this one for $4 in a pumpkin patch (they sprout up on corners in October). Remember to bring someone along to haul it into the boot. Watch your nails, girls!

Back at the ranch...Cut the lid out with a knife and use the scoop to take out the seeds and stringy bits inside. This bit will take longer and be harder than you expect.

Then, pick out your design. Start with an easy one that's hard to screw up. Stick it in place and use a poke-y thing to punch holes in the lines.

When you take the pattern off, it'll look like this. Use the little saws to cut out the pattern, following the dotted lines. This will take longer and be harder than you expect.

Finally! You will feel so proud of your achievement that you regret choosing the simple one. You go back to the book in search of something more befitting your enormous pumpkin carving, nay, SCULPTING talent.

Ta-DAAAAAA.

Perth meets Perez

I'm pretty much addicted to Perez Hilton–it is the trashiest trash that ever trashed. But yesterday, I had to do a double-take to make sure I wasn't reading the West Australian!