Baggage

For the first time in all my years of flying, I arrived at my destination this evening (in HK) and my bag failed to roll down on to the baggage carousel.

I'm hoping that being the last passenger who checked in his luggage - way past the cut-off time, by the way - might mean that my bag is still sitting in the KL airport's baggage storage area. Not ideal, but it's not the end of the world. There's nothing in that bag that I cannot replace easily.

If all goes well, my bag will be with me tomorrow, dispatched on the first flight out to Hong Kong, which leaves at 9:30am.

I know that I need to jettison excess baggage, but this is ridiculous. Oh well. Life. What's your week like?

Special SAG Mentions

Today's SAG award was another ho-hum affair but 2 things popped out for me.

~ Daniel Day-Lewis continues to honour and mourn the passing of Heath Ledger, this time with a dedication of his Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor to the memory of the younger actor.


"In `Brokeback Mountain,' he was unique, he was perfect," said Day-Lewis, already an Oscar winner for "My Left Foot." "That scene in the trailer at the end of the film is as moving as anything I think I've ever seen."

Like I said, a class act. And very needed too, especially in light of the fact that Heath Ledger's gifted artistry is all but forgotten in the tabloid frenzy of his cause of death.

~ In lighter news, Angelina Jolie sure knows how to get the tabloids and punters excited, playing up to the rumours of her tabloid-claimed pregnancy in a free-flowing frock that also played up her boobage.

Cheeky.

A Class Act

Dicks In The News

So I had all of 1 full hour of sleep (I think) on the flight back from Mumbai. Suffice to say, I'm in full zombie mode in the office today. Some of these items made me roll my eyes, some made me chuckle. And some made me roll my eyes some more.

~ Radio host & TV commentator John Gibson made one of the most insensitive and nasty jokes while talking about Heath Ledger's death.

He had to make this apology



because he said this. Freedom of speech, oi vey.

~ Do we really care that P Diddy wants to change his name...again?

~ Why do some lesbians (ok, they're more dyke than dick, but you get the picture) want to now be called 'gayelle'?

~ This made me chuckle mildly.



It's Friday, I'm sleepy, go play.

Mumbai The Way...

I've been in Mumbai now for 3 days, with the first 2 days seeing me attend work meetings from 9am to 6pm. Long days.

Besides dinner at the local office on Tuesday night, I had not stepped out of the hotel since I arrived around midnight on Monday. Which is why today was nice.

I met with my friend Genesia for lunch and we've been hanging out all afternoon, catching up on the days and years of our lives. I'm currently in her apartment in Pali Hill (in the Bandra district) which has a nice view of the ocean (the Indian Ocean?).

It's been 10 years since I've seen Genesia, and the years have done nothing to weaken our friendship, forged through numerous phone calls between Bombay & Hong Kong over music play-lists, new releases and the wonderful ways we were planning to change youth music entertainment.

We were such young idealists.

Mumbai, or Bombay, if you will, is different and yet the same. Traffic's like nothing I've seen anywhere else. I had 3 near-crashes today but somehow I'm not bothered by it. There is order in the chaos. Which is strangely comforting.

Of course, being here made me think about Stephen and his many months here. I have newfound respect for him. Bombay, of Mumbai, if you will, is not easy for anyone who's never been to Asia before.

I might come back to Bombay and spend more time with Genesia and her family, and see more of the city. 2008's shaping up to be a traveling year. I'll keep you posted.

Monday, Monday

~ In case you've not seen the Tom Cruise Scientology video that's making the rounds on the internet, click on through here.


Just watching it made me slightly uneasy, but that's me.

~ Someone did a naughty thing, filmed the teaser trailer for the new Star Trek movie, which is directed by TV's JJ Abrams (Lost, Alias), and posted it on the internet. You can get more on the new movie here.


~ Mariah's new album is gonna be out on April 1 and it's titled "That Chick".

As you can see from the album cover, Mariah is very comfortable not wearing much. As usual.

Expect to see the usual suspects in her list of collaborators, including a touch of reggae from Damian Marley. Songs from the new album:
"Lovin' You Long Time"
"Touch My Body"
"That Chick"
"Thanx for Nothin'"
"For the Record"
"Migrate"
"Cruise Control"
"Love Story"
"OOC"
"Bye Bye"

~ And here's the first look at the official poster for SATC.



I'm off to Mumbai for a few days of meetings. It's only been 10 years since my last trip. Speak to you soon.

Cute & Cringeworthy

American Idol is back with a new season. And new freaks. I love it.

"The key to my heart" - 'nuff said! Happy weekend.

Let Me Get This Straight

Ok, I'm in Singapore, 48 hours, visa application, off to India next week. So, there. Fascinating, I know. I'll keep this brief.

~ Does size matter?


Yeah, 13 and a half inches just seems...excessive.

~ Canadians are so wacky.



I really should visit...eh?

OWN My God...

It's been announced that Oprah Winfrey has partnered with Discovery Networks to launch her very own network. Yowza...

The deal will see the dissolution of the Discovery Health Network for the creation of OWN - short for Oprah Winfrey Network.

The channel will focus on helping people "live the best life they can", which is an Oprah tenet. I'm guessing a whole new slew of TV celebrities are just waiting for Oprah's magic touch.

I don't know whether to apply for a job with them or just wait for OWN to get to Asia.

Blue Monday

~ Did you know that The Smurfs are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year? They were the creation of Belgian cartoonist Peyo. You thought they were American, didn't you?

To mark their golden anniversary, there will be a 3-dimensional, CGI animation Smurfs movie later this year, and get this, it will be in 3-parts.

Yup, it'll be a Smurfology, if you will.

~ Bjork, that original, swan dress-wearing Icelandic musicologist is currently touring the Asia-Pacific region and before she's even stepped on stage, she's already made news.

Upon her arrival at New Zealand's Auckland International Airport, Bjork attacked a news photographer and ripped his shirt in 2 after he ignored a request (hers?) to not take any more pictures.

You might remember that Bjork went into attack mode some years back when she was in Bangkok's airport and was approached by a reporter, hitting her violently with an umbrella.

I'm afraid of Bjork. I want to be Bjork for a day. How's your Monday?

Hot Tennis

Looking at these photos taken this past week in Melbourne made me very grateful for the sun.





Maybe I should attend a tennis game - in hot weather - before I die. But I'll need you to remind me how to keep score.

I'm unwinding after 4 nights out this past week. How was your weekend?

Janet's Back!

I'm not in love with the video. Song's a grower. Watch it before it gets yanked off the net.

Idiots In The News

It takes a village, so they say. Here are 2 monumental examples of said idiots in the village.

~ Who's more tragic than Britney? Bobby Trendy.

Moments after Britney Spears was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Hospital in LA, this over-the-top, badly-in-need-of-his-teeth-being fixed interior decorator, who once worked for the late Anna Nicole Smith, held a 'visual' (what, he can't pronounce vigil?) for the troubled pop star.

TMZ has the footage of this sad case of humanity.

~ Would you sue someone for calling you a drama queen?

Well, that's what a retired lecturer in KL did when he was described as a 'drama queen lecturer' in a 2004 article by a columnist. The retiree claims that "drama queen" is a homosexual slur in Malaysian English (a.k.a. Manglish).

My head hurts from so much stupidity.

Monday Musings

OK, so this weekend saw me walk into a low-level awning and cutting my forehead (my first injury of '08, woo hoo!), and testing my middle-age muscles by dancing and partying 'til 5 in the morning AFTER having spent an hour running in the gym.

I'm still paying for it today. Oh, and I left my Blackberry in a cab last night. Oh well. Happy reading.

~ Oprah's favourite interior designer, Nate Berkus, will be hosting a new reality show 'Oprah's Big Give' - a series that follows 10 people who “criss-cross the country, giving away hundreds of thousands of dollars to unsuspecting people who are in for the surprise of their lives.”

More on Nate here.

~ Facebook application Secret Crush might have a deeper, darker secret - read on and be warned.

~ Would you really have a need to plug into 1 device with 5 friends at the same time? Well, the Belkin Rockstar is giving you that option, if you feel so inclined.


~ What did Madonna do in India over the New Year holidays?



~ Those of you who know me know that I have an odd fascination with CNN presenters. Seth Doane was a Delhi-based video correspondent until he got a New York-based gig with CBS News.


I know he's a bit of a Ken Doll with gel, but I miss seeing him report on CNN.

Not as much as I miss my Blackberry, though. Happy Monday.

Over In 2008?

~ If the Iowa caucuses are anything to go by, are American voters truly over the Clintons being in power?

~ So Britney's started the year with a bang, being carried out of her LA home on a stretcher, and wheeled into an ambulance. She apparently didn't want to hand over her sons to their father after her allocated visitation time. News reports are saying that she's undergoing 'mental evaluation'. Right.

The 4-hour stand-off became something of a media circus, and was even Breaking News on CNN International.

I think we need a new word for 'over'.

~ In related news, there's confusion if 16-year old expectant mother Jamie Lynn Spears (Brit's sis) has had her TV series cancelled. As of the time of this blog, Zoey 101 is still not quite over.


~ Rumours abound that Apple will be making a huge announcement at the MacWorld Expo, something about a new record label with music mogul Jay-Z?


Is the age of the traditional record label truly over?

~ Could the blog musings of the creator of TV's Brothers & Sisters have cost him a lucrative production deal, not to mention a key role in the series production? Did he over-share?

Have a great first weekend of Oh-Eight, friends of Jeff.

Happy Oh-Eight

I had a full final day of 2007. It was a bit tiring but I had a great time hanging with the gang, who I think might be my current circle. We are a motley crew of characters, with very strong personalities, opinions and barbs, but smiles and hugs and genuineness is only a second away.

OK, so some days it takes longer.

But it's a good feeling, drama and all, and I'm glad I'm able to enjoy their wonderful, colourful company at this point. I'm not thinking ahead or planning for what I cannot control. For that, I have to thank the people I've met and things that happened in '07 which helped me fine-tune my feelings and re-align some emotions.

I hope I'll continue to be honest with my feelings while still being able to maintain diplomacy - I value that as something that I bring to the table. And come on, it's a great life skill to have.

I know that the first 3 months of the year will keep me occupied with work stuff, but I'm hoping that I can continue to be aware and grateful without getting too distracted or derailed. I trust you'll remind me if I forget.

So what are you looking forward to in 2008?