the2ndrule Issue 54
the2ndrule
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May/June 2005 email edition
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web edition: http://the2ndrule.com
Contents
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0. Edit
1. The Beggar [Rachel Koh]
2. Instant Cafe Radio Episode 31 [Selection and Mix by Koh Beng Liang]
3. He, she, them and they (Part 1) [Bianca Zen]
4. Street Photography [Kevin Lam]
5. Monologue for a nervous girl in a white birthday cake dress and shiny leather pumps [Ruby Pan]
6. The Orchard [Szu Yoong]
7. Throwaway (5/10/2003, 1427 hrs) [TCW]
Edit
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Jack was never a big fan of routine. In fact, he would spend his day fighting daily routine tooth and nail - taking alternative routes to and from work, rearranging the furniture in his sparse tatami-floored room, randomly choosing to have coffee or not in the morning, and sometimes leaving the newspapers to pile up outside his door without so much as glancing at the headlines.
He hated the unavoidable moments of his day such as "brushing one's teeth in the morning", "taking a shower before leaving the house" and "watering the plants on a regular basis". Needless to say, he wasn't very good at keeping houseplants. Or houseguests.
It was his firm belief that the truest expression of free will was to choose one's actions at every waking moment according to one's intentions and disposition. His dream was to spread this gospel amongst those he considered dependent on routine for their diurnal anchor.
"There is more to life than what we do every day," he would say. "And it is what we do every day that defines us."
Please send your comments, suggestions and contributions to: editor@the2ndrule.com
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2ndrule team : Shannon Low, Koh Beng Liang, Benety Goh, Russell Chan, Jason Tong, Adelina Ong
Contributors : Rachel Koh, Bianca Zen, Kevin Lam, Ruby Pan, Szu Yoong, TCW
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The Beggar
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And there he was again, stationed in his chair with wheels. Before a practised look of pathos could be thrown in my direction, I turned away. The thankless heart selfishly holds back sympathy for a phenomenon commonly seen and cited everyday. My patronizing eyes settle upon the outreached palms stragetically positioned in a begging gesture; the packets of tissues sold at outrageous prices; and the scruffy look of a liability to society.
I was shallow, and chose only what I wanted to see as I condemn, as I see.
Knowingly, I missed out on the earnest look in his soulful eyes; his unfaltering spirit; the pride played down by circumstances and the stigma he was subjected to.
The accidental rain pelted down on us and we quickly moved away to stand side by side on the covered walkway, separated by perceived normality. Is that how it is like, passerby blur into a nature indefinable?
I noticed his gaze on me. A trifle annoyed, I turned to meet the sight of his smiling face, a packet tissue in his hand.
"No, I will not buy the packet of tissue. And no, I will not spare a little change," I was rude, but I didn't care. After all, what respect does he command by shamelessly jumping at every opportunity to solicit business out of someone else's pity?
His smile did not pale.
With a slurred speech, he relied, "No, Miss, I see that you are wet from the rain, thought you would like to have something to wipe yourself with before you catch a cold. No charge."
For the lack of a better word, I silently accepted the packet of tissue as my arrogance was silently cast aside as well.
He bestowed me with a final grin and looked elewhere. And that was when I saw him for the very first time, with a gaze fixated at a distant future, that mingled with the rain that will fall on us all.
- Rachel Koh
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Whatever you feed into the machine, the machine will process.
- William S Burroughs
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Instant Cafe Radio Episode 31
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Listen to this to shorten your train ride.
http://the2ndrule.com/issues/issue54/instantcafe.html
Playlist:
National Anthem - England (God Save The Queen performed by Queen)
Harvey Averne - I Feel Fine
Freddie Aguilar - Anak
KPMG - Power of One (corporate anthem version sung by children)
Nihon Break Kogyo - Company Anthem ("Shaka")
Love Psychedelico - Grapefruits
Xavier Cugat - Singapore Sling (Rhumba)
Eric Moo - Kopi-O
Huang Yi Fei - One Million
Yoko Kanno - The Egg and You (Cowboy Bebop Soundtrack)
Dan the Automator - Relaxation Spa Treatment
Tree Wave - May Banners
T'ang Quartet - Allegro Giocoso Alla Slovacca
Joyce - Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo (from Cinderella Disney Soundtrack)
Elvis Presley - All Shook Up
Tosca - Chocolate Elvis
RKO Radio Studio Orchestra / George and Ira Gershwin - Promenade
(Walking the Dog) (Film version from "Shall We Dance")
Whose Line Is It Anyway cast - The Affair Hoedown from episode 7x19
- Selection and mix by Koh Beng Liang
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Sonic Wire Sculptor
http://pitaru.com
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He, she, them and they (Part 1)
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There is someone for everyone out there and yet for him it is one of many plenty.
There may be one who is there when he is hungry and needs a companion for dinner talks, tea gossips, tired lunches and perhaps sleepy breakfasts.
Another one with knowledge that of a library. One whom he consults for synonyms and plays homonyms with. A leg in the drain and she substitutes it for creativity of feeling heat in an absolute way or maybe hand in cold ice water and she defines act of such as medieval meditation to the aching muscles.
That other one whose pictures are all over your wall, may be the one you consulted for camera tricks and relevant beautiful angle for shot taking.
Those significant ones whom you thought of when you listen to "Me and Mrs Jones." Those were the two whose lives you have shared with and whose secrets you have ventured and whose dirty lingerie you have washed.
The obnoxious one whose lies you attentively listen to and note as candour, and whose complaints you declare as veracity.
The other few you consulted on arts. On how Monet did his strokes and how James Joyce twisted his story, and what are the possibilities of Jane Eyre loving a blind man and be happy in poverty.
That one you consulted for retail branding.
The other for cigar smoking. Next companion to Havana Room where cigars are "the only thing a man caress for a whole hour."
Faithful consort of Japan Hour, and black lips and teeth for eating ink squid. That being for shopping of oil paints and canvas.
Those few aficionados to the theatre. The fashionable other for Levis shopping and tailor's cut indulgence, and the excellent one for leather goods shopping and drinking smoothies.
The undeclared for sweet smooching and long hidden feeling.
The partner for gossip of life while...
I...
I am...
I am concealed and well-hidden under your glamorous escritoire...
- Bianca Zen
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Presenting MC Sweetalker, now available through Schtung Music
http://the2ndrule.com/issues/issue54/sleepwalkerdemocover.jpg
With a complete disregard for genres, The Sweetalker pieces together percussive rhythms and expansive open-ended sounds that sit somewhere between drum n bass and hiphop. Have a listen to the mp3s at:
http://www.schtung.com/mailer0505.html
Email blech77@yahoo.com or vijay@kinemat.com for a copy of the demo.
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Street Photography
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Stains of Authority - Chinese Democracy - Wargaming Cheats - The Simple Life - Reality
Click the pic to view the album.
http://the2ndrule.com/issues/issue54/streetphotos_kevinlam.html
- Kevin Lam
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New from Gorgeous Productions
http://www.gorgeous-productions.com/news/update.htm
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Monologue for a nervous girl in a white birthday cake dress and shiny leather pumps
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(A deep breath and then go) Okay so this one time I was having dinner with a friend at a food center in Singapore and we were talking about our usual high-falutin' topics in the tropics like shopping and art and the meaning of life when all of a sudden we saw this white potbellied middle-aged man with a young Asian woman in a birthday cake dress you know like one those big puffy white dresses you would wear when you were nine and she had this big pink necklace around her neck and her hair was done in a long, thick plait down her back and I thought oh my god, does she actually think she looks cute? Or no, wait, did this potbellied white middle-aged man actually lead her to believe she looked cute? Did he dress her like that? Did he deceive this girl who must have come from some poor bumfuck backward country that what he was giving her to wear was nice? So there she was sitting there like some strange withered doll-child that wasn't supposed to have happened with this straggly-haired stubbled drunk red-faced cliche of a worn-out Vietnam vet. And when she asked could she please have some coconut juice, he said no, firmly like to a little child and she looked really sad but he just ignored her and continued drinking his beer and when he was done they got up they held hands and walked on home and we didn't know what to do like was that love or abuse? In our righteous anger we wondered if we should call a shelter but anyway I forgot about all this until I talked to my friend again recently and she reminded me about it so actually this isn't really my memory. (A breath) Just the other day my boyfriend called me and said hey remember this kid who went to college with us he's here in Singapore now working at some big corporation and he goes around bragging that he has a Thai masseuse girlfriend who lets him fuck her in the ass. I am trying to be liberal and all that so it's not the fuck her in the ass part I have an issue with it's the Thai masseuse part and how her sole talent seems to be her anal fuckability. I don't know why this kid went to college at all especially an Ivy League college I mean what a waste of resources that could have been diverted to Thailand to build a school or something. (A breath) Ok but now I have a confession to make it's a really big stinking dirty confession and I hope you won't despise me for it. Uhm uhm uhm okay here goes uhm I have a thing for Japanese cartoon porn. No I really do no please don't laugh at me yes I like to look at Japanese cartoon porn with those little schoolgirls who secretly want to be raped and those dicks squirting cum in their faces. Ok that last part actually does make me sick but part of me is like oh my and I have to go touch myself. (Small pause) Also while surfing porn recently I found an online forum where white women discussed wanting to sleep with black men and wrote elaborate erotic fantasies about being whisked away from their boring ass husbands and having hot and naughty love affairs with those giant black dicks in the Bahamas. Of course someone has to raise the question of racism and of course angry and defensive responses crop up saying, hey, these fantasies are legitimate. Personally I don't agree with that but I'm not going to police anyone's dream sex life and anyway here I am buying into cutesy Japanese schoolgirl porn that says hey yes we really want it, please, put it in my mouth.
- Ruby Pan
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LMAC.TV opens a new store!
LMAC BOUTIQUE: Designer Toys | Iconic Fashion (S'pore)
Far East Plaza #05-128
http://www.lmac.tv
Find all things LMAC & stuff from our friends:
Flying Cat
Scarygirl
Uglydoll
Mishka NYC
ARK
Monsterism
Wonderfarms
Clutter Magazine
and more, many exclusive to the LMAC Boutique in S'pore only
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The Orchard
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I never cease to be amazed at its effects on the
Senses. The neon holographic advertisements glowing angelically; the stench of a dead boy,
Lying on the sidewalk. The dull gleam of the Panthers wandering, lost,
Near the black Tower. The patrol, laughing, batons still dripping with menacingly
Scarlet moisture.
The Tower is tall, obsidian and prideful. Sole bridge to heaven, the old buildings are
Skeletonal retardations. In the black Tower, you hear everything
But yourself. Holding metal roses and steel carnations, I sneak past flashing
Lights and disco fights. They are for the angel/corpse/miracle
Forced from the clouds
Into subsidised humanity.
I see the girl leaning on opaque glass panes,
Against white light and plain silk. I calculate her every angle,
Every anorexic curve. Grey pavement, black dress, fluorescent halo,
Weeping wings. Feet one size far too small.
"At least the pain means you're still human, love."
I whispered, as we stared straight into the steel city sky.
- Szu Yoong
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Steve Jobs' Commencement Speech at Stanford University, June 12, 2005
http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html
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Throwaway (5/10/2003, 1427 hrs)
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We have come to an end.
But really. I shouldn't. Need not. Pretend.
That I would care about 'We'.
History has ended. Or rather. History has finally
caught up with us. The recording of history.
Now there is much of nothing much to fill
our dusty books and bloated databases.
That's it! 'Data'.
A bloggish endeavour to make even the
mortal pains of unnameable third-world countries
induce apathy.
A non-event to end all previous events.
Beginning of a perhaps more beautiful
...............................(illusional/delusional) sunset.
- TCW
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New from Clash Hi-Fi: The Clash Player!
http://www.soundclash.org/player/?newwin=true
See you again soon!
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The Beggar (c) 2005 Rachel Koh
He, she, them and they (Part 1) (c) 2005 Bianca Zen
Street Photography (c) 2005 Kevin Lam
Monologue for a nervous girl in a white birthday cake dress and shiny leather pumps (c) 2005 Ruby Pan
The Orchard (c) 2005 Szu Yoong
Throwaway (5/10/2003, 1427 hrs) (c) 2005 TCW
