Weekend pickings...

Sports

Why it is good to mow your on lawn

CC sent this one, a supposed story about the golfer Lee Trevino:

One day, shortly after joining the PGA tour in 1965, Lee Trevino, a professional golfer and married man, was at his home in Dallas , Texas,  mowing his front lawn, as he always did.

 A woman driving by in a big, shiny Cadillac stopped in front of his house, lowered the car window and asked, "Excuse me, do you speak English?"

Lee responded, "Yes Ma'am, I do."

The woman then asked, "What do you charge to do yard work for me?"

Lee said, "Well, the lady in this house lets me sleep with her."

The woman hurriedly put her shiny car into gear and sped off.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"...a silence so complete that birds could be heard chirping"?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, did this early bird chirp away during all of those 24 hours?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tasty cricketer? Says who? Lector Hannibal?

------------------------------------------------

One Singlish (Malay-derived) word nicely describes what Mourinho is doing to Moyes: Chochok!

----------------------------------------------------------------

Bad and misleading headline!
(One suggested alternative: "Ex-NBA star hurt, one dead in crash")

---------------------------------------------------------

In Singapore, don't say "I've got money to burn"... it's illegal!

Here's the originating story...

I think the Monetary Authority (MAS) is making a fool of itself. Instead of thanking netizens for pointing out the possibility of a problem with the new $1 coin, it issues all those threatening noises.

------------------------------------------------------------

On another burning issue, what possessions do people take when fleeing a fire?

This file picture above was used for an ST story today on the 1961 Bukit Ho Swee fire:

And there was even a conspiracy theory about how the fire started!

----------------------------------------------------------------

Spot the blooper!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And finally, a happy ending (for the impala, anyway)...

Ah so, domo arigato. Mr Roboto, I presume...

I recall having a battery-operated robot toy, with flashing lights and, um, robotic sounds. It was made in Japan, the precursor of Mr Roboto, I presume.

And, no, it was not like the one in the robot joke I posted yesterday. Speaking of Mr Roboto, fans of Styx will recall the band's classic 1983 song. Here's the YouTube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzzZkkiJMv8

The lyrics are actually very intriguing. And there's even a site that explores the idea for the song and its reference to Kilroy ("Kilroy was here!"):

http://www.metrolyrics.com/mr-roboto-lyrics-styx.html

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1461

I also found this... it's cute! Do watch it...

Dancing toy robot song for children

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9s_bJyEb4k

So, what are your favourite movie robots? One website, pegging its story on the newly released movie Pacific Rim, came up with a list...

http://blog.chron.com/action/2013/07/memorable-movie-robots/#13974-1

----------------------------------------------------

Both ST and TODAY reviewed Pacific Rim in their editions today:

--------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, in the real (not the reel) world, a robot plane makes a carrier deck landing!

The X-47, once it becomes operational (F/A-47?), has all the makings of a game-changer in the military world.

Robot joke.

Hello, minister, had you (or your kar kia) been reading my blog (Tuesday's)...

What Mr Heng said (Wednesday, reported in ST, Thursday)

My blog entry about Professor Carol Dweck's research (Tuesday)

Ah well, at the very least, great minds think alike (kar kia excluded)!

Hokkien note: A kar kia is an underling (literally, "smaller/lesser leg", as in Mini-Me).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Robot joke (not new, though)

MAN BUYS A LIE DETECTOR ROBOT THAT SLAPS PEOPLE WHEN THEY LIE He decides to test it out at dinner one night. He asks his son what he did that afternoon. The son says, "I did some schoolwork." The robot slaps the son. The son says, "OK, OK. I was at a friend's house watching a movie." Dad asks, "What movie did you watch?" Son says, "Toy Story." The robot slaps the son. Son says, "OK, OK, we were watching porn." Dad says, "What? At your age I didn't even know what porn was." The robot slaps the father. Mom laughs and says, "Well, he certainly is your son." The robot slaps the mother. Next day...'Robot for sale' ad put up.

Midweek funnies (and one yucky-yucky)...

This is hilarious... Singapore's Chinatown gateway

Defence lawyer: Your Honour, the evidence will not stand!

Peanuts Grammarati

Ah so, and are there male brides?

Babyholics Anonymous?

Real, or Photoshopped?

And, finally, the yucky-yucky one...

Man puts pubic hair in curry to avoid payment

http://news.insing.com/tabloid/man-puts-pubic-hair-in-curry-to-avoid-payment/id-5a763f00

Why you should focus on praising the child's effort...

I think Singapore's Education Minister should invite American academic Professor Carol Dweck, a leading researcher in several psychology fields, to come and evaluate our "kiasu-afflicted" educational mindset (both policy makers' and parents'), from the playschool and kindergarten level all the way to the tertiary level.

She recently gave a presentation to the UK-based RSA:

Her presentation (and the Q&A that followed) is available on YouTube. While it is nearly an hour long, if you have young children, it is worth investing your time in it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyVZ0KKJuTg

(Note: A much shorter edited version is being made available.)

I also found a much earlier (but by no means outdated!) EducationWorld interview with Prof Dweck, titled "How Can Teachers Develop Students' Motivation -- And Success?". Click on the link below first if you are not sure if you want to watch the RSA video:

http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/chat/chat010.shtml

Why... beer is good, brooding is good, and the iDoctor is in!

Why you should drink these beverages (especially beer!)

[from a Doctors Health Press e-newsletter]

-------------------------------------------------------

Why it's good to be a pessimist as you grow older

-----------------------------------------------------

And why, one day, you might be consulting the iDoctor!

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=r13uYs7jglg

As usual, caveat emptor for all these medical-type stories.

More computer fun/Ramsay (scores one) vs S'pore hawkers (score two)...

---------------------------------------------------------------

Windows 8... Thanks for listening, Microsoft
(You're not so "£$%^&* after all! These features are now in Windows 8 too.)

-------------------------------------------------------------

Gordon Ramsay... chilli crab king? Not so fast...

Happily, the great cook-off event today (July 7) at Newton hawker centre went off without a hitch. As usual there were Singaporeans prepared to queue up long before the event which was scheduled for 6pm. Yup, a queue had started to form at 1am!

Here's Channel NewsAsia's and ST's post-result reports:

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/s-pore-hawkers-beat/736856.html

http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/lifestyle/story/gordon-ramsay-wins-chilli-crab-loses-his-laksa-and-chicken-rice-201307

Not one to resist using words that require the asterisk ("bleeper"), Ramsay said: "What I'm taking home is a confirmation of how good hawker food is. I won three Michelin stars and they still kick my a**."

Now if only someone had taught Ramsay some Hokkien cum Singlish, then that quote might well have been: "Kan ngee nah hiah [or, if you prefer: yeow siew, ah], Singapore makan super sedap, man! I three Michelin stars, pao chiak, meh? But, wah lau, I still kena hantam!"

Yes, I think Singapore missed an opportunity to make Ramsay an ambassador of Singlish. Imagine, on TV watched worldwide, Ramsay ranting away: "You, siow eh, can cook or cannot? You boey lau kwee, ah?"; OR, gushing, "Tiok beh piow, man... you get to go to the next round!"