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  <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights</id>
  <title>muddynights</title>
  <subtitle>pinoy cynic at large in singapore</subtitle>
  <author>
    <name>muddynights</name>
  </author>
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  <updated>2012-07-01T13:16:24Z</updated>
  <lj:journal userid="5410898" username="muddynights" type="personal"/>
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  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights:309997</id>
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    <title>The beach changes everything</title>
    <published>2012-07-01T09:50:26Z</published>
    <updated>2012-07-01T13:16:24Z</updated>
    <category term="muddyknight&amp;apos;s lonely travels"/>
    <content type="html">&lt;img alt="" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/hobbes28/Localcafe.jpg" style="border-width: 2px; border-style: solid; margin: 3px; float: left; " title="" fetchpriority="high" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;There&amp;#39;s something about being situated near a salted body of water that affects one&amp;#39;s life view - resulting in the &amp;quot;que sera sera&amp;quot; attitude, I suppose. There&amp;#39;s plenty of that in Barcelona when the beach (a real beach with real sand, mind you) is just at your doorstep.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Touching down at 7 am meant we had time to have drop by the divine miss m&amp;#39;s neighbourhood breakfast joint for excellent coffee and &lt;i&gt;bocadilo&lt;/i&gt; - that humble spanish bread with slices of jamon (ham) and cheese - &amp;nbsp;which was to become our staple breakfast fare for the rest of our stay in Barcelona. That, and the &lt;i&gt;pan de tomate&lt;/i&gt; - bread rubbed with tomato and olive oil, with some salt and garlic - would be another constant companion in any meal in Barcelona. You wonder how such simple fare can be so tasty and the &amp;quot;why didn&amp;#39;t I think of that&amp;quot; moment hits you.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;But we didn&amp;#39;t go to any of the beaches in Barcelona just yet, but instead, the miss m and her hubby (let&amp;#39;s call him &lt;span style="font-size:small;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 1.2em; "&gt;Se&amp;ntilde;or&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;G) drove us up to the Costa Brava coast for a stay over at &lt;/b&gt;&lt;b&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small; "&gt;&lt;span style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 1.2em; "&gt;Se&amp;ntilde;or&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/span&gt;G&amp;#39;s&lt;/b&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;b&gt;parent&amp;#39;s beach house at Platja d&amp;#39;Aro. The 1 hour drive out of Barcelona was made more interesting when we hit the smaller highways where female hookers in skimpy outfits would stand provocatively (or some more practical ones - a foldable chair when it gets tiring standing up) under the blazing Catalan sunshine). We had fun judging who had the skimpiest outfits until we saw one who looked like somebody in drag and that shut us all up quick.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img alt="" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/hobbes28/Viewfromcondo.jpg" style="border-width: 2px; border-style: solid; margin: 3px; " title="" loading="lazy" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The beach house was situated just beside the beach with plenty of sunshine - the best antidote for jet lag. The air still had the chill of spring but the occasional warm breeze suggested that summer almost here. It was your quintessential beach set-up - boardwalk dotted with bars and restaurants, beach umbrellas, volley ball and a couple of guys playing what looked like table tennis without the table. Did I mention that the Spaniards don&amp;#39;t have any issues with breast exposure? and the sheer volume of buffed guys would take up your entire afternoon sitting at one of those bar sipping a cool mojito (which we did) and a plate of mussels in marinara sauce.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img alt="" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/hobbes28/muddy/Beachview-1.jpg" style="border-width: 2px; border-style: solid; margin: 3px; " title="" loading="lazy" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;The water was still too cold to swim in (that did not deter some to venture in nonetheless) but we were happy to just stroll up and down the breathtaking Mediterranean coast - enough to give the pair of pale Singapore ghosts some colour. Equally breathtaking were the houses that line that coast, with their own steps down their small bit of Mediterranean heaven to soak in. What money can buy.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img alt="" height="466" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/hobbes28/muddy/beachview2.jpg" style="border-width: 2px; border-style: solid; margin: 2px; float: left; " title="" width="700" loading="lazy" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights:309699</id>
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    <title>Barcelona at your feet</title>
    <published>2012-06-25T13:42:31Z</published>
    <updated>2012-06-25T13:43:02Z</updated>
    <category term="muddyknight&amp;apos;s lonely travels"/>
    <category term="slice of muddypie"/>
    <content type="html">&lt;img alt="" border="3" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/hobbes28/muddy/Barcelonacityview.jpg" title="" fetchpriority="high" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Like prior vacations where I had to rush through a couple of last minute tasks (and some I had to ruminate over while on vacation - dreading the work that lies ahead), this one started with an red eye flight with crappy seats and not really the best spread of krisworld offerings. So is was left to the books I grabbed shortly before I zipped up my trolley bag (and Dr S hollering that we are late) - The Hunger Games - to keep me awake and re-adjust to the impending time zone change. In short, I was extremely tired by the time our vacation started that all I wanted to do on our first day in Barcelona was to sleep in.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights:309315</id>
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    <title>Thoughts while waiting for the sitter</title>
    <published>2012-06-09T06:24:06Z</published>
    <updated>2012-06-09T15:48:52Z</updated>
    <content type="html">&lt;img align="left" alt="" border="1" height="377" hspace="5" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/hobbes28/muddy/179994_10150871650932773_1569094673_n.jpg" title="" fetchpriority="high" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;It&amp;#39;s finally the last weekend before our much anticipated vacation to see the divine miss m and lomo in Barcelona. It will be our first overseas trip together this year (!!), and the first since we moved to our new place. So this time, no housemates to look after the cats while we are away.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So now, I am waiting for the cat sitter to drop by to see the 3 cats - and learn the feed, clean and play drill. I hope she is as good as the recommendations come.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The kitten should be ok - easily becoming friends with anything that moves. The 2 older cats will be more challenging. Let&amp;#39;s see whether the cat sitter can draw them out from their hiddy holes. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It&amp;#39;s also been awhile since I got out my trusty D70s (yes, my D70s is still around) from the dry box and take some new pictures. The divine miss m has already planned out our first few days (in the Costa Brava coast) and a roadtrip (!!) before catching Madonna in concert and another Madonna in Montserrat. Of course, food pictures and walking trails around town.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Of course, there&amp;#39;s still this coming week to contend with. But never mind - I&amp;#39;m already having paella in my head.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights:309048</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/309048.html"/>
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    <title>Revisiting and re-claiming muddynights</title>
    <published>2012-06-03T06:57:54Z</published>
    <updated>2012-06-04T11:55:07Z</updated>
    <category term="ponderous"/>
    <content type="html">&lt;img alt="" border="0" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/hobbes28/muddy/cb_ennui.jpg" title="" width="300" fetchpriority="high" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I&amp;#39;m putting up this post while waiting for 3 pm to roll in - for me to pick up my freshly neutered kitten from the vet, and be able to rush out to meet Dr S in Chinatown to pick up some stuff for the divine miss m.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But I have to say its been awhile.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For the next 10 minutes, let me just see whether I still have the mojo to jump-start this blog.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I&amp;#39;ve looked through my friends list - and realised that I&amp;#39;ve only have half on my FB friends list. Either I have remained anonymous or I&amp;#39;m just un-added-able.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Looked through my outdated profile - and decided that some things have got to go. It&amp;#39;s really been a while!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Perhaps it&amp;#39;s partly because those muddynights moments have been coming far in between - those nights when kilometric thoughts are rushing through your head while you desperately wish for sleep to overcome. Nowadays, I fall asleep instantly - maybe because of age (ha-ha) or because I&amp;#39;m just too exhausted. Or maybe there&amp;#39;s very little left to think about. Surely not.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nevertheless, let&amp;#39;s see whether I can still re-claim this space and conjure up muddynights.&lt;br /&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights:308816</id>
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    <title>Shanghai vignettes</title>
    <published>2010-10-01T14:35:25Z</published>
    <updated>2010-10-01T15:12:40Z</updated>
    <category term="muddyknight&amp;apos;s lonely travels"/>
    <content type="html">&lt;div style="margin-bottom:10px;float:right;margin-left:10px"&gt;&lt;a title="photo sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/muddynights/5041306717/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;&lt;img alt="" style="border-bottom: #000000 2px solid; border-left: #000000 2px solid; border-top: #000000 2px solid; border-right: #000000 2px solid" src="https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4087/5041306717_8499cfa708_m.jpg" fetchpriority="high" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="margin-top: 0px; font-size: 0.9em"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/muddynights/5041306717/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;Shanghai Bund&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/muddynights/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;muddynights&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br clear="all" /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;There are 2 ways of putting&amp;nbsp;your&amp;nbsp;best foot forward in&amp;nbsp;an expo pavillion. Either blugeon your hapless viewer to death with numbers and facts&amp;nbsp; or let wonder take over. I leave it to you to guess how the Singapore Pavillion was. I was actually waiting for a pop quiz as we made our way out. In contrast, wonder was big in the Czech, Spanish and Turkish pavillions. We managed to snuck our way into the Philippine Pavillion, thanks to a craving for adobo for lunch. The sales people were&amp;nbsp;gracious enough to allow us in through a back exit. 360 degree videos were big. The best one we&amp;nbsp;saw was&amp;nbsp;the&amp;nbsp;Iceland pavillion with dizzying videos&amp;nbsp;of the glorious Icelandic landscape. The China pavillion was packed with queues snaking all over. I turned to Dr s and told him to content himself with taking exterior shots. Once again, my belief that the local tourism industry can survive on Chinese tourists alone was re-affirmed.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hairy crabs were in season. So we made our way to have a 8 course crab-filled dinner costing a bomb. Everything was yellow - yellow soup, yellow rice, yellow appetizes (even the tablecloth was yellow). When the crabs arrived, it was small but the yellow&amp;nbsp;roe was heavenly. Dr S was sighing all throughout dinner. I had a tummy ache after eating so much&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;By sheer luck, we managed to score train tickets to Shouzou. Unless you can't get your hotel to get you tickets, be prepared to&amp;nbsp;brave the crowds&amp;nbsp;for tickets. In Shouzou, Dr s ordered what we thought were spare ribs in the menu pictures. Turned out to be duck heads and we were supposed to pick the brains out! Our return trip was at 6.20 pm and we were already by the roadside trying to hail a taxi at 5. At 6, we were still by the roadside. We eventually found our way back to the train station through an enterprising motorcycle driver who offered to bring us there for 20 bucks. So imagine 3 of us on a small motorcycle driving drown the highway - no helmets and dr s clutching his bag. I had to get off and walk to the next intersection as there was police and only 2 person per bike is allowed. That short 20 minutes ride was better than the short walk we had around town. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I didn't manage to buy anything in Shanghai, except for a dozen donuts to bring home. Imagine that, buying Krispy Kreme from China for your housemates!</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights:308645</id>
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    <title>The monster that is Mao</title>
    <published>2010-09-28T13:41:35Z</published>
    <updated>2010-09-28T14:29:48Z</updated>
    <content type="html">&lt;div style="margin-bottom:10px;float:right;margin-left:10px"&gt;&lt;a title="photo sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/muddynights/5033306086/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;&lt;img alt="" style="border-bottom: #000000 2px solid; border-left: #000000 2px solid; border-top: #000000 2px solid; border-right: #000000 2px solid" src="https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4148/5033306086_3659dd9824_m.jpg" fetchpriority="high" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="margin-top: 0px; font-size: 0.9em"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/muddynights/5033306086/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;A multitude of Maos&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/muddynights/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;muddynights&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br clear="all" /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;I'm halfway through with the third novel I brought with me to China. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Swans" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;is the story of 3 generation of Chinese women as they live through 3 pivotal periods&amp;nbsp;in Chinese history - the final years&amp;nbsp;of the Qing Dynasty, the Civil War&amp;nbsp; and the rise of Mao, and the aftermath of the Cultural revolution. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For those who have only known the name but the not the person, I strongly recommend reading up on the man. The first eye opener was when I read &lt;a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao:_The_Unknown_Story" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;Mao: The Unknown Story by Jon Halliday&lt;/a&gt;. The book I am reading now only reinforces the notion that this man is as evil as Hitler. At least Hitler did not sacrifice his own people in the millions&amp;nbsp;to achieve power. Its no wonder Pol Pot, a staunch Maoist - turned to genocide in Cambodia.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ignorance is the name of the game in China. How else can you explain the continued veneration of Mao? For somebody who is staunch anti-capitalist - his face now adorns all the money in China. His mummy lies in a crystal coffin in the middle of Tiananmen Square. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But I wonder how long this farce will last. How long will communism remain compatible with economic prosperity? or for that matter, the widening inequality between the rich and the poor where classes are not supposed to exist?</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights:308314</id>
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    <title>Beijing Vignettes (10 to 15 Sept 2010)</title>
    <published>2010-09-26T14:32:32Z</published>
    <updated>2010-09-26T16:28:00Z</updated>
    <category term="muddyknight&amp;apos;s lonely travels"/>
    <content type="html">&lt;div style="margin-bottom:10px;float:right;margin-left:10px"&gt;&lt;a title="photo sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/muddynights/5026294180/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;&lt;img alt="" style="border-bottom: #000000 2px solid; border-left: #000000 2px solid; border-top: #000000 2px solid; border-right: #000000 2px solid" src="https://farm5.static.flickr.com/4113/5026294180_fc17a1a1b3_m.jpg" fetchpriority="high" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="margin-top: 0px; font-size: 0.9em"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/muddynights/5026294180/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;Dining out in a Beijing Hutong&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Originally uploaded by &lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/muddynights/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;muddynights&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br clear="all" /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Adjacent to&amp;nbsp;our table, a couple was arguing on whether to order the chicken or beef. The old guy across the table was tapping his cigarette ash on the floor. Dr s pointed to the tissue papers and cigarettes butts strewn all over the floor. The waitress left us the order sheet and asked us to just write down what we wanted, and went out to cut up&amp;nbsp;a watermelon. Behind Dr s loomed this huge communist propaganda poster. We had originally planned&amp;nbsp;to have dinner elsewhere but most were already closed by 10 pm. So we ended up in this neighborhood&amp;nbsp;eatery a few minutes walk from the Hutong we were staying in.&amp;nbsp;At another instance, I'd dragged Dr s out as soon as I saw the old man squat on the chair instead of sitting, but we were hungry so we persisted. It was obviously where people in the neighborhood had their dinner and everybody seemed to know each other. The food turned out to be better than I expected. In fact, it was one of the best we had in Beijing that we went back one more time. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I imagine Beijing as some sort of duck Auschwitz.. At night, ducks from&amp;nbsp;the countryside&amp;nbsp;would quack somberly among themselves&amp;nbsp;inquiring on their destination. As they are herded into trucks, they are told they are going to a better place, and told to leave all their belongings. Of course all of them end up being dressed&amp;nbsp;and roasted to a delectable crisp - to be served in the millions of restaurants in Beijing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For a place that's called the Forbidden City, it certainly didn't deter the crowds, especially the Chinese crowd (China does not need foreign tourists, tourism will survive on just the locals). The place&amp;nbsp;is huge but the crowds were bigger. Truth be told, the place&amp;nbsp;is falling into pieces. I certainly don't understand how the interiors are left out&amp;nbsp;to the elements to gather dust (literally).&amp;nbsp;The building that housed the imperial throne&amp;nbsp;is dark, dusty and have lost any semblance&amp;nbsp;of past splendor.&amp;nbsp;In contrast, the modern Capital Museum is air-conditioned, well lighted and well maintained. Just like most of Beijing, the old is left to decay in favour of the new. Nouveau riche mentality is everywhere in Beijing. &amp;nbsp;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;A young day guide who took us around Beijing&amp;nbsp;haven't heard of the 1989 Tiananmen massacre or the iconic tank man. It's obviously not in the textbooks and the government continues to take extreme efforts to delete that embarassing incident from memory. Saddening. Those students died for nothing. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Whoever thought of installing those sleds for tourists at the Great Wall is a genius. On the way up, you take the cable car. On the way down, you take this sled where you can speed down the mountain. It was a&amp;nbsp;fun experience as the awe you feel&amp;nbsp;at seeing and walking down the Great Wall wears off after walking for an hour under the blazing noon sun. I actually got an unwanted tan. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;Books at hand while in Beijing: Ma Jian's excellent &amp;quot;&lt;a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/books/review/Row-t.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;Beijing Coma&lt;/a&gt;&amp;quot; - an account of the Tiananmen massacre through the eyes of the students and Jia Yinghua and Sun Haichen's &lt;a href="http://www.purpleculture.net/vpro.asp?id=4597&amp;amp;gclid=CJvQ6oS_paQCFcZS6wodvR0-6w" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;&amp;quot;The last Eunuch of China&amp;quot;&lt;/a&gt; - who knew the last emperor was gay?</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights:307923</id>
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    <title>hear ye hear ye...</title>
    <published>2010-07-28T16:57:57Z</published>
    <updated>2010-07-28T16:59:40Z</updated>
    <category term="muddylinks"/>
    <content type="html">&lt;br /&gt;&lt;h1 class=""&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: small"&gt;Advice From Dr. Laura Schlessinger&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/h1&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p class=""&gt;On her radio show recently, Dr. Laura Schlesinger said that, as an observant Orthodox Jew, homosexuality is an abomination according to Leviticus 18:22, and cannot be condoned under any circumstance. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The following response is an open letter to Dr. Laura, penned by a U.S. resident, which was posted on the Internet. It's funny, as well as informative: &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Dear Dr. Laura: &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination...End of debate. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Law and how to follow them. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odour for the Lord - Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbours. They claim the odour is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;3. I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness - Lev.15: 19-24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offence. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;4. Lev.25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighbouring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;5. I have a neighbour who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2. The passage clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination - Lev.11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there 'degrees' of abomination? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;7. Lev.21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev.19:27. How should they die? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;9. I know from Lev.11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? - Lev.24:10-16. Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev.20:14) &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Thank you again for reminding us that God's Word is eternal and unchanging. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Your adoring fan,&lt;br /&gt;James M. Kauffman, Ed.D.&lt;br /&gt;Professor Emeritus&lt;br /&gt;Dept. of Curriculum, Instruction, and Special Education&lt;br /&gt;University of Virginia&lt;br /&gt;405 Emmet Street South&lt;br /&gt;PO Box 400273&lt;br /&gt;Charlottesville, VA 22904-4273&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;via &lt;a href="http://christiangays.com/humour/schlessinger.shtml" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;http://christiangays.com/humour/schlessinger.shtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights:307586</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/307586.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=307586"/>
    <title>And now for some muddy news</title>
    <published>2010-05-01T16:50:16Z</published>
    <updated>2010-09-04T16:19:32Z</updated>
    <category term="slice of muddypie"/>
    <content type="html">&lt;img border="1" hspace="5" alt="" vspace="5" align="left" width="300" height="377" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/hobbes28/muddy/rerelease-the-kraken-kraker-500js03.jpg" fetchpriority="high" /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;In between having a day job that consumes just about all my bandwidth and a few hours left for bodily functions, it's no wonder that my brain generally goes&amp;nbsp;on safe mode by the time self-time comes around. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Downtime would usually be spent playing with the cats, or tending to my zombies; which leaves not a lot of time for blogging. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This explains the lack of posts for more than 2 months. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I did attempt a couple of times, but quickly abandoned it&amp;nbsp;when I found myself being too long winded. So I would play Bejeweled instead. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;So when I saw so many LJ's drop like opininated&amp;nbsp;flies these days. I thought maybe I should do likewise. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;NOT. (stare at cat with the cracker)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;But&amp;nbsp;a change of pace happening&amp;nbsp;in&amp;nbsp;the next few weeks&amp;nbsp;should do me some good. Let's see.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The other day I was recounting a story to the rest of the team about Mr T from the A Team. The young ones blinked at me in ignorance. &lt;em&gt;&amp;quot;You've never heard of the A Team?&amp;quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Nothing like a cold slap to remind you that you belong&amp;nbsp;to a completely different timezone. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights:307238</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/307238.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=307238"/>
    <title>From Tiong Bahru Cat to Barcelona Cat</title>
    <published>2010-02-22T15:13:28Z</published>
    <updated>2010-02-22T15:14:36Z</updated>
    <category term="cat tales"/>
    <content type="html">&lt;img border="1" hspace="5" alt="" vspace="5" align="left" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/hobbes28/muddy/Lomo2.jpg" fetchpriority="high" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Tiong Bahru cat Lomo sure has gone a long way. He is bound for Barcelona Spain tonight with the Divine Miss M as they make their way to their new home.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I remember this dusty black furball relentlessly following me to the bus stop in Tiong Bahru - insisting to be picked up and a chin rub. After 10 minutes of playing hide and seek, I decided to drop by the nearby petshop (how convenient can you get?) to ask the store owner if the cat that was by then clinging to me belonged to anybody. After assuring me that he was a neighborhood tomcat, I bought a pet carrrier and brought him home.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The 2 tomcats at home, of course, were visibly outraged at having another cat to share the litter box with. After a sleepness night of hissing and cats trying to establish boundaries, I decided to call the Divine Miss M if she would be interested in adopting him. She did, and after 2 years of staying with her, he is now on a flight to Spain.&lt;/strong&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights:307023</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/307023.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=307023"/>
    <title>While muddy was sleeping</title>
    <published>2010-02-18T15:26:52Z</published>
    <updated>2010-02-18T15:26:52Z</updated>
    <category term="muddynights reports"/>
    <content type="html">&lt;strong&gt;&lt;img border="3" hspace="5" vspace="5" align="left" alt="" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/hobbes28/muddy/blah-blah-letter-1.jpg" fetchpriority="high" /&gt;Four days of blissful nonsense have brought about a few days of endless meetings, paperworks and ad nauseum overtime. Sigh...&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So local pastor gets into trouble for making insensitive comments about other religions. I'm not really surprised. I remember years ago when an uninsighful friend started &amp;quot;sharing&amp;quot; his belief, going as far as claiming that those Virgin Mary apparitions were nothing more than the work of the devil himself. Of course, years later I would mull over the said claims after having&amp;nbsp;a better understanding of Christian behaviour. I'd be surprised if he said otherwise - knowing the propensity of radical Christians to lump anything un-Jesus (including other religion)&amp;nbsp;as the work of the devil. In fact, I won't be amiss in saying that the only was some Christian sects can enlarge their flock is by precisely disparaging other religions. What local pastor said probably is what other Christians were thinking anyway but were afraid to speak out loud. This is, after all, Singapore. I can imagine the frustration for not being able to say so. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights:306734</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/306734.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=306734"/>
    <title>HoloFile 304: Inspire you</title>
    <published>2010-01-31T15:44:42Z</published>
    <updated>2010-01-31T15:52:22Z</updated>
    <category term="muddyknight&amp;apos;s lonely travels"/>
    <category term="holofile"/>
    <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;img hspace="5" alt="" vspace="5" align="left" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/hobbes28/muddy/NYCstreets.jpg" fetchpriority="high" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Concrete jungle where dreams are made of&lt;br /&gt;There&amp;rsquo;s nothing you can&amp;rsquo;t do&lt;br /&gt;Now you&amp;rsquo;re in New York&lt;br /&gt;These streets will make you feel brand new&lt;br /&gt;Big lights will inspire you&lt;br /&gt;(&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYmmh9zkpQM" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;Empire State of Mind&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;Part 2/Alicia Keys)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: smaller"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;(This is how I always remember NYC. Wet. Cold. Bright Lights. Big crowds and solitary souls. NYC, 2006)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights:306661</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/306661.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=306661"/>
    <title>HoloFile 303: Hit the road</title>
    <published>2010-01-27T15:17:34Z</published>
    <updated>2010-01-27T15:17:34Z</updated>
    <category term="muddyknight&amp;apos;s lonely travels"/>
    <category term="holofile"/>
    <content type="html">&lt;img hspace="5" vspace="5" align="left" alt="" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/hobbes28/muddy/duckboy.jpg" fetchpriority="high" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But things just get so crazy&lt;br /&gt;Living life gets hard to do&lt;br /&gt;And I would gladly hit the road&lt;br /&gt;Get up and go if I knew&lt;br /&gt;That someday it would lead me back to you&lt;br /&gt;(&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2Cti12XBw4" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;Sunday morning&lt;/a&gt;/Maroon V)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: smaller"&gt;(Ducklings in Boston Public Garden, 2009)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights:306295</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/306295.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=306295"/>
    <title>HoloFile 302: All closed</title>
    <published>2010-01-25T16:01:19Z</published>
    <updated>2010-01-25T16:01:19Z</updated>
    <category term="muddyknight&amp;apos;s lonely travels"/>
    <category term="holofile"/>
    <content type="html">In&amp;nbsp;a bullet proof vest &lt;br /&gt;With the windows all closed,&lt;br /&gt;I've been doing my best, I'll see you soon.&lt;br /&gt;In&amp;nbsp;s telescope lense, &lt;br /&gt;And when all you want is friends, &lt;br /&gt;I'll see you soon&lt;br /&gt;(&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsz-EeNZBkI" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;See you soon&lt;/a&gt;/Coldplay)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img hspace="5" vspace="5" alt="" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/hobbes28/muddy/Windows.jpg" fetchpriority="high" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: smaller"&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Shuttered windows along the road in Luxor, Valley of the Kings, Egypt 2009)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights:306001</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/306001.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=306001"/>
    <title>HoloFile 301: A tiger waiting</title>
    <published>2010-01-20T14:54:58Z</published>
    <updated>2010-01-20T15:02:50Z</updated>
    <category term="muddyknight&amp;apos;s lonely travels"/>
    <category term="holofile"/>
    <content type="html">&lt;img hspace="5" alt="" vspace="5" align="left" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/hobbes28/muddy/Catbully.jpg" fetchpriority="high" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Come out of things unsaid&lt;br /&gt;Shoot an apple off my head&lt;br /&gt;And a trouble that can't be named&lt;br /&gt;A tiger's waiting to be tamed singing&lt;br /&gt;(&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbI1FpLd4Vk" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;Clocks&lt;/a&gt;/Coldplay)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: smaller"&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(Neighborhood cat at the Blue Hole, Dahab, Egypt 2009)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights:305779</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/305779.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=305779"/>
    <title>Another 100 HoloFiles makes 300 so far</title>
    <published>2010-01-16T16:02:32Z</published>
    <updated>2010-01-16T16:02:32Z</updated>
    <category term="holofile"/>
    <content type="html">&lt;p style="visibility: visible"&gt;&lt;lj-embed id="108" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style="white-space: nowrap"&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=ms&amp;amp;at=un&amp;amp;id=288230376172686028&amp;amp;map=1" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;&lt;img border="0" alt="" ismap="ismap" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/786e0b28142475dc7356b6d5c5c7211c93cec0d8e5aadaaae5a433cdc93e8225/P2WlxyVijxKvg21p8sxVWEMdsf-ah7h0yEeGQLdHwtPQvQvYnMWgRkkpDQhnTwIj7hoHz22NNFUUSgBaxU5rrR5AhmTwLLnTuGVG9EExFQG8Bu2msJEexmRdvxV3ciQB40S18mYUYs95DnVT:eSV3slTmxNa3Ko0n0hVGzQ" fetchpriority="high" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=ms&amp;amp;at=un&amp;amp;id=288230376172686028&amp;amp;map=2" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;&lt;img border="0" alt="" ismap="ismap" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/8e7b990bb3565672f6c170832e7986b13a5be52608331d0efa992655f9f5dfad/P2WlxyVijxKvg21p8sxVWEMdsf-ah7h0yEeGQLdHwtPQvQvYnMWgRkkpDQhnTAIj7hoHz22NNFUUSgBaxU5rrR5AhmTwLLnTuGVG9EExFQG8Bu2msJEexmRdvxV3ciQB40S18mYXYs95DnVT:H8N4DrcF1_X3CZEGlUqvgA" loading="lazy" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.slide.com/pivot?cy=ms&amp;amp;at=un&amp;amp;id=288230376172686028&amp;amp;map=F" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;&lt;img border="0" alt="" ismap="ismap" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/b924776186c1481c0fadf4a407935ce17f549eb01c9a26eef074f9fb3b2c33c0/P2WlxyVijxKvg21p8sxVWEMdsf-ah7h0yEeGQLdHwtPQvQvYnMWgRkkpDQhnSgIj7hoHz22NNFUUSgBaxU5rrR5AhmTwLLnTuGVG9EExFQG8Bu2msJEexmRdvxV3ciQB40S18mYRfoZ3ATEMIQ:odQRMUI-mFInhohBoeja_Q" loading="lazy" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;This batch of HoloFiles were taken&amp;nbsp;from late 2007 till the end of 2009. It sort of documents the travels I did (which, lately, has been the only reason why I've been taking pictures) although there are a couple of Singapore photos thrown in. A few were taken with my handphone when I left my charger and the battery still attached to it at home. Other than that, all were taken using my trusty old D70s - considered a grandfather now though still a very reliable grandfather, I should say. So now I invite you to play a game of where in the world is Waldo. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The photos I take have a high mortality rate. I'm not ashamed to say that only 10% of what I take actually makes it to my albums. A tip I got from friend - only choose the best&amp;nbsp;to show. Taking pictures is a deeply personal thing and people won't always&amp;nbsp;get&amp;nbsp;it (read: boring)&amp;nbsp;Only about 1% make it to my HoloFiles. I could have easily uploaded 400 by now but finding just the right song lyrics to accompany the pictures&amp;nbsp;can be&amp;nbsp;as difficult as lugging your gear all over. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Sometimes it doesn't work; the association sounding forced and cheesy (*guilty*). But when it does, it gives it an added dimension; like seeing it in an entirely different light. Like &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://muddynights.livejournal.com/304865.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;HoloFile 299 &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;with a man with his head leaning against the chapel wall. Or the &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://muddynights.livejournal.com/263703.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;disheveled old man who used to rule the world&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;. Or hearing Madonna sing &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://muddynights.livejournal.com/255488.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;about traveling your own road&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;. I particularly liked &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://muddynights.livejournal.com/301035.html" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Fireflies&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;strong&gt;. I&amp;nbsp;did think the air balloons looked like fireflies in the early morning when I saw it. That was before I even heard of the Owl City song. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So after 300 comes 400. Hopefully it will not take me another 2 years to come up with another hundred.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights:305328</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/305328.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=305328"/>
    <title>HoloFile 300: Through a photograph</title>
    <published>2010-01-14T14:16:28Z</published>
    <updated>2010-01-14T14:24:59Z</updated>
    <category term="muddyknight&amp;apos;s lonely travels"/>
    <category term="holofile"/>
    <content type="html">I heard your voice through a photograph &lt;br /&gt;I thought it up it and&amp;nbsp;brought up the past &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Once you know you can never go back &lt;br /&gt;I've got to take it on the otherside &lt;br /&gt;(&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bp1PMo3s0dw" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;Otherside&lt;/a&gt;/Red Hot Chilli Peppers)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img hspace="5" alt="" vspace="5" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/hobbes28/muddy/Landscapes-Felucca5.jpg" fetchpriority="high" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: smaller"&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Along the Nile, Egypt 2009)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights:304865</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/304865.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=304865"/>
    <title>HoloFile 299: Sound of my soul</title>
    <published>2010-01-13T16:07:34Z</published>
    <updated>2010-01-13T16:16:44Z</updated>
    <category term="muddyknight&amp;apos;s lonely travels"/>
    <category term="holofile"/>
    <content type="html">&lt;img hspace="5" alt="" vspace="5" align="left" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/hobbes28/muddy/Prayingman.jpg" fetchpriority="high" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Head over heels&lt;br /&gt;when toe to toe&lt;br /&gt;This is the sound of my soul&lt;br /&gt;This is the sound&lt;br /&gt;(&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYb83KM4at4" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;True&lt;/a&gt;/Spandau Ballet)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: smaller"&gt;(Man praying at Chapel on top of Mount Sinai, Egypt, 2009)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights:304463</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/304463.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=304463"/>
    <title>Under the Dome - like ants going berserk</title>
    <published>2010-01-12T14:56:15Z</published>
    <updated>2010-01-12T15:12:45Z</updated>
    <category term="muddynights reports"/>
    <content type="html">&lt;img border="1" hspace="5" alt="" vspace="5" align="top" width="600" height="287" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/hobbes28/muddy/Under-the-Dome-fullsize.jpg" fetchpriority="high" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Vintage Stephen King fans rejoice. The King is back and with none of the esoteric, one person dramas that have permeated his last few novels. Duma Key was okay but a bit too laid back for me. Lisey's Story was just boring. Cell was a gruesome bloodfest, nothing more. In Under the Dome, SK&amp;nbsp;goes back to the scale and complexity of my 3 favorite SK novels - It, The Stand and Salem's Lot (note I said favorite and not the best - lest some people dispute it). And I love it.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I read the novel on my ITouch so I had no idea how long it was. But it took me 4 days of cab and bus rides, skyving at work, waits for my takeaway, walking to work, waiting for a meeting to start and in between snatches of Inglorius Basterds (great movie BTW) to finish it. Apparently it's the longest novel SK ever wrote and weighs like a brick. Not surprising, as It and the Stand can be handy deadly weapons should you ever need one.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;The premise itself is not too complex. A transparent, indestructible&amp;nbsp;dome descends upon a small town - cutting them off from the rest of the world. It's like Lord of the Flies with grown-ups behaving badly, all in the name of Jesus ('Gezz). I think I more or less figured why I loved his early works but absoutely hated his later books (Even his short stories have deteriorated). I can't abide one man dramas - I find them, for some reason, selfish. Like, and why should I be reading about this guy anyway? But when many one-man dramas collide like what happens Under the Dome, you get a better sense of reality. Nobody lives in isolation anyway and everybody's actions affect others. It's like watching ants going berserk (hint hint) when an ant eater stirs some trouble. And given SK prodigious talents into delving deep into personalities, it's like reading ants with personalities going berserk. In a way, Under the Dome is like the Mist where the monters in the supermarket are as&amp;nbsp;ugly as the monsters lurking outside.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But unlike the Tommyknockers where the ending was such a bummer, the revelation of the origin of the Dome works better. Or maybe it's just me. I just wanted my old SK back.</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights:303672</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/303672.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=303672"/>
    <title>Movie remake OMGs!</title>
    <published>2010-01-11T15:48:00Z</published>
    <updated>2010-01-11T15:48:00Z</updated>
    <category term="film rants"/>
    <content type="html">Clash of the Titans!! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;lj-embed id="100" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Nightmare on Elm Street!! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;lj-embed id="101" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The A Team!! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;lj-embed id="102" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Can I get my Dune soon??</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights:303567</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/303567.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=303567"/>
    <title>HoloFile 298: I want it bad</title>
    <published>2010-01-11T14:50:35Z</published>
    <updated>2010-01-11T14:50:35Z</updated>
    <category term="muddyknight&amp;apos;s lonely travels"/>
    <category term="holofile"/>
    <content type="html">&lt;img hspace="5" vspace="5" align="left" alt="" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/hobbes28/muddy/Bellydancer1.jpg" fetchpriority="high" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm on a mission,&lt;br /&gt;And it involves some heavy touchin' yeah.&lt;br /&gt;You've indicated your interest,&lt;br /&gt;I'm educated in sex yes.&lt;br /&gt;And now I want it bad,&lt;br /&gt;Want it bad.&lt;br /&gt;A love game,&lt;br /&gt;A love game.&lt;br /&gt;(&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mB0tP1I-14" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;Love game&lt;/a&gt;/Lady Gaga)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: smaller"&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Belly dancer along the Nile, Egypt 2009)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights:303171</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/303171.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=303171"/>
    <title>HoloFile 297: Free</title>
    <published>2010-01-06T15:54:45Z</published>
    <updated>2010-01-06T15:56:28Z</updated>
    <category term="muddyknight&amp;apos;s lonely travels"/>
    <category term="holofile"/>
    <content type="html">Who says I can&amp;rsquo;t be free?&lt;br /&gt;From all of the things that I used to be&lt;br /&gt;Re-write my history&lt;br /&gt;Who says I can&amp;rsquo;t be free?&lt;br /&gt;(&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCD8CZWBj6s" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;Who says&lt;/a&gt;/John Mayer)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img hspace="5" alt="" vspace="5" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/hobbes28/muddy/Journeyroad1.jpg" fetchpriority="high" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: smaller"&gt;&lt;em&gt;(Along the highway to Mount Sinai, Egypt 2009)&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights:302638</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/302638.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=302638"/>
    <title>P-town: Land's End that I wish is just around the corner</title>
    <published>2010-01-05T16:45:01Z</published>
    <updated>2010-01-11T15:19:59Z</updated>
    <category term="muddyknight&amp;apos;s lonely travels"/>
    <content type="html">&lt;img hspace="5" alt="" vspace="5" align="left" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/hobbes28/muddy/Ptown1.jpg" fetchpriority="high" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;While walking down Commercial Street in Provincetown, a friend who had lived in NYC all his life commented how he's never seen so many GLBT couples holding hands and kissing out in the open. I was tempted to ask where he's been hiding in NYC when this couple showed up right in front of us - walking hand in hand like it was the most mundane thing in the world. (after I took this pic, the guy in the white shirt actually looked back and winked at me)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Truth be told, I was enchanted. Of course Dr S and myself have done it before but not so openly. Certainly not while wandering the streets doing&amp;nbsp;some&amp;nbsp;window&amp;nbsp;shopping. But in P-town, nobody seems to mind. Perhaps it's what Michael Cunningham described in his excellent paean to Provincetown (&lt;a href="http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780609609071" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;Land's End&lt;/a&gt;) - &lt;em&gt;&amp;quot; At night the town is full of the particular spirit of recklessness that obtains in places full of people fully prepared - eager - to do things they would not consider doing at home.&amp;quot; &lt;/em&gt;But I choose to believe that there is absolutely nothing wrong with public displays of affection of whatever persuasion. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dr S and I stayed in Provincetown for a few days. We took the ferry&amp;nbsp; from Boston right after I finished my last paper at Harvard. It was the middle of summer but we had to rush to the nearest shop selling sweatshirts as it was absolutely freezing. We donned the obligatory P-town sweater looking like absolute&amp;nbsp;tourists&amp;nbsp;while looking for a small B and B. &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We would have lobsters (at the Lobster Pot) or baked clams and raw oysters for dinner. Buckets of huge fried scallops for lunch that we couldn't finish even if we wanted to. Every 5 meters there was a beer watering hole. One afternoon, we joined some friends who drove up from NYC to visit the gay beach. Herring cove&amp;nbsp;beach could&amp;nbsp;only be reached by walking for half a mile from town, through shallow dune basins that fill up with waist deep water at high tide, then up one final hillock of sand to view the grand vista of the Atlantic ocean ringed by half-naked gay men. The water was cold&amp;nbsp;so all we did was to do a quick dunk in the water and run up the sand to dry under the powerless afternoon sun, praying for a tan. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;One night we caught Hedda Lettuce do a stand-up show in a church. Another night we saw Naked Boys Singing, again re-affirming my belief that whatever you lack in the looks department can be easily be made up by&amp;nbsp;having other&amp;nbsp;enormous attributes (and vice versa). We would wander the streets singing along to a group of&amp;nbsp;drag queen doing showtunes, count the number of leather guys with small dogs,&amp;nbsp;and finally&amp;nbsp;arrive at our final pit stop - Spiritus - that Pizza joint that is the only place open by 2 am. Along with the pizza, we would take in the throng of beautiful, sweaty men just evicted from bars that close at 1 am. It was so sinful yet so&amp;nbsp;wholesome. Perhaps this is what Bangkok would be without the crass, the filth&amp;nbsp;and the money boys. We would then retreat to our quaint B and B built in the 1800s by a whaling captain. La dolce gay vita indeed. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br /&gt;That was 6 months ago. I was tripping through Flickr today when I stumbled upon a Provincetown page and I thought I better write it all down before I completely forget or before a second visit robs it of its magic. &lt;br /&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights:302339</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/302339.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=302339"/>
    <title>HoloFile 296: Hold on</title>
    <published>2010-01-04T13:56:11Z</published>
    <updated>2010-01-04T14:56:05Z</updated>
    <category term="muddyknight&amp;apos;s lonely travels"/>
    <category term="holofile"/>
    <content type="html">&lt;p&gt;&lt;img hspace="5" vspace="5" align="left" alt="" src="https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/hobbes28/muddy/Livewirepoles.jpg" fetchpriority="high" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hold on&lt;br /&gt;Feeling like I'm headed for a breakdown&lt;br /&gt;And I don't know why&lt;br /&gt;(&lt;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIdg7BbRJck" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;Unwell&lt;/a&gt;/Matchbox Twenty)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="font-size: smaller"&gt;(Along the highway to Aswan, Egypt, 2009)&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:muddynights:302243</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/302243.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://muddynights.livejournal.com/data/atom/?itemid=302243"/>
    <title>Egypt Journey Photos</title>
    <published>2010-01-03T09:29:07Z</published>
    <updated>2010-01-03T15:47:21Z</updated>
    <category term="muddyknight&amp;apos;s lonely travels"/>
    <content type="html">I don't want to bore people with endless vacation pics, so I chose from some of the best from my recent Egypt Trip to share. Enjoy. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" bgcolor="#ffffff"&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="http://smilebox.com/play/4d5451784d4445794f44593d0d0a&amp;amp;blogview=true&amp;amp;campaign=blog_playback_link" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;&lt;img alt="Click to play this Smilebox photobook: Egypt Journey Photos" width="420" height="330" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-top: medium none; border-right: medium none" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/bcd2d2aaf4fca255f562f6680ecdc579db6c592410233e59f210469e80198a55/P2WlxyVijxKvg21p8sxVWEMdsf-ah7h0zEOLS7dRgMid8BfZ2tKrCVppVEMiShgg4RoBmGmKN1YSRAYKyUxuphUL23OfOaeL_V0SuQ:YFpX7d1dlUiKIAnJlMd-Kw" fetchpriority="high" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.smilebox.com/?partner=smilebox&amp;amp;campaign=blog_snapshot" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;&lt;img alt="Create your own photobook - Powered by Smilebox" width="420" height="46" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-top: medium none; border-right: medium none" src="https://imgprx.livejournal.net/1bf95d1b3278cfd33fd23175c591228ed58d3e66cbc194b90223e029b353c74b/P2WlxyVijxKvg21p8sxVWEMdsf-ah7h0yFmVCaFehtzW8RfM28KqBQUhDEh1H0FYu0NSmS6RYQ9KGnsCjgwp6kUbgnjBK6aD4VVXiB5mJSHhGu-ctM5Wx2pZuFBv:WRkIegpHhVBW9c7bzho0Vw" loading="lazy" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td align="center"&gt;&lt;a target="_blank" href="http://www.smilebox.com/photobooks" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"&gt;Make a Smilebox photobook&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/tbody&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;br /&gt;</content>
  </entry>
</feed>
