RIP - Austin

Ye was a mangy, scrawny dawg when we rescued ye from PAWS.

Ye ate & ate & ate till ye were round enough to show yer displeasure at the menu.

Ye had a BO that was . . . errrmmmm . . . . . 'strong' to say the least.

Ye was wild & couldnae be let off the leash.

But we loved ye & ye loved us back.

We are sorry if ye felt neglected the last few months.

We will always remember ye fer how ye brightened up our little corner of the world.

Austin - passed on today peacefully due to old age . . .

Breaking Glass - RIP JG Ballard

"In his vision of a car crash with the actress, Vaughan was obsessed by many wounds and impacts--by the dying chromium and collapsing bulkheads of their two cars meeting head-on in complex collisions endlessly repeated in slow-motion films, by the identical wounds inflicted on their bodies, by the image of windshield glass frosting around her face as she broke its tinted surface like a death-born Aphrodite, by the compound fractures of their thighs impacted against their handbrake mountings, ban above all by the wounds to their genitalia, her uterus pierced by the heraldic beak of the manufacturer's medallion, his semen emptying across the luminescent dials that registered forever the last temperature and the fuel levels of the engine." - excerpt from Crash (1973).

Anyone who can make a car crash sound erotic & horrific at the same time is pretty fooking cool by me.

RIP - James Graham Ballard (November 15, 1930 - April 19, 2009).

ps: Fer more info, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._G._Ballard .

I'm OK!

To those of you who know our good friend Bernard Chong or read his blog (speak now, ah?) would know that his dad had been unwell fer some time now. Sadly, Chong Snr lost his battle against the dreaded Big C late this afternoon.

I meself have some pretty fond memories of Uncle Chong. His fave phrase was "I'm OK! That's my name OK Chong". He was a pretty happy-go-lucky-uncle who happily enjoyed his Peter Reds, fine booze & was always more than happy to oblige the crowd with a song or two. Nothing seemed to faze him; whether it was a stock market crash or a health scare, he took it all in stride.

And he was always quick to invite me (or anyone of else fer that matter) to join him fer a few drinks. When we were wee college brats he even handed us some cash with the specific order to "go enjoy yerselves"! Uncle Chong was one cool dude.

But me fave memory was when one nite I was dropping Bernard off after a few drinks. Bernard had forgotten his keys & was hoping his dad would be downstairs to let him in. But when we got to the house, Uncle Chong had also just forgotten his keys after a few drinks & the sight of the two redfaced Chongs drunkenly scaling their house gate is a memory that will stay with me forever.

As they say, when you are born, let it be you who is crying & everyone else smiling; when you die, let it be you who is smiling & everyone else is crying . . .

Uncle Chong, you will be sadly missed by all.

ps: Friends are welcome to share their fond memories of Uncle OK Chong here.