Bearforce 1 - the Bearish Boyband

The BearForce1 (L-R: Robert, Yuri, Peter & Ian)

Forget about Backstreet Boys, Westlife or any smooth pretty boy pop groups. The hairy boys from Holland are here to take the gay world by storm. They call themselves 'Bearforce 1' and it's the world's 1st bear band. To the straight community, bears are the large mammals that we see at the zoo. In the gay communty that speaks a myriad of lingos, bears are mature men with hairy bodies and facial hair.

Coincidentally, I was holidaying with the four bears, Yuri, Robert, Peter and Ian in New York in Summer 2006. We were at the Big Apple at the same season but we did not meet. Perhaps, I met them but they were unknown then. They were strangers to another until their passion for music and performance brought them together. On a nite-out, they met producers, Goldschmidt and Rockfeller and the rest were history.

Bearforce 1 became an overnight sensation with their self-titled single 'Bearforce 1'. A friend forwarded me an email with a Youtube link to their music video and I was so amused. Don't get me wrong. They are certainly not clowns (like some) on Youtube who entertained us with their silly acts; Every bearforce 1 member performed with such fervor that you could tell that they are serious about their music career.

The opening scene of their music video is a teaser: four silhouettes of musclemen emerging from the sea like Daniel Craig did in the movie 'Casino Royale 007'. But as the music kicked in with their husky voice, they were transported from the glittering sea to a studio of disco light. Four muscle...hmm...bears crooned and danced in unification to the catchy chorus 'Bear Force 1' with their signature dance steps - shouting "Bear!" and crossing their wrists. "Force!" and saluting. "One!" and holding up a finger. If you wanna see yourself dancing like Bearforce1, try this game. The 4:19 mins video began and ended with the original 'bearforce 1' anthem but with a medley of the gayest 80's hits in-between. From their tight colorful Polo-Ts to the choreography, the music video has so much vibes that you won't be sick of watching it (especially when they took of their Ts:-)

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Watch out for Bananation's exclusive interview with the Bearforce1. Coming soon.

I respect copyright. But I love Youtube.

I love Youtube but the legal watchdogs hate it.

I can see where these people are coming from. The video-sharing website, Youtube forbids the uploading of copyrighted content and frequently removes uploaded infringing videos. However, infringed content continues to grow like an army of ants and beyond policing. Evidently, users abuse its infrastructure - just like the case of Kazaa, a peer-to-peer file-sharing website. But the brains behind these influenctial medium would have anticipated its legal implications, wouldn't they? Let's not forget that asides from TV clips and music videos, the non-represented content such as home-made videos are also copyrighted. For example, Tom sang his composition in an amateur video and he recorded it. Tom is therefore the copyright owner of that video and has the right to upload it to Youtube. However, If I fancy Tom's video and upload it to my site, I am infringing Tom's copyright. So tell me which online content are not copyrighted? It is a matter of who owns the copyright and if infringement is worth prosecution. Would Tom sue me for sharing his video? I doubt so; he will be more than happy about the publicity.

Anyway, this blog is not a missive about copyright. Rather, I am going to write about how an act of infringement walked me down the memory lane and brought joy to my heart. I was born in 1973 - the 80's is the period when Madonna, Rick Astley, Paula Abdul, New Kids on the Block, Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue filled my childhood with music notes. Those were the cassette days when pirated albums titled 'Billboard 100' were sold rampantly at Bedok Interchange* at SGD2.00 each. They were thrown on the floor like pasa malam* sales and everyone searched among the pile to look for that perfect compilation. Raids were unheard of then. Those were the days you tuned in to the radio programme 'Say it with Music' and waited impatiently for the DJs to shut up before you punched the record button on your cassette recorder. When the DJ's interrupted the song before it ended, you couldn't stop cursing them for that imperfect recording. Technically speaking, it is wrong to record songs from radio and tape record our favorite TV shows. No authority in Singapore talked about copyright infringement in the early 80's. Everyone loved music for what they were and programmes like 'Solid Gold' were our weekend favorites. Life was less complicated then and music were not exploited. Gone were the days.

You can see how much my memories are coming back. Thanks to Youtube and those who uploaded the hard-to-find music videos of the 80's stars whom I grow up with. Remember the suave Rick Astley who sang like a black man and kept your feets grooving to his UK's top hit 'Never Gonna Give You Up'? I could vaguely recall that music video I watched on TV when I was a little boy. Ronald Macdonald was then a new face to Singaporeans. I searched for 'Rick Astley' on Youtube and a list of videos appeared. I watched most of them. All of the sudden, I time-travelled 20 years back to my old apartment and I was watching Rick animated on my old television set that had 4 supporting legs. Now, both Rick and I have aged. I indulged in my nostalgia by searching for more videos of the 80's stars like Jason Donovan, Paula Abdul, New Kids on the Block and Tommy Page. To my excitement, Youtube have them all! Even the enchanting duet 'The Right Combination' by Seiko & Donnie Wahlberg appeared when I searched for it! Having a liking for classics too, I searched for clips of 'The Carpenters' and 'Gene Kelly'. I was not disappointed.

In Singapore, I can't buy most of these DVDs. Sometimes, an artiste may not have a demand here and hence no retailers will import them. I searched high and low for Gene Kelly's CD at HMV, Gramophones and Borders. There wasn't a single match in the computer system; the only stuff associated with Gene Kelly is the movie DVD 'Singing in the Rain' and everywhere had that. I don't even see Rick Astley's music videos collection at any of these stores. Although they have The Carpenters's music videos DVDs, every store is selling that same title. When I was in London's Virgin Megastore, there were an assorted CDs and DVDs of The Carpenters. Either Singaporean consumers only go for popular stuff that everyone is talking about in the town or the buyers at these record stores are practising the 'if-I-have-never-heard-of-them-they-can't-be-good' purchasing policy. Sometimes, it's hard to blame people for downloading music, TV series or music videos. The local market doesn't have them and buying them online can be a hassle. For me, I will buy the originals even after watching them on Youtube. I bought the Gene Kelly's 'S Wonderful CD when holidaying in HongKong. I am also planning to visit the record store this weekend to buy the greatest hit CDs of Rick Astley and Jason Donovan and transfer the songs to my iPod. If not for those fans who uploaded their music videos, I would have forgotton about Rick, Jason and many other stars.

Sentimental values do help to sell CDs. I'm sure if I can find more rare music videos or TV series on Youtube, it will trigger me to buy them. Already I am hooked to the Brtish gay TV series 'Hollyoaks' on Youtube. What made it frustrating is that the uploaded clips are not complete episodes and making sense of the story is thus difficult. Maybe, I will ask my boyfriend from the US to buy it for me. Very likely.

*Bedok Interchange - a bus terminal located at one of the oldest housing estate in Singapore.
*Pasa malam- a Malay word meaning bazaar market.

Ginger farm - a reflection of working with older people

There is no such thing as a ginger farm. And if you have read my earlier post 'Old gingers. No thanks!", you would know that the gingers here refer to people. For the first time in my life I am working in a company where the ratio of old workers against young workers is strikingly big. I thought I was working part-time for an old folks home. I call my work place a ginger farm.

I see these gingers (not all) behaving like piranhas. I was told to be careful of these people. From the way they described one another, I can't help but to conjure an image of the Dementors from the Harry Potter's series. On the surface, they joked but when a customer in suit and briefcase walked in, the piranhas sprung into action and the fittest caught the prey. I am aghasted at how ruthless these aunties in displaying their 'bua-yahism"* in order to hit their sales target. They hung on to their baits as hard as they tried to hang on to their jobs because losing their means of survival at their age can turn them from piranhas to guppies in the dirty drains. Being a part-timer, I watch the piranhas outside of the aquarium. Not all the piranhas are verocious; some attack one another but most do not. The characteristics of each ginger are so notably distinctive that they can identify themselves should I describe them individually.

It is an eye-opening experience to be working among the gingers. I remember clearly that all new staff were reminded to support one another at work during the orientation I attended. Apparently, some gingers have placed their personal value over company's. At the orientation, I was among the 3 new staff who would be working together at the same store. From time to time, we shared with one another how we felt about this ginger and that ginger. Often, the names of 3 gingers were mentioned. I thought of lambasting them online but gave that idea up. Why waste my brain cells writing about people whom I find disapproving? Moreover, next week will be my last week at the store; I will be moving on to greener pasture. They will soon be like my uniforms that I will leave behind.

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*bua-yahism - an invented work. Bua-yah in Malay means 'crocodile.' Used as a reference here to describe the gingers as predators.

What does US 1 million dollar shipping cost ship?

My ex-colleague traded regularly on ebay; shipping cost was a major concern to him. But it doesn't take an ebayer to question a US 1 million shipping cost for an item that costs less than 20-cent. Apparently, the Pentagon lost its brain.

The automated Defense Department purchasing system permits that bills to be paid automatically for shipment labelled 'Priority' to combat areas or U.S. bases. The objective is to get items delivered to the troops promptly wherever they are without running into the redtape of manually approving costs. As much as human errors account for inaccurate payments such as overpayments, automation creates errors which are unknown without human's supervision. This flaw is exploited by the hardware equipment supplier company, C&D Distributors in Lexington, South Carolina. The scheme, however, came into light last September when a purchasing agent identified a bill that costs US 1 million dollar to ship two 19-cent washers. The twin sisters, Charlene Corley and the late Wooten Corley, are owners of the defunct company who pleaded guilty to federal frauds and money laundering. They had 'looted' the Pentagon of $20.5 million between the year 1997 to 2006. Among other ridiculous shipping costs recorded by the Pentagon were:

• $293,451 to ship an $0.89 split washer
• $455,009 to ship 3 machine screws worth $1.31 each
• $492,097 to ship an $11 threaded plug
• $499.569 to ship 10 cotter pins worth $1.99 each

Everyone starts cheating from small amount; so do the Corley's sisters. Each trasaction got bolder with time until guilt consumed Wooten that she wrote a cheque of $4 million to the DOD (Department of Defense) before committing suicide. Although Charlene pleaded guilty, her attorney claimed that it was Wooten who was directly responsible for the fraud. She is yet to be sentenced. The Pentagon hopes to recoup the $20.5 million by auctioning all the property and luxurious cars that the sisters have bought from the loot.

According to the Pentagon, each item that the military shipped rarely reached $100 and totalled just $68,000 for the past 6 years. I don't know how the automated Defense Department purchasing system work but surely the system is fradulent itself. How could 100 to 125 invoices submitted by C&D Distributors over 6 years for such exorbitant amount got paid unnoticed? Doesn't Pentagon has internal or external auditors, and if so, doesn't any of the auditors raised any eyebrows?

If a golden tap that costs $1,000 at T T Durai's office (ex-CEO of NKF, a fund-raising and health organization) became a public's interest after the NKF scandal, surely American taxpayers are as interested as Singaporeans to know how their money are managed by the government. The U.S. has public debt amounting to $8,967,781,081,102.69 and each citizen's share of this debt is $29,622.96. Based on the figure, $20.5 million that was swindled by both sisters is able to pay the debts of 692 Americans.

To my American's readers: are you angry at the system or the people?

PS: The system has since been changed.

Old Gingers? No Thanks!

I know nuts about cooking and so the gingers I am talking about are not the rhizomes that are commonly used as spices in cooking - they are people. There is a Chinese saying: the older the gingers, the hotter they are, which is more or less the English equivalent of the older one gets, the wiser one becomes. I shall not challenge the years of their inhabitation on earth, but these old farts need to shut their mouths at times.

With the changing economy, our Government is encouraging people to remain employable through retraining programmes. That calling was answered by my colleague whom I worked with at the airport. On my first day at work, she told me that she got the job through Government's referral. It is a blogging etiquette not to mention names when critising sombody that we know and usually, I leave them out. But interestingly, her name can be guessed in a game of charade because it sounds like ginger. I am not biased against older workers because l will be labelled by others as uncle in a few years time. However, old gingers should adjust their idiosyncrasies when working with young people. Afterall, we are not their grandchildren.

Actually, I have no intention to blog about old gingers because we - the younger generation should be tolerant towards our elder counterpart. The two incidents that happened in 2 consecutive days had forced the steam out of my nostrils. The first incident happened when I had finished work; the second incident happened today when I just stepped into the shop. Like a drama, it had a beginning and an ending except that the sequence jumped.

The first incident was at the security counter. All staff are to have their bags checked before exiting from the departure hall. There is a security guard whom I am friendly with. That night, I called him 'sayang' (a Malay word to mean 'darling) as usual when I saw him at the counter. The salutation was nothing amorous, just like the common endearment 'baby' used in western countries. When I was in London, a young road sweeper nearly hit me with his broom as I was walking down Oxford Street. He apologised and said "sorry, baby." It may be unusual for a guy to address another as baby but still, I do not interpret it as he hitting on me. Another security guard was on duty. When he heard me calling his colleague 'sayang', he cautioned me against 'sexual harrassment' in the workplace. From the dull look of his wrinkled face, I knew he is one of those conservative homophobes - an uncle who mistook me as his grandson and tried to lecture me on social decorum. I told him off and delibrately bade my sayang goodbye - loud and clear. That security guard should not read too much into my friendly gesture but learn to accustom to people's way of showing friendliness. Next time when he tries to act like a school prefect , I will tell him, "relax lah, brother!". If he was that road sweeper at London, I would probaby get a snarl followed by grumbles behind my back after I walked away.

The next day, I thought that the old folks would just bugger off but an Empress Dowager crossed my path the minute I stepped into the store. When she saw me (she is the one whose name sounds like the ginger), she delivered a harangue of the do's-and-don'ts of my work. She bossed around in a loud and irritable noise like an inconsiderate motocyclist who storms in the still of the night. And she is not my boss, mind you. She must be in the mood for Formula One that she drove me to boiling point. I told her off, just like the way I did to that homophobic uncle. Give me a break, old ginger. I just started my shift and couldn't she wait for a while before rattling on with her self-imposed protocol which is a matter of her preference than company policy. I can embrace her good intention if she had given me time to inhale the freshness of the air in the store.

Call me an irrespectful young brat. Having worked with veterans in my first job 11 years ago at the TV station, I know how uncles, aunties, grandpas and grannies enjoy treating younger colleagues as their grandchildren at home. The old gingers were not always right because of their resistance to change. Older workers should not only retrain their skills but should also readjust their mindsets when working with the younger generation.

To all the older workers who are pain in the ass: don't indulge in the old ginger title. Don't forget that beside gingers, there are other spices too.

iPods are making noise in New York

Finally. New Yorkers have proven that I am not a grumpy Singaporean who complains renlentlessly against loud music on public transportation.

Yahoo! News reported that a passenger silently fumed (most of us do) as the man seated beside him on the plane blasted techno music on his iPod at full volume. When I wrote about noise level in the subway ('Testing mobie ring tones in the train. What's wrong with People?' & 'Chipmunks singing in the train'), they were incident relating to communters playing music aloud from their mobile phones. For a music from somebody's headphones to be audible to the surrounding people, it must be on its highest volume. There was a lady who requested an iPod-user on the NY's subway to lower the volume, only to her dismay that she was ignored. I can understand the iPod-user's insensitivity to the fellow communters, but how can one be insensitive to their own eardrums? The only logical answer is that their headphones are working fine but not their ears. And that probably explains why they are oblivious to the loud music that their neighbors are hearing.

iPod-users have their 5-minutes of fame on the NY's subway too. Some are either practising hard for the American Idols and singing along their playlist, while others are talking excessively loud with their ear buds on like in a political rally. Such scenes are not uncommon in Singapore's train. Once, I saw a karaoke crooner on the train who sang with such fervor that with a little bit of imagination, I could be picturing her as Beyonce from the movie, Dreamgirls. I find such clownlike performance amusing and thus entertaining. However, loud speakers who thought that they are at Hyde Park are simply irritating.

I can't reprimand communters who risk hearing impairment to share music with me but I am crossed at those who blatantly share their music on the train without the use of headphones. For Pete's sake, I don't like your 'sexy back'; I like 'It's oh so quiet' by Bjork. So keep your favorite to yourself because it is likey that they are not ours.

Some may think that I am too unforgiving in embracing music on the go. But is music the only noise level in the train? Just to name a few - teenagers' giggles, office gossips and aunties and uncles yelling in dialects over their Jurassic mobile phones. When the train is already a rojak* of commotion, we don't have to add in chilli.

*Rojak - a Malay word to mean mix. It is also a fruit and vegetable salad dish commonly found in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.