the snake

Since Lunar New Year is coming up, and thanks to Yam, I found myself searching for forecasts about the coming year of the dog!

Snakes in the year of the Dog

The snake is in for a great year. Career and those in busienss for themselves will climb to new heights providing you apply yourself. There will be fantastic opportunities in 2006. Single Snakes can expect fireworks this year, even expect wedding plans, if you are a married or commited Snake, you should be careful not to neglect your partner as with a successful year this can easily happen. Although the year will be good, you can expect some jealousy from colleagues. Snakes will see excellent returns on their investments this year. But you need to rest and take some light exercise as you will get more stressed this year and need to watch blood pressure. All snakes can enjoy a great year.

And here's a couple of things you should know about snakes like me... (sounds evil, huh)

SNAKE

Diplomatic and popular, the Snake has the sensual art of seduction down. This Sign is an interesting mix of gregariousness paired with introversion, intuitive reasoning paired with savvy business skills. Snakes are considered to be lucky with money and will generally have more than enough to live life to the fullest, regardless of how important it considers money to be; this may be due to the fact that Snakes tend to be rather tight with cash. They're not stingy, they're simply more mentally than physically active. Snakes tend to hang back a bit in order to analyze a situation before jumping into it. Their charming, seductive quality actually belies a rather retiring nature; this Sign is perfectly happy to spend the whole day curled up with a good book and, thus, can be mislabeled as being lazy.

The Snake is somewhat insecure deep down and tend to be a rather jealous, possessive lover, behavior that can end up alienating loved ones. Despite these less-than-stellar tendencies, however, the Snake often proves irresistible and is a generous, loving partner.. Slightly dangerous and disarmingly smart, the Snake's philosophical and intuitive mind generally supersedes logic in favor of feelings and instinct. Snakes will rely on their own gut reactions and intuitions before turning to others for suggestions. This makes this Sign a great hand in any business venture, possessing the caution and smarts needed to get ahead.

Snakes are hard workers (when they see good reason to be!) and are possessed of a keen intelligence. Snakes have incredible follow-through, once they get going, and they expect the same from others. Thus, their coworkers and employees had best stay on their toes, lest they anger the Snake and suffer its poisonous bite!

In general, of course, Snakes are generous and genteel, charming and appealing. Snakes must try to learn humility and to develop a stronger sense of self. Once Snakes realize that confidence comes from within, they will finally be comfortable in their own skin.

The most compatible match for a Snake is the Rooster or the Ox.

The Year Of The Snake
 
1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001

People born in the Year of the Snake are deep. They say little and possess great wisdom. They never have to worry about money; they are financially fortunate. Snake people are often quite vain, selfish, and a bit stingy. Yet they have tremendous sympathy for others and try to help those less fortunate. Snake people tend to overdo, since they have doubts about other people's judgment and prefer to rely on themselves. They are determined in whatever they do and hate to fail. Although calm on the surface, they are intense and passionate. Snake people are usually good-looking and sometimes have marital problems because they are fickle. They are most compatible with the Ox and Rooster.

Snake's Romance Horoscope for 2006
First quarter

It might be in your interest to keep a watchful eye on your mate without, however, showing inopportune jealousy. Indeed, the other one will know how to charm enormously and will have quite a crowd of admirers around them. If you're single, beware of mirages caused by the star Tieu Hao. You'll believe you've found the perfect, ideal partner; however, before letting yourself be carried away, try to know this person better.

Second quarter

Heartwise, beware of temptations because of the opposition between the stars Thien Su and Hoa Quyen! If you're married or engaged in a more or less stable relationship, be doubly vigilant and control yourself well. It would be too stupid to give in to a momentary joy and have eternal regrets or remorse afterwards! Single natives of the sign will have good chances to find their soul mates under rather unexpected circumstances.

Third quarter

You're going to benefit from an extraordinary influx of chance in love. The star Thanh Long will help you to make yourself noticed and to be in good shape, merry, optimistic and magnanimous. In short, there will emanate from you such positive energy, your eyes will be so bright and your smile so charming that you'll painlessly gather all the hearts on your way. And then you'll only be spoiled for choice -- if ever you want to make a choice instead of wanting to have everything!

Fourth quarter

You're going to enter a peaceful period as far as the affairs of your heart are concerned. If you're living in couple, your relationships with your spouse or mate will be placed under the sign of well-being and tenderness. Even if your couple life has recently encountered difficulties, these should now be behind you. If you're single, the star Huu Bat, in becoming favorable, will offer you an active social life. You'll make encounters; and, who knows, among such new acquaintances someone can perhaps get your attention.

 

kilig

Everyone must have had those moments. 

Those moments which made you smile like a crazy person all the way home.

Had one of those moments last night. I kept trying to keep myself from smiling, but I just couldn't.

Then reality set in. Sigh.

me on KT

Being a reporter, I've been so used to interviewing people. But it's funny when the tables are turned and you're the one interviewed! Its even funnier when the story appears on page 1 of your own newspaper.

Anyway, for posterity's sake, here's the article quoting me (!) which appeared on KT today.

Foreigners Cry Inconvenience in Mobile Phone Service

By Kim Tae-gyu, Tony MacGregor Staff Reporters Some foreign residents complain that getting a cell phone in Korea is a nightmare that amounts to discrimination, but cell phone companies flatly deny the charges. The complaints of the foreigners revolve around the two sets of rules for obtaining cell phones in Korea _ one set for foreigners and another for Koreans. ``It's very difficult for foreigners to get cell phones with the same rates as Koreans,'' said David Watermeyer, a South African who has lived here for about a year. He said that because Korean companies will not accept credit ratings from foreign countries, foreign residents have to either pre-pay for their cell phone time at an exorbitant rate or get a phone in the name of a Korean friend. ``If you don't have a Korean friend willing to lend you his credit and name, you have to pay the high rate,'' he said. ``Why can't cell phone companies accept international credit cards as a back-up?'' he asked. When he first arrived in Korea, a friend gave him an unused cell phone, which Watermeyer put in his name with SK Telecom. ``I had to pre-pay at the high rate, and it was really inconvenient as well. The cell phone was always running out of time at a bad time, and then I had to find an SK Telecom office to recharge it,'' he said. When Watermeyer began working for an language institute, the institute registered a cell phone for him in the institute's name, but he had to put down a deposit of 100,000 won. ``But I received the same rate that Koreans pay,'' he said. He also urged cell phones to have some key words in English in the bills. ``I understand that the bills have to be in Korean, but if there was an option for foreigners to have some basic information on the bills in English, it would help,'' he said. Joanne So-jung Kong, a Canadian citizen who was born in Korea, also had problems. ``When I first arrived, I tried KTF but they said they couldn't give credit to someone without a Korean citizenship number or a Korean-issued credit card,'' she said. To overcome the problem, she asked a cousin to put the phone in her name. That worked well until the cousin left the country and the phone broke down. ``They wouldn't let me buy a new phone and I couldn't shut down the account because it was in my cousin's name, so my cousin called and asked them to put the account on hold, which they did but there was a cost while the account was on hold,'' she said. She eventually got an account with SK Telecom, which has a program for Korean-born foreigners. ``SK was a lot easier to work with than KTF,'' she said. Cathy Garcia from the Philippines also ran into problems. ``A friend acted as my guarantor because at SK, they wouldn't accept my credit card as a guarantee,'' she said. ``They have my friend's bank account number, but I pay almost the same rate as Koreans.'' She added that all services are in Korean and it is very difficult for foreigners to communicate with the phone offices because most personnel don't speak English and don't want to be bothered with dealing with all the problems of registering foreigners with their companies. ``For the first six months I paid an extra 20,000 won per month connection fee. I still don't know what that was for,'' she said. Garcia said there is a sizable foreign community in Korea now and any cell company that offering good service at the same rate as Koreans would do well. Korea's mobile carriers vigorously rebuffed any arguments that they discriminate foreign residents. ``First of all, the claim that foreigners must subscribe to wireless telephony services here merely on a pre-paid basis is not true. Foreigners with citizenship numbers are eligible for the deferred-payment system,'' SK Telecom spokesman Do Hoon said. He added that SK Telecom cannot enlarge such benefits for aliens without the registration numbers because they cannot check their financial backgrounds. ``We are not a financial entity. It is practically impossible for us to check the financial backgrounds of foreigners,'' Do said. Do took issue with the argument that foreigners pay prohibitively high rates for mobile phone services. ``On our pre-paid system, foreigners are required to pay 61 won per minute while Koreans are levied 20 won. But foreigners do not pay a basic fee of 13,000 won that Koreans are charged for,'' Do said. ``When they are heavy users, the pre-paid system is unfavorable. But if they are light users, their burden based on the pay-as-you-go system is much less than on Koreans,'' Do said.

Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Science Fiction & Fantasy

Most kids have grown up reading Narnia. I remember reading my cousin's well-worn copy of The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe on a lazy summer day. (Summers for me meant long hot days of nothing to do). I could relate well to Lucy, Susan, Peter and Edmund.

Watching the movie (finally Narnia is shown in Seoul earlier than Manila!) is like making a trip back to one's childhood. I don't really have a bone to pick with Disney's reported attempts to promote the Christian undertones of the book.

There are some parts which feel like Lord of the Rings meets Harry Potter.

But overall, it was visually fantastic. The kids' acting were pretty good, little Lucy reminds me of Drew Barrymore, while Edmund and Peter-- you know they're going to grow up to be Leo-Orlando types. Hahaha.

I have to say, the best part of the movie was seeing Narnia as a frozen, desolate wasteland turn slowly into a lush paradise. The best acting would be Aslan-- Liam Neeson's voice is soooo good.

I really can't wait to see the next Narnia movie!

O

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Music
Genre:	Folk
Artist:	Damien Rice

This has to be one of the best albums I've listened to in a long time. It just made me realize how crappy some of the stuff I've been subjecting my ears to!

I first heard Damien Rice's song The Blower's Daughter last September, when May played the cd in the car. The song sort of got stuck in the back of my head, and I've been searching for the cd ever since.

And I finally found it!

I listened to it once, and twice and over and over.

Damien Rice is an Irish folk singer, with some dirty lyrics. The songs are slow, but the music is beautiful. His voice just has so much emotion. Anyone who loves acoustic music will love Rice.

The song Blower's Daughter just sticks, with the refrain "and I can't take my eyes off you." "Delicate" was featured on an episode of Lost. But "Cannonball" is really something. It sounds familiar, but its undeniably Damien Rice. You can repeat his songs over and over and you won't get tired of it.

Something tells me Damien will be on repeat on my iPod for a long time.