Tuesday, September 2, 2008

How I earned my nicknames


You may wonder why I am called Dr. Evil.

When I started as an usher at the Esplanade in late 2002,a colleague teased me about my shaven pate. He said that with the black pants & the Nehru jacket,I resembled Dr. Evil,the comic villain in the Austin Powers series.

Not one to disappoint him,I went along with the gag and raised my right pinky to the corner of my mouth,as was my namesake's habit. I did this during our briefing session,making sure that he saw me.

My colleague saw it,and he almost doubled over laughing.
He had to stop himself because he did not want to distract the others during the briefing.

To add fuel to the fire,I tried to duplicate Dr. Evil's laugh after the session and he couldn't stand it anymore,so he had an aching belly from laughing about it. When the Yahoogroups for the ushers was started in late 2002,I contributed spoofs about the performances shown in Esplanade,signing off with the Dr. Evil label,or alternatively,"the evil doctor".

It was gratifying to hear that my colleagues liked the jokes I posted,all of which sprang,like Athena from Zeus' brow out of the blue. I get my best jokes when I am alone,walking or just riding a bus,making up a top 10 list ala David Letterman,in transit.

Nope,I got no pay for posting those gems,just got the satisfaction of making my readers laugh and also the conviction that I can write outrageous gags & get away with it.

As for the other name,"Testosterom",it is a play on the male hormone,which last syllable sounded like my nickname.

Humor keeps me sane,and I like to drive people insane...with laughter.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Starting over

This feels odd,making a blog.

It seems to be a habit amongst internet users to confess their sins or profess their virtues (more the latter than the former) to their on-line readers.

It's notable that most blogs center on the owner's life, pertaining to external events.

The blogger,behind a keyboard and a blinking screen presents to his readers his viewpoint,which may or may not represent his real values.

There are some blogs that are dedicated to educating or informing its readers.

I hope to fall into this latter group. There are so many things that can be discussed here,and these pertain to my thoughts & experiences about life.

I live in 2 worlds,the world of ideas,thoughts and concepts, and the world of reality.

Reality makes a harsh teacher for testing your ideas,we tend to avoid pain and suffering but they are our best teachers.

My blog will present in no particular order,my view of the world,how others affect it and how it clashes or melds with others' values.

The purposes of my blog are three-fold:

  1. to explore concepts or experiences that are painful or enjoyable as both are valuable in learning about life
  2. to be as honest and credible as possible when disseminating views,experiences or ideas
  3. to share these experiences and concepts expecting honest responses
Now that may sound too deep but it's not my intention of inflicting brain damage or mental diarrhea on the readers.

My intention is to write honestly,eschewing sugar coating of my views.

I will respect others' views,of course,but I still have to compare those views with the framework of logic and apologetics.

Lest people think that this will be a dull blog,I will keep it entertaining.

I have already gained notoriety at the Esplanade as a crazy satirist,I hope to live up to the reputation.

Until my next blog then,goodbye.