This was posted at 0840hr Thursday morning -- my blog is rearranging my posts, and NOT in reverse chronological order, so please scroll down to October 9 for some important Clay Aiken news!

My consult room computer is driving me nuts. From the looks of it, it's probably operating on a Pentium 0.01 processor. Powers that be on the 3rd floor, Room 5 needs a newer PC!

Caught the pilot episode of "The Shield" last night. Will I watch it again? Probably not. It may have won the Golden Globe / Emmy, but I was quite turned off by the lead character played by Michael Chiklis, the same way I didn't like James Gandolfini in "The Sopranos". Certain TV shows of late have been termed "hip", or "cool", or "cutting edge", based solely on the presence of violence, foul language, and sordid material. "The Sopranos" is one of them, and looks like "The Shield" is following suit. "Six Feet Under" came close in season 2, but the people in it are already known to be psychologically abnormal ( one of them was sent to the asylum after all ), and the show doesn't glamourize bad behaviour as blatantly as the other shows. But that's just my opinion. :)

The lead character in "The Shield" looks like a thug, but I could care less about that, 'cos most of the series I enjoy don't feature lookers. But some of the jokes were in poor taste, and the detective is prone to bouts of violence and putting dog excrement in his colleague's drawer for laughs. Sorry, I just can't bring myself to like someone who behaves like this. My Tuesday nights are better spent doing other things.

If you want good crime shows on TV, just watch "CSI", or "NYPD Blue", or my personal favourite, "Monk". In the last one, Tony Shalhoub gives us a lovable and very original character -- a brilliant detective who is struck with obsessive-compulsive disorder after his wife's murder, rendering him incapable of staying on the police force, but garnering him many "special consultation" cases which the other detectives are never able to solve. Adrian Monk is hilariously kooky, with a big heart, and an obvious distaste for guilty criminals. I love it when he nails the culprit each week, 'cos the storylines are always full of surprises, and Monk gets to confront the perpetrator in the climactic scene. By the way, cable is screening the 1st season of this exceptional series later this month, on StarWorld Channel 18, I believe ( I keep seeing the words "coming soon" in the trailers ). Shalhoub has already picked up the Emmy for Best Actor in a TV Comedy Series for 2003 for his role. Do NOT miss it!

The Straits Times gleefully headlined 2 stories today with the words "Doctors In Trouble". One featured a GP who failed to diagnose a maid's pregnancy, and the other reported how Dr. Francis Seow Choen, a colorectal surgeon from SGH, was fined for keeping illegal, exotic reptiles. They said police came to know about it through a "tip-off", which of course, could be anything from:
1) a nasty neighbour
2) a disgruntled colleague, or
3) the supplier himself, who got his arm twisted, or struck a deal
Anyway, what I'd like to know is this: in a similar article on Dr. Seow yesterday, why did the reporter mention the surgeon by name, and the other guilty party as "another collector"? WHO is this other collector, and why isn't his/her name in the paper? Reasons, please.

Anyway, here's more from "The Purpose-Driven Life".

Chapter 6: Life is a temporary assignment / The world is not my home."

This bit reminds us that Earth is not our final home, a fact that many tend to forget easily. If anything, we should constantly focus on our existence AFTER death -- ie. God's eternal kingdom. Becoming too attached to our current lives / habitats makes us covet material things, but keeping in mind the prospect of heaven will help us resist acquiring "temporary crowns".

Chapter 7: The reason for everything / It's all for Him

The innocuous title belies the fact that this is a really fantastic chapter. It dwells on the glory of God -- what it is, where it is, how the Bible shows it in many instances. Very inspiring. Then, we read about how many of us do NOT bring glory to God, for whatever reason. I'm sure readers will identify with that! :) But fear not. The later part describes how we CAN bring Him glory, through worship, emulating Christ in every way possible, loving and serving others, and witnessing for Him.
It ends by asking an important question: What / who are you going to live for? Here, it might apply more to non-believers. The author invites the reader to believe and receive. This bit moved me very deeply, as I was reminded of a night almost a year ago, when I first truly accepted God into my life. As I've told others before, I "stood at the crossroads", and chose one path over the other. It is a decision I have never regretted.

I shall leave you with some Clay Aiken news. :) The other Singaporean fans emailed to tell me there's a big ad for his upcoming album in The New Paper today. Someone nicely scanned it in for me, and it has the headline "Who Is Your American Idol?", followed below by "Clay Aiken", superimposed over his album cover. At the bottom, it says Singapore versions will come with a Clay poster! Can't wait! :D

Here's the link to the Singapore update on CA.com -- with a picture of the Clay Aiken ad mentioned above! ( Scroll down :) )