Brown Sugar...

Just for the Rube, and anyone else who likes the dark skinned girl.
the photo is quite big, so I put in a thumbnail. Click it for full size.

Avert your eyes, don't look directly at it

Click on this link ONLY IF YOU ARE FULLY PREPARED FOR THE EXPERIENCE.


Wear Sunglasses. If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunglasses would be it, oh, and be seated, on sturdy chair. The long term benefits of sunglasses have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. If you have a daughter below the age of 80, hide her. If you have sons older than 4, hide them too. Do not look directly at the picture. Looking directly at the picture has been known to cause irreversible damage to your sanity and your cornea. Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85. Always listen to your basecoach, he will not guide you wrong. When he says stop, you stop, when he says run, you run. Never throw behind the runner. Always hit the cutoff man.
But most importantly, trust me on the sunglasses.


Click on THIS when you are ready

Photos of Kyle's farewell BBQ

There were too many great shots, so I have created an account in a free photo-hosting site to upload the pictures.
follow this link Kyle's BBQ to view them.
I do have the originals in high-rez format (thanks to TS), so if there are any photos you'd like, email me, and I will send it to you. Btw, the weird letter/number combo is the actual file name of the image, so just give me that reference number.

edit: I just looked through the photos, and I just realised that they were taken by our most sober person of the evening.

Men from Montfort

This is a special thank you to the young men from montfort(past and present), though we may not remember all your names(takes awhile) and some of your feets of skill on the field have gone unrecorded, we still appreciate your dedication to the game and your weekly attendance. Your youthful exuberance and boundless energy definitely put some of us old foggies to shame, and pressure us to perform to greater heights. As the roster at saturday afternoon softball is a dynamic one, with names and faces ever-changing, we hope that you will be next generation to carry on this proud tradition. Thank you for participating.

26 Feb 2005 - Humidity Takes Its Toll

It hadn't rained for weeks. The field was brown. Then, on Saturday morning, the skies opened up and there was some serious rain. The humidity was back, and we all got smacked by it. We only played one game, but it felt like two. A lot of people showed up, and I was so out of it I can barely remember who played for which team. The final score was:
ONES: 14
TWOS: 9

Below are some of the highlights...

1) Lloyd's kids continue to show up. Clement had some nice hits and catches, and the rest had some highlight moments too; 2) Money has been money on the clutch hits. He came up a couple of times with two outs and someone on base, and knocked them in. Must be the new glasses; 3) Horfun makes some key catches; 4) Fei continues to be the silent superstar; 5) Rube needs to be checked for the clean and clear. 6) The ONES threatened a mercy all game, were even up by 9 after 8 innings, but the TWOS held them off; 7) TS (or perhaps the "Smiling Assassin") and Seven get beaned. Both happened at first base. TS, running from 1st to 2nd, gets popped by a throw from the 1st baseman to the 2nd. Head gets in the way. As for Seven, he goes past 1st and DT tries to get him stepping too far off. Throws to the Rube, get Seven directly in the back. General response to both beanings: "Ooooh. That'll bruise".

MBP: Fei
Catch of the Day: Horfun
Big Bat: No one stood out
Bonehead Play of the Day: There were several mental mistakes, but the biggest was Rickey letting Fei move to the ONES after the first inning to "even" things out.
DY: No one. Too humid

Where Matt REALLY went

Click This Link

Just Who is Kyle?

Great question.

The first time I met him was up Fort Canning. The moment I walked in, I saw this scruffy-looking, loud dude in a bumble bee shirt dominating the conversation in the lab. He just never stops, and after a while, I decided to take a breather, after all, sorting a zillion sherds and a non-stop talking guy don't really mix. I really wasn't impressed with what I saw, the first time I met him.

The second time I met him was at Joe's. That night, between a few beers and talking, he asked me for my name. "Mei Feng", I said. But guess what? The next time I went down to the site and saw him again, he very cheerily called out, "Hey Horfun!" (no, I wasn't doing a take-away of hor fun) That basically sealed my fate from then on-- I was "Horfun", doesn't matter what I was called before then.

So, what does one have to say about a guy who calls you "Horfun"? Lots, this dude is one of the coolest that I happen to know, that seriously, he's an institution himself. Do you know anyone who is the subject of a bet of when he'll lose his handphone next? I do. Do you know someone who can tell you that he saw two old ah-peks at the coffee shop starting a fight using Wong Fei Hong moves, only to degenerate to a cat fight most often used by girls? I do. And do you know a guy whose daughter uses a skull for her pillow? I do. In fact, a term has been coined to summarise this unique gentleman's brush with life-- "It could only happen to Kyle!"

Back to the issue of coffee, yes, he likes his coffee dark, except he forgets his coffee just as soon as well. I have lost count of the bags of coffee tied to the various nooks and cranies of his office which he has forgotten, and simply left to ferment for months on end. Oh, and did I mention that 2000 year old skeletons aren't simply found in his home, but in his office as well?

Much as he'll be missed, I do also believe that he'll be one happier dude in the friendly land of Cambodia. Except the next time the dude comes back, people, please remind him that John Miksic is NOT a supir. (driver in indonesian)


-HorFun

Dear Daniel, I'm leaving - Hello Kitty

All goods things must come to an end, and it's matter of how you end it. You can choose to end it on a sour note, or to bring it to a climax with a big bang. And as typical of the saturdaysoftball family, we chose the latter.
A BBQ of epic proportions was planned to bid farewell to one of the greatest hitters to grace the field, David Kyle Latinis, also known as Hello Kitty. Much has been said about him, his generosity, his spirit, his strength, and he has forever carved himself a place in the annals of the SAS history.
We'll always remember his wife-beater shirts, his thermal underwear, his jihad scarves, his pots of bitter coffee. We'll always remember his leaking pens hooked precariously on his t-shirts, the same pens digging into his chest when he slides headfirst into home plate. His glasses, that multitude of fragile glasses that he's broken, bent and lost. We'll always remember his hustle, even when he hasn't slept all night because "my kid kept me awake man!", abusing his body for the sake of getting the run or catching the ball, watching him wince in pain throwing that 200pound body into the ground to make the play.
The first time you meet the kitty, you see a tatoo covered musclehead with wild hair, a devilish goatee, tattered clothes and scary eyes. Don't be fooled. His personality is Yin to the Yang of his appearance. To say that Kitty is one of the nicest guys I've known is quite an understatement. He is the epitome of "Don't judge a book by it's cover". And those that fail to realise the depth to his character are would definitely be at a loss.
There are many other stories to tell about Kyle, the parties, the costumes, the motorcycle accident, the car chase... Sadly, there are few of us left who would remember the halloween party where Kyle appeared as the Hello Kitty from hell, the four-faced kitty, most memorable being "Coach Kitty". The most famous proposal in Saturdaysoftball history took place in Kyle's 2 room flat in Clementi, where he played host for New Year's Eve, and the guppy was finally reeled in.
I have 2 personal memories of the Kitty to share, the first, being the huge slab of kansas city beef that he brought back and grilled on a habachi during a very special public holiday softball/bbq at the NUS field. He has always promised to bring back another slab of that delicious meat, but I have yet to taste it again. The second, which is particularly special to me, revolves his managerial decision during the Inter-Faculty Tournament that gave me my nickname. It was his confidence in me, and his encouragement as manager to leave me in the field of play after an error-prone 3 innings that allowed me to hit that home run. Any other manager would have benched me when I volunteered to be taken out, but Kitty didn't, and I will forever be grateful to him for that.
"A man is known by the company he keeps" and I have been blessed count Kyle as my friend.

- Chris

To Quothe the Coach
"KYLE [Hello Kitty] Latinis

Latinis would be a strange cookie in anybody's box of Animal Crackers. Given his east coast Stallone verbalizations and California laid-back persona, it is appropriate Kyle comes from Kansas. The same internal contradiction dogs his hitting—Latinis either cranks one or hits a weak dribbler to third. After a stretch of playing pepper with the third baseman, Latinis was christened "Hello Kitty." He now receives plaintive meows whenever he steps to the plate. Kyle is also famed for his outlandish apparel. Just when everybody figured he had reached the depths, he wore a full suit of thermal long johns—naturally with the arms cut out to display his tats. And remember we are playing on the equator."

An Eulogy for Kitty

Now, I do wish I was present for Kyle's send off. Kyle is pretty much like a brother to me. Hell, Kyle did a fine job as my best man at my wedding. Kyle stepped in admirably, as did Alvin. My two groomsmen did us all proud --- Guppy and Kitty drank so many doubles in their hotel through room service that the staff had run out of appropriate glasses and had to clear the room before refilling their orders! According to Alvin, Kyle also had a malaria relapse in Manila, so I guess you can say Kyle is the kind of guy who will go through anything to help a friend out.

There are other stories worth mentioning. Now, most people will surely have their own Hello Kitty stories to tell, but I was fortunate to be the only other guy Swee Chiang felt would be crazy enough to actually wear a Hello Kitty t-shirt to ball. Kyle and I did have matching shirts and that were worn to ball, I wore mine hesitantly, while Kyle wore his enthusiastically . . . fortunately mine was blue whereas Kyle's was pink. I still have that t-shirt . . . I don't think I'll ever get rid of it.

And then there was the time I used my influence as a G-man to get Kyle invited as a guest participant to a conference in Thailand. I'm sure many of you were wondering how it was that I could pull something like this off, but then again, I did work within a government bureacracy, and it should not surprize anyone that resources can be allocated dubiously at times . . . Anyways, I had Kyle join me on a junket to northern Thailand, where he did an admirable job relating his experiences and understandings of conflict in eastern Indonesia. Kyle did a great job, and his participation was very valuable. Even more valuable was his assistance in drinking rye whisky with me and another Canadian meeting organizer after the regular meeting sessions ended. Kyle was so hung over the next morning, that he missed the conference wrap-up. He swore he'd never again drink Canadian whiskey ever . . . but we all know that he wouldn't live up to that promise. His frequent participation in whiskey shots at Canada Day Parties, Halloween Parties, and Ukrainian Christmas Parties proved that his promises made while under the influence of a hangover cannot be taken too seriously.

Now, I'll end by saying that there are many other great stories that involve Kyle. I'm sure Coach will tell the "Top 5 Story" . . . if he doesn't, be sure to ask him. While the stories are indeed memorable, even more memorable to me was simply having a friend like Kyle in Singapore, who no matter what, would drop what he was doing to help me out. Kyle would never fail to show up for a "thinking" session at any number of hawker centres through-out the island, even if it meant listening to the ramblings of me and the Coach. Kyle always helped me move (how he and Guppy ended up carrying all the heavy stuff always made me laugh afterwards). And finally, Kyle always put on a fresh pot of coffee whenever I wandered over to his HDB down the canal from me. I have gotten to know lots of people in my life, but I can say I have few true friends in life, and most of those friendships were made with people I met in Singapore. Kyle is one of those people who I can reliably call a friend, and I'm sure many of you feel the same way. I suspect I'll be booking a ticket to visit him in Cambodia sometime soon . . . It wouldn't be a surprize to find out many others feel the same way.

Singapore, or "The Mall", as Kyle liked to call it, will not be the same without Kyle wandering the streets in his trademark thermal underwear. And thrid base will be much less fun for whoever plays that position, knowing a hard, one-hopper wasn't going to be happening as frequently for an easy out at first.

Best wishes Kyle, Swee Chiang and Mina! Emely and I will see you again soon!

Martin

19 Feb 2005 - Goodbye Kitty

What a day to say farewell to the Kitty. On an extremely hot day, on a parched field, we had more players than ever before. The first game was against Lloyd's kids - which of course they won - and then we split up into 4 teams for a playoff series. It was a nice day of friendly softball. So many people showed up, there is no way we can list lineups, or even provide highlights or commnentary. Thus, the day, and the MBP, would have to be the Kitty.

Kitty has always been our living cartoon character. With his outrageous dress, no understandable means of support, and affection for his family, he is our Johnny Bravo. He has always maintained that Saturday Softball is for fun. We should never take the game too seriously, and should always remember why we are there: to meet with friends, get out in the fresh air, and get away from the stresses of our daily lives. Give our best and if we make a mistake, no worries. Thus, to have over 35 people playing ball over a huge area of our normal field was a fitting tribute to the Kitty.

I'm sure that there will be a number of posts about the post-game BBQ, but the afternoon of play itself was great.

MBP: Kitty

Kitty's Farewell BBQ

The food

1. Guppy - Steaks
2. Alirio - Steaks and pork chops
3. Tim - Puupuus
4. Princess and the Tan associates - sausages and ready-to-cook meat
things
5. Hassie - Patented Potato(e) salad
6. Linyu - ice-cream
7. Chris - Pies
8. Andy - Corn on cobs/butter/salt
9. Jason & Diana - Prawns

Happy Day-After-Valentine's Day

The link is actually a desperate plea for companionship, it's not just a picture, so I suggest you click the link.

Name The Baby

Gino Junior, who still needs a name.
Congrats to "The Shark", may your kid never hit his teacher with a chair.

Butter and Paper Towels

Due to Rickey's humble nature, he did not write too much about his incredible display of offensive and defensive prowess on the field. To further elaborate on Rickey's outstanding performance.

1. Rickey started the game as all-time shortstop, a position that has only been filled by an elite few, because of uneven numbers. Granted he did not get any plays whilst he was at that position, we have high confidence that he would have made those 5 grounders that were fielded by the alert pitchers (definite DY awards here).

2. Pitching for the 2s, Rickey made 2 reflexeque saves for liners at his feet to put out the batter. If you do not think this is spectacular enough for notable mention, you have no idea of Rickey's weak knees (and not cos of his knee guards)

3. Rickey's opposite-field-line-drive-homerun travelled from The Legend Corner all the way to the end of the grandstand, past the athletics-judges-photo-finish-seats, almost into the archery targets. At least 250 feet.

4. Rickey scored FOUR, not 1, not 2, not 3, but FOUR runs, which means he's prolly run more distance on saturday that the entire 2004 combined.

That's 2 homeruns in 2 weeks, back to back. Will we see a career high batting season from Rickey? Only time will tell. Meanwhile what IS our stand on roids? And where do the rest of us mere mortals get some?


edited : previous post should read "The Legend Corner" as opposed to "the legend corner".

12 Feb 2005 - The Zen of Coach

It was a blazing hot day, and it was the fourth day of Chinese New Year. There was some nice fielding and hitting, and we saw the return of the Coach. Play took place inside the track from the legend corner. Rickey played SS - for both teams - for the first two innings of Game 1 (to give each the same disadvantage). Afterwards he joined the Twos.

Ones: P: Seven; 1B: TH (from Lloyd's kids, not the Ipoh Assassin); 2B: Pian Zhe; SS: DT; 3B: Sandman; OF: Andy, Aizad, Fei (2nd Game); Horfun (1st Game); Sandwoman; Guppy
Twos: P: Rickey/Jason; C: Jason; 1B: Coach/Rickey; 2B: Princess; SS: Money; 3B: Desmond; OF: Gunz, Fei (1st game), Beyonce, Diana, Noel, Horfun (2nd Game)

Game 1: 4-17 (7 inning mercy)
Game 2: 5-6 (6 innings)

Highlights: 1)The return of the Coach. The Twos were getting beaten until the Coach showed up. He steadied them, getting them to think about fundamentals, and led them to victory; 2) Calm Coach: The Twos tempted Old Coach to come out, but he stayed inside. On one play at least 4 errors occured: through the legs, missed cut-off man, overthrow, and then another overthrow. A single turns into a homer. Coach remains zen-like in his calm. Amazing; 3) Sandwoman makes some nice catches in the outfield; 4) Gunz hits two homers; 5) Fei continues to field and hit well, and never says a word - suggested nickname: "The Mime" or "The Mute"; 6) Rickey needs Oxygen II: miracles do occur. Rickey hits one down the first base line, which then spins out onto the track. Second homerun in two weeks. He's only got one more in him for the year; 7) The arms of Beyonce and Gunz keep runners in check.

MBP: Coach
Biggest Bat: Gunz
Gold Glove: No one
Play of the day: Coach remains calm
Bonehead play of the day: Seven - running from 2nd to 3rd - runs into Money as he fields a grounder. Bodies are tangled like a scene in "Caligula". Seven tagged out.
DY: Horfun - Always volunteers to catch against her own team. Take a break sometime.

5 Feb 2005 - Old School

Today was an old school pair of games. Each side won, and there were a number of memorable plays and hits. Good Weather, empty fields (for the first game) and good games. Nothing to complain about.

Ones: 1B: TK/Beyonce, 2B: Diana, 3B: Swat, OF: Monk, Money, Beyonce/TK, Sandman
Twos: 1B: Rickey, 2B: Princess, 3B: The Generalissimo, OF: TH, Jo (male), TS, Horfun/Jason, C: Jason/Horfun (Jo [male] plays SS once DT moves to Ones)
Goes both ways: DT at SS (but plays for Ones once the Sandman takes off).

Score:
13-4
3-7 (5 innings)

Highlights:
1) The Princess hits for power. She hit a homerun down the 3B line that went all the way to the sidewalk. She carries the Twos to victory in the second game. Also had some nice fielding. 2) DT had some really nice plays at SS for both sides. 3) Jo (male) shuts down the Ones in bottom of the 9th (second game) with amazing range. Runs the ball down, hurls it to Rickey for the second out. 4) 2B is dangerous. Both Princess and Diana get injured on bad bounces or tosses. Both play through the pain. 5)Rickey needs oxygen. Mark it on the calendar. He only hits 2 or 3 homeruns a year. This is the first.

MBP: Princess
Hit of the Day: Princess
Gold Glove: DT
Play of the Day: Jo
Bonehead Play of the Day: No one
DY: Horfun. Tremendous hustle shown at rover and catcher