Because I don't do slow

Back to the gym after the longish Chinese New Year break where in addition to not getting my regular workouts, I had so many CNY dinners that were just "excessive". But the food's good though. :P

Didn't see the usual crowd at the gym (True Fitness Pavilion), guess most of them are still in CNY mode. Then again, I like TF here becoz it's usually never crowded and you get plenty of space and room to do your workout.

Glad to know I can still complete the first 3km with a sub-20min timing (and 5 secs to spare!) Having a run is such good therapy after a long day at work.

Reminded me of the Adidas tagline I saw at their store in Times Square -
Because I don't do slow.

Rubik II?

Just read this from Guardian. The inventor of the Rubik Cube - Prof Erno Rubik - is back, and everyone's tipping his next release to be as groundbreaking as the Rubik Cube.


Dan Harris, Rubik champion trying the new Rubk 360

Some interesting facts on the Rubik Cube:

• It has 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 possible combinations on its six faces
• It has only one solution
• More than 350,000,000 Cubes sold worldwide
• Invented in 1974 but not exported from Hungary until 1980
• A standard 3x3 Rubik’s cube measures 2¼ inches (5.7cm) on each side
• It has 39,600 entries on YouTube
• The first international 'speedcubing’ championship was held in Hungary in 1982 and was won by Los Angeles student Minh Thai with a time of 22.95 seconds.
• The current British 'speedcubing’ champion is Breandan McElhill, 16, from Ayrshire with an unofficial personal best time of 7.9 seconds.
• The current world 'speedcubing’ champion is Dutch teenager Eric Akkersdijk with an official time of 7.08 seconds.
• Variations on 'speedcubing’ include solving the cube with a single hand, with feet, blindfolded or underwater in a single breath.
• The British blindfold 'speedcube’ champion is Joey Gouly, 17, from Leeds with a time of 48 seconds. The slowest solver is thought to be Graham Parker, 45, a builder from Portchester, Hants, who finished his Cube earlier this month 26 years after he bought it. “When I clicked that last bit into place and each face was a solid colour I wept,” he said.

Source

The Phantom of the Opera

Have been hunting for the 2-CD original cast recording for The Phantom of the Opera musical (the one with Michael Crawford and Sarah Brightman) but couldn't seem to find it. Tried Speedy, tried Tower etc.

Saw the 2-CD once (a long time ago) at Popular Leisure Mall, but didn't buy it then. Been regretting since.

When the movie came out in 2004 (IMDB), watched it, enjoyed it and then wanted the 2-CD original set even more! :(

Yesterday while at Amcorp, just decided to drop in to Victoria Music Centre for a look-see. Guess what? They have both the Original Cast Recording 2-CD and the 2004 Movie Soundtrack also 2-CD editions!

The Movie Soundtrack comes in a single-CD and 2-CD edition. The 2-CD edition obviously containing ALL the songs from the movie while the single CD has the highlights. One of the highlights of the 2004 movie (compared to the musical) is Gerard Butler's awesome rendition of "The Point of No Return".


Now I'm the happy owner of both these 2-CD audio tracks

Andrew L.W. is also planning to launch the sequel "Phantom: Love Never Dies" to this musical this coming year possibly at Shanghai.