For sale: nagging wife, very high maintenance

LONDON (AFP) - - A British man fed up with his wife's complaints advertised her for sale -- and got a number of offers.

"Nagging Wife. No Tax, No MOT. Very high maintenance -- some rust," wrote Gary Bates, 38, in a small ad in Trade-It, more usually used to buy and sell cars or household goods.

Bates, a self-employed builder from Gloucestershire, southwest England, snapped after his wife Donna on got on his nerves while she was watching television and decided to place the ad as a joke.

"She was nagging me for doing something small, while she was watching some rubbish on TV. So I just thought I'd put an ad in to get rid of her.

"I didn't think anyone would ring up but I've had at least nine or 10 people calling about her. It's gone mad. There was no one I knew -- just people asking, 'Is she still available?'"
The couple only married last year, and Bates said his 40-year-old wife -- whom he advertised in the magazine's Free to Collect section, along with some of his fishing tackle -- initially gave him "a bit of an ear-bashing."

But he said: "She's seen the funny side of it now though!"

Extracted from AFP Friday, March 13

2 men from S’pore in Top 50 list for "Best Job in the World"

SINGAPORE: Two men from Singapore have made it to the top 50 candidates who are shortlisted for what is touted as the "Best Job in the World". They beat more than 34,000 applicants ranging from scientists, chefs and students from around the world.

The two Singaporeans will be up against each other and 48 others for the job of a caretaker of Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef in a tourism promotion by the Queensland state government.

The successful candidate will be paid US$100,000 for six months to enjoy the sun, sea and sand and report his experiences via blogs, photos and video diaries.

For Greg Reynen, a teacher at the Singapore American School, the news that he was shortlisted was a timely birthday present as he has just turned 31.

He said: "I was at my computer and I couldn’t believe it, I just screamed and I went running down the hallway. It’s an amazing opportunity. It totally fits my personality and I get to go out, meet new people and interact with the locals and tourists. I also get to try new things and be adventurous."

For 24—year—old Jimmy Wong, a freelance diver and photographer, it was a total surprise as well.

He said: "At first, I was definitely in a state of shock, but after that I realised if you do something out of passion and the love for it, you can go far."

The judges were impressed with the duo’s video clip submissions.

Leong Pik Yin, manager, Marketing Communications, Tourism Queensland, said: "They were quite creative and their applications were quite out of the box and they met all the five selection criteria." These include being proficient in English and IT savvy.

Tourism Queenland received about 224 applications from Singapore. Besides the two successful applicants from Singapore, two other regional applicants, from Malaysia and Indonesia, made the cut.

The 50 shortlisted applicants will be narrowed down to a final 10. An 11th applicant will be chosen by popular vote via a "wild card" round. You can go to this website to vote.

They will then fly to Hamilton Island in early May to take part in the final selection. The winner will be made known on May 6 and he or she will start work or play on July 1.

Extracted from CHANNEL NEWSASIA.

PS: Check out http://www.islandreefjob.com/ now! Currently Clare from Taiwan is STILL leading the pack, way ahead of the next closest competitor. I haven't decided who to vote for... but it must be a hot babe=P

How to become a Millionaire - The Slumdog Way

1) I must be an expert in cheating.

2) I must be a real lucky guy.

3) I must be born a genius.

4) I must be destined.

Slumdog Millionaire, directed by Danny Boyle and starred by Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Irrfan Khan, Anil Kapoor and Madhur Mittal (who are these actors??! Maybe they are very famous in Bollywood=), has caught the world attention by winning 8 oscars. The most for any film in 2008. They are Best Achievement in Cinematography; Best Achievement in Directing; Best Achievement in Editing; Best Achievement in Music written for Motion Pictures, Original Score; Best Achievement in Music written for Motion Pictures, Original Song; Best Achievement in Sound; Best Motion Picture of the Year and Best Writing, Screenplay based on Material Previously Produced or Published (typing all these make me tired too... phew).

It is an adaptation of the Boeke Prize-winning and Commonwealth Writers' Prize-nominated novel Q & A (2005) by Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup.

Why is this film such a success professionally and also so popular among the masses? I'd be playing an amateur critic here=)

First of all, it actually portrays life in India (though I'm not sure if it is a true representation??) but I suspect it may not be that far off as we've heard rumours of such hardship. That day I watched the film was also Oscar Day and thus I already know the results. So I tried my best to notice how the movie was being filmed such that it won so many awards. However being an amatuer, besides having a good feeling overall, I cannot tell the difference between another film=P

The plot was very refreshing too. How every part of Jamal's life provides an answer to the next question asked in the game show, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (Indian Version of course). And behind all these is his dedication to his one and only Love, Latika. His real purpose on the game show is his hope that Latika would be watching so that they can reunite again. Such pure love!

Other things which make an impression on me is how Salim, Jamal's brother, eventually changes his evil ways to help Latika and Jamal to be together again, though he uses his life in exhange for that. Karma strikes.

How Prem Kumar, the game show host, attempts to give Jamal the wrong answer to the next question but Jamal believes in himself and his destiny more than anything (or evil nature of humans?).

Lastly, this movie has a fantastic good ending which could not be said of so many other great films out there, making the audience having the feeling of imperfection when the show ends! I think the scriptor is smart to give The Three Musketeers question at the end. We already know Jamal clearly do not know the answer, so he can only really count on his destiny and yet at the same time, the audience (we) would most probably know cos this is very common (which means we know he would win the 20 rupees even before the show ends!). Unfortunately for me, I don't know haha.

So the answer to the above question is (D) with a twist: You must be destined to have a scriptor willing to write the story for You!