Equatorial Musings

Wikipedia defines a spectator sport as one characterised by the presence of spectators, or watchers, at its matches. Such sports include cricket, basketball, football, ice hockey etc. I remember reading one of Umberto Eco's articles which likened spectator sports to a kind of voyeurism. I know that I might incur the ire of some of my friends, but I think Eco is right to some extent. Voyeurism is about deriving pleasure in watching others engage in intimate behaviours. This is not unlike a spectator sport where excitement and exhilaration come from watching the players exert themselves, albeit in a non-sexual way. The difference is that the participants are unaware in the first instance while they are very much in the know in the latter case. But here the difference ends. In both cases, pleasure is derived from watching the participants and without the spectators engaging in the act itself.

Since getting a car in early 2005, I've had limited contact with public tranport . Oh, all right, more like no contact because I don't even own an ezylink card. But that changed recently when my car broke down and I had to take the train for 3 days. I must say it was fun riding the train, and not just because its been a while since I last commuted this way. Novelty aside, it gave me time to read moving from point a to point b. I realise how I was able to read much more in the past. The ample time spent travelling allowed me to go through more books than I can now. Not that I'm making excuses for my less-than-decent contributions to a book review blog recently, but you can chalk up many books on a 1-hour ride to and from work each day. By the way, I'll have you know that I was among the top students who read a lot during my primary school days ; ) In addition to reading, there's also people-watching. I'm always amazed by the behaviour of people on public transpo