Movie Mania May

Well well, the month of May seems to be providing a bumper crop of summer flicks. As it is, there is MI3, Da Vinci Code and XMen: The Last Stand... and of course all manner of kiddie run-of-the-mill shows like "Over the Hedge" (sounds like what Aunt Petunia likes to do or a really watered down Desperate Housewife-y thing). Frankly, is suburbia this interesting? and some Disney thing that looks like Madagascar... However, this post is not to throw nasty and uncalled for insults at the movie industry... rather we should forge ahead and hope for the best.

Woohoo!

Someone said that the Da Vinci Code is all bull****. That all those rants about finding mysterious codes are all fictitious. (Well ofcourse they are! That is my point see for here onwards) Hmm. Has that someone been quoting the friendly newspaper?? I know for a fact that the person has not touched anything as intellectual as a novel for well, a very long time.

Obviously.

Since when did Xmen, MI3 or any other popcorn worthy movie had to suffer from bouts of reality checks? Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! Men with claws and pyschic abilities - the future of super beings are here. We must squash em!! Or well... there is this conspiracy see, where there are secret organisations of spies that are NEVER seen rapelling down HUGE skyscrapers in the heart of the CBD.

Likewise...
There is really no cause to raise such a brouhaha over what is clearly a piece of fiction no different from other pieces of fiction. Jeez. The characters Robert Langdon and Sophie Nevue are essentially non existent*. The Mona Lisa does of course, but so do guns, skyscrapers, spies, and human genome research. So er? Why the big fuss? Just because it claims to debunk centuries of belief doesn't mean it has to be true. Or even taken seriously. Latey, religion HAS become an even more touchy subject(think 9/11) but treating popular fiction in such a defensive mode isn't going to help. I recall reading this last year and what a phenomenon it was. So many who thought it was real ( i was one of them until i realised that all his books follow the same basic plot line so it couldn't be anything except a tool to make sensational news and therefore greater book sales) So. I do wish people would stop making a big fuss over the show and just go enjoy it as a summer movie (i.e. plain entertainment). Worldview shattering symbols and clues? A thriller and an adventure awaits...

* By the way. Wolverine and Agent Ethan Hunt don't exist either.

Exam Fever... or not?

How do you make some one worry about their exams when their own school apparently doesn't care??? I mean... seriously, which school has their sports day the weekend before their exams??? Ok, so maybe primary students don't need as much time as us to study (is this even true?) seeing as they have a lot less t er...study? I'm certain that when you were in Primary 3, it probably took more than a weekend to stuff everything you've learnt back into your heads...

Perhaps I'm taking this from the wrong viewpoint... perhaps the school wants their students to take a well-deserved break before their exams, and sports day is the best for students to just take a break and partake in good wholesome fun and forget their studies for a few hours. I approve of that, but honestly, I do wonder...

Things to be desired

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantmentit is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.


Max Ehrmann, Copyright 1952.

Different kinds of Exhaustion

There is physical exhaustion, and then there is mental burnout. These are the two most common ailments of youth today. A further inspection will reveal that there are in actual, a variety of "exhaustion" and sub-categories.

For instance - Exhaustion to the point of boredom, and boredom to the point of feeling a general sense of lethargy aka GcE (Gradual change to Exhaustion)...

Also there is frustration, a lack of goal in life which also results in a slightly nastier version known as "I'm so sick of my life"... (usually mentioned in accordance to work life) which brings about the said physical exhaustion and/or mental burnout.

Of course there are also that blessed few which are happily exhausted which is usually brought about by physically and intellectually challenging things like projects, school and cca.

These are just some of the things in life that are currently bugging me. Get me haribo anyday (it's one of those sweets u can eat regularly without being sick of them), or failing that, werther's original (which u can get sick of soon) or even that, ricola's elderflower lozenges and then again... how about one of those imaginary chocolate confectionary from "Chocolat"?? Actually beard papa's is just fine. Or was it bread papa's?? Funny how candy makes u feel so much better emotionally. I suppose it's the after effect of reading PY's blog. All that talk about candy there. Skool's fun. Lucky all those who relief teach or are still in an educational instituition.

Drama Nite 2006

IMPORTANT

Dear interested persons esp. ex NY drama club members or otherwise:

Required: 6-8 persons to usher, particularly on Opening night, i.e. 5th May
Assuming that you all would also like to watch our juniors (and their juniors) in action on the second night.

Pls leave a note in the tagboard if you are interested, or email me...
I am also assuming that you all would luv the opportunity to er...dress up..like what our seniors did last year...
Suggestions are welcome of course. Please do spread the message... thanks.

Reminiscences

Sometimes, I wonder where those thoughts pop out from, but that I suppose is a matter for another time. Having just woke up, I was sitting in the living room stoning when I realised that with a little more than a month to go, the drama juniors will be working at a frantic pace towards their big night. Well. Like last year... and the year before that. To have a goal in the near future aand to be working towards it. Thinking that they have something to work towards brings back some memorable moments. I suppose that that is the difference between them and me now. Just last year, I'll have been doing the same as them, but now, work seems such a monotonous thing. There isn't a goal anymore. No big production, no rehearsals to work towards that, no planning, just work. There doesn't seem to be a point in serving people, smiling and smiling and cursing inwardly after that. That polite service smile. Day after day. Washing washing and more washing. And then what? To what purpose? I suppose you can say that the only thing I can look forward to is my pay at the end of the month. Thankfully, no one day at that place is the same. If it were, I think I might just crack. Now I see why people portray work as a dull, endless cycle that crawls snail pace everyday. To get over one day seems like such a momentous relief.

Dungeons & Dragons

There is a new Studio Ghibli film in progress. Although the film may never be released in cinemas in Singapore, I have come across a trailer for the film online. It looks promising, though knowing how they have a tendency to twist source material to their own themes and interpretation, I hope it'll still be good. A trailer does not reflect the film in it's entirety after all.

Entitled 'Gedo Senki", it is based on Ursula le Guin's Earthsea series. Those were entertaining books which were also mercifully short for something so obviously on an epic scale. Recall Lord Of the Rings, only more condensed, though the action is no less grand or vivid as Tolkein's Middle-earth. I think that if I were 12 when I read the Earthsea series, I would have been blown away by it...

In any case, the trailer certainly seems to indicate a film that deviates from the latest Miyazaki fare involving grandiose flights of fancy; of spirits, wizards, and mechanical contraptions. Of course, the Earthsea world isn't as filled with pretty elegance as Kingsbury or bureaucrats in suits, which might explain the more sparse and natural scenery. The director has also made it a point to keep the background and action simple so as to focus on the characters. Set in an archipelago setting, le Guin's Earthsea books are really a cross between LOTR and jedi lore. Sort of. As it is, being Goro Miyazaki's debut film, he has a lot to live up to, especially with a father who is already established as a master of animated films...

Needing & Wanting - a guide to Nanny McPhee

I watched this film yesterday. Heck, IF I had KNOWN earlier, we would have been watching V for Vendetta. However, Nanny McPhee wasn't so bad. Of course, being a Friday and all, Lido was packed with screaming bratty kids. You would think that Nanny Mcphee with her 5 lessons and knobbly stick would have struck terror into little bratty hearts but no... Most of them were giggling away, though I do admit that the film's appeal lay in how childish it was. Humour was mostly slapstick, punctuated with typical British dry wit.

Most of the characters were quite obviously stock types, from an overbearing aunt with hideous hat in tow, to a nasty vindictive stepmother in even more ridiculous dressing (it HAD to be the sort that revealed cleavage). As I said - these were Fairy Tales stereotypes. One must recall that the target audience of the film was children. Still, I think parents and young kids would have enjoyed it. At least, the audience at Lido were screaming with laughter.
Still, the film set was very pretty. The house where the children live in in the movie had a blue staircase. How cool is that?? A wooden country house staircase.... Walls were red and blue. Very pretty. Had the feel of children living in it - children with rather unorthodox tastes, at least it looked like a fairy tale house... very ideal for a film with typical fairy tale conventions, including a happily everafter of course.

Almost the only intriguing thing about the film is Nanny McPhee herself. Emma Thompson slips into the role of strict nanny with all apparent ease, to the extent that she seemed to have enjoyed herself immensely. A mysterious character that pops up whenever she is NEEDED, be it by the adults who run the house or the children themselves, her ending in the film is equally shrouded in ambiguity. Who is she? What IS she? I guess the answer is something we can only speculate about.

Have you been to the ACM?

It's creepy, costs only 2 bucks, and I enjoyed myself though by 1830h I was begging my aunts to get out quick! Before the place closes at 7pm. Other than tht, I enjoyed myself. It's cool to learn abt the poweer play in ancient China. The robes that officials wear actually shows their ranking. Different kinds of birds for civil officials since birds are a symbol of wisdom or something like that. It was really dim in there though, and the robes looked kinda scary, since it reminded me of the kimono room in Fatal Frame. eeee...

A New Start

It has been a week and a day since we all got our A Level results. Some of us would have jumped for joy, others feeling a little (or a lot) less bubbly. I guess we all have some idea of where we would like to go from now on. It seems like I've been living in limbo for the past few weeks till last Wednesday, worrying on the path that my future would take, everything that could happen hinging so much on that little piece of paper. Now that that is over, I can look forward to a new beginning.

Some of us will be going to NS, others working. And then what? I'll always miss my NY days. My secondary school days. Primary school, sad to say, I was too happy to leave behind. I would never have anticipated some of the paths chosen by my friends, and I am only glad that despite our irritatingly different timetables, we still keep in touch. I hope I can do the same with my jc mates. We are all walking to different tunes now. Some of course are marching to them. Heh. That was lame. Sorry. I hope that wherever we plan to go from now on, we'll still be able to keep in touch.

Doomsday

No matter what, my stupid body clock insisted that I get up at 0730h this morning. So there I was, awake in bed listening to strains of the national anthem coming from 3 different schools, the loudest which comes from the JC, since it is the nearest, and they are blasting it from the quadrangle/parade square, so even I can hear it. Seems like today of all days, my old sch wants me to wake up early. Oh, I know it's not on purpose. Usually, at 730 I'm dead to the world, and therefore don't hear anything. Funny how it is that on days that you don't ever want to wake up to, you wake up earlier and more awake than anything. Guess that's how the world works - in mysterious ways.
Or it's just a sadist who wants to torture you as long as possible so it wakes you up earlier to prolong the pain...

I should be scared.

A levels are out next week. There is a horrible feeling of well... suspense. I guess I'm just freaking out. Or not. I keep thinking of how, if I do horribly and get the most absymal results... I'll have wasted 2 years. Or not. Sometimes I wonder if I could choose again, would I have made a different choice on where to go, and from there, if I did JC, what life would be like if I knew how the A levels were going to be. I remember how Mr Ng said on our first day back as J2s, that time was running out. I thought he was being overly paranoid, but with exams appraoching I had wondered if 2 years were actually enough to let us prepare for the A Levels.

I guess that even if I do get horrible results, I don't regret how I spent those two years. I only wish that I knew exactly what it was I was getting into. However, that is only wishful thinking, Like what that Tom Hanks character, Forest Gump said, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you don't know what you'll get." (Or something like that - it was a long time since I heard that quote.) One can say the same about exams.

Do you believe in ghosts?

Yesterday, me and a couple of friends went out for dinner. We went to Pepper Lunch, which had nice food. However, if you like your bean sprouts well done, please skip that place, or else order something without bean sprouts. While we were queueing at Swensen's after wandering around Taka, the talk wound its way round to the topic of ghosts. Do you believe in them? My two friends go by numbers - look at the amount of ghost stories and retellings of encounters with 'them'. While I wonder how many of them are seriously true, and are not hallucinations mistaken for ghosts, or simply creepy tales to scare an audience, I'm not a non believer in ghosts. On the contrary, I want to believe that some inexplicable mystery still exists in our practical, tech oriented world. But I've never seen a ghost. Why is it that we all choose to believe in something that has no scientific proof. Very possibly, ghosts are the one thing that most people sort of believe in, and crosses linguistic, cultural and religious borders. It is also something we don't often talk about.
So are there ghosts in the world? You tell me.

By the way, if you've walked past HMV recently...they are having a clearout sale. Some really good cheap deals. VCDs from slightly below 8 bucks. I still feel ripped off. Don't ask why.

Did you know?

Terrapins can sneeze. It's true! It sounds like a yap, the kind that those irritating small dogs sound when they bark, only more dragged out. (It is after all, a sneeze.)

Work. Food. Me.

I'm too tired to really blog properly. I just felt I needed to properly thank all those who came down the day I started work at the cafe for dinner, especially poor ill-used someone who trudged ALL THE WAY from Grand-Copthorn without first collecting his pay. The work is seriously back breaking. I hate washing up because your back really hurts after that. Other than that, dishwashing is fine - almost therapeutic because it means you don't have to deal with all those customers. I still have trouble opening beer bottles. By the way, people do order the weirdest things....

Oh and one more thing. Don't EVER tell me my work isn't tough, particularly when you have NO job experience whatsoever. I'll throw something at you if you dare say so. My sis got a crab claw thrown at her for being preachy. So. There.

Good ol' days

Today, I met up with you. Again, in the space of two days, I'm reminded so much of our days in NY together. Heck... I truly miss those days, and that tale you told me, about the secret admirer is just so funny. Never did I think that he would be such a brilliant actor. But that is not surprising right? All those times in drama club. (Allow me to boast about my cca will you) As I said, if I had been there, I would not have stopped laughing too. I miss the way you always laugh, even when things weren't that funny - but lame things are funny too. We NY geog students ought to know.

We got lost, embarrassingly enough. Thank goodness we found our way back. No thanks to me. I do not envy your job - after all, I'm no musician and I'm disorganized. But I do envy your workplace. The environment is enviable, and the surroundings are so quiet and peaceful. VCH brings back so many fond memories too - I even saw (Mr) G. Singh standing there, right where I saw him the last time my Project Work group went to interview him at his workplace. That was two years ago. Yup. That corner of the concert hall fencing where we first spotted him. Dear members... if only u lot were reading this. That scene of him brought back a great sense of deja vu.

This week seems to have given me lots of opportunities to reminisce. It has been a sort of relief to talk about the good ol' days. Never did I think I would miss it this MUCH. I do not have so many good memories of my Secondary school days, and definitely ten times less good days in Primary school. May we all ace our A's and complete our A Level education with even more sweet memories!

Memories and much more

I miss NY. That was the first thought I had when me and Jane made it past the security guard at the front gate. Seeing our juniors... the canteen vendor (whoi gave us a free drink each)... the stupid canteen which was more often than not overly crowded... our tutors... even the building itself brought back wonderful memories of my time there. Now do I truly grasp the feeling that those two years were far too short. 4-30 has been completely revamped of course. Stages to one side, new green and orange bean bags, new wooden desks... and far cleaner than anything we were used to.

Strange then, that the room still contains the same atmosphere. I felt perfectly comfortable on the floor, but at the same time, am aware that I don’t belong there anymore. I’m only a visitor now. It is too easy to fall once again into the life of NYEDC. Already, though I'm at home now typing this out, I instinctively started thinking about the publicity. Poster ideas flow into my mind naturally; the problems faced by the set construction, the logistics, the overall performance, the cast all slip into my mind so easily. But though I want to be a part of it again, and experience the sheer nightmare, the sense of purpose, the camaraderie, I have to remind myself that hey... they are the new ones, and I've to let them do it their way. It's hard. My fingers itch to interfere. I have to constantly remind myself that I'm responsible now for my new job, my tuition, that Primary 3 girl that needs eye opening to the world, and that drama is something I need to think twice about before committing. Well. Look on the bright side (or the good side) - with new obligations, hopefully, I can't interfere too much.
Like 4-30, I've got to let go, and make way for the new masters of this place.

Curiouser and Curiouser

I watched "I Not Stupid 2" today, right before I went to my very first tuition class - First lesson - that children are Not stupid. I shall try to keep that in mind. Hmm... tuition is a lot more trying than I thought it'll be. Lots of patience involved, and not to mention, logic and humor, which both left me at the front door of the girl's house. I guess expectations were too high; the girl seems to like drawing (Hey!!) but seems to be lacking in curiosity. I hope it is only in science, but chances are, I might be wrong, since she doesn't like to read.

I've made it like a sort of part-time life long mission to interest my sister in reading. The success is limited. Manga ISN'T reading, and my disapproval of comics means it wasn't even me who influenced her. I got her to FINALLY take an interest in what I read, but she doesn't bother to read it herself. The ONLY book that ever piqued her interest was Howl's Moving Castle. And it was for a short while only. LOTR - the sheer volume to be read automatically makes it a hopeless task see.

Anyway, my point is, reading widens general knowledge, builds language proficiency and heps to solve most of the girl's academic problems. That, however, is just speculation. I talked at it with Kappa (thanks for listening and being patient with batty ol' me) who thinks the child's problem is a lack of curiousity. Hah. Maybe Spirited Away will wake her up. No..just kidding. I know better than to encourage cartoon watching with her Mum just a hair's breath away.
Well. I'll end here for tonight. Plesant dreams to whoever's out there right now.

Geisha in Hollywood

Watched "Memoirs of a Geisha" yesterday. It was quite nice...er. The kimonos were gorgeous. THe scenery and cinematography can be said to rival the kimonos. The one problem is that it is all too lovely, that is, to be a real memoir. The movie is like a sort of dream, really pretty, but about as realistic as an illusion. I

It looks and sounds deceptively like a Japanese film, but it isn't. It is well, basically, Rob Marshall's idea of what a film about geishas looks like, which is hardly accurate - for one thing, geishas are not kabuki dancers (P.S. was that dance Zhang Ziyi did with a paper umbrella even remotely akin to kabuki??). In other words, they move really sedately, but gracefully, and really not much twirling about. I'm not a geisha expert, but at least I'm absolutely sure they got the hairstyles and makeup wrong (from travel guides that my mum borrowed).

This film is not meant to be taken seriously. It has umm... some beginner's tips though, like how an apprentice geisha or geiko is called a maiko. And some other itty bitty facts. The thing is, it's one of those movies where u go to enjoy as a pretty movie experience. Nothing else really. I can in some way understand why people got really upset over the film though...

Dog's Year

Speaking of Man's best friend...WHY do people dress their beloved pets like so?????? If I were a dog, I'll think that my owner must have gone crackers. Maybe I'll blame the alcohol. OK, as a pet owner myself, I can understand why indulgent owners want to dress up their pets. I HAVE tried my hamsters, but the ribbons never stay on. I just think that some of the er costumes are over the top. Poor doggies.

Now, then, lets go on to the 'Man' aspect. CNY is very fun, except for the food part. It's been only one day, and I am already sick of bak kwa and pineapple tarts. Actually, I've been sick of the latter for a few years now. Other than that, the yusheng was nice, reunion dinner was grand, and vegetarian (I think) lunch at my gran's yummy. I'm not sure what's it called actually. It's got a proper name. Now, I can hear lion dance coming from somewhere. Been hearing such things for some time now. Met up with LOTS of relatives. Funny...they ask the same questions every time I see them, but I guess I can't blame them for doing so.

Every CNY, I also end up playing with my neices and younger cousins. Played blackjack and lost handily. (Thank goodness no money was involved, but still!) Pillow fight was won easily. So was hide and seek. Hurhur. Money has never been my forte. Oh well...at least the other card game went well...sort of like improvised Uno.

Spent CNY speculating on Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It was very nice by the way=D. Does anyone still want to read the book??

I find that there isn't much to blog about, CNY. I guess all the excitement was in the week preceding it. Going to Chinatown...braving the crowds and aunts. Decorating, cleaning... now I'm like, at a standstill. Speaking of Chinatown - we spent an entire eveing trawling only one street. It was that bad. My aunts even spent like 20 mins picking cushion covers but eventually decided not to buy anything, much to my disgust. Hello! Who subjects themselves to smoke inhalation, and then go away empty handed? They also spent more than 1/2 hr picking jewllery at a road side stall. (I must admit being one of the culprits, but that's because I didn't want to buy anything, and had to spend time persuading myself that I needed a pair of earrings ;) )
So you see! CNY is boring. The shopping...decorating...I don't know...the air of anticipation is always more fun isn't it?

May I never see It again!!

Yesterday, I was FINALLY officially discharged from the NDC!! After more than 3 years, I can safely bid au revoir to that place!! I still have to wear my retainers at night though, to prevent my teeth from moving about too much. But that, is a personal choice, and so not counted. Woohoo!! After hearing a good year's worth of "indefinitelies" I am so happy to see the last of dentists!

It's not that I hate dentists, it's just that I'm so happy to be not trudging off to a far off clinic again. At least I had nice dentists...can't imagine facing one of those poker face strict-about-dental-hygiene kind.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! This day, the 23/01/2006 goes down in my personal history as "The Day I Got Off those Retainers Officially".

Weirdness

After receiving 2 creepy emails at night...THAT JC near my home decided to play the National Anthem in the dead of the night, at 10.17pm. It's perfectly nuts...what were they DOING??

No name - it's not like there is a logical sequence to this post

Here I am. Two weeks to CNY. I am now reading the Neverending Story. It is written by one Michael Ende. He writes in German, which means I read the translated version. First of all - kudos to translators - if they do a terrible job that, means one less good tale for the rest of the world to discover. I'll always remember reading Totto Chan, How I became Stupid and Sophie's World. Such nice books. But hey, I'm rambling, and that's not a good sign.

Now, then, on to the book. The Neverending Story is about a boy called Bastian Balthazar Bux, who is not very brave, or adventerous, and is built like a hobbit; in other words, not meant for heroics. The Puffin edition I read suggests that the book is for 10 years and up. If I were 10, I'll have found the creatures that reside in the pages of the book really scary, and I'm absolutely certain I would've not finished reading it. Well, I'm not made for heroicsm either right? The book IS meant for 10 year olds however, [isn't it that age when horror stories get a firm grip on the imagination?] if you are to go by the logic that at 10, we hit a milestone between being infantile, and growing up. Most stories feature 10 - 12 year olds that do well, things. Bastian has to learn that heros aren't what they are cut out to be, and the 3 heroes he meets up are like overenthusiastic sorts from Chaucer. Actually, maybe Sir whatshisname from Harry Potter is nearer the mark... but I can't resist making a dig at poor dead Chaucer. Haha...

But there are lots of books and even films out there where children set out to find their identitites. I don't have to name them. However, while most of them start at the age of 10, I wonder if they are still searching for themselves. I doubt their stories end where the books/films do; because the quest for identity is continuous, and changes with time. Of course, most such stories end happily [how else??] and the reader is imbued with a sense of hope for the future. As CNY looms round the corner, I see it as the second chance to get the year right. If you have had a rocky beginning this year, there's CNY. That's why I love home - celerations like this will always be a mark of hope and happiness on the calender. At the very least, it is a holiday, which means no HOMEWORK. Cheers people.

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Hauru no Ugoko Shiro (It's Japanese, not gibberish)

Yesterday, I watched Howl's Moving Castle. My DVD player is nuts - yesterday, the disc worked perfectly, even though we decided to skip the beginning, because we had watched it at least 5 times without getting any further due to that mysterious error in the sound.

Surprisingly, I enjoyed the show far more than I did the first time watching it, which is rather strange. I really loved Spirited Away, and the film never fails to amaze, despite mine watching it several times already. The funny thing is when you watch a film and find it nicer and nicer with each watching; watching a well cherished film and lovin' it over and over again is well...nothing new.

Perhaps, one reason for this change is that watching the show from the comfort of my own home makes each scene funnier, more real and closer simply because I'm much more willing to laugh at it. It's true - I blame that horrid cinema for totally ruining my movie experience. It doesn't help if the cinema was cold, draughty and too empty, or that the sweepers were standing right next to you before the show had ended properly or that your sister kept shushing you throughout the show dampened the entire affair.
I might have to explain that last reason - since Howl's Moving Castle (the movie) is based on a book of the same title, I found myself automatically comparing novel and film, mostly directed at my sister's benefit. You see how wrong I was.

As you can also see (or might have noticed by now), there are no big capital lettered words shouting "spoiler!" or "read with caution" that usually accompany my movie reviews. That is of course because this isn't a review of the film in the first place. Go watch the show. It's fantastic; I can honestly say that I enjoyed it. Oh by the way...it doesn't matter if it doesn't make sense. My theory is that to appreciate this film, you'll just have to accept what's given you. Which if I may add, is a lot - everything about it is just right, right down to the perplexing bits.

Note: This would have been a proper review, but my brain has fled in terror after having to review the film in Chinese for someone who still has holiday homework. It was shitty I can tell you. Can you imagine reducing one of your favourite films to broken Chinese? Ugh.

A second Note: My brain has just decided to compromise. The film can thus be described as whimsical, sweet, dark, entirely for romantics at heart (or heartless ;) ) and really...it's quite funny too. Not ha-ha funny, but still funny.

Stemflow: Defined as precipitation (rainwater or snow) that follows the path of a tree trunk down towards the ground surface.

Thought I'll explain that to non geography students or to those have studied this but have forgotten

On days like this...

The rain never fails to amaze me. On days like this, when it pours and pours relentlessly, and the sound of rain drops thudding maks me calm, and all I want to do is watch the rain sliding off my umbrella while I walk home, nevermind that the hems of my jeans are soaked, shoes ruined. Back home, all I want to do then is listen to the rain. It's always there, this comforting sound in the background. It's not a distinct sound, but then, that's why it's so soothing I think, to hear the rain, when it is a sound that is so familiar at this time of the year, and particularly for the last couple of weeks.

Then, while all is calm and tranquil, you are all of a sudden astounded by the little everyday things that you never see normally... I don't know why it fascinated me, but watching little runnels and trickles of water flowing down the partially dry tree trunk was just...amazing to watch, especially when as you walk on, and the rain continues to pour, the trees you walk past are increasingly soaked, and the trunks turn a darker brown where the rain water has touched it.

I wonder why the rain makes me feel this way...lol. I guess I'm just weird on this point - haha. to think I'm fascinated with stemflow.

DVD players!

Turns out the fault might be my player... At least the HMV people were nice enough to give me a new DVD...

Utterly devastated

OK...not really. I am not reduced to tears of frustration and despair yet. I just bought a Howl's Moving Castle DVD from HMV (yes..yes indulgence) and there is somethig wrong with the sound. Can't HEAR a single word half way through the movie (damn it). Kicked the well...something and stubbed several toes and 1 knee. Walked drenching in the rain which by some infernal coincidence starting pouring as soon as I left the general warmth and safety of a snug home to my grandma's to borrow her DVD player and see if it's just the disc or the player's fault. Apparently Howl and gang likes my grandma's DVD player. WhenI came home from gran's... it behaved before I went for dinner, and when I came home...it died again. I feel like suing somebody.

Tomorrow, I'm going to have it changed. I think the alternative title to this post should be 'Murphy's Law strikes'. Ugh.

By the way...I read Christopher Priest's book entitled 'The Prestige'. It's a bit slow, and really complicated (or maybe my illogical brain just dun get the clues) but it is also downright creepy. I kinda liked it...a rather more intellectual read...but hey...I thought it's rather nice. I do not hog em. If you wanna borrow them you'll have to hop down to a library and stake it out or you can just borrow them from me and return it on time. =p. Does me a favour anyway - returning it for me. By the way, 'The Prestige' is Christopher Nolan's next film er...after the Batman sequel or before it I dunno, so those of you who liked Batman Begins, maybe it'll be nice to read up on his next film...

Lights...Camera...Walkway

The stage is set.

Twelve contestants will compete to be the three finalists...and the winner gets all he/she needs to start his/her own fashion label.

Yup. If you don't still get what I'm driving at...forget it. You probably don't watch Project Runway and/or you live on a planet where the words 'runway' and 'catwalk' don't exist. It doesn't really matter if the words don't exist in your sphere. They hardly registered in mine.
So...this post is rather belated as I've only started watching PR like...three days ago on Monday. I caught a glimpse of the sci-fi episode and nothing more since then till now. Well I guess what caught my attention was dear ol' Wendy. The crazy bitch. More or less. Haha. Not really...the 'special episode' where they got back all the booted out contestants (all 9 of 'em) showed that apart from possessing a generally cool and calm head, Wendy (er..can't remember last names) is remarkably composed (COULD have been scripted of course - there is no reality in reality tv) and answered questions not vindictively (as expected) but logically and fairly. It doesn't help if the fellow she had a hand in booting out kept nodding his head as if in agreement with what she said. Having said that...Austin is just weird. What's with that hat and cape ensemble??? He looked like he was getting ready for some cosplay event. Or possibly an audition for the role of Count Dracula + Edward Scissorhands, which is a role I assume he created himself.

Right...enough of all those insults (some ppl can't help being a fop right? Or a bitch for that matter...) and let's get on to the proper comments. Project Runway, like most reality tv shows...aim to get the most varied and colourful of personalities together and pit them against each other in various tasks. Oh joy. A modern day gladiator fight, without the gore of course - gore became unfashionable after WWII. Funny how they like to portray the contestants as bitter rivals underneath a veneer of encouraging smiles and camaderie. The idea is far more ancient than you think. People are merely fighting with their minds rather than brute strength, scissors instead of swords. This goes back to how everyone seems to despise Wendy. Most are convinced she got into the final 3 by sheer backstabbing and strategy, and not by talent. Admittedly, her designs are rather dull compared to Jay's flamboyance or Cara Saun's well balanced designs that mix practicality with creativity (I like Cara Saun..most steady character in final 3)

Admittedly my views may be biased since I've watched like 1 and 1/2 episodes only. Then again, even if I've watched the entire series I'll probably still be biased.

P.S. I've just finished reading the latest in the Artemis Fowl series - 'Opal Deception'. Having completed it, I think I still enjoy 'The Eternity Code' better.

Sparkle!

Cleaned the windows today (it was fun!) I can also snoop on ex-school. The council is having a field day. Poor poor 1st 3 mths intakers. The nice wind blowing in from the windows helped a lot.

Tis the Day before 2006!

Ah...the last day of the year. Wonder what thoughts there are out there. Some will be reflecting on the year gone by (and what lovely reflections these are), others will be planning tonight's party wardrobe and some will just be bumming around, being immune to time. I hope that for all my friends out there, today will be a bit of all 3 - we need our memories - both the good and bad ones, a little of the present (the wardrobe?! and friends and family) and well, the sense of preserving ourselves for the future. What I mean is, may we all change for the better but not resolve to change so much. Oh I know about New Year's resolutions - don't they never work...because we bum around not really bothering to change them. I guess that while time flies by (less than 24 hrs to 2006 & counting) we don't change with the year. For those who still keep up the tradition of making resolutions, kudos to you. May urs be practiced daily. Guess I envy those who can and do make their resolutions reality and at the same time be amazed how improving themselves don't make them any diff - it's like being new and improved while keeping the old functions. It's what u say to old friends I suppose.

Yesterday, I went to Jusco in JB. It was my 1st shopping trip to M'asia. Hah. That makes me a real Singaporean then doesn't it, getting into the nation's hobby? Some will say I'm mad - where've you been ALL those years? You've ONLY started shopping in JB NOW??? Well..."there" wasn't remarkably interesting (like Giant or Carrefour lor) and neither was "back again" (you can see Senoko Power Station!) The most interesting bit would have to be "between" - the electric cables overhead, the marshy river mouth with white egrets and fishing boats, the kampungs, the grungy streets intersected by vast green emptiness. I imagine that would have been what Singapore would look like if we had the physical space. Yup, JB is a lot like the opp side of the causeway...right down to the architecture and shrubbery along road sides.

However, that was yesterday, and today's already arrived. I hope you all have had a wonderful year. Makes me think back about the past year - BBQs, OZ - tht wonderful nightmare, school, the A's and all the roulette sweets we ate as well as M&Ms spelling ;), all my tutors (drama included obviously), and the smoke inhaled in all our said BBQs.
And of course 04A2 (how could I forget em?).

Between me and my Shadow

The land of Earthsea is brutal. They eat salt fish and waybread (not lembas, which is the elven kind) most of the time. The book reminds me of the voyage of the Dawn Treader, which is a Chronicle of Narnia. The book is also a lot like LOTR, especially in the matter of names. However, the book also feels rather anti-feminist to me, since the "good guys" have this deep mistrust of the fairer sex. I suppose this has to do with their history.

Sell it or shoot it

WARNING. SPOILERS AHEAD FOR KING KONG - THE MOVIE BY PETER JACKSON




That seems to be the tragedy behind King Kong... Well, like they always say there is always that comment on the human condition and I guess it is what you would call "normal behaviour" in sight of an enormous mystery right in the midst of New York...Well, that and the very idea of a lost island off the coast of Indonesia. The only plausible thing about that ludicrous idea is that it is the 1930s and it is very easy to miscount the number of islands when Indonesia has so many to its name...(its an archipelago).

However, when the original Kong film was made way back then, the 1930s wasn't a distant past, nor was Indonesia's numerous islands a matter. Personally, I am quite dubious whether the original producers even knew what Indonesia looked like on the map. That said, you can imagine what my initial reaction to the film was. A show with a blonde helpless wench who screams her head off and look scandalous. A really fake looking gorilla. A highly inaccurate portrayal of the said gorilla as an emotionless, mindless excuse to rampage through civilisation - Arrgghh. Big hairy beast meets metal skyscraper! Help. Faint. Pls don't ever wake up and scream some more...

Mercifully, Peter Jackson's rendition of the film was unexpectedly entertaining. There were in-jokes, really spastic bits, wit and high adventure. I particularly liked the scene on the boat, when Jack Driscoll (played by Adrien Brody) was in his temporary cabin (an apt location - a cage) typing away at a screenplay. I would think all scriptwriters in the world would sympathise with the scene. It clearly symbolises the stress of scriptwriting and the idea of being chained to deadlines and your work. For Driscoll, that chain transcends the virtual world and in fact serves as a bridge to the reel world reality of the movie.

Some things however, never change. Human avarice for one still exists today. One may say that greed and an exhibitionist streak has led us in the present to echo the mistakes of our past. The exploitative nature of tourism still exists today. Oh sure, the audience who gawked at Kong were comfortable in their own home country, and Kong in the 30s is a fictitious idea. However, the original idea of capturing a wild beast, a savage, and transforming it into a money spinner was conceived way back then, and touring creatures about IS tourist money...

Despite initial strong misgivings about the film, King Kong has turned out to be a fantastic show, unlike some other film where initial doubts were not alayed by watching it. You know what I'm talking about...just envision battered spaceships and light sabers. To cinclude - A thrilling circus act, brilliant cast and definitely NOT your typical jungle adventure.

Finches, Mockingbirds and Haiku

I read To Kill a Mockingbird yesterday and today. I haven't finished it yet...but at least I'm almost there. Funny how I liked it more than I did at Sec 4... At Sec 4 I couldn't stand Scout (always fighting) but now I don't know, maybe after two years of Persuasion and Shakespeare made reading it easier. I had fun with it...go read it too if you haven't. It's a lovely book, very innocent and rambling since it is through the eyes of a nine year old child. Children have a way of rambling when they want to say something lengthy, thus making it even lengthier. What I mean to say is they tend to put in what they found important, and what many adults tend not to notice. It's regrettable. It's the great educators of literature like Atticus who transcend the mores of their time to create the unforgettable personalities we read. Somehow, his hands off policy reminds me of the Tomoe Headmaster in Toto-chan. I liked the book too, only I had deep misgivings about anyone recalling their childhood in such great detail. However, I'm not complaining that much...Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's childhood is an eye opener...which reminds us that children are not as stupid as they sometimes seem.

Saturday Shopping Extraordinaire!

It has come to my conclusion, after a day's first hand observation and hands-on participation of Saturday Shopping that such an activity should only be undertaken if one is of unsound mind and wish for a tortuous death. One, in fact, may also coincidentally meet up with one's distant relations. However, such an incident may or may not count as a proper coincidence, given the physical constraints of our sunny island. While such an experience can be described by some as a somewhat pleasing experience, others say otherwise. The latter's reaction can only be attributed as a natural reaction to the infamous polite interrogation that distant relations are known for, seemingly worldwide. However, I digress. The endeavour that I've undertaken is in fact dedicated to a clinical analysis of shopping in Orchard Road on Saturday.

One of my first observations of the occasion is that of Queueing. Our first stop of the day was lunch at Far East Plaza. It is noted that we would need the sustenance for this rather exhaustive affair. The first thing that was observed was that upon arrival at the Japanese restaurant (of which I had absolutely no hand in coming to such a decision), we were immediately follow by an ever increasing crowd that promptly formed itself into an impromtu queue line outside the restaurant, which only opens at 12 noon. We enjoyed a lunch that would miraculously last the terrors of the afternoon. The rest of the afternoon can only be described as being spent being pushed, trodded on and trampled flat by the excited crowd.

Allow me to retrace our steps after the lunch. We walked round most of Far East Plaza, at which I seized the opportunity to purchase a nice jacket and dress. We then made our way to Tangs which provided THE season's decor - a walkway of lingerie decked dummies with artisically enhanced feather masks - for that extra....seasonality, and which converged into a finale in the form of an "Arabian Nights" (how apt and unique!) curtained tent for the relieving of anguished souls and tired feet, complete with MORE lingerie clad dummies. However, with every pro there is the con - everyone's tastes differ.

On a personal NOTE: It honestly looked nice, except for the festive lingerie.

The rest of the time was spent at Paragon where we met the said distant relations and had tea with them, and then on across the road (a mad dash!) to Takashimaya where the crowd was the worst, before moving on to Food Republic @ Wisma, which was worse than worst.

Here, we have the second observation of the day. When shopping, particularly at the end of a long, dreary and tiring Saturday, one is particularly susceptible to hunger pangs. By now, the world weary Shopping veteran would adopt a more patient "wait and see" stance. However, this by no means is a sign of slowing down. On the other hand, this "wait and see" strategy is not to be executed by those with slower reaction speeds. One must at all times remain alert for a vacant seat, and act with choice decisiveness and appropriate aggressiveness. By now, tired and hungry, most are teetering to their ends and would do what they can to snare a seat. This form of behaviour, is not without it's fair imitation in the world of animals - in fact there is a startling likeness to the behaviour of an unruly pack of vultures on the verge of starvation.

The way home was nondescript. We even got seats on the train.

The experience of Saturday Shopping in the heart of Shopping here can be concluded as thus: the undertaking of such an activity should be left to those of unsound mind or the foolhardy. This has been said before, but there is no harm in repeating these words of caution.

I bid you good night and happy times ahead, especially for the hoilday season.
Peace on Earth and goodwill to all men (and women). Merry Xmas. Tis a week away

Restored!

Yesterday, my home phone died. It was already dying several days before but we only noticed on Sunday when my aunt called my handphone to say that my grandma had been trying to call our house phone the whole morning. The SingTel people came yesterday and proclaimed our line dead and that we would need another guy to come and reattach the phone cable to the mains outside. Apparently the previous owner did not (or maybe it did to the proud new owner of a HDB flat) have the sense to discreetly hide all the cables behind a nice cornice which made moving potential fire hazards an impossibility unless we got someone to knock down our walls.

Basically what they did was to create a new line that now runs near the floor instead of near the ceiling. There was a bit if drilling and hammering and I sincerely hoped the neighbours don't mind. I hate drilling and living in a house that is subjected to such sounds that would no doubt annoy others more than it did me is even more distasteful than the noise.

However, enough about that. I would have blogged this sooner but the guy only fixed the line just this evening. There are a number of weird things that would happen to you if you live near your school. Oh yes, I know I've 'graduated' but seriously, what do you do when you happen to meet your teacher (with husband in tow) when you've only just stepped out of your blk's lift, still bleary eyed from sleep?? I gwaked, smiled, and waved. I THINK. I can't seem to recall that surreal moment. That afternoon, I went to Pasir Ris to cycle. My sis's kite got stuck in a coconut tree. Haha. It would have been very funny if she wasn't sulking so much, or pissed off that we wanted to go cycling instead of kite flying. However, life's like that see, and by the time we got home no one was really mad at each other anymore. I think it has partly to do with the fact that, we were not only too tired, but prolonged arguing can just be as exhaustive as cycling uphill all afternoon. It is also bad for health.

It's good to be connected again. My house is definitely not tech friendly either, and I thought I was bad enough.

Saturday Shopping

One would think that by now, even the most thick skinned moron would not go shopping on Saturdays. Saturdays are the worst days for shopping - especially when the place you are going to features some form of sale. In any case, I'm only complaining because I didn't find anything nice to buy. The satisfaction of shopping comes from purchasing something. It is also satisfying only when you don't have annoying relations who complain at length about shopping. Hence, here is warning no.1: Never ever bring a reluctant shopper out, esp on Sat.

However, today was kinda nice. I liked just getting out of my house. It's amzing isn't it, that holiday feel. Shopping, slacking, more slacking...the only thing missing to get the best out of a holiday seems to me to be a PURPOSE to all these wonderful wonderful things. I remember how it was when school was a daily chore... ...now I miss it. It's so strange how the grass on the opposite field always looks so much greener. Anyway, today was mostly a mad rush about town to buy things that do not involve me, like a new mattress protector not for my bed, and THINGS that do not interest me but my sis. I cannot find a violet jacket anywhere. Looks as though I have to settle for PINK, which I detest. Unfortunately I have had at least 2 shop assistant/co-owner tell me I look nice in pink (bleah) and I suppose if it is only an accessory I might just go with it. OK, enough rubbish about me...am too tired to blog properly.

P.S. Never get too excited when you see the latest release of your fav anime. Pls always note carefully what sort of subtitles they use.

A New Post

Yesterday was prom. The banner on stage was hideous even if everything else (aka the hotel decor) was lovely. Black everything, roses on table, mirrors everywhere, and chandeliers (I suppose they can be counted as such) decorated with bronze leaves and vine "branches". Thanks goodness the waiter/waitress parading thing was kept to a discreet minimum. It's so much more elegant that way. Ok, enough on the pointless bit. Well...it's not really pointless. If I own a palace I know where to ask for int designers.

Picked up Jane via cab. My dad gave the cab driver a whole lot of complicated and useless junk oops. I meant directions, and I was forced to point the poor fellow to Jane's door. Seriously speaking, you shouldn't tell your daughter's taxi driver to drive her to Daisy Park when she wants to go to Daisy Road. Took some photos. People watched. Rolled eyes at deejay. It's what I do. There seems to be some unspoken rule that prom deejays use horrible ice breakers. Haha. Nah. He wasn't so bad actually. It got better, and one must after all excuse our dismal location way south of the VIP table. There were lots of people in clubbing attire. I wonder why. -_- Some with better fashion sense and sense of situation were dressed in a prom-clubbing hyrid which worked. I mean..the place IS decked in ebony. p.y. crashed. =)

After prom was a nice quite chat at the lounge. I assume that it is a lounge since it comes in the same colonial black themed decor and really really nice sofas complete with cushions. It was also the sort of place which youenvision along with cigars. Had tea. Don't really like nuts though. I was with the sane people Ms Kwok & Jane - The rest decided to go home (logical at the time of the night) or go clubbing at this place near Bugis (logical theoretically). I do not intend to be canned sardines. It is something that has never appealed to me. Probably never will. Oh yes...I still owe someone a drink. DON'T come clamouring up to me though, would be imposters. I happen to know whom I owe things to. =p

Tea and chat was really nice. Thanks for tea and everything else.

By the way...the clouds were lovely today. White, grey, lilac, silver and pink. Plus the blue of the sky...you don't get them like that unless it rained, and then was hot for a while before cooling again.

Urban Jungle

A caterpillar (the hideous green variety) managed to find its way up my shirt yesterday night. Don't ask me how it got there because I have no idea. I only saw it when I was in the lift. Knocked it off with my house keys. I don't want to complain, but seriously, Singapore is NOT a place where you meet many caterpillars, unless of course you happen to be in the Zoo, where they deliberately deck the Fragile Forest exhibit with those appalling creatures. Is there some kind of ill fortue that follows me around? Or is there some rule that says the more you fear them, the more they follow you around, dropping onto shoulders and shirt fronts and being made pets by younger siblings?

Today, I walked around with my new heels. I bought them for prom, but really no one in their right minds would wear heels that high. They are bad for your feet, lousy shopping footwear, dangerous on bumpy terrain (like old tar roads and brick roads) and utterly useless unless for improving posture. If you walk on grass, your heels sink into the soil, thanks partly to the wet weather of course, but still... Today. I nearly toppled down the stairs on them, and then after that, I scrapped the heel when I stepped onto the metal grill of the drains. =( Hey. At least now, with some practice, I can walk to Grand Hyatt knowing I would have less chnces to fall flat on my face.

Those heels...and those monstrous denizens of trees and bushes and vegetables your mother buys home from the market...leaves one to think - Urban jungle? I live at the edge of civilisation.

P.S. I know it's duh but yup...comp fixed. More or less.

An update for all the good it'll do

Let's see... what have I been doing? On Thursday, I met up with Cheryl and Ailing to go see our old teachers at Beatty to notify them on our intentions to sign up for relief teaching. We met up with our English teacher, Ms Lim. It was an amazing coincidence that she was in school anyway. The security guards refused to let us in. I know they are only doing their job, which is good, but that meant that we were stuck standing at the school porch until Ms Lim rescued us.

The visit let to me realise that truly, I've forgotten how much I once knew of my classmates. Cheryl bullied (OK...asked nicely) a Beatty student into finding ANY teacher for us, and that was how we actually met up with our English teacher in the first place. It's shocking really. Either I've forgotten or never realised that Cheryl has such a... ...forceful personality. I don't mean it in a bad way people. It just means she is determined and resourceful. Goodness. I think I missed out on a lot not getting to know my classmates better... =)

Friday was a big dim sum lunch at Crystal Jade. It was yummy of course, though the duck with green noodles was a tad on the strange side. The duck also got stuck in my teeth, and I hate food that does that. Spent the rest of the day shopping in Orchard [Got my prom dress Yay!] and a new bike. My sis was with me cos she wanted the bike and I needed a dress. Happily, I spent only a short hour and a half at Wisma picking out my dress. That is an unusually short time picking out a dress for me. Me, the fickle freak. Funnily enough, my sis was patient enough to walk around and watch me try out clothes. Decided on a dress finally and then hopped on the train to Plaza Singapura to buy the bike from Carrefour. We actually made it home in time to eat our dinner.

Now, all I need to do is get my shoes and all the other peripheries. Or whatever they are called.

By the way, I suggest that u all try and get your hands on Spirits in the Wires. It is such a cool book! The starting is a bit slow, with the author trying to introduce all the magical terms and characters [and there are a lot of them], but it is still ok in general. I liked the idea of spirits in the Internet. At least it brings the spiritworld closer to reality.

Tears of Laughter

WARNING: READERS BEWARE!

SPOILERS AHEAD. AND I MEAN MAJOR SPOILERS. DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE WATCHED HARRY POTTER & THE GOBLET OF FIRE (or are not allowed or are not planning to watch it)







I do not think I've ever laughed so hard before. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was just amazing! I don't know, maybe its just that I might be finally getting used to the movie franchise or something. Anyway, excellent job all round I think. For a movie that was based on a world-famous book, I think the mass appeal method still works best. The previous movie, which was admittedly a little on the arty side is still one of my favourites in the series of movies, but Goblet really topped it because I felt that the movie captured the essence of the book really well, right down to it's very very English roots. [I think a British director makes all the diff] The opening strains of the Harry Potter theme music was approapriately eerie. (Yes, Kappa, I preferred listening to the dialogue but ok... soundtrack wasn't too bad) Oh yes, and as a book that dwindled slowly from fun, laughter and slapstick to horror, it takes an expert who is subtle enough to blend the two very different genres together, with the fine echoes of mounting darkness always ready to leap out unexpectedly at the audience.

I never thought that I'll be freaked out by a Harry Potter movie, but the first few scenes were truly spine-chilling. It followed closely to the book of course, and now, after some helpful prompting from Hash and Aaron, was reminded of reading about the muggle murder. I found that I'd imagined the scene to be something very much like this, which is good because that made me even more impressed with it. Nagini is cool, in an evil villian's pet sort of way.

Loved the Yule Ball scene. Poor Ron. It was so funny and I was laughing really hard. The scene of Ron moaning in distress at the sight of himself dresseed in the mouldering old robes is utterly hilarious. ["I look like my great-aunt Tessie!"] Lol. Lord Voldemort looked the way I had envisioned him to look like way back was when I was in Primary 12 when I first came across Harry Potter. Whooo. The image really stuck with me all through the years.

All in all, I think I cangive the movie a 7-7.5 rating, out of 10. Go watch it if you haven't! I think everyone enjoyed it and if you haven't gone, I'll say hurry and catch it!!!

P.S. The dragons are awesome. Not big and clumsy but really flexible and dangerous. Just the way I like em.

Much Better

Am feeling much better. Feel more emotionally stable. Health wise, I can't say. Think I've really caught the cold damn it. Great. After feeling shitty last Friday (seeing Tom Stoppard didn't make me feel any better) went home after Lit and found that nose decided to leak blood. Yay. Eew. The memory isn't disgusting but the thought of a bloody nose is. Now, I've improved to possessing a leaky nose reminiscient of the leaky tap at home.

Anyways, I'll be doing a boring report of my trip to the library in months!! Yes! It was lovely since I found 2 out of that very long reading list in tht prev post. It's Charles de Lint's Spirits in the Wires and Middlesex (Jeffery Eugenides I think; didn't bother to look properly yet). Both of them, along with this 3-in-1 trilogy were enormous heavy and utterly cumbersome. Ended up loading them all the way to KFC and then around Serangoon buying food home. Huh... I must remind all librarians that however hardy hard covers are, they sure are not user friendly. They are muderous weapons. You can kill if you hit someone with them.

The 3rd which coincidentally isn't on my list of to read bks is the "Riddle-Master" trilogy by Patricia A. McKillip. It draws on the LOTR and the love of riddling that is especially important in "The Hobbit", which is the prequel to LOTR. Sadly, there isn't a way to join in the riddling since you'll have absoulutely no idea of the history of the land which is quite obviously like Middle-Earth - make believe. However, that doesn't mean the riddles are insignificant, on the other hand, the riddles are really what drives the plot onwards.

Nevertheless, it is highly entertaining trying to keep one step ahead of the plot and solve the ultimate riddle spanning the 3 books, which is umm. I won't tell you what it is. Lovely book though, which also draws on typical viking-nish scenery of tall, craggy mountains, vast halls of Kings, dressed in substantial furs against the icy backdrop. Those at least were the most memorable scenes for me. Fellow readers are free to dispute of course.

However, the ending was a bit sucky. I felt that it was rather abrupt and the battle scenes passed too quickly over. You get the feel that the author is trying to condense an epic into too short a tale. However apart from that, I enjoyed it - a good old-fashioned fantasy tale.

Cynics. The modern world and the impossibility of goodwill

I'm pissed off. If this sounds like an impartial post then YES. I don't think I'll like to sound civil anymore. Somebody once told me that the world has become increasingly cynical, that it is hard to find someone who can still believe in the good in people, that all anyone sees nowadays are the flaws first of all, and most of all. It's almost as if prejudice has become a daily thing. We mistrust so easily. Far harder it is to gain another's trust. Locked doors behind smiles. If people say that few good men exist in the world today, then it is because this world is such that we do not care to see the goodness in people. It's a rat race man. Who damn cares about others?? Self comes first. Some say looking through rose coloured glasses is escapism. Are we then to lock oursleves in a mundane world then? We all need an outlet. Others rush headlong but I like to take it slow. However that isn't going to happen (Slowing down I mean). Not now anyway.

After two years at NY. I wonder what you all think. I feel like I haven't changed, and yet at the same time, I think that my life has altered beyond recognition too. More scared and less scared. I'm not that girl from Sec 4 now am I? That comfortable place where I knew my place and was happy in it.

I wonder if it is so hard to see the good in others. Or try probing beyond the surface. Then again, who am I indeed to say this when my principles are less than sound? It's not like I've tried to know others. I'm not very forthcoming. I too am a prejudiced person. I stick to my opinions and don't change them easily. Or maybe I don't and that's my problem. Am I too agreeable or something?

Just this morning, I argued with my sis. I suppose it's nothing to her since she tried to placate me with the pet hamsters less than 10 mins after shouting at me. Does she think I'm not angry? Am I forgiving because I don't destroy possesions the way certain family do when angry? Or the fact that I don't retaliate when hit? I hate fighting. I hate aimless quibbling. I just want to curl up with a good book and is that so wrong? I'm sorry. I don't think I've forgotten all the nasty things she said or things she accused me off, like waking up at 7 to read.

I woke up to buy breakfast. Because my mother wakes early. So i need to get breakfast early right. Wrong. I get accused of being addicted. Look at yourself please. Who spent her finals with her XBox? I see that happening for the O's too. Of course, all my mother did when we are both shouting at each other is to remind my sis that she hasn't washed the hamster cage yet. I can't think of a worse time to remind angry children about their most hated chores. Yup. Go on. Add fuel to the fire. Go on. But I don't need to egg ppl on. They do it themselves oh so voluntarily. Parents never did understand their children. Neither then do siblings.

But I can only hope that there are people out there who are not cynics. They must be considered a rare species. Almost extinct. Endangered. Let's hope they multiply soon.

Relief [or not. Lot's to do]

YES! All the evil evil papers are over! Well. All anyway except Lit. Please Lit...you don't want to make me hate you too... Now let's see. Finally, I have time to think about something other than the A's.

Yes. Free!!! Let me list the things I've wanted to do after the exam or at least continue from before my exam.

Hmm.
Play Pokemon on my sis's gameboy. My poor character is stuck out at sea since a month ago.

Read. There are a list of to-read things:
Douglas Adam's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Turns out it is a series.
Charles de Lint's umm. New book. Can't remember what's it called.
Diana Wynne Jones's Conrad's Fate. [So I'm reading kid's stuff. So what. (Glares accusingly at anyone who dares to even let out a snigger)]
Can't remember her name's book. Think it was about basilisks.
American Gods [I wonder if Anansi Boys is out in the libraries yet?]
Tom Stoppard's plays and Waiting for Godot if I can find it. Does anyone want to go to Esplanade Library?
Arthur Miller's The Crucible. And some others. Maybe the Glass Menagerie. Can't recall...
START on this book I bought long ago because Kappa said it was mentioned in the OC. Looks good though. About WWII and comics.
Middlesex. Saw it in Borders long ago. Maybe I'll borrow it too. That is if I can find all of the above except for the one I bought alr.

Play badminton. Does anyone want to??

Watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Watch Chronicles of Narnia

Watch anything else that looks good and if I have the money after prom shopping

Prom shopping. Shit. What to wear...what to wear...need concealer first of all. I look like a freak after 3 straight days without proper sleep and too much tension [Maybe by prom I'll look better]

Then there is still my hair. My shoes. Makeup. Ugh.

Buy VCDs. I want Howl's Moving Castle. Is it out yet?? The movie was ages ago...the idiots.

Book shopping. Or just general shopping. =p

Go find a job. How boring. Sigh.

OK. That's it for now. I'm quite happy with the list. Lot's to do. Prom shopping and Harry Potter are of the most urgent obviously. I'll just keep all these in mind. Haha.

Dream

I had a dream last night. It probably had to do with the big dinner I had last night. My mum cooked this huge amount of meat, potatoes and carrot thing, and then she got pissed off when my dad brought home otah and chicken wings despite her telling him not to. Ah well. It is funny how when you complain you haven't had a really good dream for a really long time you end up with a demi-nightmare.

Let's see, like all good nightmares, one starts off with a pleasant enough dream. I was literally in paradise; dreamscape was filled with trees, weedy pools of clear water and an underwater glass house. [There was a sea turtle swimming over head for some reason] There was even a sparkling waterfall and a wooden suspension bridge [cool]. Then after a nice time 'exploring' this place, I end up stuck with 3 goons who somehow running from the law. The 3 goons [a guy with a beard, a young noble lady and a kid] and me as silent observer end up in the biggest goon's [bearded guy] flooded family vault. I'm sure we've all seen enough horror flicks to know what they put in underground vaults. The two grown up goons are having an argument in which the lady is extremely miffed that the biggest goon, instead of helping her gain an audience with the Duke has led them to this soggy and ulu place. Apparently the lady wants to seek Justice for her brother who is igoing to be unjustly executed for some minor crime. The noble lady is obviously trying to rescue her brother.

Sadly, while this may not be very scary sounding to most normal people is highly disturbing to me. For one thing, this sounds like a screwed up version of M4M [Measure for Measure, William Shakespeare]. Oh no oh no. I'm not the sort who has nightmares about schoolwork. Now I get this. Along with dancing skeleton ancestors of the bearded goon. Oh no. Oh no.

The summary of M4M goes that this is a Duke that is travelling incognito to spy on a potentially corrupt high ranking official. The official who does not know that he is being 'tested' goes on to blunder in the Duke's absence, by sending out harsh penalties for crimes that the slacker Duke had ignored while in power. With the official's new rules, a young noble called Claudio is to be executed for impregnating his soon to be married girlfriend. His sister, Isabella goes to the official and begs for her brother's life. Hoorah. Then when the corrupt official says that in exchange for her brother's freedom, she has to have a one night stand with him. She refuses duh, and then there is this messy convulated thing abt meeting the Duke in disguise, the potential dues ex machina, knight-in-shining-armour etc etc. YAWN.

Anyway, all's well end's well so they say.

Watched the Oliver Parker version of Othello [not the game; it's the play] today. There was this minor character with really hideous balloonish pants and white tights that provided untimely comic relief. If only I had a pic...it was funny, even if it wasn't supposed to be.

Don't think there is a need for a title. [So this will just do]

Firstly, I'll like to apologise for the state of the two previous posts. They are utterly hideous. I will write something befitting a calm, rational person the next time. How anyone can find this farcical is a guess. Do I write like it is a farce? It's amazing. Unintentional laughter and joy everywhere.

Secondly. My dad is hollering in the background on the point of owning a blog. His very disapproval is testimonial to the existence of my blog. Huh. Oops. I wasn't supposed to be complaining. I'm at it again...

Thirdly [which is also lastly] I can't remember what. I'll think on it.

One of those days

I wonder what takes to wake you up.

I suppose that I should have an exciting account of what goes on in my life, but frankly, I sometimes wonder what IS the point of my blog? I suppose I should say that I'm not the sort with lofty aspirations, and that this blog is no place for social commentary, media mongery or even political speculation.

Looking back, I'm just one of those bloggers who merely started well, blogging simply because I'm the selfish sort who needs to put her views somewhere. Yup. A sort of diary which my thoughts go into. However, I think that blogging goes beyond this rather self-centered view, even if it started out like this... I really must thank my blog for keeping my temper in check.

You lovely readers wouldn't see it. I haven't cracked in a public zone since Oz, and then today, if you can call it public since the only witnesses are myself and my baka sister. All that mental shouting, all that bitching and all that physical pulling and screaming could have been a lot worse if I didn't have an outlet. It can be so satisfying to think up the most miserable punishments for your idiot sibling and then posting it to the world. If Angelo is concerned about his rep, then my sweet sis is even more so.

I think it is very nice if I can just splash my "intended" exploits here, but I shall not.

Blogging is not meant for the self. It is for others too. I don't mean you all are pesky voyeurs. It just means that the Internet is made that way. It's something that one realises after a while. No one can stop others from prying [even if they try Haha].

My stint as an anoyamous tagger just proves that we are all a) busybodies b) A Levels turn us into nut cases and in my case, a sadist. Haha.

Well. gtg. Happy Halloween, folks.

What is going on??

A slap in the face. [not literally thank goodness]

Puzzling things happening.

I am taking cover.

I refuse to be plagued by strange creatures that infect tag places.

My motto is to hide in the face of danger.

Goodbye sweet friends...I shall vanish. This time it is unvoluntary. Curse you angelrulz!!! Or Rayun. Or whatever you are called.

Work work work

Truly. The problem with rain is that it is wet. How many times have you admired the rain, enjoying the blessedly cool and windy days it brings, only to be pissed off once you step out of your house, right into a fat puddle that soaks your shoes and make your feet gross and miserable? Ah well.

These few days have been wet. I suppose that said is enough.

Life at this time of the year is appalling. Am so sick of studying. I guess I feel like a pair of soaked shoes on a rainy day - wet and cold. What a dampener revision is. How many times have I felt so dissatisfied this week? With myself, with my FOOD and life in general. I won't say it cam't get worse because it CAN, which is why I feel so immobile. More studying means more pain and stress. Less studying means I'll die for the A's. So yup. Can't move forward can't move backwards. Know it hurts to advance but it hurts just as much to be left behind.

Am freaked out. So little little time... Ironically enough for regrets but not studying harder. Sometimes I wonder why we all work so hard. It kills the joy of learning. Learning is supposed to be fun, so why do I hate revising what I've learnt? Maybe because I hate looking back? Dun think so. Maybe its because revision is just plain boring. Yes that will be it. And also you never know what is going to come out for your exams.

Huh. Round and round we go. Never getting out of the system.

Things (Say it in a grossed out way)

Random Things

A good Bonding experience is defined by moi as getting together to do extremely messy/dusty/unpleasant/pointless things like cleaning the Lit Room. Hey. My wand has moved to a new place! It looks like the Orgre's toothpick now!!

The one problem with rain is that it is wet.

Hamsters ARE greedy. They abscond with sunflower seeds

I am not the only one who draws flowers on my notes - I have eyewitnesses

Paper goodies. Chew them before your geog A Level paper and results are guaranteed:
a real and excellent stomach ache!

Coconuts make good false horse clopping sounds

Always know the difference between an African swallow and a European one.

Remember folks. Stand tall as a tower karst. I think I shall remember that line forever, especially if anyone tries to make me go to Guilin for a holiday.

Love my tutors.

Mug!

Children scream, make loud and disturbing noises and say disturbing things like "I'm not a lesbian!"

Slip by before you know it

Today is Graduation Day. Waiting about ½ hr for the ceremony to start was agony. Especially when all you want to do was fall asleep. I didn't want to come either and sit through 3hrs of prize presentation and some ugly behaviour. Then, the VIP went and gave his speech, which was mainly a motivational life story kind of thing.

I have to confess that I switched off somewhere after he said that he had 'bad' grades for prelims [he got B,A,D,D]. I think most people who got that kind of grade would have made it onto the Honour Roll. If it was a pun it was badly executed, since no one really got the pun and most people ended up being insulted. I was too. Hello. He made my C,C,O look abysmal [they aren't even moderately good I agree, but still!] next to his 'bad' grades. It was only when me, PY and Jane were having lunch that I sort of realized that it COULD have been a pun. If it was, it was in bad taste anyway. (Haha)

The little fiasco made me want to go home. Thankfully, the event kicked off sometime just before 9, and I as I had been resigned to it beginning at 10, I was rather relieved. Then came that long prize giving thing which was too long. I'll pass over describing since it was uninteresting. I salute those who got the awards. They deserve it, though it was all boring. Boredom after all has nothing to do with the awardees. Such events are merely innately boring.

The highlight was of course videos! We watched like 3 videos. If not for the wonderfully sentimental, amusing and heartwarming quality of the video, I'll have been the most evil cynic and said the committee behind Graduation was uncreative. Thankfully, it was a great graduation ceremony and I must say I really appreciated the videos which featured among other things, rather dramatic scenes from Oz [remember the Wizard and Timekeeper aka Guy in violently violet shirt?], our wonderful wonderful teachers and my principal, who happens to be retiring this year.

CT was a really lovely time too. [Presents! =D] Well, apart from that I realized that I was really going to miss my class. It was such a surreal two years that have passed me by, almost like a dream. And like dreams, they slip away ever so quickly. There isn't a need to ramble on here, simply because such occasions defy words. All I can say is, I know I won't forget today. If I were to quote from one of my favourite movies (Spirited Away), it'll be from this scene where one of the characters explains that we never really forget; it just takes time to recall those particular memories. [I hope the Eng translation's accurate. I have known BIG errors in the dubbed version] So yup. I guess that's all, folks.

P.S. I checked on my wand [the one made with straws] and found that it was wedged between the cupboard and an ironing board , not the wall. I'm surprised it has survived till now.
P.P.S. My sis found this Lego horse which the Lego knight I got today is currently riding. So cute! Reminds me of Arcite [Chaucer's A Knight's Tale] who got kicked by his horse.

Let's try this again.

Right. The last time, I had a perfectly nice post which got eaten up by the blogger monster. Now, I'm taking no chances. Today, I am going to blog about well, things that are well pointless. In otherwords, I'm blogging for the sake of blogging. A matter of self-indulgence. Haha. It sounds like the first qn in my GP prelims essay section. As it is, Graduation Day is looming round the corner. Looking back, the past 1and 5/6 years have gone by like a blur. With Graduation coming up, I can't help but think back on all those things that I'm going to miss about NY. Sigh. Tings like Drama. My teachers [I mean tutors]. Even the canteen vendors. I got a free drink from the fruit juice aunty after Oz. I must say, I was really surprised, and of course really glad then too, especially like when I grabbed a bunch of straws free-of-charge to make a wand that eventually ended up stuck between a broom and a cupboard in the Lit Room.

Sentimentality hits again. Especially when you are this OLD. So my sister claims. [3 yrs is no diff I tell her] Age isn't a barrier and shouldn't be. I can be sentimental at 18 if I want to. Humph. Now I sound like a petulant 5 yr-old.

My plans for my first legal sip of alcohol has also been thawrted. Oh well. It's not like I feel 18 anyway. I'm me. For one thing, I'm still receiving very un-18 presents. My sis gave me this brilliantly orange stuff toy cat for my b-day. Yay! It's so cute! The cat wears a black pointed witch hat. Isn't that just cute? =D

Right. I shall just stop reminiscing before I bore myself to death. The As are 20 days away. I'm freaking out. Freak out...freak out...freak..out...

Evil Reigns...

Every year around my birthday, I will fall for the tricks of the same person. That highly innocent mask sure gets you somewhere. The saving grace is that I fall for a different trick every year. It is however nothing I am proud of, being hoodwinked by the same person year after year. Anyway, thanks for the gift, I love it. And it makes a great pillow too!

Hello Again

I am sick and tired of my comp. It's behaviour has reached the ultimate in all notorious comp behaviour. It lags. It doesn't boot properly. I can't go online. It REFUSES to shut down. That's it. Whatever sentimental reasons I have for prolonging the life of that sad piece of scrap metal is gone. Vanished. Up in smoke. Good. Now I feel better. Yay. For your information, I am not being a hypocrite. This is being typed out on my school's comp, which has also chosen to defy me, by preventing me, the user from migrating to the new server. This means that come Monday, I most probably won't have a backup plan to freely sponge off the school's free Internet service. Double yay.

Anyway, I've decided that the old cantakerous persona I gave my comp is dead. Or at least semi-paralysed from stroke or heart disease (in other words, Spyware and viruses most probably both or at least one of them). So maybe I can get a laptop you know...Haha

So, what is the point of this? Well actually nothing. I just had to blast my comp somehow... Now I feel slightly better.

OK, now on to more interesting things. I recently read Douglas Adams's Hitchiker's Guide to the Universe. It is one of the funniest books I've ever read. It is so funny I can't describe the kind of laughing it induced in me. I think the amusement waS partly from feeling post-prelims euphoria. The euphoria was supposed to last the weekend only. Somehow the damn "fun for all" feeling has transposed itself onto this week as well. Bad bad me. Must study you know.

In any case, if there are any sad or depressed souls out there, I suggest you read the Hitchiker's Guide to the Universe. It is a mockery of anything serious (and that includes Doomsday; in the book that happens on a nice Thursday). I guess it pays to have an alien friend. I feel quite relieved on this point. Hey Kappa, where do you park your spaceship?

The other book is I read is one that PY lent me. It is funny too, though the irony and sarcasm is easier to get. The lunacy level is lower too (thank goodness - i can't be reading mad books all the time). It's called "How I became Stupid" by Martin Page. Really nice book too. I intend to buy that, along with Sophie's World (when I find it)...

Happily, I am going to vanish again. It is so shitty but hey, maybe I'll get a new comp out of it...

Learning Grace

Aha! The utterly villainous and insufferable blogger is back (SADLY enough for some.) Anyway as a NOTE OF IMPORTANCE, I am warning all who are looking for a serious post to set their sights elsewhere. Pronto. Muahahaha...

First of all, I would like to announce that I am going to vanish for the next two days. Feel free to tag all you want. I shan't be looking, which gives you evil taggers to rumble on and on. How effective I shall vanish depends on well, a) How well I'll get away with it and b) Whether I will even properly vanish. [Anyone who knows the following personally and am able to help are highly appreciated: Christopher Chant, Howl, Prof Dumbledore or Ganadlf (Gandalf is particularly useful. How many sorcerers, wizards and etc can disappear in the middle of a war and come back unlooked for days later with not unwelcome backup cavalry?) P.S. Funny how they are all not women either]

Next. Since I am leaving my blog alone for sometime (of which my disappearance which is NOT planned by me but forced by circumstances), and which is only a part of why I am leaving my blog alone, I have decided to give you a horribly long and didactic sermon on Learning Grace. This also happens to be the title of this post, which for some insane reason, I am extremely proud of.

Yesterday, I had lunch with Kappa. It was a nice lunch, at Han's in Park Mall. Kappa is finicky about service and wants her food brought to her by a waiter. The other choice was Jack's Place. Unfortunately I have no fancy for red meat just then (or salmon either) and apart from that, I had the most unfortunate experience dining there the last time. =(

The important however, is not the food. Kappa was just telling me about this repellent snoot from her night class. He offered to pay Kappa's friend money to teach him something to do with singing or something like that. The Repellent Snoot was from some JC Choir by the way. In any case, he said that his music school was in Geylang. Now we all know what that region is notorious for, so I won't go into details of the horrible experience the fickle-minded namby-pamby Repellent Snoot did by making the girls walk the seedy streets of Geylang at night in an attempt to find the school since the *&^%$^ can't be bothered to give them proper directions or offer to walk them from the bus stop.

Anyway, although Kappa and Co. were really pissed off by the Repellent Snoot (who acts as if he can throw away $$ like his father prints dollar notes for a living), Kappa maintained a kind of tact and calm in the face of the blustering moron and came out the winner, The thing to do, as Kappa tells me, is always to remain gracious to people of that unevolved sub-species of the human race, even if you are most likely seething with rage and want to tear him to pieces. I really wanted to. I for one cannot remain gracious in the light of such ungentlemanly and nauseating behaviour.

It reminds me how my mum has been complaining about our jolly neighbours again. Apparently, someone poured urine into my mum's rose bush. How nice. Free nutrients for the plant. Pity that comment only appeased my mum for like 5 secs. She has therefore adopted the front door and gate slamming aspect as revenge. Unfortunately, I know what that means. Violence begets violence. And yes. Measure still for measure. Its that dumb eye for an eye thing in one of my lit texts. However, trying to tell your mum to behave calmly and rationally in view of obnoxious neighbours is a no-no. She might turn on me instead and give me a good hiding for being less than respectful. Sadly, that also means that I shall have to endure all that door slamming. I hate it. The sound drives right to the back of my brain and exudes bad vibes. It is extremely distressing to both mental and physical health.

What I'm saying is, lets all treat others the way we want to be treated. The other thing is to never let your enemy know you've been truly irked by him/them/her. It defeats the purpose of showing them up. Besides, it's always nice to be nice. I still smile at my noxious neighbours. That is, until they go too far. Like maybe now.

The beauties in the world are best seen by those who strive to see them
- Unknown

Seriously Funny Business

Well then. My exams are finally over. Actually not really. I've still my Lit PC paper tomorrow. Of course I'm celebrating a day earlier! Haha. Already what I'm blogging is making me feel the tiniest bit guilty. I shall look through my skills notes tonight then, when I can finally stop torturing myself by refusing my poor eyes sleep and scaring everyone in the dead of the night by getting up at 3am in the morning to study. I had just switched on the living room light and sat down with my pillow when my mum came out of her room and stared at me.

"What are you doing with your blanket over your head?"

Obviously I was studying. What else could I be doing, especially when your eyes are watering and itchy from a lack of sleep? Happily that stage of the prelims are over and I do not have to face the evil Geog paper until 6 weeks later. Well. Suppose I'm just glad that I can take a break for a while before getting back to you-know-what.

Until then, I shall just be happy revising day in and out I guess. =(

Why isn't the "gahmen" laughing? [Ppl who have read the sat paper will know what I'm talkin abt]

I've just been thinking about the white elephant issue at the Buangkok station. I don't know about you, but I was really amused by the cardboard cutouts. Speaks a lot without having to say anything you know... Anyway my question is simply why is the government so upset? Personally I cannot understand why they would be so unhappy. Wait. Maybe I can. No authority would want to be slighted so rudely. However, I see the white elephants as merely a joke. OK, So the person was trying to protest against something. The fact is, we've really come a long way from the Hock Lee bus rioting days. Must there be such a hue and cry over who the culprit is? The thing is, to me, just about anybody who lives near Buangkok would hope the station opens. Anyone can also easily interpret the station as a metaphorical white elephant.

After all, it has been closed for the time ever since NEL opened. Even if the protest came in the form of a polite letter to the town council, it will still be a protest. Perhaps it is wrong or rebellious or plain rudeto say so, but funny, the elephants really made me laugh.

Why? (or That post on anything remotely to do with exams)

I think that if Shakespeare is still alive today, he will be highly amused by us Lit students poring frantically over his works. If he were alive, it would clear up a lot of the contradictory views on his plays. It is even worse when the one of the themes of his play is on OPPOSITES.

Sigh.

This indomitable warrior wants to go to sleep!

"If thought has attempted and failed,
lose not courage
O indomitable warrior,
Fight and return to the charge still and always"

Saw this quote plastered all over school (well not really, but I saw it in the library and I-Space or Ice-Space whatever it is called) and have been itching to post it for sometime. Just never got round to it.

Funny how it doesn't sound very motivational. I found it funny in fact. However if anyone does need a morale booster well, may it do you all the good a poster can.

Random thoughts that are not really random. Actually.

On English literature criticism:
I have no idea what Harold Bloom* is saying. I sometimes think that he is trying to sound like the high-brow English professor that he mostly probably really is.

On kids running around in KFC during lunch:
Smile and sympathise with the cleaner aunty. She can't run after them.

On the kid hiding next to the trash bin in KFC:
Hey kid. Why don't you hide IN the rubbish bin instead. There, your comrades won't ever find you... Hopefully they'll leave you behind when they go home too.

On the parents/child minders of kids running around in KFC during lunch:
Please don't take an hour to purchase just one reg. Coke. It looks so bad. Especially when you have 5 children jumping on the plastic seats. By the way...did I mention that you make horrible child minders/parents?

On Toa Payoh Library:
Too...many...familiar...faces...

On seeing familiar faces:
It can be both a good and bad thing.

On the 7pm Chinese period drama on Channel 8 (weekdays):
I cannot fathom WHY my sister likes to watch it. Actually I find myself quite taken with the show too, which MYSTERIOUSLY ENOUGH, advocates the wonders of the Singapore Education System and the benefits of academic advancement to the individual and the intrinsic capitalistic value to the country. (I won't say anything about NS)

On reading Sophie's World:
Funny, but I think I've been introduced to Aristotle throughout my life. It hasn't been a very long life, but still... Biology, the Sciences (especially Biology), Chaucer and the First Mover thingy. Being organised. I am constantly reminded of the fact that I am messy daily by my dear Mum.

On watching Scrapped Princess:
I wonder...that blob monster looks awfully (no pun intended) familiar... Did I see it in Princess Mononoke?

Lastly and speaking of Hayao Miyazaki... I find several parallels between him and S.T. Coleridge. Good excuse to watch movies as part of revision...the wonders of Lit.

* Harold Bloom needs no introduction in the world of a A level Literature student. If you aren't one, just pick up any book on A level lit (especially one on Shakespeare) and chances are, it has H. Bloom in it somewhere. Try the first few pages. Chances are, he is the editor if not writer. Talk about unique views...

On 31st September 2005

Sidelined. Marginalised. Peripherified.
I'm a J2 for heaven's sake.
Ineffieciency at its best.
Rise, sir, from this semi-recumbent posture. It is most indecorous. - The result of studying "Importance of Being Earnest" by O. Wilde. =D

Thought I might as well post what some of the things happened on Wed. That would have been yesterday. Went back to Beatty. Think I went loony going back down memory lane. Wondered why I never got to know my clasmates better. They are such a lovely bunch of people. That means you too Al. I promise a drink and lunch. Cheers!!

What is the world coming to?

Now, for the past few mornings, in fact I should say few weeks, i've been observing something that annoys me very much. on most mornings, on my way to school, I'll pass a primary school girl on her way to school, in the opposite direction that I usually head. I shall not name the school, though it's pretty obvious if you know what primary school happens to be in my vicinity.

So, everyday, I'll see her whizzing by on her skate skooter. Dear readers, I'm sure you all know what that stupid thing is... if you don't, it is something like the thing the Po teletubby likes to ride on. The thing is, she does look extremely adorable in it. The problem is, her maid with pink school bag in tow has to run after that zooming behemoth every morning. Times like this, I wonder who is to blame. Her parents? The media? Or simply the girl herself? Maybe it is the maid. However I find myself doubting the last theory of mine.

I think that the sense of dignity of a person no matter the job... no wait, the job IS important. Pride and self-esteem is all the more important in the jobs most people consider lowly. So what. Just because someone is a maid does not mean that as the employer you can let your child treat the person who cooks and cleans after her to chase after a mere girl. It is hardly graceful behaviour and reflects the general opinion I have of Singaporeans - uncouth and self-centered. So let me hit myself. Hey. I'm a Singaporean too.

It puzzles me very much that we should have so little faith in our fellow countrymen. Somehow I don't think that that is normal in any country outside of here. Ah... But that is the faithless me talking again isn't it?

So let us just focus on the girl's family instead. No need to drag in the whole of our sunny tropical island. Sometimes I wonder what parents are teaching children nowadays. It is really upsetting to think that the girl with such an innocent look on her face would be behaving so rudely to her elder. I watched for other people's reaction to the interesting duo. When a well-dressed wman stared at the scene unfolding begore her eyes, the maid stopped running. But I know she has been running for the past few days. At least she seems to be preserving some sense of dignity.

Why should she run? Just because you are a maid doesn't mean you should subject yourself to the every whim and fancy of others. One should respect oneself. And one should respect others. I hope for the day when the maid will be skate skootering beside the girl. Really I do.