I hang out with a group of early-secondary school friends, we lost touch in our JC and Uni years, but I like to think I got the group together because I made contact with 3 of them. However, I have a bone to pick with an opinionated bigot.
Fine, I can deal with her biased comments, her judgments, and her assumptions about me which were formed in secondary school and which obviously have remained with her to this day.
However, the last straw came when her sister accused me of something which I didn't do, and my friend obviously believed her, because she thinks I am 'calculative'.
It's sad when friendships have to end, and I know that the other girls in the group are disappointed because group dynamics are disrupted but I really don't know what to do when I'm told to try. As in try to make her like me?? ER yeah hullo, but friendships start because you accept your friend as they really are RIGHT?
And with another friend, part of the later-secondary school friend group, we have like this major misunderstanding of the century. All caused by one person's broken telephone message, which finally blew up into something unrecognizable.
SIGH.
I can't think of any way to solve these niggling problems, but my innate feeling is, relationships take time to heal, take time to develop, what's yours is yours, and if you don't treasure it, it will be gone. There, I've done it. Spilled my guts out and combined 4 cliches in one sentence. Which is the bigger sin, I wonder...
- Mood:
pissed off - Music:Manic Street Preachers - Everything must go
Perhaps, you could say that it's actually quite heartening to see someone defend his work, almost to the death, for such anger can only result in high blood pressure, hypertension, and a whole slew of other life-threatening diseases I can only imagine.
His letters to sub-editors reproduced here in verbatim for all to read and enjoy. :)
Taster and restaurant critic, Giles Coren. Photograph: Linda Nylind
Copyright of The Times
To: the Times subeditors
From: Coren, Giles
Chaps,
I am mightily pissed off ... I don't really like people tinkering with my copy for the sake of tinkering. I do not enjoy the suggestion that you have a better ear or eye for how I want my words to read than I do ... It was the final sentence. Final sentences are very, very important. A piece builds to them, they are the little jingle that the reader takes with him into the weekend.
I wrote: "I can't think of a nicer place to sit this spring over a glass of rosé and watch the boys and girls in the street outside smiling gaily to each other, and wondering where to go for a nosh." It appeared as: "I can't think of a nicer place to sit this spring over a glass of rosé and watch the boys and girls in the street outside smiling gaily to each other, and wondering where to go for nosh."
There is no length issue. This is someone thinking, "I'll just remove this indefinite article because Coren is an illiterate cunt and i know best."
Well, you fucking don't. This was shit, shit subediting for three reasons.
1) "Nosh", as I'm sure you fluent Yiddish speakers know, is a noun formed from a bastardisation of the German "naschen". It is a verb, and can be construed into two distinct nouns. One, "nosh" means simply "food". You have decided that this is what i meant and removed the "a". I am insulted enough that you think you have a better ear for English than me. But a better ear for Yiddish? I doubt it. Because the other noun, "nosh" means "a session of eating" ...
2) I will now explain why your error is even more shit than it looks. You see, i was making a joke. I do that sometimes. I have set up the street as "sexually charged". I have described the shenanigans across the road at G.A.Y. I have used the word "gaily" as a gentle nudge. And "looking for a nosh" has a secondary meaning of looking for a blowjob. Not specifically gay, for this is soho, and there are plenty of girls there who take money for noshing boys. "looking for nosh" does not have that ambiguity. the joke is gone. I only wrote that sodding paragraph to make that joke. And you've fucking stripped it out like a pissed Irish plasterer restoring a renaissance fresco and thinking jesus looks shit with a bear so plastering over it. You might as well have removed the whole paragraph. I mean, fucking christ, don't you read the copy?
3) And worst of all. Dumbest, deafest, shittest of all, you have removed the unstressed "a" so that the stress that should have fallen on "nosh" is lost, and my piece ends on an unstressed syllable. When you're winding up a piece of prose, metre is crucial. Can't you hear? Can't you hear that it is wrong? It's not fucking rocket science. It's fucking pre-GCSE scansion. I have written 350 restaurant reviews for The Times and i have never ended on an unstressed syllable. Fuck. fuck, fuck, fuck.
I am sorry if this looks petty (last time i mailed a Times sub about the change of a single word i got in all sorts of trouble) but i care deeply about my work and i hate to have it fucked up by shit subbing ... And, just out of interest, I'd like whoever made that change to email me and tell me why. Tell me the exact reasoning which led you to remove that word from my copy.
Right, Sorry to go on. Anger, real steaming fucking anger can make a man verbose.
All the best
Giles
To: the Times subeditors
From: Coren, Giles
Sent: August 10 2002 16.41
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. how fucking difficult is that? it's the sentence that bestrides the fucking book i reviewed for you. it is the sentence i wrote first in my fucking review. it is 35 fucking letters long, which is why i wrote that it was. and so some useless cunt subeditor decides to change it to "jumps over A lazy dog" can you fucking count? can you see that that makes it a 33 letter sentence? so it looks as if i can't count, and the cunting author of the book, poor mr dunn, cannot count. the whole bastard book turns on the sentence being as i fucking wrote it. and that it is exactly 33 letters long. why do you meddle. what do you think you achieve with that kind of dumb-witted smart-arsery? why do you change things you do not understand without consulting. why do you believe you know best when you know fuck all. jack shit.
that is as bad as editing can be. fuck, i hope you're proud. it will be small relief for the author that nobody reads your poxy magazine.
never ever ask me to write something for you. and don't pay me. i'd rather take £400 quid for assassinating a crack whore's only child in a revenge killing for a busted drug deal - my integrity would be less compromised.
jesus fucking wept i don't know what else to say.
To: the London Paper's restaurant critic
From: Coren, Giles
Sent: 09 July 2008 23:06
feargus,
I'm emailing to say that your review of osteria emilia, in most ways perfectly fine and good and spot on, pissed me off. i booked, as ever, under a pseudonym, that over made up italian bird did not have a fucking clue who i was (or even who baddiel was, who i ate with because he lives, like me, round the corner). Nor were there any kitchen staff peeking out of any porthole. i appreciate that you have to keep your column as lively as possible - and name dropping david i guess might be exciting for your readers (i'll certainly be doing it in my column) - but in your froth to show how folksy and incognito you are, you did your readers and the restaurant an immense disservice: you suggested that i got some special dispensation in eating a la carte. But if you'd spent a bit more time looking at your lunch menu, and a bit less gawping at me, you'd have noticed that it said, "dishes from the evening a la carte menu are available at lunchtime, with some exceptions".
You said "i didn't have the brass neck to demand anything off the unavailable a la carte". it makes you sound like an utter tit. you are not only a chippy fuck but a lazy journalist. 'brass neck'. learn to write, and take your head out of your arse, you fucking twat.
all the best
· These are abridged - but not subedited - versions of the original emails.
- Mood:
amused - Music:Electrico
She moved BACK.
- Music:Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings
Amazingly, the video sums up quite alot of the relationship I have with my sis. :)
I have always wanted to blog about this issue for the longest time and watching this video finally gave me the push.
My sister and I have always been at loggerheads from the start. She being the extremely cute one, me being the chatterbox (WHEN WE WERE YOUNGER!).
However, as we grew older and had many misunderstandings, the rift between us just grew wider. Of course, in the past, whenever we didn't meet for long periods of time, we could have really long and deep conversations.
But now, due to my unacceptance of changes and her defensiveness plus a WHOLE LOAD of past sensitivities, we haven't talked for about a year. And because I couldn't stand it, I confronted her about it and she has finally done it. MOVED OUT.
I don't know what to say or do, and it seems I have no choice in this matter but to accept it.
And perhaps let breathing dragons lie.
- Mood:
sad
My impression of him? His stories are made up of simple prose that probe many deep-rooted feelings which we try to ignore, or battle on a daily basis. Fear of loss, unrequited love, burgeoning sexuality, these were what I encountered upon my first read of his books, Norwegian Wood.
However, I want to read more uplifting stories. All those feelings of resignation, "let things be", and almost hopelessness can really affect me especially when I am going through a trough day.
Here's an excerpt to how melancholic he can be.
Haruki Murakami, Fiction, "A Shinagawa Monkey," The New Yorker, February 13, 2006
Short story about a woman named Mizuki who forgets her name because a monkey has stolen it... Mizuki sometimes had trouble remembering her name. She’d been married a few years when her name started to slip away from her. One day she came across an ad for a counseling center offering private sessions at a reduced rate... Mizuki told her story to the counselor, Tetsukao Sakai. She’d grown up in an ordinary family. her mother was a bit of a nag. She’d gone away to a boarding school. Nothing dramatic had touched her life. After several incidents, the counselor asked if she remembered any incidents involving names and Mizuki recalled the use of name tags at the boarding school she attended. On October, a girl named Yuko, one of the prettiest, most accomplished students in the school came to see her. Yuko asked Mizuki if she had ever felt jealous. Mizuki couldn’t think of any instances, and didn’t see how Yuko could be jealous of anyone. Yuko explained, “Jealousy is like a tumor growing inside you. There’s nothing you can do to stop it.” Yuko said she was going home for a funeral and asked if Mizuki would look after her name tag. “I don’t want a monkey running off with it.” Yuko didn’t come back. They found her body a week later. She had slit her wrists... Mizuki looked for the name tags, which she had kept, but they were gone... After the ninth session, Mrs. Sakaki said, “If things go as planned I should be able to determine a definite cause, and even show it to you... The following week, Mrs. Sakaki took something out of her purse. It was the two nametags from school. “These were stolen from you. That’s why you had trouble remembering your name. She took Mizuki to the basement, where her husband and another man waited. In a small storage room there was a chair on which a monkey was sitting. “I’m very sorry,” the monkey said. “I take people’s names. It’s a sickness.” He’d tried to steal Yuko’s name and had traced it to Mizuki. Mr. Sakaki thought the monkey should be killed, but the monkey pleaded, saying that, by taking Mizuki’s name, he had also taken certain dark aspects of her personality away. Had he been able to take Yuko’s name in tme, she might not have killed herself...
Not exactly a boost of positivity yeah? I guess I will still read his works, but always, have a reality check on my own emotions.
- Location:Home
- Mood:
awake - Music:Sigur Ros
This was supposedly penned by someone at Bear, which has been hogging the headlines recently for its most dramatic landslide.
SING TO THE TUNE OF 'BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY' BY QUEEN
Is this the real price?
Is this just fantasy?
Financial landslide
No escape from reality
Open your eyes
And look at your buys and see.
I'm now a poor boy (poor boy)
High-yielding casualty
Because I bought it high, watched it blow
Rating high, value low
Any way the Fed goes
Doesn't really matter to me, to me
Mama - just killed my fund
Quoted CDO's instead
Pulled the trigger, now it's dead
Mama - I had just begun
These CDO's have blown it all away
Mama - oooh-hoo-ooo
I still wanna buy
I sometimes wish I'd never left Goldman at all.
(guitar solo)
~~~
I see a little silhouette of a Fed
Bernanke! Bernanke! Can you save the whole market?
Monolines and munis - very very frightening me!
Super senior, super senior
Super senior CDO - magnifico
I'm long of subprime, nobody loves me
He's long of subprime CDO fantasy
Spare the margin call you monstrous PB!
Easy come easy go, will you let me go?
Peloton! No - we will not let you go - let him go
Peloton! We will not let you go
(let him go !)
Peloton! We will not let you go - let me go
Will not let you go
let me go (never) Never let you go - let me go Never let me go – ooo
No, no, no, no, No, NO, NO ! -
Oh mama mia, mama mia, mama mia let me go
S&P had the devil put aside
for me
For me, for me, for me
~~~
So you think you can fund me and spit in my eye?
And then margin call me and leave me to die Oh PB - can't do this to me
Just gotta get out - just gotta get right outta here
Ooh yeah, ooh yeah
No price really matters
No liquidity
Nothing really matters - no price really matters to me
Any way the Fed goes.....
- Location:Office
- Music:Massive Attack
Its been good. :)
Perhaps my previous work experiences were far from my expectations, perhaps I had less emotional control then, perhaps the pay wasn't ideal (isn't that a common gripe anyway), but so far so good. :D
I'm still getting used to the hours, and I also realized, getting to sleep at the right time, ie 2am, takes a certain amount of discipline. So does keeping appointments on time.
If you've not already noticed, XXXXX XX joined us almost two weeks ago, as a sub. Her last stop was ST Infocomm. She plays the piano and computer games. XXXXX, a Civil Engineer by training, hopes to stay. Welcome, welcome ..... ....
HAHAHAHA.......
I guess she wrote that because as the conv goes:
She: "This is your 1st job right?"
Me: "No, my 4th."
(Look of surprise): "your 4th! U plan to stay?!"
Me: "Yes, of course!"
When the email came out, I spent the 1st few mins laughing at my desk, then moved to the pantry to continue since I sit quite near her.
- Location:Office
- Mood: calm
And that's not counting the wedding I attended in January this year, or the promise I made last year to be a "jiemei" (chinese for bridesmaid) for this year in March.
The realization just hit home that I will be busy with weddings till May. Well on the plus side, it does give me occasion to wear nice dresses and doll up. But I am scared. If I lose my friends to the other side, I will be hanging around mostly couples.
Sigh..... the impending loneliness...
My New Year Resolution:
Must come up with more interesting posts.
Hee....
Whining aside, I have been having Amy Winehouse on replay at my computer. Angsty, rhythmic, big beats, and all written originally. On top of that, her strong and clear voice knocks the wind out of you and makes you reminisce about what's past. She really deserved her Grammy win. I feel my description of her music isn't doing her enough justice so please check her out on this link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aygAu1x2
Hopefully interesting post over and out. :)
- Mood: hungry
- Music:Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
I spent New Year’s Eve in A Roomful Of Blues listening to familiar favourites, shouting along to 4 Non Blondes ‘What’s up’ and getting to know my friends better. What more could I ask for anyway?
To usher in all that is new, fine and dandy, I feel it is only appropriate I give 2007 a recapitulation, which is apt, considering the unexpected grand finale that was New Year’s Eve.
A meme to wrap up 2007 :)
1) Where did you ring in 2007?
In the Singapore Art Museum with Justy and her hubby, and Alan and Iris, another happily married couple.
2) What was your status by Valentine's Day?
Job-hunter.
3) Were you in school (anytime this year)?
No.
4) How did you earn your keep?
I work as a writer for the government. Haha….
5) Did you have to go to the hospital?
Yes, when my colleague gave birth.
6) Did you encounter the police?
Not directly.
7) Where did you go on vacation?
This is something I hope to change soon… I only went to Rawa.
8) What did you purchase that was over $500?
Do things above $400 count? My CPU, my mattress
Oh and my PIANO!
9) Did you know anybody who got married?
I attended 5 weddings. And some I didn’t
10) Do you know anybody who passed away?
A friend’s friend.
11) Have you run into anybody you graduated high school with?
Lots. One example: My sec school classmate, Faye Wong (I kid you not), mistakenly called me on a Friday night looking for her colleague with the same name as me. On Saturday afternoon, as I was wandering Far East Plaza, I bumped into her. Without missing a beat, she exclaimed “You are late! I called you yesterday reminding you to be on time didn’t I?”
12) Did you move anywhere?
I moved cubicles at work.
13) What sporting events did you go to?
Shape Run
Great Eastern Women Run
14) What concerts did you go to?
Sa Chen concert
Japanese electronica concert
NUS YST Piano concert
17) Where do you live now?
Singapore
18) Describe your birthday.
Spent it at La Trattoria Lafiandra (It’s at Prinsep Street) eating crepes with Shir and Trish.
19) What's the one thing you thought you would never do but did in 2007?
Take up dance lessons.
20) What is one thing you regretted this year?
Not controlling my temper. Thinking through decisions.
21) What's something you learned about yourself?
Don’t laugh but I am actually quite shy… I said don’t laugh!
22) Any new additions to your family?
Hmmm….
23) What was your best month?
None actually. All were pretty survivable.
24) What from pop culture will you remember 2007 by?
Poor Britney.
25) How would you rate this year with a scale from 1 (shitty) to 10 (excellent)?
6
To the people who used this meme, if you think I stole this meme off you, you are definitely right. Contact me to get your royalty fee yeah….
- Music:Creedence Clearwater - Have you ever seen the rain
However, the office culture coupled with my sedentary lifestyle left me no choice. After I discovered I put on quite a substantial amount of weight (oh horror of horrors!), some action had to be taken. I started running again.
To force myself to run, I joined the 5km Shape Run and the 10km GE Women Run. My training plan initially was to run with some colleagues. Eventually we formed a running group and we would run once a week. Occasionally I would run around my neighbourhood if I didn't get home too late from work.
My Shape Run timing was nothing to crow about. And now, to the juice of this post. My timing for the GE Run was 1:07:16! I was only aiming for 1:15:00!
Later, on checking the GE Women website, I found out my chip time was 1:04:20! Yippee! I actually trounced all my previous records. Not that I rememeber running 10km in the past but still, this was very encouraging.
The credit though, should go to my dear friend Evelynn, who I happened to bump into during the run. It was just like when we were back in secondary school, where she had absolute faith in almost all my abilities. She kept yelling over her blaring ipod music, "Go faster if you have to! Don't wait for me!" Sheesh, there I was, running for my life and almost dying from lack of oxygen. Not to mention the little voices in my head which kept urging me to slow down, walk, stop and give up.
She came in earlier than me, of course, and didn't look any worse for wear.
Thanks Evelynn, for being so chipper and for having that unwavering faith of yours! This picture is for you! Run Lola, Run!
I say, beating your personal expectations of yourself is definitely euphoric, not to mention confidence boosting. Everyone should try it at least once.
- Location:Office
- Mood:
accomplished
Anyone with at least a passing interest in philosophy would have heard of Ayn Rand, a philosopher primarily, author and the founder of Objectivism; A school of thought that emphasizes the selfishness of man to create, build and work for himself. It influenced many people in the world, and created many fans and detractors alike. She, however, held firm in her belief that selfishness and individualism of men, recurring themes throughout her prolific writing career, would be the best for society in the long run.
Although her philosophies were radical in their day, they are arguably the concepts upon which our capitalistic modern world is based on. Her writings were almost always about man and his place in the world, and encourage man to think independently and for himself. This quality about her books greatly attracted me, being brought up with the adage “Elders know best” where independent thought was considered rebellious.
The Fountainhead was a book I read during a tumultuous period in my life, and it infected me with a will to live life my own way. Armed with self-belief and faux confidence, I tried to apply her philosophies on individualism to my life with disastrously funny results (which makes for another story).
Her ideals on individualism are forcefully driven throughout the story, which might make it hard to swallow at first. Viewed a different way however, The Fountainhead is a very moving love story from all angles, with lengthy discourses about architecture and its representation of the human spirit and mind.
To Ayn Rand, love is the building block, the cornerstone of man’s motivation to do anything, shown in the opening of the story. A young and promising architect, Howard Roark, contemplates the beauty of nature and man-made buildings and finds that the beauty is one and the same. This upstart however, is expelled from architecture school for refusing to conform to the design guidelines for his assignments. He finds work with Henry Cameron, a formerly great architect and the pioneer of the skyscraper, who is reduced to being a washed-out alcoholic, as the public cannot accept his ideas and work. Before he dies, he lectures Roark on sticking to his ideals but is secretly hopeful and happy for Roark, as he believes that Roark will succeed against all odds.
And what odds he faces! The love of Roark’s life Dominique Francon, takes his commissions away and gives them to another man, Peter Keating. She believes the world does not deserve his ideas and passion, and it would be better to see mediocre design celebrated than excellent design shunned. Yet his nemesis Peter Keating, armed with principles totally opposite to Roark, has a thriving architecture practice and is lauded for his unoriginal work.
Ellsworth Toohey would represent another theme of feeding off people’s opinions, and knowing it, unlike Peter Keating. An architecture critic in a famous newspaper, he sets out to smear greatness (in architecture and art) in his column. He essentially cannot love anything, because he cannot even love himself.
There are other themes of love and independent thinkers, paired with a love of power. Embodied in Gail Wynand the newspaper magnate, he panders to public opinion with his newspaper, The Banner, the main objective being riches and control. Ultimately, he does obtain money and power to do anything he wishes, but power only as long as he gives the public what it wants, in The Banner.
In The Fountainhead, Ayn embodies the concept of independent and creative thinking, strength of character and conviction of will in Howard Roark, a man who truly loves his work. Compared with Peter Keating, who represents the herd mentality, living off the thoughts of others, and of being a “second-hander” (phrase coined by Ayn), showcased to devastating effect in Peter Keating.
The Fountainhead shows that when man creates, thinks and acts for himself, he will find happiness and fulfillment in the end. Love for self will translate into success somehow. And when a man is too caught up with how he measures up against the perceived ideal of success, there is only sadness and regret.
Some might find the book too preachy and too idealistic in its stand on independent thinking, originality and genius. Others might deem it too difficult, the book being 454 pages long with small print. If anything, The Fountainhead is a worthy read, both for its original storyline and how Ayn weaves architecture and philosophy into living concepts.
The story really inspired me to do things with heart, soul and basically love. To have interest in whatever I was doing, or to do things that I was interested in, and following my heart instead of following the crowd. A must-read for anyone lost in life, looking for purpose, or just looking for a good old-fashioned love story.
- Mood: working
- Music:John Lennon - Love
However, I still feel disillusioned with what I am doing. It's not a step closer to what I want to be when I so-called grow up. In fact, after facing so many obstacles, I really feel like throwing in the towel and letting Fate or Destiny, whoever she may be, show me the way. Take the easiest route, the food served right in front of you, and be happy and contented. Stop trying to fight ennui, and embrace it with both arms.
Unfortunately I can't. Or maybe fortunately. I can't bluff myself and smile and say that everything is fine and dandy, I have a job, people love me and I should be satisfied. I can feel a growing impatience with the people around me, and I think alot of it is due to the fact that I am intrinsically not happy. The thought of just doing any job, and doing what I really want to do on the sideline has the uncanny ability to sink my heart. Which contributes to a sinking feeling most of the time.
Life is said to be made up of a series of choices and decisions. I guess I already made that choice many years ago when I decided on which uni course to take, and most people judge and decide on your character based on the choices that you make, for better or for worse.
In any case, I have a choice. To better my situation, or to make do. And since I cannot make do, then I will have to better it. Cheers to the long and winding road! You never know what you might meet at the next turn. :)
- Mood:
contemplative - Music:Moonlight Sonata - Beethoven
Anyway, places I would like to put on record here are:
1. Manhattan Fish and Co - The food is okay, not bad but they are quite sparing with their sauces.
2. GG<5 - SOME things here are affordable.
3. Mitju - Go crazy here. Shoes, glorious shoes...
4. August Ryan - Dressy ladylike style.
5. Lee Wu - Oriental classy. (4. and 5. are all about shoes btw)
6. Hokkaido Ice-cream - MUST EAT! Scrumptious.
7. My changin place - Ah lian fashion
8. I tried Billy Bombers before with ex-colleagues and the steak burger was not so good. Sigh.....
Does this make you feel like paying Central Mall a visit? For non-shoppers, the major draw has to be the Hokkaido Ice-cream. No doubt about that.
- Mood: thoughtful
- Music:Computer fan whirring away
1. Graphics card went wonky
2. Reinstalled windows
3. Forgot to tell my friend about my backup drive and passwords
4. Waste a whole saturday and piano lesson trying to reconfigure my password for my router and internet
5. Internet only dial-in
6. I discover I have no sound on my computer.
7. Now, still have to configure internet settings on my computer by having to go to my sister's laptop
8. How can I get my social life back without all that online chat? and no music?
So many hurdles to cross for the sake of technology. Sigh......
Yes, this is a blatant plea for anyone generous to donate a laptop to me. Pretty please?
- Music:Colleague singing chinese music
Either that or I am just too lazy to get my ass off the TV couch and write about something that really matters. To me.
It could also be due to the fact that my life is quite boring now. Wake up, go to work, go home, watch TV, sleep. Watching the occasional movie and talking to friends does give me a temporary uplift but the keyword here is 'temporary.' Oh wait, besides trying to fix the computer, the Internet, dealing with crazy people everywhere(home and work), ok la, life is not so boring now. Heh.
Since I have nothing to say, I shall let the movies do the talking.
Recently watched:
1. The Machinist (Oh sleep, I embrace thee, run not away but towards me)
2. Anna Magdalena (err sweet HK movie but a bit too saccharine for my taste)
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (and the China kids behind questioning his every move in surround sound)
4. V for Vendetta (Remember , remember the 5th of November) Knives never looked so cool.
5. Love me if you dare (Now, this deserves a movie review)
6. Bad News Bears (cannot believe Richard Linklater directed this film)
7. The Avengers (zzzzzzz)
Alright, back to work now.
- Mood:
blah - Music:Lullaby - The Cure
I can only assume that the opening was showing us that as life goes on (the shadowplay), time continues its inexorable journey throughout the universe, neither speeding up or slowing down (the wheel powered by human hamsters), and although we inevitably pass on (mummies), we can still shower blessings on our fellow humans below (sparkles and confetti). Slightly morbid thinking, but hey, its the Arts Fest? Anything goes. Ha.
In a bid to be more adventurous and wander out of my comfort zone, I decided to watch Mechatronica by Maywa Denki with Shu today.
Firstly, the lead "musician", if you can call him that, was quite cute. Hee. And the way he spoke English with a very thick Japanese accent was quite endearing too. "Vun Hundered Volts", "EEquipmeant", "Prowduct" were the key words used to explain the weird musical instruments on display.
The "EEquipmeant" meant marimbas deconstructed into flowers which were played when it closed and opened, guitars that played themselves, and the most amazing one, a singing machine, as seen above. As the accordion? of the singing machine moved, it produced a reedy type of voice which sortof matched the weird and kooky "rock" concert.
Mostly, people were laughing at the lead musician's funny antics and the weird and cute instruments. My only grouse was that the ticket was VERY expensive for a one and a half hour concert. Perhaps my readership will not find it expensive at $40.
Outside the concert hall, the organisers also sold some of the cute "Prowduct"s as shown above. The price? $80 for one cute instrument. Needless to say, I made myself scarce.
Nursing a very itchy throat now. Why do i keep falling sick?
- Mood: sick
- Music:You win again - Bee Gees
I PASSED MY PIANO EXAM FINALLY! Haha....
Such news on a friday morning can really brighten up your whole day. You start smiling from ear to ear, laughing to yourself for no reason whatsoever and your soul starts singing.
I think I must have fallen for my piano, since I accord it such emotional behaviour. :)
- Mood: happy
- Music:Vaka - Sigur Ros
I have not written for a long time.
Neither have I been reading.
I feel like a robot.
On hindsight, I feel like a leaf.
Thrown about by forces of economic nature, selling my services to the highest bidder.
Waiting for the best wind to carry me away, but only ending up with a light breeze that might take me back to square 1.
Sigh, so tired till I jumble up my metaphors and aHLEEterations....
Sketch courtesy of Emily R. Feingold
The sketch depicts what I feel like doing everyday at the busstop, MRT train, during lunch.
But surprisingly, with all this weariness, I can still talk.
And talk quite fast somemore. Haha...
Perhaps it's true.
Women can talk the hindlegs off an ass, if it would let them.
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I decided to copy this off some people's blogs for fun.
You google your name with the word needs. Let's say my name is Lucy.
Example: "Lucy needs". And hit on [Search]
2 very apt descriptions came up.
Lucy needs to grow up.
Lucy needs to get a new job. Heh.
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In response to the recent Virginia Tech mass shooting (33 people), all I can holler is:
"What is the world coming to if more and more people, unhappy with their lives, take to shooting people just so they can take more people down with them?"
Will it actually make them feel better? Or they are so depressed and mired in their own world that they can't walk out of their mind prison and see good things for what they really are.
On another note, America's gun laws are too lax. If he didn't have a gun to shoot those people, he would have to resort to a knife. And by the time he knives 2 people, he might even be too tired to take his own life, so he can live out his punishment. And there wouldn't be so many lives gone for something so pointless.
Sigh..... These are dark and tired days. I don't even have energy to feign chirpiness.
- Mood: tired
- Music:Breakout - Swingout Sisters
But there is a danger to planned magic. People end up really believing it and rejecting the reality in front of their eyes. Example: A person who cannot handle the truth and hankers for what other people have, but never questioning what it is that he/she really wants. In the end, because he/she does not get what he/she wants, pain results as a consequence.
I remember reading a book once, I think it's the Incarnation series by Piers Anthony, but I can't exactly pinpoint the exact book title in my head. Well, there was one scene where the Devil, in order to fool the Incarnation 'Time' (who is a person that lives his life backwards to enable the world to move forward), gets his minions to act out a scene from his past, only to insert a few lies here and there, which resulted in a totally different ending, where the Devil finally won. In the book, Good still won over Evil but after alot of hard brain work. Ha. My point? The truth should always be as it is, embellishments are fine, but twisting it to suit one's personal gain is setting oneself on the road to evil. I wonder if the axiom "And the truth shall set you free" works.
Talking about truths, truthful criticism from friends can really affect me. I start doubting my work choices, my current job, my hobby, my character, till it all culminates in a royal headache. I wish I could shrug it all off like how a dog shakes off water from its back. It must be an uplifting feeling shaking off all the cares of this world into oblivion and living your life for yourself. Granted, criticisms help me to adapt to society, to get along with other people, but it can be quite tiring to watch out for so many things at one time, and to always be on my guard. Building a convenient wall sounds like a better solution, because I wouldn't have to pander to other people, since they never get to see what's inside. Perhaps I am just stubborn and refuse to give in.
There is a price to pay for all this heroism against the onslaught of my senses by the world. Loneliness. I can whine and gripe to any friend but if he/she isn't on the same wavelength as me, or worse still, used to be but things have changed, tha after-effect can leave me really all alone. Or is it a cycle that all friendships have to go through? Sometimes it's up and sometimes it's down. Or maybe it's just me and the state of things are actually directly dependent on how I feel at that moment?
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During the weekend, I bumped into an old friend D. After relentless questioning (heh) I managed to weasel out a very important piece of news. He is getting married! In this year somemore! When asked why he didn't say so earlier, he mentioned not wanting the gang to get all excited. I don't know what he meant by excited but it made me realize that I might have to revise all expectations of friends from now on. Sigh.....
- Mood:
indescribable - Music:Leslie Cheung - Ye Qin Xiang Yuan
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