Opinion

Just watched LiveNLoaded, a Channel 5 programme that features local music played live. What I personally think is that local music artistes are not talentless - they are just unrefined. When I hear their music I don't hear a coherent song, I just hear angsty noise; the impression I get from them is that they love music and they love playing music, and they genuinely want to go out there and fill the void of our contemporary music scene. Which is really a problem, I think, because that sort of attitude only gives rise to the clobbered-together, fast-paced and ultimately unrefined feel I get from their songs.

Maybe more time would do the trick. What I think is that we should be more patient with local artistes and not dismiss them with one look as many of us do. I think such an attitude undermines the effort to develop our arts scene more than the unrefined artistes who produce unrefined works. I say this as propoganda for my own interests, of course, but I think we would still agree with that from an objective point of view.

Comforting sounds

I fully concur with a friend's remark that visiting relatives during chinese new year is a part-time job. I would like to add that most times it is nothing but a part-time job.

I guess it's kind of sad for many kids and their older relatives things would devolve to fake smiles and superficial chit-chat. Then again, you can't choose your family members like you can choose your friends. That is, for me, the crucial difference between friend and family. You can't choose your family members like you can choose friends. With choice you are assured the friends you have are people with whom you would enjoy being with. The same cannot be said for your relatives, especially when you don't live under the same roof as them. So maybe we should change the statement to: I guess it's kind of sad for many kids and their older relatives that they were born into their respective families and got related, quite by luck, the way they are related.

It's like throwing you into a room and forcing you to befriend a random person. Many of us would oppose such an arrangement, and yet this is the very sort of arrangement that most family relations can be reduced to. Never mind the fact that maybe your relatives have bought you things when you were young, given you red packets during chinese new year and on your birthdays. Because then you are only indebted to them in monetary terms and I don't see how that compels one to be cordial with them. In fact, if you become cordial with them on the basis that they were very generous to you then I would say the relationship becomes even more contrived than it already was from the start.

The older generation would probably say they are your elders and hence you must be friendly to them no matter what. I think, well. Usually when I hear this I just go along with the flow more because I do not want to upset the status quo, rather than because I find there is any sense is that line of thought.

Ultimately, if you're born with uncles and aunties and cousins and nephews you enjoy being with, then good for you. You're very lucky. The rest of us are not so lucky and have to put up a front every family gathering. After years of doing that it's no wonder that some times, both sides don't even bother putting up a front anymore, which suits me perfectly fine because putting up a front is so tiring.

I still like my grandmother though. I remember the times she would pat my back as I fell asleep, when I was a small kid.

White Winter Hymnal (II)

Someone mentioned that writing concretizes your feelings and thoughts. So maybe you had vague feelings over something, but writing that you are frustrated over that something makes you feel more frustrated than you would have if you hadn't written it down. Another perspective - one which I'm more inclined to actually - is that writing down something makes you think and feel from a distanced point. So, for example, if you write down "Yay I scored very well for ABC", there would tend to be a follow-up statement that starts with the word but. The issue I'm really concerned over is whether the 'but' statements represent what you really think or if they are artifically precipitated by the context of saying "Yay, XYZ". In other words, I wonder if 'but' statements are hypocritical statements.

It's a bit like this: You have a friend who likes Fleet Foxes very much, and you want to buy the band's album for his or her birthday. But you also know this friend doesn't like birthday presents. Then one day you see on his or her blog an entry that contains something about Fleet Foxes and birthday presents. So do you buy the album for him or her as a birthday present? If the entry hadn't appeared, it is likely you wouldn't buy the album - and that is what one could call the natural state of events. Now that the entry has appeared, however, you suddenly feel motivated to buy the present - and yet you know that if the entry did not appear, you wouldn't buy it.

On the one hand we can say that the natural state of events has changed, this is the natural state of events, that is, a friend has hinted about buying the Fleet Foxes album for his or her birthday, so you buy it; on the other hand, we can point out that without the context of a blog post we would naturally not have bought the present. If we need a context of a blog post to provoke us into getting our friend a present we would not have gotten for him otherwise, then maybe our action of getting him or her the present is a bit shameful.

Alright, poor analogy, but I'm sure we all agree White Winter Hymnal is a beautiful song.

Went to Sentosa for a swim with a friend yesterday. Third time there, reminded me of my second time there, which was one of the most pleasant day of my life. Was a weekday and when we arrived there were only a few bikini babes and handsome hunks but it grew more crowded though I didn't really mind because I could sit with my friend on the sand and watch people play sports on the beach and catch starfishes and crabs. There was even a couple of females who had a dog that would sit with them on the beach when they did, swim with them when they did in the lagoon, and wait on the shore wagging his tail when they splashed water on him.

I like swimming by myself to the center of the lagoon where you're all alone with the gentle waves, which sometimes can rise as high as your eyes, thus adding a reasonable level of excitement. In such circumstances I usually imagine myself drowning.

Update/ Aimee Mann, Wilco, Sparklehorse

Ok. I'm feeling quite tired now, which is a good thing because it means I'll be able to sleep earlier tonight.

Ok. Life has been different from the general past recently. I'm spending more time outside, I'm reading more, I'm writing more, I'm turning back to my cd collection, I'm sleeping earlier, I'm waking up earlier, I do static exercises half the times I leave my house and 10% of the times I return, I've become, in a sense, more disciplined. This is actually nothing new - hence I say different from the general past. Pockets of my life have resembled this sort of lifestyle, though none long enough to file away as a chapter in my diary.

I'm taking 4 modules this semester, because I didn't find the 5th one interesting enough (decision was made after the 3rd lecture). It's fine in the general scheme of things because I'm ahead of schedule having done some modules in the special semester . I would've preferred to use those modules to graduate 1 semester earlier, or to offset the higher level modules I'm going to take in the future, but I guess this way is fine too. I am firm on my stand of module selection: I will only take those that I find interesting, regardless of how inconvenient they are, regardless of how tough they are. Hence, as some of you may have realised, I've got 3 8am lectures and I end late on most days, even after dropping the 5th module. One can point out that it's just 1 module and I can just bear with it, but I take my GEM/breadth slots very seriously and would only fill them up with modules I have a keen interest on. By the way, I end late enough to have dinner in school on most days, so feel free to call me up.

Taking 1 module short of the norm means I've got more time than the average person has, and that time will go into reading outside and writing more. 2 writing assignments are in the pipeline, both prose but I hope to do some plays too. Been a long since I wrote plays. I usually pen down rough ideas and inspirations on paper, and right now I got sheets of them. I need to keep on writing.

My music player has very nice 5 and 4-star songs. I wish they allow a rating of 6. Speaking of technology I need to get a new phone and a better sound system too. That means either a very expensive phone that doubles up as a decent music player, or a cheaper phone and a splurge on some speakers. I'm quite tired now.

I'm looking forward to 14th February because I am going to a performance alone. I can't remember the last time I went to a movie or a play or a performance alone. I think it was 1 of Stoppard's double bills. Oh no it isn't. It was The Pillowman, not too bad a play at all. Alone on 14th February is an irony only to the extent you think 14th February is Valentine's Day, and that the day means anything at all.

In any case, I'm looking forward to the performance because it's a time where I can be alone. Try it if you haven't before. Go to a performance, a play, a movie, a late night's supper, all by yourself. Even better when it's night and it's cold. Then you can put your hands in your pocket, walk down the quiet streets, and feel a sense of tranquility no other experience can give you.

I also want to plan for a day out at sentosa with a friend or two on my off day. It's nice to have friends with whom you can spend the day talking little and still feel no unease at all.

I'm listening to White Winter Hymnal now. In my room I go for Aimee Mann. For those who don't know what that is it's a kind of maggi mee.

In other important news, a can of milo now costs $1.90 at the convenience store and tastes more diluted than in the past.

Are you out of your orbit?

You rang? Are you out of your orbit? I will not talk to you while I have a TV. I'm still recuperating from your last plan. Why don't you just stick an apple in my mouth and barbeque me? Well, it's a bit disturbing to see the team's Love Doctor hit the ground and cry "Medic!" What a revolting development. I could put your face in some dough and make me some gorilla cookies. It's a dog-eat-dog world and I'm wearing Milk Bone underwear. Just once I'd like someone to call me 'Sir' without adding "You're making a scene." Can you explain the valet parking in the driveway? The flashing vacancy sign in the front of the house? The billboard on Route 41? How come we overcame and nobody told me? When she threw that toupee out of the window, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. If the guys at work saw me walk in with that, they'd think I'd turned into an English fruit. Hold it Pussaycat, I'm on a roll. Stop ventilating. Eat your salad before it goes cold. Responsibility isn't a sickness - it's an art. Did anyone ever tell you, you have the voice of a songbird slowly drowning in tar? Hey - I'm not the dreamer! I'm the dreamee! People in stucco houses shouldn't throw quiche. I'll jump on you and stomp a mud hole and then stomp it dry! Do bears bear? Do bees be? The ability to witness two men stand toe in toe in the spirit of sportsmanship and pummel each other into insensibility is what separates us from the animals. Who needs TV? We've got Days of our Life right here!

- Ravi Shankar, Sitcomposite: A Cento

Sem2

With 3 lectures starting at 8am, 2 lectures ending at 8pm, and 1 lecture ending at 7pm this semester, I either have a recipe for disaster or a recipe for a healthier lifestyle.

Sheesh

I'm fed up with office workers who don't respond to emails. Over the past week I have emailed:

1) Student Account Enquiry for the payment of my school fees
2) OKTO for skipping an episode of a drama series
3) FASS requesting an explanation of why exam scripts are not returned to students.

Of the three cases all three did not respond to my first email. Of the three cases both Student Account Enquiry and OKTO have not responded to my second email. For the former case I sent a third email asking them how students can pay on time when their enquiries are not answered on time. I hope they get the sarcasm. For the latter case I am prepared to take the matter up the ladder.

Speaking of which I emailed CORS 6 months ago and still have not gotten a reply. To be fair the email is one that probably does not provoke a reply, so I'm going to resend it again to provoke a reply.

What's up with these people? They don't even bother replying: "we're looking into the matter, thank you for your patience" or "we will get back to you soon". Sheesh.

Ponyo

Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea is one the best movies I've watched in a long time. It is simple, unique, and the accompanying music is incredibly effective in immersing you into the film.

Halfway through the show I was thinking of giving this film a perfect score, but the later parts of it changed my mind. There just wasn't a a conflict, some tension, or a tragedy to balance out the sweetness that resonated from most scenes. The best films, you realise, are the bittersweet ones.