Rush Hour

Bride Wars 1/5

Pointless despite two such accomplished actresses. The idea itself was crappy to begin with but how it played out was worse.

He's Just Not That Into You 2/5

Great moments, but on the whole, doesn't flow. Where's my classic Hollywood narrative? Okay, so with the number of characters it has and its attempt at being different, it kind of neglected the basic stuff. It's a pity because I expected more. I love the "interviews" with people in the middle on their takes of relationships. Those were hilarious.

Marley and Me 3/5

Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston acted well. Owen Wilson was super ai yan. I found the part where he feigned happiness at the revelation of the first pregnancy hilarious. The kid, Patrick was really good too.

I was actually rather enticed by the fact that it was the director who did The Devil Wears Prada. Unfortunately, the part just before the climax was really draggy and I didn't know where it was headed. Left a few people in the cinema teary-eyed though. There are parts that I liked but they didn't really add up, so that was a tad frustrating.

Slumdog Millionaire 4/5

The first thing that came to mind was - wah! editing gao gao! The opening sequence was bloody intense. There were three scenes being featured at one time: Jamal when he was a kid, Jamal being beaten up by the police and Jamal on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. It really is the kind of cinematography I like. It's bold, rapid and layered.

40 Minutes

Today I talked about my entire CCA life in 40 minutes. It is kind of surprising how so many hours devoted to the perfection of skills can be summarised in 40 minutes. But then again all those hours of monotony and repetition can somehow come together and form a story that is bigger than the sum of its parts was certainly well worth every minute telling it.

It was therapeutic and cathartic.

In front of me was the Singapore skyline and in the sky the stars blinked casually and on the very pointy roof of those rounded structures, were stars.

When I look back I see the patterns of the decisions that I've made in my life. The fact that I'm constantly scared of failure and that I'm only willing to attempt things that I'm absolutely confident in has led to spectacular results, but it has probably, inadvertently, caused me to close many doors before I've had a chance to look inside those rooms.

I also have the tendency to want to be the big fish in the small pond as opposed to being a big fish in a big pond. I succeed when people have expectations and belief in me. I find it hard to disappoint others, but I find it okay to have low expectations of myself. That's not how I want myself to be but I've consantly proven this to be a fact.

One thing that I'm proud of is that I'm ready to admit to my weaknesses. I'm not that inclined to boast any more. I'm willing to put myself down, especially if people are already willing to give me credit for what I've done. At the same time I've grown and matured. There's this confidence that's quietly gathering momentum inside of me. I guess it's good that I put myself through more things.

It'd make a collection of good blog entries, I think, if I can bother to sit down and be patient with my memory and then be patient with my writing and then be patient with making sure the words sound right, the sentences mean what I want them to mean and that the story tells what would best represent those rusty memories.

Soon, I guess, especially if you keep encouraging me to discover the hidden story-teller in me.

Priorities

It's a big fucking mess. You know it, I know it. And still we're not going to sit down and do anything about it. It can't be done this way. It shouldn't go on this way. But I'm tired. You're tired. And you're tired. It's a teamwork kind of thing. It requires all of us to be on the same page. But here we are, at this point of time, still in fucking different libraries, not to mention different books and obvi-fucking-ously on different pages.

I want to concentrate on my studies. It's so annoying that I've finally gotten the mods that I'm interested in, but I will get worse grades than normal because they aren't mugging modules and they require my attention NOW. Half of it has gone and there's only half left. I can do great things - direct a great play, and direct a great short film. Things I will be proud of for the rest of my school life. Or I can screw them up.

Point fingers at me. And say it in my face. Because I think it's true anyway.

I can't be bothered any more.

A Modest Win

Yeah, all that effort paid off! We got the 1st Runner Up. For the #1 Dance Crew in NTU, check here. I promise it's worth your time.

Melvin's Birthday

I never fail to get into fits of laughter when I'm with them. Never.

Bro

I came back home with Sidney the day before and he insisted that I put his handsome photo on my blog because it was considered news-worthy. I haven't taken a photo with him... since well, I think our last army chalet, which was super long ago.

Haha.. great to see you again man, hopefully we'll have time to chill soon. Cheers!

The Hard Part

Closing Ceremony

Last year I performed at the Opening Ceremony of the Hall Olympiad. This year I performed at the Closing Ceremony.

I know I could probably write more about it, such as the effort I put in, the time I sacrificed. But this isn't about me. It's about the team. Everyone had their input into our final performance. Be it from the choreography to costume (I designed the shirt!!!), everyone had a small part to play. It was a tiring process going from nothing to something and it was awesome to have the audience cheering for us at the end. It was great that our effort was recognised.

Thank yous to the people who were cheering in the crowd, all those people from Hall 12 and Ros and Yiling. Okay so it did make me a tad more nervous but it's encouraging to know that there are people rooting for you.

Surprisingly, our virgin dance crew came in second. We were ecstatic because it was unexpected, because for many of us it was our first time dancing at this kind of level, and we probably had a tad less choreography than other crews. But as it turns out, no less in terms of quality.

We screamed and screamed and screamed and cheered and cheered and cheered. Jumped up and down and up on stage and we just could not keep still. I had my hands on my head in stark disbelief and so did everyone else. It was just insane. Mayhem.

First went to Hall 1 who were God-like. It's such an honour being second to them.

A video will be up soon, but I screwed up quite badly at the front. The back was awesome though, so I'm looking forward to seeing that! We went to Ah Fang for Roti Prata because there was a line in our dance sequence about Prata and Teh Tarik. It was the funniest shit ever.

We walked back, singing, dancing, reminiscing about our dance rehearsals and listening to songs that we did during warm up, down the dark, wide empty streets of NTU.

It was really amazing. I know I've been a bit... out, of hall activities for a long time, but this is one of those defining moments of my Uni life.

Spotlight

Thank you all for coming down today to watch the full dress rehearsal. I was glad to see the familiar faces although you could probably tell that I am not that good at dancing. And that I'm not used to the spotlight any more.

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You can tell a person's state of mind by the state of the things around him. A fishtank that's 1/5 full of water. A potted plant that's 4/5 wilted. A desk that has everything from fish food, sweets, googles, instant noodles, cupcakes, notes and a candle just occupying all the space, like a big, angry mob filling the streets.

It's just a state of mind.

Loser / Wreck

It's 5 AM and I'm sitting here, staring in front of the computer. I'm supposed to be doing my assignment but I can't seem to get started. My mind is unable to focus despite the fact that 3 hours have gone by and I haven't done anything productive. It's torture to need to get something done yet be unable to do it. It's that paralyzing sense of helplessness.

The sun's going to rise in a couple of hours. If only the good life was handed to me on a silver platter. I want to know how to be contented. I want to know how to be happy. I want to know how not to hurt. I want to know how to slow things down.

Why is it moving on fast forward all the time? Why are there deadlines? Why do I not know what I want.

And I could say it a million times and it wouldn't be enough.

I hate whiny stuff. I miss the good times... where I'd go on and on about music, about my happy life, about stupid, juvenile, pointless but happy stuff. Light, floaty, sweet - just like cotton candy. Superficial but if it looks so good that you'd eat it, why not? I don't mind if people don't take me seriously. I don't need to emo to show that I have depth to my thinking.

I need that secret formula for that happy ending. I know, then there'd be no point living life and finding out all the surprises that it can bring. There's no formula. There are no rules.

There’s no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of.

If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.

I'm so-so-so-sorry. I'm so-so-so-sorry. I didn't mean to break it baby.

I can't wait for Thursday.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

“We were meant to lose people. How else would we know how important they are?”

It was really awesome and might probably be the first DVD of a film that I'll ever get. Somehow the themes and messages resonated with me and probably how I feel about life at this point of time. The segment about cause and effect that led to the female lead getting knocked down by the cab was awesome. There were many moving moments that were captured and expressed powerfully. It's the kind of storytelling I like - full of drama that's true-to-life, that crosses cultures and beliefs.

The dialogue was really wonderful.

And I enjoyed looking through the eyes of a character that has to live with such an unusual circumstance. I get what people say when they thought that Brad Pitt's activing was bleurgh and personally I don't like people who are too pretty for the screen (like Tom Cruise). This is probably the second movie that I've seen featuring Pitt after Mr and Mrs Smith. I thought the plot travelled along at a decent pace so he was fine in it. Cate Blanchett, on the other hand, was freaking awesome. She drove me out of my mind with her acting in Notes On A Scandal and this one's equally engaging and effective.

At 3 hours I think some people might find it a little long but for me it was magnificent storytelling. A story of lives with all the best bits fleshed out that I was hooked to every moment and observing how things led from one to another.

Brilliant and refreshing.

5/5

Rossypoo's Birthday

There was more sex talk this time round because of some female magazine but Ros and her smile when we gave her the present was the absolute highlight of the night.

It's Like Because

Tomorrow night I am supposed to be...

1. Interviewed for a project
2. De-thorning roses for FOC
3. Cooking for combined-hall bazaar for DND
4. Attending a meeting with the CI Club
5. Having Dance Rehearsals

Unfortunately there is only one me, so something's gotta give.

I'm so dead tired today after reshooting the 225 project. I was so excited about directing my portion but the sungun died on me. I was very angry with that because it could've been much more exciting but I guess it was meant to be. I don't dare to impose on my actors and groupmates any more. It was a decent effort.

I am so looking forward to Thursday. It's my only day off. Well not totally because I have tuition but yeah, Thursday is a good day. Friday will be spent editting, Saturday in Suntec for NTU Openhouse and Sunday will be an entire day of tuition.

Sombody save me.