The Pump Room

I was expecting to go to somewhere chill last night. Possibly TCC. Possibly coffee. Possibly lounge-y music. Possibly decent conversation.

Of course it turned out exactly the opposite. Clarke Quay was bursting with energy. There was more electricity than an electric dream. There was The Pump Room. Also beer. Also rock n roll. Also indecent conversation.

Jive Talking played many songs, most of which I was surprised I knew. Songs that never really went away despite being popular before I was born. Kind of reminded me of the Halloween Night at Universal, where the Zombies played those type of songs too.

They played a good mix of the old and the new, from Coldplay to Duffy, from Tainted Love to Sweet Dreams. A groom-to-be went up on stage and got stripped to his undies by a married woman. A middle-aged ang-moh lady dancing, quietly confident, like there was no tmr. And there was me, bopping to the beat, wishing that we could stay late and that no one had to work the next day.

The night ended with a familiar voice but an unfamiliar tune. "It's Ke$ha's new one! Remixed!" An urgent chorus... trashy, but terribly catchy. Before I had time to wonder if twenty years down the road, a band in a bar at Clarke Quay would play We R Who We R, I was on the way home.

A spontaneous evening of unexpected fun.

You Again

This movie unapologetically milks coincidences for drama. Her brother is marrying her enemy. Her nemesis' aunt used to be best friends with her mom. Desperate for laughs, it almost used every trick in the Book of Comedy.

It was however, saved by a fantastic cast. Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver and Betty White made everything more amusing than it actually was! It was great watching them go at each other. Kristin Chenoweth was hilarious in her role as the wedding planner as well. I was rather amused at the use of Toxic during the dance-off!

Also, a slight departure from the usual "rom-com", the protagonist is the sister of the two lovers and the movie focuses on her emotional journey as she sees her brother marry the same girl who whooped her ass in High School.

It didn't fare too badly for a comedy. It was funny while it lasted but that's all, don't expect anything more!

First Halloween

RT @ellasyida please lor it looks like something right off Batman & Robin. you're like a cross of Robin & Joker.

Be The Change

"Every time you spend money, you're casting a vote for the kind of world you want."

Anna Lappe put this idea across so succinctly. I was thinking about this before I saw the quote. We have finite resources. And our money is what keeps the businesses going. It determines what companies investors take an interest in and it determines what clothes are fashionable. It determines whether we are concerned about what companies stand for - whether these companies are advocates of anti-animal testing, being environmentally-friendly when coming up with their products or have a vested interest in their customers' well-being.

I think it's important not to be frivolous with money. Every cent that goes to Okamoto tells the world you've been sexing. Every cent that goes to Philips' shaver shows that you are amused by the un-amusing "close shave with a bear" shit. Every cent that goes to a tired, formulaic, boring Hollywood Action Blockbuster deprives the world of a meaningful film with a good story.

We all get caught up in being materialistic and everything has a commercial value nowadays. I think more carefully about how I spend my money. I support companies that design things that appeal to me, that are creative, innovative and unique, that stand for something special, that are environmentally-friendly, that communicate earnestly, that see themselves as something more than a profit-mongering organisation.

This awareness will make me a better citizen in the global marketplace and because we work hard for the money we make, it is the currency of our voice.

We have the power to determine what is important in this world.

The Social Network

The Social Network is a thrilling tale about technology, friendship and money. Considering the excessive amount of time I spent on Facebook, the story of how it all came about was intriguing. So many ideas and functions came from seemingly random events and bits of inspiration. Reminds me of the time when we were studying Communication Histories and Theories - how good ideas came from modification of other ideas, from discussion and from interaction.

It all started with a friend's idea of comparing girl's faces to animals. Zuckerberg was really smart though, tweaking the project as it went along and his insights to human behavior, especially those of college students, were spot on. The need to have an online extension of their lives in the most interactive manner - tagging photos, dating status, "The Wall" and now it has reached a whole new level of crazy - Facebook chat and See Friendship.

All that was no match for the drama though. Ex-lovers, friends, enemies and frenemies - Mark got more than he could handle. It made for a bloody good story. At one point, Sean Parker, founder of Napster (now this was a shocker to me when it was revealed), came between Zuckerberg and Saverin but his contribution to Facebook was pivotal in growing the company. Maybe sometimes you really can't have the best of both worlds.

It got me thinking a lot about entrepreneurship and for most of us, it also got us thinking about our lives. How we spend our time learning about things that other people deem important, being in a rigid curriculum and chasing money instead of chasing dreams.

Maybe it's the other way round. Chase dreams first and the money will come.

Waste of Space

I need to grow up. One bad grade and I don't feel like attending lecture tomorrow morning. Suck it up Jason. Stop being lame. It's not over and you can try harder.

All of a sudden, it's raining. There's the sudden drop in temperature. And the loud roaring of the rain as it comes tumbling down from the heavens and the pitter-patter on the windows. It just makes me emo. It's comfortable to sleep yes, but I'm not in bed. I'm sitting here, thinking.

Sometimes I don't want to be this responsible, optimistic person. Although I try hard to be. I'm also dark and twisty and needy. Illogical and irresponsible, idiotic and indecisive. I'm a bit tired of this yang guang nan hai thing.

In fact, I've even lost my tan.

Maybe it's just the rain. The smell of it and the way it envelopes my existence from the outside. Feeds this moodiness.

I'll just sleep this away.