i guess things like a natural disaster right at the end of the year really puts things in perspective. on looking at the front page the day after the attack, my first thought was 'wow. cool.' i mean, how sick is that? a tsunami killed thousands around the world and all i could think of is how it would have played out on a b-grade hollywood flick. we singaporeans are way too sheltered, literally. even as my sympathies go out to the poor people, some part of me remains indifferent, un-feeling. i don't know why. sometimes you just gotta wonder, is this God's twisted way of cutting down the overpopulation?
while waiting for my o.c. episode to finish downloading (sadly, that's only season 2 ep 1), here's the music that rocked my year.
JILL SCOTT ` BASEMENT JAXX ` CAETANO VELOSO ` ZHANG ZHENYUE ` LAMB ` MY MORNING JACKET ` DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE ` KANYE WEST ` BJORK ` FRANZ FERDINAND ` THE ARCADE FIRE ` MODEST MOUSE ` LORETTA LYNN ` PJ HARVEY ` THE KILLERS ` WILCO ` SCISSOR SISTERS ` ELLIOTT SMITH ` JET ` THE SHINS ` KEANE ` THE THRILLS ` PATTY GRIFFIN ` INTERPOL ` JOSS STONE `THE LIBERTINES ` THE STREETS ` CASSANDRA WILSON ` BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE
and people i'd like to hear more of in the coming year
WEEZER ` DEVENDRA BANHART ` THE DOVES ` THE FLAMING LIPS ` GOLDFRAPP ` NEKO CASE ` IRON AND WINE ` THE WALKMEN ` THE DANDY WARHOLS ` CAT POWER ` CALEXICO ` SPOON ` STINA NORDENSTAM
12.26.2004
haha.. i did the seemingly impossible today.. i went to zhichao's house for his christmas thing.. at first i thought there would be tons of people, but luckily it was mostly the class.. at least for most of the evening, until more non class people like jeanette and assorted girls came later.. it was weird at first but things got better.. especially during the game of taboo when the guys lost terribly to the girls. it's this game in which you have to guess the word. the guys were just dense and the only word we got real quick was "what's the opposite of nsf?".."regular!"
on the other hand the christmas eve thing was more familiar territory. xk, thanks for the really nice calendar again. but everyone was knocked out rather early even though there was no alcohol (good clean wholesome fun). next year it's keith's turn!
i've got one entire week ahead to kill.
on the other hand the christmas eve thing was more familiar territory. xk, thanks for the really nice calendar again. but everyone was knocked out rather early even though there was no alcohol (good clean wholesome fun). next year it's keith's turn!
i've got one entire week ahead to kill.
12.19.2004
morris, you're not the only one with the headache. a combination of cough medicine and too much shaky handicam in ocean's twelve sent me to a state of semi-hallucinatory drugged out high last night. woke up this morning still feeling bad. so much so that when keith teo called me to tell me that he could get the ipod at a discounted price i couldn't muster up excitement at all. then i went out to look for the 15 dollar present for the gift exchange on friday. but then there is nothing decent you can buy for $15. we should have set the budget at $30? at least that will get a tshirt or the gold pair of havanaias that's so bling bling. i picked up a copy of catalog, which along with juice, is one of those magazines that make you want to buy everything in the shops. and i couldn't resist buying another 2 books from kino with the 20% discount coupons in 8 days, although next time i'll go to sunny bookshop first - the prices are unbeatable.
and 8 good reasons to watch ocean's twelve
1. david holmes' soundtrack
2. george clooney obseesing over his age
3. the asian kid in a suitcase
4. a blur matt damon
5. julia roberts as julia roberts is pretty darn funny
6. watching an aeroplane land - sideways
7. nightfox dancing his way through laser beams
8. catherine zeta jones' hot! hot! hot! red jacket suit
and 8 good reasons to watch ocean's twelve
1. david holmes' soundtrack
2. george clooney obseesing over his age
3. the asian kid in a suitcase
4. a blur matt damon
5. julia roberts as julia roberts is pretty darn funny
6. watching an aeroplane land - sideways
7. nightfox dancing his way through laser beams
8. catherine zeta jones' hot! hot! hot! red jacket suit
12.17.2004
more complaints:- MORE depressed than ever (and yet less than 95 days).. am certain that we'll never get a nights off before we ord, thanks to our mother******* ****** of an OC. see, every monday, i am like houdini, bound and shackled in chains, tossed into the deep freezing water. and the whole week is an excruciating struggle to get out. and they won't even let us have nights off for a gasp of air! and that is why in the most recent survey i condemned everything. do you feel like you're part of the battalion. not at all. do your commanders care for you? zilch. in times of war, do you trust your OC to lead? hell no.
better things:- parry's bronco tracks totally smashed a snake to bits. kudos to his driver for picking up the gut spilling bits and pieces from under the wheel.
i'm reading a world war II book that is rather interesting. i love reading about shady politics.
better things:- parry's bronco tracks totally smashed a snake to bits. kudos to his driver for picking up the gut spilling bits and pieces from under the wheel.
i'm reading a world war II book that is rather interesting. i love reading about shady politics.
12.11.2004
WE call it active disinterest. the act of not caring but yet appearing to do so. aru puts it best: "after treating us like shit, they still expect us to fight atec for them? they can suck my cock!" the SAF is like one huge stage. everything is rehearsed and orchestrated to perfection in order to put up a good impressive show for onlookers. and we are but puppets strung along to help those high level officers get their promotions. and it seems that all our weekends are burnt and there's no chance of clearing our off. sometimes i wonder if it's wise to argue back or just pretend to listen. we call it active disinterest.
oh yeah zerodross i heard part of the cat power song. it's real cool. i once watched this interview clip with cat power in which they took her to sing karaoke. she really has the ability to make every song she sings cat power-ish. who knew she could do trip hop too?
i love those mp3 blogs (see stereogum; fluxblog)where you can download free mp3s from indie bands. i got a cover of britney's toxic that rocks. and funky christmas songs by death cab for cutie and the walkmen. also realised that the guns-n-roses/creed wannabe song 'i don't want to be' by that gavin guy which has been playing on radio is the theme song of one tree hill. after watching one episode of one tree hill last week i realised that it's like the lesser cousin of the o.c. cuz there are two half brothers in school, bgr and parental problems and a dash of teenage pregnancy.
saturday night on orchard was really chock full of people. there was just no escaping from them. the singapore river scene was a much welcome respite. and we lost the last chance to take the bumboat ride, and i swear, you people will never get to take the bumboat ride again with the same people in your lives.
my men are damn fashionable. one guy bought g star jeans and another wants expensive wallets. meanwhile, the biggest news this week was that two plots of land are going on sale at orchard, which can only mean that there will be more places to hang out at. the next night i had a weird dream about shopping at that new mall and trying on weird shoes and there were elephants walking down the street...
oh yeah zerodross i heard part of the cat power song. it's real cool. i once watched this interview clip with cat power in which they took her to sing karaoke. she really has the ability to make every song she sings cat power-ish. who knew she could do trip hop too?
i love those mp3 blogs (see stereogum; fluxblog)where you can download free mp3s from indie bands. i got a cover of britney's toxic that rocks. and funky christmas songs by death cab for cutie and the walkmen. also realised that the guns-n-roses/creed wannabe song 'i don't want to be' by that gavin guy which has been playing on radio is the theme song of one tree hill. after watching one episode of one tree hill last week i realised that it's like the lesser cousin of the o.c. cuz there are two half brothers in school, bgr and parental problems and a dash of teenage pregnancy.
saturday night on orchard was really chock full of people. there was just no escaping from them. the singapore river scene was a much welcome respite. and we lost the last chance to take the bumboat ride, and i swear, you people will never get to take the bumboat ride again with the same people in your lives.
my men are damn fashionable. one guy bought g star jeans and another wants expensive wallets. meanwhile, the biggest news this week was that two plots of land are going on sale at orchard, which can only mean that there will be more places to hang out at. the next night i had a weird dream about shopping at that new mall and trying on weird shoes and there were elephants walking down the street...
12.03.2004
it's finally december. the last month of the year usually means holidays, sales, and that another year has passed. it is also fraught with anticipation of the new year, the nagging feeling that you have wasted another year doing nothing, thinking about what you have actually accomplished (nothing) and whether you have met any of your new year resolutions (can't remember). i'm telling you this because i feel that i'm growing old too fast. before i know it, i'll be a work-slave and nothing would have changed. i will still dread going to work on monday, hang out late on friday nights, spend too much money and have no purpose in life. and december will come again and again to smack me in the face and remind me that time is running out.
brilliant idea #1: i could take a picture of my face every week and do that for about 20 years and get 20X52= 1040 portraits and then sequence them in time and make a movie and at a rate of 5 shots a sec i could watch 20 years of my life fly by in 208 seconds. of course this raises the question of whether i can sustain this for so long and why haven't i thought of this earlier, like say, when i was 5 years old so i can end the project at 25. if i had a child i could do this from the day he's born but that would probably end up giving him a scarred and traumatic childhood. and also the fact that if i use my digital camera the jpeg format will likely be obsolete in 20 years time. there is also this photographer michael wesely who takes long exposure photos, sometimes running up to 3 years. what he comes up with are those ghostly shots where everything is all semi translucent and only the stationary remain.
brilliant idea #2: you have a clothing store and you enter the store through a mirrored tunnel. on both sides of the tunnel there are the changing rooms, from which one can look out. it's like reverse voyeurism, kind of like the roadside toilet made of one-way mirrors that somebody built in some country. what makes it fun is that people can pretend to stare and they wouldn't know what they're staring at.
i'm having the irritating post-outfield hand itch. going outfield is truly a cathartic experience. basically all you ask is "what am i doing here", or "when will this thing end". your body feels like a piece of shit, your hair has ants in it, your skin is desecrated by mosquito bites, your uniform is perpetually covered with a layer of sand, you smell dank but everyone smells the same so you can't smell it, your boots have been soaked in muddy water and your brain is half asleep but you have to keep your eyes open. oh by the way F.K. is a certified idiot; he obviously doesn't know that right begins with the letter R.
every morning when i wake up the first 3 thoughts that run through my mind are:
in this particular order,
- is anyone else awake? (raises head to scan the bunk)
- what's the bloody time?
- what's the point?
i like burning cds for people. it allows me to a) choose songs based on a theme from my back catalogue of mp3s b) congratulate myself on having so many mp3s to choose from c) delve into the person's psyche and think of what he/she may like d) discover songs that i don't recall ever hearing.
there is a chinese singer sandee chan who is supposedly the queen of the chinese indie scene and her reviews have been very promising (they compare her to portishead). might just move me into buying my 4th chinese cd. i love 同类 by 燕姿 because there is this line which goes 我拉住时间 它却不理会 有没有别人 跟我一样很想被安慰. i can really identify with that but so do many other people i guess. if you can't see the chinese, change the encoding.
brilliant idea #1: i could take a picture of my face every week and do that for about 20 years and get 20X52= 1040 portraits and then sequence them in time and make a movie and at a rate of 5 shots a sec i could watch 20 years of my life fly by in 208 seconds. of course this raises the question of whether i can sustain this for so long and why haven't i thought of this earlier, like say, when i was 5 years old so i can end the project at 25. if i had a child i could do this from the day he's born but that would probably end up giving him a scarred and traumatic childhood. and also the fact that if i use my digital camera the jpeg format will likely be obsolete in 20 years time. there is also this photographer michael wesely who takes long exposure photos, sometimes running up to 3 years. what he comes up with are those ghostly shots where everything is all semi translucent and only the stationary remain.
brilliant idea #2: you have a clothing store and you enter the store through a mirrored tunnel. on both sides of the tunnel there are the changing rooms, from which one can look out. it's like reverse voyeurism, kind of like the roadside toilet made of one-way mirrors that somebody built in some country. what makes it fun is that people can pretend to stare and they wouldn't know what they're staring at.
i'm having the irritating post-outfield hand itch. going outfield is truly a cathartic experience. basically all you ask is "what am i doing here", or "when will this thing end". your body feels like a piece of shit, your hair has ants in it, your skin is desecrated by mosquito bites, your uniform is perpetually covered with a layer of sand, you smell dank but everyone smells the same so you can't smell it, your boots have been soaked in muddy water and your brain is half asleep but you have to keep your eyes open. oh by the way F.K. is a certified idiot; he obviously doesn't know that right begins with the letter R.
every morning when i wake up the first 3 thoughts that run through my mind are:
in this particular order,
- is anyone else awake? (raises head to scan the bunk)
- what's the bloody time?
- what's the point?
i like burning cds for people. it allows me to a) choose songs based on a theme from my back catalogue of mp3s b) congratulate myself on having so many mp3s to choose from c) delve into the person's psyche and think of what he/she may like d) discover songs that i don't recall ever hearing.
there is a chinese singer sandee chan who is supposedly the queen of the chinese indie scene and her reviews have been very promising (they compare her to portishead). might just move me into buying my 4th chinese cd. i love 同类 by 燕姿 because there is this line which goes 我拉住时间 它却不理会 有没有别人 跟我一样很想被安慰. i can really identify with that but so do many other people i guess. if you can't see the chinese, change the encoding.
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