Saturday, January 20, 2007
One Last Dance-- a review.
This is by miles the most literary movie i watched in years. Initially i walked out of the theatre thinking i could come up with something better, but, on hindsight, i was way too wrong. In fact, it beats the previous movie i watched (stranger than fiction by a whole hell lot). Till now, i still cannot piece together everything in the movie. Firstly... the main plot... which has all its sequence jumbled up. Second, the coffee and tea... what on earth is that? Thirdly... the game of chess... what's that too? It got me thinking quite abit, but working on the premise that the answer is all around us, i shall attempt to provide some spoiler to the movie.
Looking at the poster to the movie gave a small hint on what to expect... its the poster that aided my understanding, it show T's face being "jigsawlized". First clue that the sequence of the plot is a complete haywire. 2nd, somewhere early in the movie, Ko commented on the way he mixed his earl grey way tea is reversed, but T was so adamant that what he does is logical (which in actual fact, it was completely illogical).
Here's my interpretation: Story begins with T (T for tea) standing at a ticket booth (he is gonna run to somewhere, but i have no idea why or where) when he saw Mei (M for Milk) (Ko's (K for Kopi?Koffee?) sis) and it was love at first sight. Coincidentally, the next assignment he got was from Ko, which after he complete it, he made use of the chance to get Ko to introduce Mei to him. On the other hand, the mafia leader, whose son was kidnapped by Ko got T to avenge his son by killing Ko. However, T couldn't bring himself to do it. Nonetheless, Ko got into trouble with the italian mafia whom he was running errand for and got killed. Not only that, Mei got raped by the italian mafia's men. T wanted to avenge so he seek Arthur, one of Ko's accomplish for names of all those involved. T then went on a killing spree. However, on the faithful night, Mei chanced upon the italian mafia and got overran by her own emotion wanted to kill the mafia on her own. However, T, in a bid to protect her killed the mafia on his own, which led to his own death. He has made his own public killing and lady luck ran out on him.
That was the geist of it. So now let's try to stuff the clues in. Firstly, earl grey tea is not grey, its dark red. the whole movie has 2 main colour, red and orange. And what happen when you add milk to red? it turn orange (or so i think). basically when the milk is completely mixed into the tea. the story ends. Why i think Ko is coffee... cos firstly i cannot make sense of all the espresso and cafe au lait in the whole movie. but i still want to think that Mei means milk, after all cafe au lait is espresso with milk. can't really explain that part.
at the same time, i also cannot recall the conversation between the policeman and T. i think they provide a strong metaphor to the plot of the story. but the chess game does have a meaning. the first move was the policeman taking his bishop (in this case is Ko's dead), and then moving to attack the queen (rape of Mei) before ending with a check (the final scene)(the order of moves is in that).
so on the whole, that is what the whole movie is trying to drive. by messing up the whole plot and making use of abstract metaphor to help us understand the film. but in terms of the message it want to drive across...honestly i don't know.
posted @ 10:50 PM ||
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Look to the top right corner... a new mtv to the blog...
I have changed the video on my blog (see top right hand corner). Its now Chao Ren by Mayday, dated back to 2004. For some I can feel with the lyrics, but i guess the most important about this song is the arrangement. Its very simple, yet moving. It begin with a piano solo. Then come in the string orchestra after the first stanza. By the second stanza, a drummer pops in (together with the bassist) but the attention is on the drummer and it ended off with the bassist to bring the emotion up. Fine, I don't have strong musical background knowledge and cannot really comment more. But this song has very simple arrangement, simple layering, yet the impact is there. It beats alot of DJs out there who tries to complicate things. Somehow, I can imagine how this song will sound like LIVE. Due the simplicity of the arrangement, it is very easy to create atmosphere with it. At this point, I feel the urge to justify the way i sing. Somehow, I no longer believe in following the way the original singer sings it. On one hand, yes, it brings out the mood of the song... but it only does so GIVEN their personality. To carry the song my way, i have to do it my style and sometime, for certain songs, i do have a whole new way to arrange such that the song can be given a new feel.
Was chatting to a friend last night. Somehow, school life get worse each day. People get more and more studious and spoils the bell curve. the profs thought their exams have become too easy and raised the difficulty and alter the curve. Hello? EVERYONE, it gets kinda dumb right? I have no idea why is everybody trying to race to kill themselves. Nonetheless, i realise how lowly i rate my studies in terms of priority. Most people around me covets for mega financial companies, civil service. As a matter of fact, i know very little OF ALL THESE. I realise its dumb not to think of myself too much. Anyway... just to contrast our so called resolution:
XXXX RESOLUTION:
Get an internship in a financial company
Learn SPSS/SAS
Pull up GPA by 0.2
Broaden business contact
Read up more on financial journals
My resolution:
Learn Rollerblading
Raise the profile of both my CCA
Get down to spending quality time on music
To allow some time for me to catch up with friends EVERYDAY
Slim down abit
To get certain aspect of my life moving
Hmm... somehow i feel like a bimbo after listing that down. At this age, I have no plans for the future. Actually, i do have plan, but i know at this point of time, i am not up to it YET. Just to digress abit, Blogger almost made me sign up for a google account and convert to the new blogger, but after a series of forwards and backward, i manage to find some link to get out of a new signup. I can still have my way and there is nothing blogger can do to enforce it. i can openly post that remark here without fear that anything will happen to me. BUT, will i get my way around here, well... we know the ans. If i could, i would post why i think TT Durai will be let off lightly and why Saddem Hussein don't deserve to die. But of course, doing that will be nothing short of suicidal, and possibly a court case. That's the way it is here, I gotta face up to reality and move on. But what can i be? NERD (highly possible)... damn. Back to my resolution... its 3rd week of january, hmm at least, i know i am still on course to acheiving everything.
Next topic: the purpose of this blog. no purpose? i think its part of my attempt to get contact with my peers who don't really have the time to spend with me. i hope they will read the blog and grasp wat goes on in my life (which i hardly mention). of course, sometime, i hope by reading my post, they can be comforted that in life, somethings never change, the ty they know still lurks. In some sense, i meant this to be a demand driven blog. i will post where my sensing lies and hopefully, it can make people think.
I was the reading the papers last week... and i realise Shanmugam actually said something stupid about Durai: You're a dishonest liar. Lawyers are just so good at it right? using words like this to play up emotion. Come on, both words there are repetitive. so in close examination, the meaning of the sentence actually means the opposite. A liar is suppose to lie. But by being dishonest, he is not doing what a liar oughta do... therefore in this case the liar DON'T LIE. (for those of you who are lost, you can take as... by multiplying 2 negative number together... you get a positive number). Come on Shanmugam, you're wordplay backfire... and please don't try to fool a judge, it doesn't work that way. if even a person like me and find such a big error like this...who knows what other errors you have made in court that has went undetected to most of layman's ear but certainly has been caught by judge.
posted @ 9:52 AM ||
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Its easy to get what you don't want. its hard to get what you want.
I think this is one of the most overused phrase that many of us hear it so many times that we are sick and tired of it. but it is kinda true. i was lunching with some sch mates and they were openly gossiping about me. honestly, i thought i struck people as an attitude kid who wouldn't care much about people, but its kinda shocking how many gals i have been associated with. hmm... wait let me recall... 5? and the best part is, none of the names are even close guess. cmon... get a life peeps, you're 20 and you are telling me that plutonic frens between a guy and a gal is impossible? i have sisters too, dun tell me THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE. according to my friend, i am one of the most talk about guys in the faculty... geez, so much for trying to stay low profile. and so much for not coming up to defend myself and the rumours perpetuate... and the thing is, i have no idea how rampant it is until TODAY... and some of them has been ongoing for quite some time. but on the other hand... like i mention, the rumours aren't even close? why not close? cos what i want, i am miles away from even nearing it... that's why no one can guessed it.
somethings happen over cca... i have lost all heart for gaming for what smu has to offer, they play it way to competitvely even amongst themselves. yet, it is this very cca when the old exco want me to take over as president. on the other hand, i had a meeting with the table tennis peeps... they decide not to field a team this year. OMG... how can? i only like 3 years left... before i really called it a day, and you ppl just waste 1 year to NOTHING. how do i feel? table tennis is something which i still feel for. come on, i have been playing it since 1993. i have made it a sideline in my life bcos of other priorities. as a result, i know i haven't acheive my best in that area. so why not use my tertiary education to stage a comeback, and see how far i can go. but i realise not everyone share this "dream" and not everyone has this passion and if want to make it happen, i have to do more. i didn't wanna be in exco but i got rope in... but looking at the current direction. i have to be more than just that... hmm...
posted @ 10:43 PM ||
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Untitled-- go read my previous post before reading this again?
I have no idea if this is a gift it is a bane which i had. i am always able to emphathise with people, somehow, the emotion running in them is always able to surge through me. (sometime, people can tell that i have a sudden change in thought... its like i can suddenly send out impulses). and yes, my gut feeling is quite right towards certain things that goes on around me. my previous blog entry suck... of course it suck. cos no one understood. i know i ain't a literally writer and i am sometime nerdy and can be quite narcissitic at times. but when i made post like that, i am PREACHING, not trying to be nerdy, i am trying to bring some point i want to drive across in a subtle manner, which I FAILED.
nonetheless, let's go back to the previous post. its a fake story for goodness sake, but anyway, i am using the antispin by butterfly now. but the main point lies in the fact that each of the 3 rubber represent something that many of us will encounter in our lives. the 6512--- its something which we can easily have... i wasn't really convincing enough, but to settle for that will to be to choose the easy way out in life. the donic--- is something which we want ideally, honestly, let me tell you all the truth, that rubber dun exist (at least not now), no rubber in the world gives the effect of spin absorbing and spin creating at the same time. sadly, we cannot have this too, cos it doesn't exist. in life, we have to stop wanting the impossible and impractical. the antispin, is something which suit what i want, is something which i can have but to have it come with a price, i need to make sacrifice to a part of the gameplay which i do not place heavy emphasis on. how many of you encounter that? but you know, its hard to fine something which suit us in life. the process of searching is hard... but the process takes patience.
in short, i want to think that the price of my dream is zero. i want to have everything in life and i know its possible. instead of settling for the next best alternative, i know i can have it better. life maybe short, but i know i still can afford to bid my time. to find the fit i want. i spend a long time to customise my bat, from the rubber to the wood, and i had everything adjusted to the mass and centre of gravity i want to suit the strength of my wrist (yes... its to that extent).
posted @ 9:44 PM ||
Thursday, January 04, 2007
some random thoughts on table tennis bat customization
sometime i really wonder what goes on in my brain, i have just watched the Holidays and i must really say, it was thought provoking... but i bet you'll be surprised what kind of thoughts it provoke in me.
for some reason, i got bad feeling with regards to my table tennis. the club president is not doing anything even though tournament is just 3 weeks away. then i was staring at my racket and racking my brain hard on how i should customise my bat this year to suit my playing style... and in all i have 3 surfaces... (not bad, i got inspired by watching the holidays... i must say its money well spent)
Rubber No.1: Double Happiness 6512
Actually, this is a beginner's rubber. Its dirt cheap and it is easily available at almost any bookstore even. It gives average control, average spin, average speed. but most importantly, its the ease of its usage and how easy it is to bring out its potential. of course, this rubber has its disadvantage too. it doesn't really give the user any form of edge, it wears out easily, highly predictable in the spin.
whilst this rubber dun realli suit my style of play, i don't mind tweaking my play to suit this rubber as it is versatile, and quite all round. (cmon singaporean are not so pro, u don't need top notch rubber to play against them).
Rubber No 2: Butterfly Antispin
This is a relatively more expensive rubber. But its actually my most preferred rubber cos it compliment my style the most. i am a control freak who aims to control the game. CONTROL is the key to the game... at least... ty's game. but the main problem is the game can be broken easily because a huge component of the game is sacrifice... SPIN. in the pass, anti spin has served me well, but as the year dragged, it has been increasingly hard for me to excel with a control playing style with anti spin. 2 option... either i change to offensive game, or i change rubber... bleah
Rubber No 3: Donic 40
I was reading through some online guide, basically they have innovated a way to have create spin with rubber through. but i think i still have to make changes to my gameplay to adapt to this rubber. but the main problem with this rubber is the availability. it is just so hard to get my hands on this type of rubber. can't find it. sigh... alternatively, i can consider long pimple, but that is highly hard for both me and opponent to understand and to control cos its simply too unpredictable (i shall not go into the physics behind this...)
oops, i don't understand who would even bother wasting their time reading this...
posted @ 11:18 PM ||
Monday, January 01, 2007
Looking backward, travelling forward... attempt no 3.
This is my 3rd attempt to blog about 2006 in review and something about the upcoming 2007. Its 3 january, i attempted once of each day but failed. not a bad way to start the year eh?
Nonetheless 2006 has been a wonderful year for me. i have done alot, acheived alot (at least from my perspective) of what i wanted. In short (since this is my attempt no 3, i am gonna keep it brief, sick and tired of typing the same shit over and over again). from qualifying for smu table tennis team in style. to being nominated into various committess, to having a short stint in CDC. making videos for numerous projects just for sake of fun. going for gays photoshoot (yeah, i haven't got hold a single one of those really gay pics...).
i think the most important aspect of my life is people. for those of you who knows me, i have long given up on many things in life bcos i was a guy who has nothing but screwed up EQ several years back. many people didn't like hanging around me cos i am one weird nut case. i seriously think that is RI's fault. but in recent years i think i have changed alot over the years in terms of how i interact with people. i managed to find my autograph book dated back in 2002 and man, i am indeed a different person in the way i behave, though in terms of mentality, i am still pretty much the same in personality. people used to like talking to me online only. but i guess i more than just that now.
as usual, my social circle is always changing. but i always know who are my true friends really. people whom i had a small place in their heart. and being myself, i have always give my all to this grp of people who has never let me down b4. as friend, we can really be casual and you can take for granted, i will always do what i can to help you out. and of course, make the extra effort to know person. eg... remember ur phone no so that even if one day my phone fails me, i can still churn out your numbers offhand. but most importantly, its you people who made the year for me.
Looking ahead... i did wanna do quite abit of things this year. for one... really learn blading. i also wanna train my basketball, i am now averaging a pathetic 20% accuracy for field goal and 50% odd for free throw. i need to improve both stat to maybe around 50% and 70%. esp when i play shooting guard, i need to be the one who is able to generate points. table tennis, i do want to move into coaching as i feel i have alot to offer, i mean my standard doesn't allow to compete on national level, but its definitely passable by school standard.
Music... i hadn't really done anything much for this aspect. this year, i want to explorate chinese orchestra. i am always intrigued by the use of zither and er-hu in contemporary music (but guess nothing is gonna come much of it)
Weight... yes i wanna do something about it at long last.
Friends... hey ty still around ok? want to complain, want help, want anything, or even bitch, i am always around. i will continue to spend quality time (when i say time, i mean 1 on 1 time cos i feel that is the best way to know a person). yeah, school sometime sucks, but i guess, as long as we have the heart for each other, nothing's impossible yah?
posted @ 11:26 PM ||
