All pooped and burned out... Or not yet. There are still three more months to go in this battle. But i know if ever i were to screw up in the end, i'll not be blaming myself, 'cause i'm really putting in all i've got.  ¶

18:26 |

 

All good things must come to an end... or become better? Anyway it is, Project Rockstar will be reset today. All past glories and pseudo-stardom would evanesce, so will my four gold singles record. :(  ¶

16:30 |

 

Mars! For sixty-thousand years it has never been this close to Earth - a mere 55' 000' 000' 000 metres, or 78 years worth of ride on the MRT. How exciting (Not the MRT part of course)! For those of you who missed out on the tiny orangy speck, feel ashamed and don't miss your last chance tomorrow.  ¶

00:02 |

 

i'm looking ugly... There is a dearth of self-esteem lately, as an eye-infection scare forces me to give up contacts for my ultra-repugnant pair of glasses. Inwardly assuring myself that a mugger image is just right for this period of time, but a bad vibe is a bad vide, whichever way you address it.

* * *

Thanks Vina, for accompanying me to study yesterday, and listening, though your primary objective was kaypoh-ing. :p

* * *

i'm confused... Where had i gone during those days? What was i thinking? What were you thinking...? i kept going back, searching for some answers each time you walked by... each time you looked away... each time you didn't say 'hi'...  ¶

15:38 |

 

"To be filled in" has been residing here for quite some time now, partly because of the hectic revision for the prelims, partly because of my most serious illness of this year so far, and partly because i'm lazy. i'd rather invest my little leisure time playing some NBA than doing something i'm as stinky at as writing.

Revision is quite alright, though i (still) have no idea how i'm going to do for the actual exams. They are closing in fast and i've never beaten them before. i'm just not confident that i'm going to this time. To be entirely frank, i'm very afraid...

The most serious illness of the year (MSI) began as an extremely minor cut when i fell during a Gryphon's Cup game. Leaving it along proved a mistake, as it got infected after a week. The lymph nodes along my right arm were all swollen, forcing me to visit the doc, which i really dislike. Now the antibiotics are giving me all sorts of side effects like stomach ache, headache and nausea. But i'm recovering...

Well, the part about i'm lazy is just that... i'm lazy.  ¶

14:08 |

 

Since there has been comments about this blog turning into a film and book review site, i guess i would say my bit about music, too. Well, Jay's fourth album is finally out. And in true Jay's style, there wasn't much pre-release hype, no sales gimmicks except for the pre-order vouchers which allows their owners to claim the CDs before they are officially out on the shelves (just like how it was done last year, wonder if the queue was just as long this year). The album did not bring many surprises, though it is refreshing to hear quite a few changes from previous albums. For instance, in track 4 - San Nian Er Ban (Year 3 Class 2), Jay adopted a weird accent which sounded Malaysian to me, and it was funny. Also in track 10 - Ti Tian (Terraces), Jay tried Taiwanese aboriginal vocal style, and was very successful. However, his more hard-rock-like songs are really not to my liking, and disappointedly they do not have nice lyrics to go with either.

Talking about lyrics, Vincent Fang did not really perform up to standard this time. Firstly his "occupancy rate" has dropped from the usual 7 or 8 down to merely 5 this time, and his lyrics are getting a little senseless along the way (think Ye Ye Pao De Ca (Grandpa's Tea). But his Dong Feng Po (Broken East Wind - title of an ancient lyric from the Song Dynasty i suppose) rings good old memories of Jay's first album, where Vincent so masterfully composed the lyrics of Niang Zi (Wife). Both Dong and Niang boast refreshing, poetic lyrics that challenge the way Mandarin pop lyrics are written. Such is Vincent's style, as he had displayed once and again in various other songs - Ai Zai Xi Yuan Qian (Love B.C.), Shang Hai 1943 (Shanghai 1943) and Ban Shou Ren (Half-Beasts), just to name a few. Sadly this trend seems to be faltering, as Vincent did not offer much surprises this time, but instead coughed up a couple of 2nd-rate lyrics. Ironically, the lyric of the hit song Yi Fu Zhi Ming (In The Name of My Father) is wriiten by another guy, Zhang Junlan, altogether.

Overall, receiving another album from Jay still feels like another installment of a fast-paced, thrilling comics series. Before i even finished hearing all 11 songs, i could hardly wait for the next album already. And though Jay gave a bonus of 1 song more than the usual 10 songs in an album, it never feels enough!  ¶

17:14 |

 

After the blessed (especially so 'cause it's a Thursday) half-day ended, the class ambled down to Plaza Singapura for our Learning Journey - watching Homerun! Clemence, Yong Chuen, Serene and i (coincidentally the four who made jellies for Serendipity) went down in Mrs Chan's Hyundai, so we had time to windowshop and contemplate buying the Hang Ten "Singapore I Love You" red T-shirt for National Day celebration tomorrow. The food in the PS foodcourt was unexpectedly good. Will go back sometime.

Anyway, Homerun turned out to be very disappointing. i've never watched Children of Heaven*, from which the local production was adapted, yet i feel shortchanged twenty minutes into the movie. Homerun is a petty and superficial movie filled with trifle complaints and unsophisticated symbolisms, though Jack Neo tried futilely to cover them up under some kind of subtlety. But it can't help but sound awkward when children spurt big words like "negotiation package" and "method of communication". Jack's attempts to address the water issue and Malaysia-Singapore relations at large are well appreciated, but it became irritating when it is shoved into your face every other minute. Overall Homerun still has a complete and smooth plot that at least does not contradict itself or leave the audience hanging in the end. It is probably because the story is a simple one after all. Final verdict: for Learning Journey, it is the lesser of two evils (the other being visiting New Water Plant). :p

* Children of Heaven will be aired on Arts Central on Wed, 13th August, 10pm.  ¶

17:50 |

 

Last night at the Ark was especially well-spent. Although i didn't manage to proceed to the second round (which, according to Clemence, is because my song does not have a climax), i totally enjoyed myself. It was the undivided attention of my twenty-odd audience, including best friends, and the nice quiet cozy setting that made me feel so at ease with my own singing and playing. The most hilarious part came from Yong Chuen (as usual), who was feasting his eyes on Lilian, a resident singer at the Ark. i went to great troubles to stabilize my camera so that i could take some sharp photos of her for Yong Chuen, as the lightings were very dim. The results aren't very impressive. But let's hope it could feed his undying libido. Else the next victiom might be YOU! Hahaha. The photos are up in the album, anyway. :p  ¶

22:25 |