House of Dreaming

Revival...?

2007-05-07T23:36:00.000-07:00

It's been two seasons since I last updated this blog. Ever since I started using LiveJournal I haven't been touching this blog much, but I realise now that I seriously need to revive this blog if I want to have any hope of getting a job as a fashion journalist or editor. Yes, big dreams. Oh well.

Since S/S 2007 is now passing I think I'll just skip its collections for now (although I'll admit that there were several strong collections for S/S 2007 - and both Lagerfeld and Galliano appeared to be in top form for that season, especially the latter, whose HC S/S 2007 collection was simply out-of-this-world - the way he combined the theme of Madama Butterly with Dior's original silhouettes is just pure genius). Soooo let's move on to the up-and-coming F/W 2007!

How would I describe the whole season in general? Well, I'd say there was a strong significant deviation from the norm for many designers. This coming season is special in that a large majority of designers did something radically different from what they showed in the previous two seasons.

Let's begin with the biggies. How about Galliano for Dior?

For about three seasons, Galliano has been creating (somewhat) wearable pieces for Dior's RTW collections. S/S 2006 used a nude palette and soft, translucent fabrics like tulle, featuring highly desirable dresses, pants and jackets; F/W 2006 took on a rock-and-roll theme showed biker-style coats and jackets with fur trims and heavy lining, bleached grey leather pants and reptile-skin variations of S/S 2006's Dior Gaucho handbag (highly definitive fashion statement favoured by the likes of Kate Moss and Mischa Barton). S/S 2007 was refreshingly refined, featuring sleek suits, well-cut skirts, elegant red-carpet-friendly draped bias-cut dresses, and killer heels.

Then, F/W 2007 comes along. Suddenly, all the modern wearability of the previous three seasonns become history. Galliano introduces croc-skin jackets with thick fur trims and dresses with features that mimic origami. The dresses are no longer as toned down as they were in F/W 2006 or S/S 2007 - they've become so elaborate, so colourful and so strikingly structured that you can't think of them appearing anywhere else except at black-tie events that call for quirky glam.

Whatever does this signal for the ordinary person who can't afford a genuine Dior dress without breaking the bank? Two words - get quirky! It's about time you stopped dressing like everyone else. Here are some of my ideas on how to get quirky without ending up looking like a surrealistic art-piece.

1) Try wearing an accessory that appears a little out of place but matches your outfit somehow. How about an African necklace to go with a cocktail dress? Things that seem out of place and yet match your outfit perfectly (in terms of colour or shape) act a strong touch of quirkiness without spoiling your look.

2) Play with shapes and sizes. Wear a pair of large chunky heels with a short skirt and leggings. Or wear a voluminous jacket with a tight-fitting blouse. Or how about really large earrings with really short hair?

3) Combine ordinary everyday objects into your look. Got some extra mailbox keys that you don't use anymore? Why not turn them into earrings? What about that old chandelier in the attic? Why not pick out the baubles and other shiny bits and glue or sew them onto your cocktail dress for a bit of shine and glam? And for the carnations you got that haven't withered yet, why not adorn your strappy heels with them for the night? Anything and everything can be made into something fashionable with a little bit of imagination.

The above ideas are, of course, not exhaustive. No matter what idea you use, don't be afraid to just experiment. Nothing is set until you step out the front door, so don't be afraid to try out different things with your outfit and checking out the effect in a mirror. Modern fashion is all about experimenting!

Happy matching!

Louis Vuitton Takes Flight.

2006-08-08T05:52:00.000-07:00

In truth, this post isn't about Louis Vuitton at all. "Louis Vuitton Takes Flight" is a mnemonic for remembering Fall/Winter 2006's biggest trends:

Layering, Volume, Tough, and Fur.

Indeed. These four trends dot the pages of every fashion magazine dealing with Fall/Winter 2006 trends.

Let me now provide a look-see into each of these trends:

I. LAYERING

It's all over the place. For fall and winter, keeping warm is essential to keeping healthy and alive. And what other way to do it than to do it fashionably? Fall/Winter 2006 is all about piling on the fabrics without worrying about looking like something out of Galliano's Dior S/S 2003 haute couture collection. Instead, it's all about looking chic.

Master of urban-grunge chic Marc Jacobs shows us how to layer clothing without looking like an exfoliating rock. Here, layering is all about showing the right bits of the lower layers as seen in the picture on the top, where a cosy grey cashmere sweater peeks out of a chic khaki coat. Layering is also all about contrasting the sombre with the shocking - in the outfit at the bottom, a loud leopard print pair of shorts is worn over a solid khaki pair of pants. This season, layering's all about What Lies Beneath To Peek At Or Shock You.

Jean-Paul Gaultier at Hermès shows us how to layer and still manage to be elegant and classy at the same time. The key here - layer in pastel tones and vary the darkness of the pieces. Also, keep to earthen shades such as copper-red, brown or light brown bordering grey - but avoid green, of course. The first outfit shows how tying a scarf of a light fabric around the neck helps to soften the look and make it more elegant. The second picture shows how keeping the layering simple and without excess texture or patterns can maximise the classiness (and to some people, the primness) of an outfit.

II. VOLUME

Alongside layering, volume is another trend this coming Fall/Winter 2006 season. The most memorable silhouettes this season come in all sorts of inflated shapes - bubbles, poofy dresses, outcroppings that exaggerate the figure, etc.

At Alexander McQueen, volume is an element of the heavy classic and traditional costume theme of the collection. It is a throwback to the crinolines that dominated the dress of the classic Victorian, even Edwardian woman, as seen in the picture on top. The puffy volume of the dress is given an illusory boost by cinching the waist with a belt. It is the shapely woman alright, but in an exaggerated way that is hinted at by very smooth and wide curves rather than a blatant hourglass figure. Another possible reason for volume being trendy might be how it makes a woman seem much more imposing - take the McQueen dress above, in the bottom picture. The addition of a cape gives the outfit more impact. Perhaps it is linked to the Tough look trend, which I will look into later.

Similarly, at Balenciaga, volume works as a throwback to an earlier period of time. Nicolas Ghesquière based his Fall/Winter 2006 collection for Balenciaga almost entirely on the great couturier's most memorable silhouettes. Indeed, both outfits shown above have their roots in Cristóbal Balenciaga's original creations. Assuredly, however, volume here isn't merely used as a time-travel device - a skirt with an exaggerated volume (especially around the hip area) juxtaposed with a cinched waist (or narrowly-cut one) creates the illusion of a smaller waist and hence more feminine figure - this is seen in the example in the second picture.

III. TOUGH

This coming fall/winter season, it is no longer fashionable to be girly, soft and cute. Instead, the tough look is in, manifesting itself in various forms on the runway. Fall/Winter 2006's tough girl includes the rocker girl and the military-attire-decked girl.

Rocker-chic in its various forms. From top to bottom, they are from Christian Dior, Gucci, Alexander McQueen and Versace respectively. It's quite clear that rock'n'roll this season has many manifestations, depending on the mood and theme of the collection. Dior by John Galliano has gone for full-on rock'n'roll, with red lighting, bandanas, and sunglasses going with practically every outfit. Rock at Dior is grunge-heavy, almost gothic; colours used are very traditional rock / goth colours, including blood-red juxtaposed with black, purely solid-black pieces, various hues of brown and grey, and a lot of angsty broodiness in general.

At Gucci, however, the mood is a little less sombre. It's still rock'n'roll, but more of glam-rock rather than goth-rock. Gold, psychedelic purple, techno red, etc. - it's all about neon colours and metallic materials (polyester as an example, I believe. Leather too, of course).

Alexander McQueen's rocker girl, strictly speaking, isn't a rocker girl at all - she's more of your typical rebellious teenager. What makes this "rocker" girl look rock at all is her unapproachability - she looks like an innocent schoolgirl, but the fact that she's wearing a pair of plaid pants rather than a girly ruffled skirt says otherwise. Furthermore, she is secure in a large black suit that would've been stuffy if it wasn't for the fact that it fits her form almost perfectly, gently nipping into the waist and then moving outwards in a smooth curve that subtly accentuates the hips. She's unapproachable alright, but very alluringly so.

At Versace, Donatella's tough girl goes retro. The palette is made up almost entirely of black, dark purple, and varying shades of a slightly muted psychedelic blue. The outfit shown above carries with it a little bling-bling factor (just look at that belt SHINE!) that just barely reminds us that it's not really the 60s. The retro-rock girl look here is further toughened by accessorising the clothes with leather boots and gloves. Together with the sunglasses, you get a retro version of Dior's angsty rocker combined with Gucci's glam-rock girl - not exactly suis generis, but the look is strong enough to be recognisable as part of this F/W 2006's Versace RTW collection.

The military look is another form of the Tough look trend this coming season. One of the most characteristic features of all military-attired-based pieces for Fall/Winter 2006 would be the [generous] use of large brass / copper / any other flashy metal buttons. Most military-influenced pieces are coats (either cropped, normal-length or trench - i.e. in every possible form a coat can be in) or boots (which is a staple accessory for this fall/winter season). The coat and any accompanying apparel pieces should fit the body snugly, or at least enough for there to be minimal wrinkles or gathering of the fabric - being prim and neat governs nearly all military looks sent down the runway this season.

IV. FUR

Fur this coming Fall/Winter 2006 season is no longer just an accessory or decoration. This season, fur constantly presents itself as being integral parts of clothing - especially lining the edges of coats or around the collars. Fur is no longer a luxurious white elephant someone carries around on the shoulder or neck; it IS the clothing itself.

On top, we have Burberry Prorsum by Christopher Bailey while in the bottom picture, we have Louis Vuitton by Marc Jacobs. At Burberry, fur has a lot more practical purpose - it is used to line the edges of coats or used to cover skirts entirely. Fur is clearly no longer solely for decorative purposes - it CAN be literally part of the clothing. The fur used is a dark grey tainted with varying hues and shades - it is very luxurious, but somewhat grungey. At Louis Vuitton, however, the use of fur is still somewhat random, popping up at places in shapes that one would least expect them. As shown above in the picture on the right, the fur's light colour creates a striking contrast with the overall grunge-and-grey urban-chic mood of the whole collection. Fur is still in the stage of being a playful embellishment; it lacks the stability and practicality of the fur used at Burberry. Clearly, fur is very flexible and able to convey different moods and overall themes, including opposing ones.

And having just finished my little insight into fur for this season, my exposition of what I believe to be Fall/Winter 2006's four biggest trends is completed. Hope my comments have been useful! Feel free to tag on the tagboard or comment using the comments link below this post.

Dior on YouTube

2006-07-30T07:46:00.000-07:00

No reviews for this post; instead I've decided to post a series of videos I found on YouTube related to Dior.

First up is a video that Acid of TFS took of the finale of Dior Haute Couture F/W 2006:

Next is the Elle.com video of the same haute couture collection posted onto YouTube by SweetRus of TFS:

Here's something a little more special - it's a television commercial of the perfume Poison by Christian Dior from the 1980s (o_O):

Another television commercial - it's the J'adore commercial done by Carmen Kass. She's absolutely fabulous - and my - she's GORGEOUS in this video! *heart*

Last but not least, the full runway video of Dior RTW S/S 2005, posted by justinleaddict of TFS - this collection, I believe, remains one of the plainest and most commercial collections done by John Galliano for Christian Dior.

That's about it. Will keep searching for more fashion-related videos on YouTube.

Dior Couture F/W 2006 Review - Relishment.

2006-07-07T07:30:00.000-07:00

Now I will proceed to a part of Christian Dior's Fall/Winter 06.07 Haute Couture collection that appeals to me - much more than the topiary-based (read: walking lettuces) designs that I last introduced in my previous post.

If the information that this collection is also based upon the Zodiac aside from the classic French movie Les Visiteurs du Soir, I am sure that this piece above is based on the sign of Capricorn. Egotistically speaking, that's my Zodiac sign ;) Frankly, though, the above piece is dark and brooding, yet the heavy use of fur is a sign of luxury mixed in between - like many of the collections I have a reviewed before, it heavily suggests the theme of decadence.

Do permit me my little indulgences - one of my favourite models, Snejana Onopka =] That aside, I must say I love this piece because it's so ... decadent-grungy, if there's such a word. The dirty brown fabric appears to be satin - or perhaps even polyester. It's amazing because even if it's very glamorous, it looks dirty and grungy and is definitely part of the whole idea of decadence.

The draping work is just stunning. It's very simple, but the colour, the fabric, the way it is draped ... it adds a lot to what is otherwise simply a piece of fabric.

And I continue to shamelessly plug my favourite models. It's Natasha Poly in a suit that's tailored to look like that of a 17th century Renaissance soldier. The suit is clearly based on what was worn by men but here, it doesn't look overtly masculine - to the contrast, in fact, its curves suggest a femininity. And the wrist armour pieces - how could I ever forget that Galliano WANTED to feature women as knights? Also, the suit has such a powerful texture - it's grunge again, but a very pop-out-at-you sort of grunge.

I've realised how all the armour pieces so far can look so military and yet effortlessly feminine - they all use elliptical shapes to form the layers. The curves ensure that the armour pieces don't get so angular that they forget totally about the body; what's enticing and beautiful are the curves, after all, since they create a lot of movement and fluidity which are characteristic of feminine pieces. This piece above, however, doesn't need those curves - the salmon pink colour, intricate embellishments and panelled trimmings do the job of creating femininity just as well. But what creates the most beauty and fluidity is the dress itself - the draping and securing of the dress in the front looks simple - yet the dress is able to fit itself around the body such the waist is clearly outlined and no excessive fabric balloons anywhere in the outfit to ruin the flowing silhouette of the gown. The fabric is sheer, slightly translucent - it seems to capture light within itself and radiate a little bit of it in the form of a light salmon pink glow.

The first of the large finale gowns. It appears to consist of a shiny polyester fabric with another layer of black fabric below. I suspect this gown is a throwback to the first outfit on the runway for this collection - the black one with lines of "stars" running vertically downwards and Medieval and / or Renaissance motifs embellishing the front. The armour pieces return but this time complete with a helmet in the style of the Ancient Greek phalanxes (complete with feathers streaming out from the top).

The second of the large finale dresses. The helmet is no longer of a Grecian style but appears to be ... a modern military one, except in brown? More feathers snake out from the helmet. The beautiful part of this piece is how the colour transits from yellow down to a greenish blue at the bottom. I cannot fathom the dyeing work needed to get the whole colour gradient right.

The fourth of the large finale gowns. No, I haven't miscounted - I only picked those that are truly eye-catching and worth saying something about. I picked this piece because I am totally bowled over by the amazing way the large trench suit is cut and how it fans out from the waist down. The silhouette is imposing and the large collar and sleeves with the complex but very rich decorations around the edges. And the armour piece has shifted down to the right leg instead. And the military suit-gown is cut to fit the figure almost perfectly! I am completely overtaken.

I am speechless. Having just complimented the previous piece so much, I risk repeating myself.
What I can say though, is that at last, the armour pieces are no longer all over the place; here we have almost a full set. The craftsmanship of the piece is beyond description and the gold embellishment goes perfectly with the black armour. Phenomenal.

Breathtaking. The beauty and magnificence of this piece speaks for itself. The piece transits from dark blue around the décolleté area down to a very light sky blue around the edge of the dress. The message is simple: it's dawn, and the ultimate fashion fantasy of the stars and constellations has ended.

Overall, a majority of the pieces in this collection were amazing, the details were meticulously done and the craftsmanship was beyond professional. The only qualm I have about the whole collection is that it's a little too eclectic, making it difficult to reconcile any differences.

Dior Couture F/W 2006 Review - Part I: Excitement!

2006-07-06T06:44:00.000-07:00

Couture season's here again - and how can it pass without me ranting about Dior? Permit me to present a run-down of Christian Dior Haute Couture F/W 06.07 Paris.

The runway for this season's show appears to be a tiled stone path while the backdrop and background props seem to be a hedge labyrinth in a garden somewhere. The set suggests "the gardens of Versailles", or perhaps a European idyll - possibly even a European fantasy world. The opening outfit certainly seems to agree - at least with the point of fantasy. It features an elaborate crystal headdress that hangs around the sides of the head like an Egyptian headdress while the long black gown is embellished with faint vertical dotted lines which look like stars haphazardly arranged across the night sky while medieval and art nouveau motifs front the piece. The large armour piece on the right shoulder suggests knights - of course, Lisa Armstrong of The Times (timesonline.co.uk) did state that:

The notes for Dior’s show yesterday revealed that John Galliano, Dior’s creative director, had been inspired by a late-night viewing of Les Visiteurs du Soir, a classic wartime French film set in the 15th century. Women dressed as knights, jousters and hedges grappled with stupendous trains, corsets, wimples, heraldic headwear and skirts comprised of whorls of chiffon that quite miraculously resembled moving bits of topiary.

(Above reference taken from this post on TheFashionSpot.com)

Aha, now we know. We can expect more of these knightly women, then. And in case you're wondering, yes, Galliano DID use the "moving bits of topiary" idea. But before we go there (I'm reluctant to do so hahaha), let's see some of the next few outfits first:

The second outfit of this collection. I am very very blown away by the gold embroidery over the sheer pale gold dress - it's luxurious, glamorous yet elegant and beautiful at the same time. And the armour just fails to take away the outfit's femininity - in fact, the armour piece adds an edge to it. And the gold headdress is exotic.

Bleh. The first of the outfits that I do not like. This is part of what I referred to on TFS as the "red-and-black-dying-remains-of-last-season's-couture-outfits" - in other words, it's like the red-and-black outfits from last season's couture isn't willing to go away and is struggling to make a reappearance in this collection - unfortunately, they've failed very badly. Aside from the clown-ish makeup, the headwear is just incomprehensible - is that supposed to be a bat, or a deformed bow ... ? And I'm sure the dress could be a little less angular, no ... ?

I'm still not very keen on the headwear or the makeup and the red streaking over the black dress looks very rough but I love the creative way Galliano has chosen to play with the red belts - they're tied around the body in a way that pulls the top close to the body at where the curves are. Last season's silhouettes had nipped waists formed from large belts - this season, though, the waist is no longer the point of focus but rather ... rather ... hmm it seems too much is going on in the collection for one to be able to determine one or two definite points of focus.

Another theme of clothing appears to have been moved into - no more glamour or brooding darkness - instead, we have an exquisite and executive professionalism. It's the office lady with a couture fantasy twist. The combination of blue and gold is commendable and the meticulous detail of the gold patterns in the front is just stunning. The cut of the suit accents the waist to suggest feminity - in this respect, it reminds me of the suits tailored by Cristobal Balenciaga that similarly place emphasis on the waist to create a strong femininity.

One of the pieces from the "lobster" set. To be frank, I'm not very thrilled by this - I don't like the fact that it's salmon pink or that there's this weird lobster tail "growing out" from the head but I must admit the layering and pleating work done on this outfit is impressive.

The first of the topiary ideas. The idea is interesting, but the manifestation isn't, unfortunately. The makeup is way too ghastly and the yellow-and-purple striped top is just too ... circus-y. And the large puff of green creates an awkward, clumsy silhouette which just isn't too pleasing. The whole collection is so elaborate that it borders on kitsch - most of the collection successfully stays on the pleasant and couture side, but this one above steps straight into the crazy, psychedelic world of kitsch.

No no no no no! The puffy green part just causes the whole silhouette to go wonky and the trumpets with flags hanging down from them just look out-of-place. And Vlada is made to look painfully short because of the weird silhouette.

Nope. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

But let's be fair - I'm sure the green parts took a lot of patience and skill to make, especially the first one. The shape and neat arrangement of the curls probably took ages to be perfected.

It's already past midnight so I'm off to bed. Will continue this review later.

Fashion Scribbles - Jean-Paul Gaultier Fall/Winter 2006 RTW

2006-06-21T02:07:00.000-07:00

As everyone can see, I've got a new header! Whee! *jumps up and down in joy* I never realised that those haute couture editorials featured Julia Stegner - I only figured that out last night when I doing the banner and I was really really surprised!

Anyway, reviews =] I'm in a kooky mood so I'll review a kooky collection - Jean-Paul Gaultier's Fall/Winter 2006 collection. Here goes (photos from Style.com):

The first outfit shown in a collection on the runway is very important because it creates a first impression and sets the mood for the rest of the collection. Let's see what we can glean from this first one ...

First word I think of - "grungey", in the Gothic, dark-attic-with-old-rundown-Victorian-wallpaper sort of way (and not the Marc Jacobs sloppy kind of way). And that doll proves it (the Victorian thingy, at least). The model looks like a teenage girl who woke up on the wrong side of bed and has got the complexion (and dark, panda-ring eyes) to show it. On the other hand, this is one stylish ghost-chick - her light-grey shirt and knee-length pleated skirt are trimmed in soft ruffles and puffs - they're made of this very light and sheer material that's very, very feminine. The colour gives it the grungey Gothic feel and the ruffles and puffs suggest a sort of antique classiness.

Which means we've got three words to expect from the rest of the collection - "grunge", "Gothic", and "antique". Lessee.

Gothic? Check.

Kooky in a fashionable sort of way. The crocodile skin belt (strictly speaking, a semi-corset) comes across as being a bit Gothic (or perhaps even a sort of dark, female sexuality) while the greenish-brown trench coat and dark dirty green pants further the feeling of grunge.

OMG *heart*. This is one smashin' Evil Queen outfit *AHEM* Let's be serious. We see the corset-belt again, but this time in ... velvet? The trench coat suggests a decadence along with a heavy Victorian Goth feeling ... and the pantyhose hints at a sort of Gothic eroticism.

Yup - Gothic? Check.

Wunderbar. I love the knit halter top - it shows a progression from revealing something to completely opaque - very clever. And that fur-trimmed trench coat continues to push the theme of decadence along. JPG is a genius, gah.

This piece screams "avant-garde". The idea of a human being put in a dog funnel ... it's almost a sort of cynical questioning of the things we do to our pets and how they would feel. On the other hand that's a very chic dog funnel - it's even got detailing around the narrower end. That top Lily Cole is wearing fits perfectly into the themes of decadence and of grunge, and also of the whole antique idea that's very strong in this collection. Hence we can give a "Check" for all three keywords.

I can't say how much I love this outfit. The greenish stains from the bust down, the maroon trimmings at the end of the top, the puff-ended velvet pants ... it's very meticulously done and every single detail fits perfectly into the themes and the mood. Even the little critters the models bring out on to the runway - they suggest something about the whole concept behind the collection.

Gah, JPG is a genius.

Maybe it's the fact that I love Morgane Dubled and hence have a bias for everything she wears, but for some reason something about this outfit is very .... strange. It could be because of the loose clump of threads from the centre of the top and the asymmetrical lines along the front - it suggests a sort of deconstructionism. I think the deconstructing of the top is very very well-done - it's not just some sloppy ripping apart of the threads and the apparel structure but in fact a very carefully designed feature that looks both deconstructed and artistically done at the same time.

Just one last one (have got a nagging headache that won't go away). This is ... beyond-a-million-words-brilliant. The generous use of velvet puts the theme of decadence at its highest and the return of the doll in a much larger size pushes to a high point the idea of Victorian Goth. The pattern on the knit-top is frighteningly intricate and seems to refer to the carvings found on antique furniture. The fact that everything is a rust-brown heavily suggests grunge.

Which means -

Grunge? Check. Gothic? Check. Antique? Check.

Gah, Jean-Paul Gaultier is a genius. Gah.

Fashion Scribbles - Gucci Resort 2007

2006-06-15T07:20:00.000-07:00

I'm back again with a review of the Gucci Resort 2007 collection.

There's been a flood of resort collections lately - most of them are somewhat bland and plain - but there are a few which caught my eye. Gucci is one of them.

(All photos from Style.Com)

This is the first outfit that was sent onto the runway. What strikes me about this suit is the way it is cut - it creates very subtle and smooth curves on the body which gives it a very professional feel. The blue floral print, however, evokes a feeling of fun - this is definitely the perfect suit for any lady who's on a cruise for an executive meeting but still wants to hang around at the cruise bar and flirt with the sailors (pun on "cruise" is definitely not intended).

This outfit fits perfectly into the resort theme. The short row of buttons down the front, which resembles those of a polo tee, gives a very sporty feeling. The mini-skirt and tassel-ended belt suggest elegant playfulness (oxymoronic, but yes, that's the only way I can find to express it) and a bit of fun (darn - not another double entendre).

It's a switch to something a little more evening. I love the panels around the edge of the dress (and there's a little lace too if my eyes aren't mistaken) and the floral print is beautiful. The frills around the bust edge are very feminine. The only qualms I have are that firstly, the empty white space around the centre cause the proportions of the dress to feel a little awkward. Secondly, the panelling around the waist are a little too oversized ... it creates a somewhat strange visual illusion. Someone with a large waist definitely shouldn't try this number. Otherwise, I love it...

...although I must point out that when I first saw it I was reminded of this dress above from Roberto Cavalli's Fall/Winter 2005-2006 collection. But now that I've had a closer look ... they're quite different.

Still, both remind me of Chinese porcelain vases and it might be because of this that they both have this beautiful, exotic feeling to them. Love 'em all.

I *heart* this outfit. It's a halter top and a miniskirt (lemme practise my terms a little) worn with a printed scarf around the neck. I love the fact that the belt, the scarf and the border prints around the edge of the top create a very strong suggestion of playfulness, frivolity, and also flirtatiousness (they also match very well and create a feeling of continuity). This outfit is perfect for the lady who enjoys going on cruises, flirting with sailors, and occasionally playing pool. She's also the sort who doesn't mind a little sun.

I know it's not very flattering to say this but when I first saw the prints I immediately thought of Moroccan screens. But I didn't mean this in a bad way at all - the fact that they resemble the patterns used on Moroccan screens means that they create a very exotic look and really suggest that the wearer is enjoying herself on vacation. Lace is supposed to be old-fashioned but here, they aren't dowdy or gaudy at all but in fact suggest girlishness and echo the more solid maroon floral prints on the rest of the outfit. The tassel-ended belt is used again yet it still continues to suggest an elegant playfulness (kind of like, I'm playful but I don't do it in a loud, attention-grabbing way).

I don't know why but these two designs are really pretty! It could be the use of solid blocks of colour or the fact that they both use very casually tied belts which suggest a holiday mood - either way I think they're both perfect for a resort collection! And does anyone find that the dark purplish-pink shades somehow resemble those that are in Gucci's Fall/Winter 06.07 collection? Perhaps part of the palette was carried over, just like how Galliano carried the bloodstain patterns from Dior HC S/S 06 over to his Dior Resort 2007 collection?

Last outfit - let's just say that I wasn't satisfied with this one. The lace around the edge of the dress is a little too long and the green just doesn't look right. The bottom looks somewhat "matronly" (to quote Michael Kors on Project Runway) - luckily the feeling dimishes significantly by the sight of the décolleté top, which adds a very strong sexiness. Strangely enough the lace around the top feels a lot less matronly than those around the dress edge - instead, they heavily suggest a vintage elegance and sophistication (hmm - I just realised that that isn't very far from "matronly"). Alas, this strongly contrasts with the very youthful tassel-ended belt (as we have seen TWICE so far), which comes across as a sort of deus ex machina to salvage this very mature dress and remind us that the image of the whole collection is supposed to be youthful and fun.

Ok, that's all I'm going to review for this resort collection. (I know this is an abrupt way to end, but I don't think I've got anything else to say for this post ... or do I? =])

Fashion Ethereal

2006-06-07T08:16:00.000-07:00

Having recently bought the Spring/Summer 2006 Haute Couture issue of the GapPress fashion magazine, I happened upon numerous collections and pieces that I had never seen before. From these discoveries came a further realisation: some designers really work well with sheer fabrics, translucent tulle and gauze and lace. I became infatuated with long white flowing dresses or the layered, soft-looking white outfits complete with lacing and veils.

Here are two of those dresses that left a deep impact (note that only the Christian Lacroix one is from S/S 2006; the Dior one is from F/W 2005).

Edit: I forgot to point out which belongs to what collection. The one on top belongs to the S/S 2006 Christian Lacroix Haute Couture collection. The one at the bottom is Dior's F/W 2005 HC collection (by Galliano, of course).

See what I mean? Both look absolutely ethereal. The dresses look like something Greek goddesses would wear. They're out-of-this-world, but beautifully so. The idea of flowers, the use of planet and star motifs - it all makes the whole thing much more supernatural.

Absolutely gorgeous.

(Blogger's being difficult today, so that's enough for this post.)

Blogging at the Most Unearthly Hours.

2006-06-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

It's an unearthly time - 04 15 in the morning. Here I am in a classroom in a school typing a blog entry. It's kind of interesting because here I am skipping sleep and feeling concurrently the effects sleeplessness inflicts upon me. My eyes occasionally lose focus and my language becomes very hampered. Words stop before they even hit the tongue and sounds just get all jumbled up in the mouth. It's like a pasta gone wrong.

Eep. Utter madness, utter delusion.

I feel like typing random stuff hahaha.

Am curently listening to Madonna's "Forbidden Love" (the "Confessions on a Dance Floor" version) and my right eye just got quite dry (I'm not wearing my contacts hmm).

Well, Media Camp has been, so far, very crazy. Our original thought of coming here to relax and watch things from behind the scenes have been very cleanly dashed. It sucks but we have no choice except to just follow along.

Ok, am I to belive that I am going to raise the status of this whole exercise to a brand new level by terming it " aerobics"? How very silly.

Oops, I just typed something that was very random hahaha.

The Necessary Accessory - Style.Com's Fall/Winter 06.07 Report

2006-05-30T07:52:00.000-07:00

Yup I'm not going to bother about the fact that I've grown up with British English and yet here I am wielding the word "Fall". As far as I'm concerned, they're interchangeable (in fact, I'd even go to the extent of declaring "Fall" a word solely for fashion purposes and "autumn" solely for referring to the season - but no, it's not worth offending the two major groups of native English speakers).

Ok on to the actual topic. It's me again with another "The Necessary Accessory" post. This time I'm going to pick out accessories that catch my fancy from the long list that Style.Com has chosen.

First on the list we have this Alessandro Dell'Acqua shopping bag. Style.Com refers to this as a "coulisse gold mirror leather shopping bag".

Unfamiliar terms. The dictionary comes in handy.

Alright here we go. According to Dictionary.Com, "coulisse" is defined as:

1. A grooved timber in which something slides.
2.
a. A section of stage scenery placed in a wing of a theatre.
b. The space between such pieces of scenery, through which an actor can make an entrance or exit.
c. A backstage area in a theater.

The theatrical definitions clearly don't apply here so I'll just assume that some part of the bag (most likely a compartment) works by things sliding here and there.

Anyway, I've picked this bag to display because the gold leather look is total eye-catching. The design of the various strings and buckles that crowd the sides of the bag gives it a sophisticated feel. Certainly, "shopping bag" is too basé a way of describing this glitzy accessory.

Next up: Manolo Blahnik. Yup, it's a shoe, but a very stylish one at that. From the angle this pump was shot, the silhouette looks very new and refreshing. It looks somewhat strange for an item that goes on your feet, but a closer look and the imagining of a foot (plus the leg, of course) slotting into this shoe gives you an idea of how it's going to be worn. I know it's a no-brainer but hey! - I'm a guy after all, give me a little bit of poetic license to figure out how girls wear these shoes. The toes go into the blue patch right at the front tip of the pump (duh) and the top part of the pump that's a khaki colour and has a belt+buckle coming out of it is where the ankle goes. The small leather belt goes around the ankle and is tightened with the buckle.

There, not too bad, yeah? Now let's look at the description that Style.Com gives.

"Purple suede and gold ruched-leather ankle-strap Drusiana pump."

Parts of it are made of purple suede - checked; there're gold (ok fine, so it's not khaki) leather parts (I don't know what "ruched" means) - yup; there's an ankle strap - good; it's a pump - duh; now what the hell is Drusiana - does that mean it's a shoe that Dracula's sister wears ... ? Hmm. Anyone can enlighten me on this? Post in the comments for this post.

Just one unknown word to define by dictionary means, then - "ruched". Here goes:

"A ruffle or pleat of lace, muslin, or other fine fabric used for trimming women's garments."

Ahh ok. If I'm not mistaken the "ruched" then refers to the folds that appear in the leather, or rather to the fact that the leather is folded? The latter, probably.

Yeah it's Dior, I know. Stop it. You must permit a teen like me (and a blogger, at that) his own little biases (something which John Galliano is well-known for cutting - ok fine - I'm a fanboy, alright?) - and I never fail to weaken for Dior by Galliano. Here we have what Style.Com describes as a "Python and crocodile gaucho bag" - a very concise and no-brainer of what the bag's about - it's a gaucho bag that's made of python skin and crocodile skin (the reptiles. Eeargh. I hope the material's synthetically made). It basically follows the design of the gaucho tote bags from last season's RTW show (in case the calendar messes up, that would be Christian Dior's Spring/Summer 06.07 Ready-To-Wear, or Prêt-a-Porter show - the one which featured the Dior Nude collection), except that the materials are different.

I can't help but admit that this bag fits perfectly into the rock-and-roll gothic chic(k) thing that the Fall/Winter 06.07 RTW show was. I can picture Kate Hudson, who gushed about how she could wear one of the outfits in the show to a rock show, clutching this bag and hanging out at the next MTV Awards (if she attends them; I'm not too sure. Don't really follow the entertainment news - read: gossip).

Ooh hehe I just realised I talked about the python/crocodile skin bags in my last post.

Hey I'm a fanboy, ok? Chill out.

The Necessary Accessory - Christian Dior Fall 06.07

2006-05-19T05:10:00.000-07:00

I'll never own any of these (I'm a guy y'know, so hush up) but I'm still going to review them anyway. Here we have today a slew of accessories paraded during the Christian Dior Fall/Winter RTW 06.07 show! (All photos from Style.com)

First up is a python-skin gaucho bag. The gaucho bag, which debuted in the Spring/Summer '06 collection, is making it big because it's a very unique bag that, as some TFS users have said, doesn't "scream "Dior"" - which is something I wholly agree with. I mean, it's Dior, but in a subtle sort of way. And the design is slouchy but chic.

The original gaucho bags came in a variety of colours, but I suppose to fit in with the rocker-look theme, Dior chose to create a python-skin variation. That's cool because it does look very rocker - it's very "tough-looking", so to speak. Kind of like, "I can fight snakes and rip their scales off for my handbag, so watch out."

I like this variation of the gaucho bag. The python-skin version was a little too rough-looking for my liking and this is just plain class. The marble-looking fabric used for the main parts of the bag just adds a touch of elegance. The brown lining reminds me of the border used in marble frescoes, or the frames surrounding masterpieces of art.

The sunglasses ... how does anyone actually SEE in them ... ? Did Hana Soukupova actually manage to see where she was going on the runway with these pair of diamond-studded sunglasses on, I wonder? Gives new meaning to the phrase "I'm seeing stars", like totally.

But the cross! The cross! It's absolutely gorgeous, and the best thing is, it's not just for girls! Gimme one! Or two! Or three! (No wait, I want some of the other crosses they have too!)

Like, for example, this one (the three-nail construction just rings with the word "Goth") !!!

Or this one (which I think looks wonderful in that bright shade of blood-red - I desire it)!!!

And now for the Dior accessories featured in the accessories report on Style.com ...

I think this is a very gorgeous pair of pumps (especially the inverted perfume bottle thing used as the heel).

Ok I think I'm only ready to review one of the accessories featured on Style.com - I either don't feel like there's much to say about the others (not that I don't like but just that I don't have a lot of feelings about them) or find them unworthy of review (haha ok not much of that - I think there's only one - was it one of the boots, or? - I don't know).

I think that's about all I have to say for now. I'll can't wait for the next couture collection Dior by Galliano's gonna send down the runways. I hope it's gorgeous and revives the class and craziness that they used to exude.

Oh yes by the way, I never realised until about two weeks back that the outfits I'm featuring in my blog design in the logo up there were actually from Dior's Fall 2005 collection. (I'm slow, ok?)

Autumn/Winter 2006 Trend Observations

2006-05-13T02:09:00.000-07:00

I've got a trend observation for this autumn season, but it's probably inaccurate since I'm only basing it on a few collections (whose designers I love to no end hahaha - especially Galliano).

The trend I'm noticing: FORWARD TO THE PAST. Basically what I'm noticing is that a lot of collections aren't going forward; they're taking inspiration from a past period and expanding a lot on it. Designers I've seen done this include Dolce and Gabbana (their Pride-and-Prejudice inspired Napoleonistic military-looking collection), Versace (a collection that strikes as being somehow retro - especially the use of bubble-gum colours like a bright and light shade of teal for a dress, vaguely retro silhouettes, etc.), Dior by Galliano (80s rocker-chic with a gothic touch), and Alexander McQueen (especially the use of a grungy-coloured palette, ruffles around the neck, and certain Edwardian dress silhouettes with a little modification).

Dunno if it makes sense. Here're a series of photos from Style.com. From top to bottom: Dolce and Gabbana, Versace, Christian Dior, and Alexander McQueen.

Exams. Again.

2006-05-06T00:19:00.000-07:00

It's exactly one month and one day since my last post. It's been very hectic and my computer life hasn't been energised enough for me to blog.

Well here I am. But I'll probably be disappearing again for about a week or two from my blog because I've got my Mid-Years. Yes, my Mid-Years. Currently, my Elementary Mathmatics Paper 1, Social Studies, Chinese Paper 2, and Biology Paper 2 are over.

History (Elective). Eee. I wonder how I'm going to study for it.

Ok ok relax. Don't get stressed. Dooonnn't get stressed.

Anyway, to digress, I've managed to come up with a list of my favourite models. Here goes, in no order of merit:

1) Gemma Ward - She looks absolutely fabulous in this "Merry Christmas" outfit with a red velvet skirt for the D&G Fall/Winter 2006/7 show!

2) Snejana Onopka - Her eyes are absolutely beautiful. It's the dreamy way she stares (sometimes it just looks like she's bored) - her eyes look like they go very very very deep into an unknown space and you're just drawn to it.

3) Doutzen Kroes - Her eyes too! They're a very brilliant shade and her irises look like some precious gem that's been cut into a million shades. Also she has what they term very "sensuous lips". She's just gorgeous hahaha.

4) Unknown Guy in D&G Ad - I don't know his name. He's the guy who appears in the D&G ads for Spring/Summer 2006/7 - he's the one who's lying on the floor and propping his head against the wall. He's got a very hot figure and yes, it's his eyes again. Very very sharp-looking eyes that seem to drill (in both senses of the word) and scorch you over and over again.

That's about the people I can think of for now. I might put up pictures at a later date.

Update: Pictures of Gemma Ward, Snejana Onopka and Doutzen Kroes up. Pictures from Style.com - Gemma Ward's photo is from D&G Fall/Winter 2006 while Snejana Onopka and Doutzen Kroes' pictures are from Dolce & Gabbana Spring/Summer 2006.

Fashion Scribbles - Fall 2006 - (1)

2006-04-05T02:55:00.000-07:00

I've realised that writing a nice proper analysis of a designer's collection is way too brain-consuming and left-brained. Taking a leaf out of IAmFashion's blog (http://iamfashion.blogspot.com/), I'm only going to do comments on the designs in a collection that most catch my eye or deserve my praise/comments/berating/screaming/blood-spitting. Please note that the photos used come from Style.Com and are not used for any commercial means whatsoever - I am merely using them here on my blog for my comments and thoughts.

Anyway, to start with, we have Christian Dior's Fall 2006 Ready-To-Wear collection designed by star designer John Galliano. One look through the design tells you that this goth-rocker-girl combination collection mirrors Galliano's Spring 2006 Coute collection - except that it's less bloody and more modern.

Just take a look at the above two designs. The one on the left is from this current Fall 2006 ready-to-wear collection (or RTW-F2006) while the one on the right is from their Spring 2006 couture collection (or HC-S2006). Notice that the design on the belts are almost the same - only the colour and material appear to be different. Both are thick and both sport a rectangular buckle.

And these two designs. Both the one on the left (from RTW-F2006) and the one on right (from HC-S2006) sport identical crosses. The crosses are black, have very flat and wide horizontal bars, and hang from similar chains with large rings - pure coincidence? I think not.

Ok, enough on the similarity of the two collections. Let's focus on RTW-F2006 proper.

The whole collection begins with designs that are practically all black. The hairstyles and staple usage of large, black sunglasses all suggest a goth-punk or rocker look. It's less of your college's rock band look but more of a brooding, goth/angst sort of a mix. As the collection progresses however, the colours begin to get lighter and we start getting designs that are in pure white. Compared to the goth/angst sort of looks that started this collection, these designs that use white and creamier colours suggest a sort of glamour and affluence, but underneath them we get a hint of decadence.

The above two designs use lighter and creamier colours. The one on the left uses a safari-coat of a rigid material, but the additional of a light creamier fabric from the waist down to the thighs suggest a sort of softness beneath the hardcore rocker image. The one on the right comes across as being decadent, with an excess of fur and a big diamond-studded buckle for the belt.

The collection proceeds on in varying colours, mostly light and rather un-angsty. The sudden lightness of the collection causes the whole rocker feeling created by the first few designs to diminish, but luckily the last few designs of this collection resurrects the rocker/goth/angst image.

That's what I mean. The more fiery colours emphasise on the rock/angst theme brought out earlier in the collection. Notice also how the theme of luxury and decadence doesn't seem to have died out yet - note the velvety texture of the dress in the centre picture and the way the leather gown (which I think is a very interesting to work with leather) is cut, draped, and lined. If this mix between angst and decadence somehow sounds like dejá vu, may I refer you to HC-2006? If I recall correctly, the concept behind HC-2006 was the French Revolution and the designs were based around blood/gore/violence + royalty/luxury/affluence.

If you're confused by what I mean by "blood/gore/violence + royalty/luxury/affluence" here's what I meant. A corset that's tattered and torn, a beautiful white gown that looked as though the wearer and waded through blood, and a tailored executive outfit stained with large patches of blood as if the wearer had been slashed all suggest a gory violence and angst beneath an affluent, luxurious appearance.

Of course, as a haute couture collection, HC-S2006 gets a little more liberty to go wild with the violence thingy. As a ready-to-wear collection, I guess RTW-F2006 needed to tone down the angst thing more. Nonetheless, John Galliano's ingenious idea of mixing in some elements from HC-S2006 and clever combination of fabrics and design elements plus his natural inclination towards flair makes this Fall 2006 collection a definite must-see - and you can easily do that by seeing the still images at Style.Com (from which I, erm, used the photos) and the full runway show at Dior's official website (just select the "Live" option from the menu on the left and once you get into the pop-up flash window). And if you're going to view the video at the official website don't forget to see HC-S2006 as well - even if you've seen the photos over and over again, the actual runway show is still worth a look.

A Prose.

2006-03-15T04:42:00.000-08:00

Seventieth post! *throws confetti*

Anyway this blog entry is just for showing off a piece of prose I wrote a few months back. It's about Time.

========================================

Father Old Time is a butterfly. He flits by so surreptitiously, lightly flapping and brushing past your shoulder without you noticing. He appears insignificant, but if you pay attention you’ll notice the striking patterns on the wings – by then, however, it would probably have flitted past out of your reach. When you are lucky and manage to grasp it in your hands, the moment you begin admiring the sheer magnificence of its shape, colour and form it slowly withers away and then crumbles into dust, leaving behind ashes that gently scatter into the air, pulled higher and farther by the wind, passing into oblivion…

This, is Time.

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Fashion Commentary 1 - Olympus Fashion Week - Fall 2006

2006-03-07T04:40:00.000-08:00

I've finally decided to start putting up fashion commentaries here.

Just a point to note - as I am neither professionally trained nor a female, my comments on fashion may not be very agreeable. Please note that I am merely trying to hone my sense of observation and fashion concepts. I am also practising my writing. Please bear with me for all the fashion posts I'll be having.

Anyway, this post'll be on the Olympus Fashion Week for Fall 2006. This first post will focus on designer Vera Wang's collection.

To begin, I would like to point out the photos that I use to make references to: http://www.olympusfashionweek.com/fall2006/designers/vera_wang/index.html

Note: The design numbers are given according to the file numbers of the design photos posted on the Olympus Fashion Week website.

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OBSERVATIONS
Trends/Discerning Collection Features/Characteristics:
> Colour: Most in black and/or white with a little bit of colour surprises in a few designs. The colour surprises, however, are mild, dark-coloured hues (except for the blue waist ornament in Design No. 14). Otherwise, colour use is limited to earthy, tempered shades such as brown or washed-out purple (e.g. Designs No. 3, 4 and 5).
> Prints/Motifs: A few employ Nature motifs such as leaves and flowers (possibly to fit the Fall 2006 category). The leaf motif is most evident in Designs No. 2 and 10, both of which use the same leaf prints but in different colours with different effects - Design No. 2 takes on an earthy brown autumn shade (including the black) while Design No. 10 gives a pale, dusty look.
> Patterns: Regular repeating patterns such as plaid, chequered and animal skin prints characterise some of the designs in this collection. All these patterns make use of tiny repeating units and exhibit a softer and more subtle look instead of a loud, blatant effect.
> Textures/Materials: Chiffon is used extensively in this collection in a variety of ways. Its translucent qualities are exemplified in Designs No. 3, 11 and 14 - they add a hint of mystery and elegance to the design by shrouding parts of the exposed skin in its earthy autumn tints. Tweed is also used to emphasise the season this collection falls under - it appears as a key design component in Designs No. 5 and 15 (which probably form a set) in the form of a long-sleeved coat which in both cases is used over a dress made of a fabric with a flowing quality - e.g. chiffon and silk.
> Other Observations: Fabric belts tied around the waist characterises many of the designs in this Fall 2006 collection. Two types of belts appear most in this collection - a tight belt with a large fabric flower ornament in front (e.g. Designs No. 2 and 14) and a fabric/leather belt that is tied above the waist (for example, Designs No. 4 and 8). Three of the designs (4, 16, and 18) leave the remaining length of the belt hanging vertically before them (the fact that the belts are tied high above the waist ensure that the hanging belts do not make the design look sloppy).
> Overall Appeal / Impressions / Remarks: The collection's colours are exemplary of the season and are more or less consistent throughout the collection. The designs making use of the dark translucent chiffon add a slight element of audacity and sexiness, but unfortunately chiffon used in such a fashion is not a fresh idea and somehow strikes as being very familiar or having been seen elsewhere before (for those who have seen Project Runway Season 1, don't the black chiffon designs remind you of one of Wendy Pepper's designs for the Olympus Fashion Week challenge? - recall - the one where Michael Kors complained about the boobies?). In general, however, the collection exuberates an elegance that is characteristic of Vera Wang (in which she makes excellent use of the qualities of fabrics). The whole collection, however, is done in a safe manner - perhaps a little bit of zest and flair is required to really give the collection an X-Factor.

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Ok, I've written nothing but rubbish. Please read and comment if you wish. I don't think I've made sense - then and again, I AM a greenhorn when it comes to this =]

Lethargy.

2006-03-01T02:04:00.000-08:00

I am finally blogging again - even as I currently suffer under the barrage of a cold. I don't have a bad sore throat or regular coughs but my muscles feel like they've just been stretched taut and then snapped loose again and my bones feel like they've just been used for scraping grime off walls. My nose feels like someone had dammed it up.

Ok ok enough with the exposition on poor old me and how I'm ill.

Bleh school's grating on me. My brain cells are half-dead and every step I think sends me into vertigo. I -

Wait I'm still expounding on the sufferings of poor old me.

Anyway, school's grating on me. Although there isn't too much homework (luckily) there's enough to do at school to tire me out after one day. And all those crazy events that are going on, even those that I'm not involved in, are making me feel breathless. Social Etiquette course, Road Run 2006, Careers 2006, supplementary lessons during the holidays and after school next week - not to forget all the Drama Club sessions, and debate training - and of course third language - I'm as dead-beat as a broken Elvis record. That's not to say I dread them, of course (especially Deutsch, Debate and Drama) but all those afterschool stuff is too much.

Oh yeah not to forget the Learning Journey on the 22nd of March.

Bleh it's crazy. The poor Sec 1s and 2s (the whole cohort!) has been called to perform for the National Day Parade in August and their training is on Wednesday AND Friday. It's absolutely crazy and it's like as though they're preparing them to go to war or something. It's in AUGUST, people - y'don't have to start in MARCH if you're going to put them through such intensive training. Please please please think about the students' welfare before you think about how they're going to bring glory, recognition and fame to the school. It's definitely not worth it if you're going to have them full of grouses about the school authorities in the end.

Ok I think that's enough ranting for now. Am coughing now. Think I should stop this digitatory exercise now.

Just a quick post.

2006-02-13T07:42:00.000-08:00

This is just a quick post to show off some display pictures I just made:

Ok, show-off session done.

A Villanelle.

2006-02-05T06:44:00.000-08:00

Wrote a villanelle.

For the Dark Has Engulfed this World

Pray, pray that the light of day won’t go away
The gods forbid this from continuing
For the dark has engulfed this world.

The scream of fire and
The horrible calls of torment
Tearing the sky apart, the sun gone
Pray, pray that the light of day won’t go away.

Turn over that coin to the needy child
And watch the news with more
Sympathy – you’ll need it
For the dark has engulfed this world.

In the raging horrors that plague
This world – we can only watch and stop
Not do anything except that we
Pray, pray that the light of day won’t go away.

Why – not even the gods can anymore help
For even the skies are plagued with
Terrible smoke and choking flames
For the dark has engulfed this world.

No more can we do except stop
And watch the world crumble – we can only
Pray, pray that the light of day won’t go away
For the dark has engulfed this world.

Memoirs of a Geisha: The Showdown

2006-02-03T07:28:00.000-08:00

It's showdown time! Time to look back on how "Memoirs of a Geisha" has been whether it's a novel or a movie. I'll give a list for the things I liked about the novel and then for the movie and then the things I didn't like about the novel and then for the movie. (Please note that the things I state are in no particular order, whether by merit or by chronology; they're just written down as I can remember them)

The Novel: Things I Feel Strongly About...

i) The whole mizuage thing was a total screw-up. Ok, fine, so it had a lot to do with money and played a vital role in Sayuri's life as a geisha, it just wasn't, wasn't fair at all to real Japanese geishas that they should be portrayed as having a goal of selling their virginity at a high price. It completely defeats the purpose of the rest of the book trying to emphasise that geishas weren't prostitutes - it doesn't matter what price the virginity sells for - if it's exchanged for money, it IS prostitution.

ii) I get the idea that there's more to Hatsumomo's character - in fact, I'm rather fine with the idea that Hatsumomo had a failed lover of a Koichi, but couldn't more have been done to flesh out the emotions that should have plagued Hatsumomo after Koichi left? And couldn't we at least have been given an idea of what became of Hatsumomo during and after the war? The vague knowledge that she either became or didn't become a prostitute is too confusing and simply leaves the reader wondering whatever happened to her. The fact is Hatsumomo remains a very mysterious character ... or perhaps this has been Mr. Golden's aim after all. Oh my. Hatsumomo IS a true geisha after all (despite her rather wild passions? No wait, she probably has tamer passions than, say, Sayuri. Yes, I do mean that.)

iii) Why why why why why why the HELL did Sayuri HAVE to end up in New York? For the main part having her in New York in the later part of the book only serves to remind readers that an American wrote the book. This destroys the magic of the book having been set in Japan. The last two or so chapters talking about Sayuri's life in New York sounds too much like American propaganda - what with New York resembling Gion or even better than Gion or something. Sayuri is depicted as having fit into New York life like batter fits into a mould - shouldn't she, having been raised in a strict traditional geisha culture and having spoken Japanese for practically all her life, struggle for at least a good few years with communication and all that before being able to settle down comfortably? Ok, so she has a teahouse of her own, nice - but the teahouse isn't, and can't possibly where she spends all the 24 hours of her day. Obviously she will venture out, and obviously she will come into a lot of contact with the people of New York - and obviously the enormous distance between the world she came from and the world she is now should have caused her trouble or something. I know that there are restraints seeing that the book is already long enough as it is, but the lack of any explication on her life adapting to New York (and making it seem like a breeze) is almost too much of a compliment. The author appears to be attempting to praise the Big Apple to the skies instead of describing the life of a Japanese geisha living in America. STOP the ego. Please. I would rather she remain in Japan, perhaps move to Osaka or Tokyo, or even better, return to Yoroido to see how things are. I have always, always wished to read about her visiting Yoroido again, but I was disappointed because it never happened. Yoroido was her birth place, she had a childhood there, and even though her family was poor I'm sure Sayuri at least values the time when she was still little Chiyo. Bringing her back to Yoroido would be a lot more sentimental than sending her to some foreign place and then praising that foreign place to the skies when the context has always been somewhere else so far.

The Movie: Things I Feel Strongly About...

i) John Williams is an utter utter genius. Practically ALL his soundtracks are masterpieces of music beyond excellence. They evoke just the right emotions, and are befitting of the scenes that they depict or the characters that they represent.

ii) WHAT WAS THE PROBLEM WITH CHIYO BEING BORN IN THE YEAR OF THE MONKEY? WHY WAS THERE A NEED TO CHANGE IT TO HER BEING BORN IN THE YEAR OF THE ROOSTER? Bah. Westerners obviously don't find it important.

iii) NO!!! Why, I repeat, WHY, did she RELEASE the Chairman's handkerchief when she was standing on the cliff by the ocean near the end of the movie? There WAS a reason WHY she kept the handkerchief in the book - by having her release it in the movie, it's like as though SHE WAS WILLING TO FORGET HER HISTORY WITH THE CHAIRMAN! That is NOT Sayuri!

iv) No no no - why the blardy-f*** did the Deputy Minister of Finance get replaced by some Colonel Derricks? I am not, I repeat, NOT amused at all by this "stunt" by Hollywood to get some Westerners acting inside. You AREN'T everything, Hollywood - you don't HAVE to have an American in every movie you make. Having an American in the movie and replacing the Japanese Minister with an American colonel, you make Sayuri look like an absolute slut when she seduced him. And what was the heck with Sayuri literally throwing herself into the arms of the colonel? She TALKED and SEDUCED him with her words, as a geisha is prone to do - jumping straight into the steamy act without much of a word is SO Hollywood-ish. Time to expand your horizons.

v) I'm actually pleased to see that in the movie, Mameha's dance of "A Courtier Returns to His Wife" was done by Sayuri instead and Mameha's part in the dance removed. Partially I felt that although in a book this had the role of fleshing out Mameha's ability as a geisha, it would probably serve to only confuse the audience if it was included in a whole in the movie. Furthermore in a movie you have less time to catch symbolism and making Sayuri do the sad, sorrowful dance in a beautiful fall of white snow hinted at the sorrow and sadness that existed in Sayuri's life.

Bai-nianing in Progress.

2006-01-29T22:52:00.000-08:00

And with the progress of Anglicised Chinese I am beginning to tack English grammatical affixes onto my Chinese words. What a wonderful day for language HAHAHA.

Sorry. Got a bit attached to the whole Anglicised Chinese crap.

Anyway, I'm currently in the process of bai-nian-ing (a process which probably only the Chinese will understand, and of course a process which probably only Chinese people will experience and know). I'm not blogging in my own house at the moment - am over at one of my parents' friends' house. Ok that was a very confusing phrasal noun HAHAHA.

Chinese New Year? Well it's both a blessing and a curse I suppose, and for me it's been this annual thing where lots of things happen (especially since it's probably the only time in a year I come into contact with these other kids who are about the same age as me and yet somehow just don't seem to be on the same frequency as anyone else) and it's also an especially confusing time. Tradition's one thing but people-business is also another.

Ok I'm beginning to rant. Shall stop here before I lapse into a long confusing monologue on nothing.

Finally blogging again.

2006-01-28T19:52:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's been a pathetically long time since I last blogged. School has been taking up more time than I thought it would and most of the time I spend online is done doing nothing. I've deleted MSN and am currently using E-Messenger.net.

AND OH YES EVERYONE IT'S CHINESE NEW YEAR. HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Let's hope this year I do well for my O-Levels, I get lots of money and I get a chance to go and study overseas at last ^_^ And I certainly hope to learn more languages and write more stuff to show off hahaha. And I also hope to blog a lot more often and with more readable content. And I hope Photoshop treats me well and I roll out masterpieces like there's no tomorrow.

Anyway, the main reason behind this post is so I can post some poems I wrote (and also to wish everyone a happy CNY!). Some of them don't really set the right tone for the new year - hope that's ok, really ...

Violin
Quiet, solid darkness
Turning and turning
A turmoil in the deep, dark abyss of life
Turning
Turning
Turning…

A sudden piercing sound
A long-drawn tone
An illuminating note

My mind dances
As my vision swirls
And I
Draw my bow across the strings
Like a knife across the skin
Releasing the blood
Singing
Singing
Singing…

Filling the ever-expanding vacuum
With a pining voice
Lifting me up as the melody twists
And turns and turns
In a barrage of cascading notes
Rising
Falling
Stagnating
Changing
A note born from another note
A note dying before another note
The ascent, yes, the ascent!
The ascent of the melody
The ascent of salvation,
Lifting
Lifting
Lifting…

Breathless
Can I really breathe now?
With work and hell in tow
Countless job after job to be done
Breathless under a blazing sun

Place that here and place that there
Don’t let this vital paper tear
Careful with this it might wear
All this stuff just messes my hair

Breathless breathless breathless
Panting panting restlessness
Nothing nothing seems to be well
Everything everything screwed up like hell

I can’t stop
I can’t halt
Still I go on round and round
Like a duck-hunt eager hound

Walking through a mass of trees
Awash with bright red and green
A mix of joy and sorrow
A potpourri of colours
A beautiful falling swirl of emotions …

The wind, my companion
The ground beneath my feet, supporting me
Holding me up
Keeping me up
Stopping me
From falling
Falling
Falling…

The leaves accompanying me
In their dance across the air
A friend that in a breeze
Slowly dissipates
Slowly
Slowly…

Keep going and going
Through the magnificent autumn
Nourishing Nature
My mother
The calling wind
My teacher
The hardy stone upon the ground
My friend…

In the end
I’m still alone
Alone.

Two Haikus

冬風か？
綺麗な雪か？
静かのか？

Lightly and gently
Snow covers the barren ground
Soft white over rock

And yet MORE tests!

2006-01-18T01:09:00.000-08:00

Yup yup, MORE tests ...

Poems.

2006-01-09T03:44:00.000-08:00

After what seems to be an eternal age of hoo-has ever since school re-opened (what with the incident of the CCA Extravaganza and the New Secondary One Students' Invasion), I have finally gotten in touch with my muse (who is very very upset that I haven't been tickling him/her for inspiration for ages). He/She bounded around in the invisible fields of my mind for a while, happily laughing and singing before falling over in a state of excitement. Out bled the following two haikus:

Haiku 0

A small trickling start
Far I see a great river
Past the horizon

Haiku 1

Raining heavily
Drops of rain dotting the glass
Overlooked diamonds

Unfortunately at this point the poor muse needed a good sit-down, a good plaster, and perhaps a little shut-eye and decided to block out the creative aspect of my mind.

I shall see if there are any past writings whatsoever I could here.

School begins.

2006-01-03T05:45:00.000-08:00

School has started.

Again.

And I am still very very disoriented. I have absolutely no idea how I'll get used to everything all over again.

Perhaps it'll just come back, like an old habit. Perhaps I'll learn how to be enthusiastic all over again, or perhaps it will just sprout out of the nether regions of my brain into life again.

Help.

And so begins 2006.

2005-12-31T08:55:00.000-08:00

56 minutes into 2006. The sky remains a strange hue of black tinged with a very vermillion red, and the wind from the fan continues to blow at the newspaper cuttings on my board.

Nothing seems to have changed, but everything has changed.

I can never believe that 2005 existed.

2005 has been a very weird year for me. From the start of the year to the end of the year, 2005 has proven to be a very absurd and surreal period. It's quite fruitful, yes, in fact I can't believe that I've finished one Shakespeare play already. Then and again, there have been regrets in this year, but nonetheless, time past is time past and I guess we can't really do anything about it, can we?

It's going to be one hour into the onslaught of 2006, and it's time I went to sleep too before I start getting ill again.

Goodnight everyone.

Bob.

2005-12-10T18:20:00.000-08:00

I watched "Bob" two days ago and am still quite excited over it. I can't believe that Sark and Rachel can actually SHARE such chemistry - and it was really nice to see the exchange of accents! The only eerie thing was how much Rachel seemed to resemble Lauren when she was speaking in that British accent - it's no wonder Sark was utterly captivated, hahaha. And it's definitely interesting to see a reversal of roles - Sark isn't planting the bomb now; Sark's a potential victim of the bomb. The writers of this episode were clever to do that; I can't wait to see what's going to happen in the next episode (which is "Horizon", and in which Vaughn is supposed to FINALLY re-appear - I just hope it ISN'T some dream sequence - though the likeliest possibility is that it will be, since Sydney's supposed to be sent into a "hypnotic state" *sigh*) - and I wonder if "Bob" will appear again in some future episode.

It was nice of them to make Sark go freelance too - the good guys could always be either working WITH or AGAINST Sark, depending on who's employing him - and he gets really large sums of cash for it ^_^ It was definitely entertaining to see Sark declare that "this one's a freebie" - it was most probably because of Rachel! Sark is soooo definitely smitten!

Ok so squealing about some episode like a fanboy was weird.

A Bit of Showing Off.

2005-12-06T22:27:00.000-08:00

Time for a bit of showing off. I wrote a haiku and a poem, "Little India". Here goes:

A Haiku (Poor Little Flower ...)

Poor little flower
Small and fragile in the wind
Short and sweet fragrance

Little India

Fresh smelling fruits
Wafts of exotic unknown spices
The breath of exhaust pipes
Mixed in a gaseous potpourri
Addling and confusing the senses

Piles and piles of dried chilli
The sight of the red skin makes my eyes tear
Packets and packets of henna
What is it for again – tattoo? Hair?
The Indian man smiles

Lost tourists bumble by with guidebooks in hand
Curls and curves of an alien language scrawled, printed or scribbled over
Signs, boxes, packets, papers
A sudden whiff yields curry
And the lure of roti prata

Chirp – goes the little green bird
Fortune teller grins a wide toothy smile
And explains in accented English
What my life or wife could be
All thanks to what a bird chose

I stand by the road and watch
The bustle of people around me
Black, yellow, white, red –
A confusing spectrum of colours
Seamlessly merged into one urban painting

The Blog is still here!

2005-12-02T19:53:00.000-08:00

This is a post just to let everyone know that this blog is not dead yet. I just haven't been feeling like blogging for ages (SBUD). Currently I'm thinking up a new blog design and will continue updating once I get the new design churned out, coded, and installed.
Sorry for any inconveniences!

maniacal laughter BEWARE!!!

2005-11-22T02:26:00.000-08:00

AHAHAHAHAHAHAH BEWARE!!! FOR I AM KNOWN AS THE HORROR AMONG NETIZENS AS:

AND AMONG MY PEERS AS

AHAHAHAHAHAHA AAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! *maniacal laughter echoes away into the darkness of the virtual night*

And we have some...quizzes!

2005-11-18T06:54:00.000-08:00

I tried out a few more quizzes today and here are some of the results I got...

Angelic Evil
What type of evil being are you inside?
brought to you by Quizilla

The Sorrowful Vampire
What type of vampire are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

You scored as Verbal/Linguistic. You have highly developed auditory skills, enjoy reading and writing and telling stories, and are good at getting your point across. You learn best by saying and hearing words. People like you include poets, authors, speakers, attorneys, politicians, lecturers and teachers.

Verbal/Linguistic

79%

Intrapersonal

61%

Musical/Rhythmic

61%

Visual/Spatial

50%

Interpersonal

46%

Logical/Mathematical

25%

Bodily/Kinesthetic

21%

The Rogers Indicator of Multiple Intelligences
created with QuizFarm.com

Your HARE DAEMON represents your passive,
kindhearted, and honorable nature. Though you
are occasionally shy with new people, friends
admire your unshakable tranquility, even in the
face of chaos.
What Animal Would Your Daemon Settle As?
brought to you by Quizilla

Your Evanescence song is: Haunted
You have a love/hate relationship to a person
who only seems to be pulling you down. You try
to escape him/her in order to save yourself but
he/she always seems to be there. It is like a
race and you run as fast as you can. Still, a
part of you know no other love and wants to
stay.

When all this time I've been so hollow inside
I know you're still there

What Evanescence song are you?[many outcomes + wonderful pictures]
brought to you by Quizilla

You scored as Unipolar Depression. Congraulations! You are depressed! You know just how it feels to bear all the world's burdens, and the value of a 19-hour night's sleep. And you really hate that circle-guy thing on your Zoloft pill packets.

Unipolar Depression

75%

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

33%

Antisocial Personality Disorder

17%

Eating Disorders

17%

Borderline Personality Disorder

Schizophrenia

Which mental disorder do you have?
created with QuizFarm.com

Another Artistic Venture.

2005-11-04T19:23:00.000-08:00

I made these two "Alias" MSN display pictures some time ago:

And I made this "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children" MSN display picture today:

As you can see, this display picture is based upon the character Sephiroth. Font used in Propaganda (if my memory doesn't fail me).

And I've also made two textures - both of which are 1024x768. Here're the thumbnails - click on them to see the original-size textures.

THE FOREST GRUNGE TEXTURE SET (1)

Ok, that's about all I have to show off for today.

Another Rare Entry.

2005-11-03T19:18:00.000-08:00

I am finally finally posting an entry again.

It's the holidays, my exams are finally over but I still hafta go back to school. I have a lot of stuff to do, and there's the Drama Camp to prepare for.

Err wait - I need to go wash the dishes first. Be back.

Ok back. Yes, I'm washing the dishes at 11:30 in the morning.

Gah, now is not time yet for a full update. I'll publish this post anyway for post count's sake (Haha oops - I realise that offends some people. Sorry if it does!)

Woo-hoo back again~

2005-10-21T05:57:00.000-07:00

Hi-ho, hi-ho
It's time to blog again
Let's go, let's go
Inflict readers with pain
Come see, come see
The painful reality
Don't leave, don't leave
Keep reading my blog angsty

Okay I know that was a lousy intro.

Wooh, I'm blogging again.

On the other hand I have absolutely zero idea what to blog about.

I could blog about my results. I could blog about how stuck I am in life. I could blog about how my Chinese O's are coming and I'm still not working on it. I could sound all angsty and complain about life. Or I could sound all fluffy and praise life. Or I could be raunchy and start discussing things of a more carnal nature. Or I could just sit here and slack away.

Or I could just stop this entry here.

Yeah, I think I'll do that.

"Priiiiima donnna~"

Sorry, been watching too much Phantom of the Opera.

Ok that's it.

Sorry all. I think this is just a post to let everyone know that Eden Lost is still up and kicking - no excess worries, everyone, just relax.

50th Post! Woo-hoo!

2005-10-12T01:40:00.000-07:00

Yay everyone it's my fiftieth post! Woo-hoo! *celebrates* *cheers*

Haha ok ok.

Me exams are more or less over - WHEE!!! All that's left is O'Level Chinese on the 31st of October *dread* Must go and continue studying soon *sigh*

Well, even so, at least the school end-of-year exams are over. I'm breathing a BIG sigh of relief (yes, I know it's been five days already since I took my last EOY paper - still...) and have been celebrating and lazing around like the most professional slacker these past few days.

On the other hand, I've been trekking around and finally visited the Central Lending Library at the National Library premises yesterday. The language section was a bit disappointing, though - JRL and library@orchard seems to have much more interesting books. On the other hand there were two or three books that WERE unique to the CLL - there was this "Grammar of Modern Hebrew" that made me go "Wow!" and a book on contemporary usage of Russian (which also made me go "Wow!").

I've started work on digital graphics again. Here's a set of icons I made for an SD-1.net challenge - it features Sydney and Vaughn (darn, I think S5 has made me feel much more for S/V! Can't believe I'm turning into an S/V shipper! ARR ~o~)

Screencaps (from Episode 5x01: Prophet Five) are taken from Alias-Media and font used is "Olympus".

Oh - and not to forget a wallpaper of Vaughn that I made this morning - you can see it here. It's the first time I'm using textures and I must say, I think it looks great =]

Enjoy! Hope yer like them!

Digging the Dirt on: "Corpse Bride"

2005-10-07T03:49:00.000-07:00

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!! The EOY exams are over! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Okay, sorry.

So - I went out to JP with Shina and Chuan Min today to watch "Corpse Bride". I must say that this show is a classic - not only is the rendering good, even the choice of colours, the themes presented in the show, the characters, everything - the movie is GOOD, no, wait, VERY, VERY GOOD.

First off I must say - contrast plays a very very heavy role in "Corpse Bride". The title itself is contrasting - we wouldn't normally associate a "corpse" with a "bride". A "corpse" is dead while a "bride" is filled with life. This oxymoronic title exemplifies the contrast so strong in the play.

The first thing that comes to mind when the movie begins is the heavy use of black, white, and bluish-grey shades in rendering the city. Set in the Victorian times, this is actually quite befitting - since in the Victorian times, much of England was bleak and many lived in destitution and utter poverty. A sweeper is shown alongside a clock, moving in unison with the pendulum of the clock. The monotony that prevails in the opening scenes suggests that the Victorian times were times of bleakness and monotony.

This bleakness of the living world stands in utter contrast with the liveliness of the world of the dead - yes, the world of the dead is a LIVELY place. It is ironic, yes, but it strengthens and emphasises the bleakness of Victorian England. Dancing skeletons and singing bones, all decked in a range of colours from red to blue - the brightness of the world of the dead stands in total opposition to the bleak, grey world of the living.

The people are in contrast as well - the parents of Victoria (the living bride) are an example. The mother is thin and tall - the father is fat and short. Only Victoria and Victor (the main protaganist) appear as being the most balanced characters in the play - human-like and with a coloured appearance, unlike the standard grey-black-or-white of the people around them.

The corpse bride Emily is an interesting character - she is dead, but continues to shed tears and even has a bed to sleep on. Indeed, the dead in the movie seem more living than the living themselves - the dead lack the monotonous and clockwork "life" of the living - instead, they live exciting lives, squeezing into bars and gulping down gallons of alcohol (albeit having the beer run down their throats and leak out of their bare ribs) whenever there's a "new arrival", cheering and singing when Emily gets married, and preparing a large, wobbly wedding cake for the newlyweds. Another contrast appears here - when the large wobbly cake is being shown, the focus then switches back to Victoria - and her puny, tiny wedding cake.

Of course, how can we forget about the beautiful ending? It was sad when Emily had to go - but having been freed by Victor's compassion, it is only right for her to go back to where she rightfully belongs. Her worries resolved and the bride-cheater-and-murderer finally dealt with - she can leave in peace. She becomes a thousand butterflies and flies up to the moon. There is an interesting point to note here - there is a slight irony that she should become butterflies. Indeed, butterflies are beautiful, but they are also short-lived - contrasting, or perhaps reflecting, the fact that she has been dead and yet living for so long.

"Corpse Bride", I can conclude, is a movie with a well-thought-out story, interesting characters, and beautifully-done movie - all I can say is, "KUDOS!" - and I definitely recommend this movie for anyone who wishes to see something sad, beautiful, moving, funny, romantic, and thought-provoking.

A Cynic's Guide to Twelfth Night.

2005-10-06T07:12:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, I'm getting utterly desperate. In view of my Literature end-of-year examination tomorrow I shall dedicate this blog entry SOLELY to expounding on Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night". Enjoy.

First I shall provide everyone with a nice, sweet, short version of the story, not in order of scenes. Sister and brother get caught in shipwreck; sister and brother get washed up on different shores, sister dresses up as a eunuch; sister-eunuch goes to work for Count; sister-eunuch helps Count woo a Countess; Countess falls in love with sister-eunuch; Countess hints her love by sending sister-eunuch a ring; sister laments her misfortune, reveals she loves Count;;; Brother ends up with friend on another end of island; friend offers unconditional friendship and love; Brother reciprocates and they go out together (I mean as friends, not -) -

Wait I'm getting lost. Forget the story summary.

"Twelfth Night" is definitely an interesting read, the "prithees" aside. Of course we get the occasional metaphor and allusion ('Will you hoist sail, sir?" / "No, good swabber, I am to hull here a little longer" - exchange of words between Viola and maid Maria; this is an allusion to sailing which was a popular occupation in Shakespeare's time. Viola's reference to Maria as "good swabber" could possibly be either a compliment to her being a good servant or an insult to her that she washes decks). On the other hand, the story is rife with confusion and mistaken identity, an important central theme.

Of course, "Twelfth Night" is more of a love comedy than Alias-turned-sitcom. The continual musings of Orsino on the "high fantastical nature" of love shows what a self-indulgent bastard he is - all he cares about is pitying himself about how he keeps being rejected by Olivia. And Olivia isn't a good girl either - she's just as self-indulgent as Orsino, preferring to extravagantly lament her brother's death by wearing a black veil and mourn for seven years instead of going out to get laid. Look, I know it's nice of you to mourn your brother - but aren't you taking it a bit too far? And you were such a sucker when you forgot all about mourning your brother when 'Cesario' turned up in your life.

Certainly, it is at this point that we realise that Olivia is potentially lesbian. She lusts after 'Cesario''s gentleness and youthness. What about the dashing, manly Orsino who's desperately lusting after your flesh?

You little bitch.

And you sent Cesario that ring, too. You sneaky little witch.

Well, at least you were frank later. You're forgiven.

Next character: Feste. I'm afraid you're the weakest link. Goodbye.

Why must there be a fool in EVERY Shakespeare play? They say it's probably Shakespeare attempting to write himself into his plays. Some also say that these fools prove to people that wisdom lies in folly.

Feste, you're supposed to be omnipotent, or at least nearly omnipotent. I can't believe you didn't foresee that 'Cesario' was a lady in disguise. HAHAHAHA sucker.

Next sucker on my kill list - Malvolio. You absolute, self-important, pompous, arrogant little sucker. You were tricked by the letter all because you're such a self-centred, egoistic FOOL. "M.O.A.I. [...] everyone of these letters are in my name" WHATEVER! The vowels in your name go by this order - mAlvOlIO. HELLO, wake up from your autoerotic fantasies, PLEASE!

Yellow cross-gartered stockings HAHAHAHAHA. -fool-

Ok ok, enough cynicism.

That was fun though.

Really fun.

If You're Free This Sat, Let's Go To My Church

2005-09-30T20:39:00.000-07:00

Before I start ranting on proper, just a few things definitely worth taking note of:

(i) "ALIAS" SEASON 5 HAS STARTED IN THE US!!!
(ii) THIS IS MY 47TH POST!!! AN INSIDE JOKE WITH MY FRIENDS WHO ARE ALSO "ALIAS" FANS!!!
(iii) End-of-year exams begin officially next week. I'm dead if I don't cut down on computer time to study. Really hard.

Ok, my rant.

I was reading the newspapers this morning, and what a [non-]shock it was when I read a reader's letter to the Forum section concerning the things that people do to convert others to their religion.

This incident was specific to Christianity, which is why this post is aimed at those "Christians" who go to lengths to attempt to convert people to their religion. The main target, however, would be ALL THOSE who have ever attempted, or are attempted, or will attempt to convert others to their religion.

The reader wrote about a teacher who was trying to persuade her friend's daughter to attend church with her. The problem here was that the girl was a Buddhist and therefore the parents were unlikely to allow her to attend.

Guess what the bait was? There was going to some Christian rock concert/festival/whatnot at the church, and it would be great for the girl to go and get converted.

What is your problem, O Hippy-Converting Christians?

I have come up with a term for those Christians who attempt to convert others by using rock music, pop culture, and whatnot as a bait. These are known as the HC-Christians, or Hippy-Converting Christians.

They ask their friends who are non-Christian whether they want to attend a Christian music festival, and there, they start expounding to their friends the virtues of Christianity and begin their attempts at conversion. Then, they start making religion into a sort of pop culture, that you're cool if you're listening to CCM or Christian rock and a bozo if you're stuck with some sort of traditional hoo-doo religion.

Hogwash. Niddle-poomps. Etaoin Shrdlu.

Whatever.

Look, you picked your religion as a choice (or you were inducted into it since young) and you're sticking with it.

Let other people do the same, ok? Unless they're choosing to enter some suicidal/terrorist/violent cult encompassing daily orgies of 1,000 people sans condoms or regular baby sacrifice, let them have their freedom. Why should you care if they're Wicca, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Taoist, etc. etc. ? It's not like they're here to abduct you to their worship grounds - so why should YOU do it?

Let's stop this "Spread the Good News that Jesus Saved You and You Should Go to [specifically] MY Church So You Don't Go To Hell". Instead, go "Spread the Peace of Religious Harmony" instead.

Wait, there's another type of conversion - between denominations of a religion. Yes, that means Protestants attempting to convert Catholics over and vice versa. This is even more ridiculous.

Look, you're both part of Christianity. You both share similarities and have differences, but all in all you're more or less the same thing. Stop badmouthing other denominations.

From what I hear, Catholicism suffers the most bashing from other denominations (excluding the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses). Stop the Revelations comparison, ok?

We've had enough war in the world already. We don't want anymore.

Let us live in peace, ok? No more attempts at conversion, please?

And stop the pop-and-rock-music-hook-up-thing. Music isn't the only thing in religion.

In fact, it shouldn't be the starting point for religion.

Let it stop.

Please.

On hiatus again.

2005-09-27T04:51:00.000-07:00

I'm finally getting down to posting!

I'm really sorry that some people have been experiencing server or site problems when they attempt to visit this blog - there has been a moving of files over to a new server by the server provider, hence the downtime.

I can't really post long today - I need to go off and study. Yep, that's right, other than the long hiatus before this post there's also going to be a long hiatus after this post. From the 3rd of October 2005 to the 7th of October 2005, I should be offline most of the time to study, meaning minimal or no time at all spent on the computer (I hope). Please pardon my inactivity online in this period of time, and do hope I do really well for all my exams this round and next time so that I can be allowed to spend time online =]

Well, gotta go all. Have a great time, and study hard!

From Eud's Blog.

2005-09-16T06:39:00.000-07:00

The painful world and the painful truth. I found this on Eud's blog and the pain of it is that everything mentioned can be true, and will be probably be true if homophobia continues.

I am the girl kicked out of her home because I confided in my mother that I am a lesbian.

I am the prostitute working the streets because nobody will hire a transsexual woman.

I am the sister who holds her gay brother tight through the painful, tear-filled nights.

We are the parents who buried our daughter long before her time.

I am the man who died alone in the hospital because they would not let my partner of twenty-seven years into the room.

I am the foster child who wakes up with nightmares of being taken away from the two fathers who are the only loving family I have ever had. I wish they could adopt me.

I am one of the lucky ones, I guess. I survived the attack that left me in a coma for three weeks, and in another year I will probably be able to walk again.

I am not one of the lucky ones. I killed myself just weeks before graduating high school. It was simply too much to bear.

We are the couple who had the realtor hang up on us when she found out we wanted to rent a one-bedroom for two men.

I am the person who never knows which bathroom I should use if I want to avoid getting the management called on me.

I am the mother who is not allowed to even visit the children I bore, nursed, and raised. The court says I am an unfit mother because I now live with another woman.

I am the domestic-violence survivor who found the support system grow suddenly cold and distant when they found out my abusive partner is also a woman.

I am the domestic-violence survivor who has no support system to turn to because I am male.

I am the father who has never hugged his son because I grew up afraid to show affection to other men.

I am the home-economics teacher who always wanted to teach gym until someone told me that only lesbians do that.

I am the man who died when the paramedics stopped treating me as soon as they realized I was transsexual.

I am the person who feels guilty because I think I could be a much better person if I didn’t have to always deal with society hating me.

I am the man who stopped attending church, not because I don't believe, but because they closed their doors to my kind.

I am the person who has to hide what this world needs most, love.

Repost this if you believe homophobia is wrong.

Stop all this homophobia crap. People are suffering from famine, natural disasters, wars, bombings, and terrorism all over the world. There's enough fighting going on.

Why start more?

Reminiscence.

2005-09-07T20:01:00.000-07:00

I just realised that I should talk about the Sec 3 Adventure Camp before I forget all about it.

Well, the camp started on the 2nd of September. Way before the camp I had been dreading it, but I managed to deal with those feelings of dread by fooling myself into believing the camp as a form of field agent pre-training (yes, the result of watching too much "Alias"). That loosened my dread a lot more and I felt a lot better. That day of the camp also happened to be my violin exam, so I didn't go to school in the morning at 0730 hrs. I'd say the exam went ok - though I had to repeat a few scales (eeps). I hope I passed.

After I came out from the exam room, my mom told me that Mr. See (my form teacher) had given her a call and told her that the class hadn't left school yet and that if I could rush there in time I could go to the Jalan Bahtera campsite with the rest of the class. That's what we did - but before that we popped over to King Albert Park's Cold Storage to get a box of Panadol just in case.

So I reached school and realised there that I wasn't supposed to bring any sweets. Luckily my class loved sweets (loved them too much in fact) and they were gone within seconds.

The bus came and everyone just bundled on. We sang and sang and sang and generally made a lot of noise on the way there (in my opinion, it was a good way of hyping ourselves up for what was coming up next).

It took about 45 minutes to an hour to get to the campsite. Jalan Bahtera's really really far away apparently and there was practically not a single living soul in sight (except for us) in a 1-km radius around the campsite. When we got to the campsite we assembled in the carpark to be directed to our respective groups.

wOOt! I was dispatched to Group Nine (actually, the grouping was done earlier, before the camp), and our group name was Kit (from "Kit-Kat" - yes, there WAS another group called "Kat", which would be our partner group). The atmosphere was kind of quiet at first since no one really knew anyone (I did know Cherrylene, and Franz too). I tried to start the ball rolling by asking everyone for comments and all that, but for some strange reason I got greeted by a haunting silence.

Eeps. So much for trying to be enthusiastic.

Luckily, things managed to loosen themselves up a bit (which proves the point that humans, when it comes to such things, are actually rather helpless, as I can attest to it). We got along more easily, and managed to keep together as a group.

Our first activity was the Challenge Rope Course. I've never seen an obstacle course at such a height before. I didn't manage to go through the CRC though since there wasn't enough time. Some of the others who did try were screaming their way up and screaming their way down.

The next was Rock Climbing. I mananged to give this a try and I must say, it's not as difficult as I expected it to be. I was expecting myself to be either stuck halfway or left suspended in mid-air, but surprise surprise - I got to the top with much ease (although getting down was a little more difficult and I ended up with a bruised knee). It was really fun but quite tiring, and I didn't go a second time.

Finally, there was Abseiling - or walking down a wall from a tall building. This activity was done from a tower about three storeys in height. This activity looked really cool (though rather slow) because it reminded me of the way the agents escaped from tall buildings (excluding Irina, who does it semi-bungee style). It looked difficult and was supposed to be very tiring (as many people told me) but when I tried it, I realised it wasn't that tiring at all. The hard part was keeping the body back and away from the wall - I had this habit of bending upwards. Keeping the body down as essential to keeping the legs on the wall. Whenever I tried, or subconsciously straightened myself up, my legs would lose their grip on the wall and I would just sail forward and swing into the wall (ouch). I mananged to get to the bottom safely and swiftly and I must say, it was really fun.

Skip skip skip all the usual stuff that goes on during a camp and we come to the next day (I didn't mention the Night Hike, did I? Right now I have no idea how to talk about it, so I'll leave it for now). Our first activity in the morning was - *shock* - the Land/Sea Expedition. Yes, the Land/Sea Expedition. I dreaded the Land Expedition because I heard from another group who had gone through it the day before that they had to go knee-deep into a mud pool. I also dreaded the Sea Expedition (which would be Kayaking) because I wasn't a good swimmer, or rather, could hardly swim at all.

The Land Expedition reminded me of an orienteering exercise - we were given clue cards with either bearings and directions or letters and numbers which represented something that could point us in the correct direction. Some examples of the clues include "Bearing: 100 degrees; Distance: 1km", "B04" (which actually referred to a bus-stop - bus-stops in Singapore have letters and numbers assigned to them, apparently), and "165 372 M.G.R." (i.e. grid reference). We were given maps to assist us in looking for these places. The bus-stop, however, wasn't marked on the map but luckily enough we were resting at a bus-stop when we were given the "B04" clue. The bus-stop we were at happened to be "B07" (or something close) and just down the road was another bus-stop saying "B06". From there we figured out that "B04" had to be somewhere down the road.

We managed to get to the third or fourth station and the trainer decided that due to time constraints we should be going straight to the mud track instead (eeps). We were like,"Oh dear!" and all that, but we followed the trainer anyway. We retraced our steps back to somewhere along the road that led out of the Jalan Bahtera campsite towards Lim Chu Kang Road. It was just a normal trail through the grass at first, but we eventually got to a point where the mud levels started to increase. We waited somewhere along the trail for the rest of the groups and when they arrived, moved off towards a slope which led to a wide dirt clearing. We climbed down the slope carefully, supporting each other and eventually managed to get to the bottom.

We finally got to the mud pool. The trainers joked that they were treating us to a free spa and that the mud was really good for our skin. They brought us to the mud pool (which really was knee-deep!) and I must say, it was...muddy, for the lack of a better word. Stepping into the pool our shoes sunk really fast into the loose mud and we sunk downwards as though we had stepped into quicksand.

The trainers made us sit and lie down in the mud - my EL tee was totally ruined (*sobs* - an injustice I had made towards the EDC!) and my shoes were mud-covered. Luckily I wore PE shorts and the mud didn't get into those. There were tadpoles in the mud pool, many of the others claimed, but I couldn't really see those for myself (I wouldn't want to, actually).

When we got out of the pool, we were absolutely filthy. Mud was all over my back and all over my skin. It felt weird to walk since my shoes kept squishing with muddy water. I was so glad that my shoes were made mostly out of canvas - this meant that the mud didn't stick and my shoes were quite clean within seconds of having gotten out of the mud pool.

We went for kayaking next. The buoyancy test was freaky - I couldn't maintain my balance in the water and had to grab onto poor Franz and another person next to me to keep steady. When I got onto a kayak with Franz I was wondering how I should paddle and hoping that nothing would go wrong.

It was a really sunny day - I got a tan on my legs that day. The kayak floated kind of unsteadily, bobbing up and down in the water. I couldn't really keep up with Franz' paddling, but the kayak moved quite smoothly through the water nonetheless. The feeling of the sea breeze was quite cooling.

Eeps, dad's calling me to go out. I think I'd better stop here. Next entry coming up soon!

Found this.

2005-09-07T06:16:00.000-07:00

I'm currently listening to: "The Day You Went Away" by M2M

I found this when looking through the Unilang forum: a document describing the advantages that American English (AmE) has over British English (BrE) (Original thread can be found here).

I must firstly clarify my stand - I am neutral to the issue. Having been taught the UK system of English since young I must say that both has its merits. Some of the statements that the above document makes about UK English are debatable, such as the description of BrE's tendency to distinguish between verbs and nouns which have similar spellings and derivatives as unnecessary (e.g. to practise/practice, to license/licence, and to prophesy/prophecy - note that "licence" is now rarely seen in BrE and "license" seems to have taken on its function as well) . I don't find this statement well-founded mainly because the distinction is necessary (at least for BrE) to separate the verb from the noun. This would avoid ambiguity or confusion (there are, of course, other ways to prevent this from occurring).

As another example, the document finds the distinction between "story" and "storey" unnecessary, which again I feel is unfounded because distinguishing between one floor of a building and a fable or tale isn't something that's negligible either.

Some points presented in the document, however, are, in my opinion, reasonable. AmE remains true to the original Latin spelling of "sulfur" while BrE complicates matters and chooses to represent it as "sulphur". Another example includes "foetus", which is pseudo-Latin since the original Latin has "fetus", which would make AmE closer to the original.

I also agree with the point that AmE spelling is a lot more phonetic. Just look at BrE "favour/devour". AmE "favor" removes the confusion in pronunciation. Another such example would be BrE "organise, organisation" and AmE "organize, organization". The former spells them with an "s", which is pronounced as a "z". In the latter, however, the "z" clarifies the pronunciation and there is less ambiguity.

English, in general, is a very irregular language, especially in terms of pronunciation. This is one major flaw that would be near-impossible to solve since the irregularities are so rampant and widespread in the language - they infiltrate practically every word in the English language. I remember a very interesting example - "gheti" would be the same word, pronunciation-wise, as the word "fish" if you pronounced it with the "gh" from "rough", the first "e" from "meteor", and the "ti" from "action". *sigh*

Yep, that's how irregular English is! =]

I finally managed to fix the whole thing!

2005-09-07T04:55:00.000-07:00

I'm like OMG and OMGing all along because I finally managed to fix the whole blog design! Yes! The text is looking right, the frames are not out of place, and the div layers are not messed up. Yes yes yes! I managed to fix everything and install a brand new layout I made in a day finally! I am so so so proud of it! My brand new Irina Derevko design!

Ok, had to boast a bit. After two failed layouts I am so glad that I finally managed to get a functional one up. Now I feel ready to post all over again.

Hey, don't forget to check out the new writing blog Raven Chase [ http://ravenchase.blogspot.com/ ]. Do remind me update it in my comments, okay? Please comment, everyone! Thanks!

It's over!

2005-08-31T07:53:00.000-07:00

The Teachers' Day celebrations are over! One less thing to think and worry about!

Or not.

Post-mortem's next next Tuesday. Arrgh.

A lot of things happened. Things that shouldn't have. Things that weren't supposed to be.

And they went along and happened.

Darned the particles of coincidence and fate, and of the inevitable yet hidden and of the unexpected. Darn 'em, darn 'em.

Ok I shan't complain anymore.

Really sorry about this.

2005-08-28T08:09:00.000-07:00

Yes, I'm afraid the whole blog's a bit messed up. I'm really really sorry - it turned out that my latest "Alias" layout was a complete div-layer flop and I ended up scraping up. I couldn't even write two entries having to face that layout. I replaced it with this layout I got from [ http://blogger-templates.blogspot.com/ ].

So I've been talking to Eud and telling her how I managed to get over the Adventure Camp. I've been dreading it to be frank and trying to shirk it off, but it seems we're fated to be together. I've attempted to compartmentalise my dread and even attempted to suppress and "delete" it, but apparently it persists. I've rationalised that this is going to be a test of my physical abilities and that from an occult viewpoint, the human body is nothing but matter and to test it is to understand and experience the physical side of existence - the feelings of tiredness, of hunger, of thirst, of whatsoever human physical condition is possible. This is what makes life fulfilling - to have known the physical, to have known the spiritual, to have known the aesthetic, to have known the intellectual, to have known the mental, to have known the emotional, and to have known the occult - or, to have known God.

Note that the italicised parts were taken directly from my words in the conversation with Eud. Yes, I AM trying to rationalise it but technical-ising the whole bloody process of reasoning. G-d preserve me.

And of course, there's always the thought and idea that this camp is nothing but a pre-training for being a field agent. I mean, with activities like abseiling, it could only remind you of the physically-impossible feats that the spooks do in "Alias". They were absolutely amazing, I tell you. Imagine flying around suspended from a clothesline somewhere in the urbs of Moscow. Even the red spires of Saint Petersburg pale in comparison to the sheer complexity of attaching a harness, raising a leg over the window, kicking off the side of the building, and veering with absolute precision and caution to the other side of the street.

This twists the classic joke of course: Why did the spy cross the road? He didn't cross the road, he flew across it. And of course, how many spies does it take to screw a lightbulb? Two - one to screw the lightbulb in and the other to loop the security feed.

Ok sorry, "Alias" is probably grating off me. I promise that I'll stop being obsessed with it after I finish watching Season 3.

Of course, there's always Season 4.

And Season 5's coming out in October.

MV Leaving "Alias"?!

2005-07-29T20:04:00.000-07:00

Before I start my vent+rant, first in reply to Liwen's comment: I am NOT a book-slave, I am only one when I'm lugging the books =] Otherwise I make my books work for me, which is why I usually have to browse and browse and pick and choose when I borrow books. Also, I would borrow 16 books given the chance; I used to have four cards (one for each member of my family) and my mother even had a Premium Membership subscription, which meant I could borrow a total of 20 books - which I did, most of the time. I borrowed as much as could then, but as I grew older I grew out of borrowing children's books (which could be finished in a couple of minutes) and began to venture into the adult borrowing section. The rest is history, with the number of books being borrowed diminishing as my tastes began to grow, change, and mutate.

Anyway -

MV IS LEAVING ALIAS?!?!?!??!?! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

This is bad, this is bad, this is bad. News has spread the Michael Vartan is leaving Alias and will be gone after a few episodes of Season 5. NO!!!!!!! Don't let him go!!!

I just don't understand what's the point of Alias without him. I don't want Vaughn to die because of the car crash, nor do I want him to turn evil, or just disappear, or maybe melt and mutate back into a page from one of Rambaldi's manuscripts. I want him to remain as who he is, regardless of whoever he may (spoiler: Season 4 finale), I DON'T WANT HIM TO GO!!! He and Sydney form the very heart and soul of "Alias" - without him "Alias" just doesn't seem right! ARR!!!

Ok, everyone, peace out, vent+rant's done.

An Idea.

2005-07-25T02:38:00.000-07:00

I'm in German class right now in the language lab. It's break and I only have a couple more seconds (I s'pose) to type in my ideas for an "Alias" fic.
I was reading the Vaughn speculations for Season 5 on SD-1.net. I thought it'd be really cool if Season 5 could go back to some time during SD-6, but focusing on Vaughn instead. I mean, we might learn about Vaughn's real heritage, his real birth, his real family. Ooh.
Well, if Bill Vaughn isn't a descendant of Rambaldi, why can't his mother be instead? ^_^

Another Long List of Books.

2005-07-23T02:44:00.000-07:00

I just came back from the library. Spent about an hour there, looking through and browsing the books as though I had not a care for the rest of world. I managed to borrow a large bag of books home - lugged it back like I was a book-slave or something.

Here's a list of what I got, complete with some specifications:

==============================================

Frommer's Germany 2004: with a guide to art & architecture
Specs.: Darwin Porter & Danforth Prince; 686 pgs; Wiley Publishing, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey, 2004.

Psychology: A Very Short Introduction
Specs.: Gillian Butler & Freda McManus; 159 pgs; Oxford University Press Inc., New York, 2000.

Alpha Teach Yourself: Spanish in 24 hours, 2nd ed.
Specs.: Clark M. Zlotchew, Ph.D.; 452 pgs; Alpha Books, Indianapolis, 2004.

Hugo's French in Three Months
Specs.: Ronald Overy and Jacqueline Lecanuet; 256 pgs; Hugo's Language Books, London, 1997.

Teach Yourself: Indonesian
Specs.: Christopher Byrnes and Eva Nyimas; 288 pgs; Hodder Headline, London, 2003.

Teach Yourself: Writing a Novel and Getting Published
Specs.: Nigel Watts; 173 pgs; Hodder Headline, London, 1996.

You Can Write A Novel
Specs.: James V. Smith, Jr.; 138 pgs; Writer's Digest Books, Ohio, 1998.

The Pocket Muse: Ideas and Inspiration for Writing
Specs.: Monica Wood; no. of pgs. unknown; Writer's Digest Books, Ohio, 2002.

Twelfth Night: Contemporary Critical Essays
Specs.: edited by R.S. White; 221 pgs; Macmillan Press Ltd., Hampshire/London, 1996.

==============================================

My my, that really was a very long list of books. I reckon I should do more than just read - though frankly speaking I hardly read what I borrow =$

Ok ok, enough about my weird and unnatural reading habits. It's time for me to type out my whole Common Test time-table - they're super-important and they're just round the corner. Time to type it out so that I can remind my conscious, subconscious, super-conscious, super-super conscious...about the tests so that I can get all psyched and geared up for the tests. Time to boil all the coffee and tea and the adrenaline-inducing chemicals!!! *prepares syringes and needles*

15/8, MON - English Language (0745 - 0925), Elementary Mathematics (1030 - 1130)
16/8, TUE - Chemistry (0745 - 0845), Social Studies (0855 - 0925)
17/8, WED - Higher Chinese (0745 - 0845), History Elective (0855 - 0925)
18/8, THU - Additional Mathematics (0745 - 0845), Biology (0855 - 0955)
19/8, FRI - Pure Literature (0855 - 0940)

Ok, that was for my Common Test time-table (shudders). Got to remember to study *sigh*

Oh by the way, do check out I Speak Dead Languages. I started this blog to write my musings on languages and related subjects.

Well, that had better be all for this blog entry, it seems a little long =] And I've added Ass' link =]

Have fun all! ^_^

A Quick Clarification and a Lot of Ranting.

2005-07-18T03:24:00.000-07:00

Before I continue, this is a clarification addressed to Zis:

Sorry, it must've been one of my non-sequiturs again! By "coincidental" I was referring to the occurences of the number 47 in Nature and not the occurences of the number in "Alias".

Ok, clarification done.

It's the 18th of July, one day after my school's 88th Anniversary celebrations. I s'pose I did okay for the Heritage Walk section - I even got on TV! *claps*

Erm - yeah - I know I was blocked. Whatever.

So this morning school only lasted for like, two hours. We watched a dance depicting the interaction between the different races in Singapore and a performance by the Necessary Stage titled "What's the Difference?". After we were dismissed I kinda felt quite lost because all around in the canteen were unfamiliar people. Mom and Dad were at work and I had finished watching the finale of Alias S2 the day before, so I didn't know what else I could do. I ended up tagging along with Yihui to KFC and I had a Shrooms burger meal (frankly, I have zero idea what else I can eat in KFC). After finishing "lunch" (the burger was so TINY!) I just strolled around Clementi, browsing through the books in the Clementi Bookstore (which sold all sorts of expensive university textbook for subjects like mathematics, chemistry, biology, physics and computer science) and finally going to Big Bookshop to see what books they had there.

I was looking at some secondary school textbooks when suddenly I saw Amanda strolling around. Apparently everyone was there - from Pinky to June to Shida.

A while later, I was in the library with C. Yiting, C. H. M., T. H. M. and Pinky. I found Alias: Skin Deep at last!

I loitered in the library for almost two hours, browsing, borrowing, dumping, and generally tormenting the poor books. Finally I managed to get my hands on quite a number of books.

Well here I am at 1836 hrs tapping away at my computer, writing a blog entry.

I've still got loads to do. *sigh*

The Mystery of 47.

2005-07-14T07:09:00.000-07:00

"Scientists and mathematicians have not hesitated to take special note of those occasions when the number 47 arises from nature itself. The claims include these: It takes 47 divisions of one cell to produce the number of cells in the human body. There are 50,847,478 prime numbers less than one billion. The element with the highest conductivity is silver, whose atomic number is 47. A pint is 0.47 liters. The Pythagorean Theorem is Proposition 47 of Euclid's Elements. The tropics of Cancer and Capricorn are located 47 degrees apart."

-Excerpted from [ http://www.pomona.edu/Magazine/pcmfl00/1.shtml ]

I might have simply been watching too much "Alias", but the mystery of the number 47 (which appears countless times in the show) is too overt to be ignored. The examples given in the paragraph above are too coincidental - one might even be led to believe the world is designed under the number. Of course, there are other numbers which play bigger roles (like PHI, for example) but a totally unfamiliar number like 47 being special is too much to ignore.

I also read that Caesar uttered the famous phrase "Veni, vidi, vici" in 47 B.C. 47 is a very special prime numbers because a) It is the 15th prime number; b) It is supersingular (not sure what that means - check Wikipedia.com) and c) It is also a safe prime (meaning it is made from the formula 2p+1, where p is another prime number. Safe primes are used in safer encryptions).

Am working hard to find 47 in my everyday life. I'll post any spottings I might get =]

I'm in School.

2005-06-28T02:34:00.000-07:00

It's already the second day since school reopened. Here I am, at 1735 hrs, sitting in school and tapping away at a school computer.

Mr Chiu just asked me what day today was. I confirmed that it's Tuesday.

Tuesday. Already.

Sorry, SRB (School Reopening Blues) is still setting in on me.

I'm still in school at this time because of the 88th Anniversary Dinner rehearsals. I've already had my rehearsal just now so for now I'm just sitting in the Media Hub and wondering if I should go home yet.

The GO, apparently, has turned off the air-conditioning supply in the Media Hub. Poor us have to rely on a fan, apparently.

Mr Chiu asked me today about the National Interschool Blogging Competition. I've already registered and confirmed an account and a personal blog on Campus MoBlog, but the competition is for a group and I've currently managed to rope only Pheng Heong in so far. Hopefully I'll be able to get more people to join.

I've named the group the Ouroboros Circle, the "Circle" part courtesy of Pheng Heong. Thanx!

Please, I need more people to join...

Frankly, I'm actually still deliberating if I should join the competition or not =P

Eeps.

Hmm, 1740 hrs. I think I'd better go.

Wow, I took 5 minutes to write this short entry. I wonder how I'll do for a half-hour write-a-thon =]

Imperial March.

2005-06-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

That's it, all. It's 2352 hrs, 26th of June, Sunday. The clock is ticking and eight minutes later the Period of Great Bliss (TM) ends.

School reopens tomorrow.

*hears Imperial March playing continuously in background*

Ok ok, enough of the dreading.

Well, the first thing I want to do in this entry is to first apologise to Zis and Zil for being such an ass on Saturday. I want to say sorry for being such a total nickass - sorry 'bout my pestering on the Chinese songlist! I seriously don't know what went wrong on Saturday with me - perhaps stress was setting in on me or I simply was being an ass.

And Zis - that day I freaked out when you said "Oi!". I guess you didn't mean it (or can remember it) - nonetheless if I was an ass on Saturday I really HAVE to say sorry.

Erm, next, sorry Nic! Didn't know you were almost alone at West Coast Park. I thought that Council had enough members to be there, but apparently most of us were in school anyway. I thought MAD was really low on member-count, so that's why I popped up in school instead. Sorry!

Phew, that was better. Getting all that out of my system. I've been feeling guilty since.

Ok, so school reopens tomorrow, and I'm really freaked out because I haven't gotten Kai Shuin to send me ANYTHING yet. I hope the project isn't due yet, and I seriously hope Kai Shuin won't murder me. Another apology to dish out! I seriously think I've outdone myself in terms of being an idiot and ignoring his message (yes, I did receive Kai Shuin's message about the Chinese project) is simply the worst I can do. I need to go to school to apologise and hope he forgives me.

Well, the stress is getting on me and I must be freaking out real bad. Only two more minutes left, and freedom flies away and works gets its steel and titanium shackles on me again.

So much for holidays. Bye, June, and welcome, school!

(Hope I'll see the holidays again soon. September calls!)

Oops!

2005-06-20T03:51:00.000-07:00

Oh dear, my apologies to Clarissa and Leru. My observational skills are getting from bad to worse - I should've realised that the two of you are in 1/6 =]
And seriously - I'm still shocked that my blog got found at all =]
Ok, so anyway, it's already 0016hrs of the 21st of June, Tuesday, and I'm still tapping away at my computer. I have Maths tuition tomorrow morning and here I am wasting away precious time for my beauty sleep.
Well, I've been reading largely about crytography and I think it's all been very interesting. I still have to get my terms right (crytography/cryptology/cryptanalysis/etc.).
And I'm still trying to learn CangJie. Too bad my keyboard doesn't show CangJie characters.
I watched quite a lot of Alias episodes today. Around four I think. I've gone so mad about it.
*obsessed about Alias*
Erm, sorry if I'm typing very little today. I'm quite tired *sigh*

I am wondering.

2005-06-17T07:49:00.000-07:00

I am wondering - how did Clare and Leru (I presume they are my juniors in council) find their way to my blog? I'm really wondering because I didn't distribute my URL to anyone. I may have written it somewhere, but I don't really think that's where they got the URL from.

Be careful with my URL, people. My blog bites, and when I say "bite", I mean it. You will get infected with boredom reading my blog and suffer from it. You will start see the words on the page swim in front of your very eyes and you might start to feel very VERY tired. Or the Mona Lisa on the page might start winking at you and making faces.

Beware.

Ok, I've done the psychological programming to keep people from distributing my blog URL.

I can almost imagine:
A: Hey, I can give you Edan's blog URL if you
B: Ok, but can I
A: I might consider, but you must spread his URL to other people.
B: Ok, I'll do it. But can I still
A: No, only if you
B: Hey!
A: What?
B: You -
*biff boff bash*

Ooh. o_O

Ok, enough of this hocus-pocus. On to the blog proper.

So anyway, I'm still in HK, but I'll be leaving two days later. *sigh*

I bought a lot of stuff. I'll talk about them later.

Still though, I haven't gotten any of the stuff on my wishlist. I really want the iPod mini, but I'm still three-digits away from what I need to get it. It'll take at least two months *sigh*

Yes, the second sigh in this blog entry.

I'm trying to get myself active again in fandoms, but apparently I can't stay interested long enough. Star Wars has been okay, and I've been looking around in the forums on TheForce.Net, but for som reason I wasn't able to access it yesterday. Then, I'm currently trying to write an Alias fanfic, and I even managed to get Jalyn to beta the first five pages (or, the only five pages) I managed to write. I'm a bit stuck, however, and I really want to continue writing. And then, I started participating in an activity on the Lord of the Rings Plaza (a paraphrase-a-paragraph-from-Tolkien's-writings sort of contest) but there hasn't seemed to be a reply from the contest organisers yet. I really hope to get a response soon.

And I haven't been doing anything ever since I made June my Learn Russian Month. I guess I'll have to change it to Learn Korean Month since I've been reading a lot more about Korean instead. Or maybe Huttese (yep, Star Wars ^_^).

I've also been trying to learn how to type Traditional Chinese using CangJie. It's not very easy because you have to know what writing strokes each character in CangJie represents. I guess there'll have to be some memory work involved here, don't you think?

I feel like getting back into Tarot work again. I might start an online Tarot journal soon, or even a discussion board for people to discuss about the Tarot. I might need to get a more portable deck though, maybe one that is palm-sized (literally). Those don't come cheap though, and I'm really worried about my pocket *sigh* My current Ryder-Waite deck comes across as being a little too big and bulky *sigh*

Ok ok, I've made four sighs already.

Another funny test!

2005-06-14T22:34:00.000-07:00

I'm here to post the results of a test on finding your Star Wars twin. I think either Palpy or Chewie are my likely twins =]

Click to see my Star Wars Personality!!

Don't care.

2005-06-09T07:16:00.000-07:00

Shit, Blogger fucked up and my last post didn't get published. Fuck blogger. I don't have the energy to repost what I wanted to post. I'll replace it some other day. In the meantime, fuck blogger.

The Day After the Media Camp

2005-06-04T07:51:00.000-07:00

It's been a day since the Media Camp ended as I enter into the folds of the night of the 4th of June 2005. I'm listening to "What You Waiting For" by Gwen Stefani and I can hardly hear the whirring of the air-conditioner among the bass and vocals of the song...

My foot itches. It must be the moisture trapped between the toes. I must have forgotten to wipe it dry after showering. Probably during the Media Camp.

Sleep bites away at my eyes and clutches away at my joints. He sends wave after wave of sleep-sand into my eyes but I fight to keep myself awake. The music has stopped and all I hear now is the whirring of the air-conditioner and the fan.

It's time to continue blogging now. I write this as my mind dwells back to the three days of camp I had.

A sound emits from my computer and a message from Shaun flickers up on my screen.

Which leads me back to the three days of Media Camp, again.

I arrived at school on the 1st of June 2005. The morning sun didn't throw any tantrums or play any tricks and I felt pretty okay that morning. I stepped into the school building and went straight up to the third floor.

The AVA Room. Same place the camp was held last year.

I entered the room, the room cold with air-conditioning.

At this point, my memory fails me.

The rest of the camp flashes by in my pen-"sieve" of a memory - I remember meeting Zis, Ziep and Ztak and talking to them. I do recall meddling with Zis' and Ziep's laptop, tapping away at a Slavic conlang I did on the spot on Zis' laptop. Then I remember rushing off for Life Sciences Camp, which was so boring I wish I was back at Zis' laptop or sleeping. I then remember dinner in the camp, washing up during the camp, staying up during the first night till five in the morning, waking up at seven plus and then realising we had no time to do MAD Vibes, the morning exercise led by Justin (who, frankly, appeared very energetic that morning), the mission in progress that afternoon (Es' group did so many interviews - TWELVE in less than two hours - I am SO proud of my nü-er), the three-hour compiling session that night, the late nights again, me sleeping at three, me waking up at around seven to realise that I had missed the editing, me doing MAD Vibes (at LAST!) with Zil, the presentation of the articles done by the groups, and finally the closing - *sigh* - what an awful lot of events.

Yes, I slept only six hours in the total of two nights. I was supposed to have slept sixteen. Immediately when I went home from camp I washed - and the first impulse I had was to blog, surprisingly. I thought the Sandman had better things to do - i.e. make me sleep. Apparently he had other plans though, and after I blogged I made an attempt at designing a web layout - and the Sandman finally set his plans to work. I began to nod away at the computer and realised that I couldn't anymore.

So off to bed I went.

I slept for a total of sixteen hours.

Strangely enough, this afternoon I felt sleepy. *sigh* I guess I really need to sleep away the remaining three or four hours I owe.

It's already eleven though. I wonder how I'm going to pay off my sleep debt.

LCAMC (Lights! Camera! Action! Media Camp) 2005

2005-06-03T01:07:00.000-07:00

I am shocked.

At myself.

I lasted three days with less than six hours of sleep in total.

Or five hours.

And when I reached home, first impulse after bathing wasn't to sleep.

It was to...

...blog.

Yes, I'm lame right?

Hey, blogging's cool 'k.

Oh no, I think I've been sticking around the Z-clan for a bit too long. I'm getting influenced by the likes of ZisZis and Ztak. *wiggles finger at them* Tsk tsk tsk.

Haha, ok, maybe I just miss my computer.

Wait, that couldn't be just it. I even have this impulse to...to...to...

...design a new layout.

NOO!!!!!!!!

I am shocked!

Dagh!

Ok ok, never mind about the post-camp activities first. The camp.

Standard stuff, bright Wednesday morning, reached school at around 0730 hrs, etc. etc. etc.

We had to do some last-minute preparations for the camp - churned out some things and managed to get the registration smoothly. Hope the participants from other schools didn't sense a thing. Please don't.

Then, after the usual opening address (proudly written by me! - though it's edited of course) and the opening declaration, the camp participants (NH MAD seniors aside) went off to Ngee Ann Polytechnic for workshops with their more experienced speakers to learn about the media. I had Life Sciences Camp from 1400 to 1800 though and I couldn't go *sigh*. In fact, every senior was involved in something and that morning, there were no seniors going to Ngee Ann Polytechnic at all.

Eeps.

Skip a few standard procedures each camp timetable would have (bunk allocation and so on) and we come to the planning session for the actual Mission Lights! Camera! Action!. MLCA is actually a project by the groups (made up of students from different schools) whereby each of them had to think of a topic related to teenage trends and do an article and video presentation based off questions, surveys, and interviews with people on the streets. There were two "feeding" spots - Heeren and Far East Plaza. A majority of the group went to Heeren (four groups in fact) and the rest went to Far East Plaza (two groups). As a "handler" (a term which me and ZisZis had so fandom-ly and easily labeled ourselves as - yep, it's Alias fandom) I picked and tagged along with Es' group. Their topic was on movie trends among teens and young adults. Es and Co. were a little reluctant at first to interview people - I didn't want them to take on a passive role though so out of despair I literally pushed Es towards a few girls to interview them.

Whoa, many of the girls HATED to be filmed. Low self-esteem? Bad complexion? Vampires? I don't even understand why. I guess it's the low self-esteem thing, since people who truly, deeply, and madly believe in themselves as NOT photogenic will NOT be willing to go on cam. Even those who are probably don't love themselves too much.

Sorry if I'm talking incoherently (quote Ziep). I am utterly crumbled with less than six hours of sleep in two days.

Darn, I'm beginning to complain 'bout the camp, ain't I?

No way, 'kay?

Argh, sinus. My nose is getting block'd again.

And I'm feeling sleepy already.

At 1635 hrs. *sighs and shakes head*

The Klar Wars

2005-05-24T06:20:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, it's me, your least favourite blogger all over again. Today's weather has been absolutely lovely because it threatened rain when I was going home clutching a large piece of vanguard, my Bag2, heaving my Bag1, and holding a plastic bag containing a packet of fish & chips. Then when I got home, it didn't rain.

Talk about nice weather.

Well, I can see the rain clouds gathering, so I'm going to stop complaining the weather.

Welcome to another issue of teen idiocy.

So anyway after I got home I IMMEDIATELY started work on my fish & chips. I really couldn't stand the idea of my fries getting soggy (trust me, it's DISGUSTING. Just look at McDonald's fries half-an-hour after they're cooked). THEN I showered (yes, I was THAT desperate) and then started completing my Maths homework. Yes I'm a good boy. Not. It's due tomorrow and it was given on Friday - LAST Friday. Eeps.

YES! WHOOPEE!

No German on Thursday!

Last week, I [kinda] survived Episode III: The Revenge of the German Teacher a.k.a The Horribly Crazy German Semester Test. I SWEAR I got something wrong. And frankly, I doubt I really caught more than 45% of the Hörverständnis. I was probably too busy figuring which German teacher the voices belonged to. Why do they HAVE to use the centre's teachers anyway? It's kind of distracting when you suddenly hear your German teacher's voice. It's kind of like hearing Darth Vader start speaking when you're listening to the radio.

Not that my German teacher wears a mask or anything.

So this week it's Episode IV: A New Hope a.k.a I Don't Have German Lessons At All. I'll have the June holidays to prepare for Episode V: The Return of the German Student (yes, that's me!) and then I'll have to undergo Episode VI: The German Teacher Strikes Back.

Das ist SO verdammt.

Edit @ 2142 hrs, 24/05/05: Whoops. ZiepZiep just pointed out that Episode V was "The Empire Strikes Back" and Episode VI "The Return of the Jedi". Stupid me. Well, just take it for face value first. Or you might like to prefer the alternate ending whereby I have to suffer Episode VI: The German Teacher Strikes Back BEFORE gloriously bringing back Episode VI: The Return of the German Student. Ok that's fixes it I hope.

Damn. Next time I make references to ANYTHING that's trademarked, I'm going to do my research.

Whoops. Does that mean I have to research myself?

Cough cough cough

2005-05-12T08:03:00.000-07:00

Here I am, sitting down and listening to Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl". People are probably going to start screaming how stupid Gwen Stefani is and that she should "Free the Gwenihana Girls!" I'm just going to ignore those comments and continue with my post as though nothing has happened. Yep, that's right, I'm dismissing you all who are beginning to bitch about Gwen Stefani for one simple reason - I don't care. I'm listening to their songs, it's not like I'm one of her Harajuku Girls/Boys/Ladies/Men/Teenies/Babies/Bitches/Bastards/Whatevers.
Damn, I'm having a headache. I realise I can't really write a blog entry properly listening to Gwen Stefani. I'm a little too obsessed with her songs to concentrate properly. Argh. Pardon me if I begin to sound weird because I'm just not paying attention to what I'm typing. Sorry!

Ah ok, paused the song. My brain should be a little more free to write now.

So today's a Thursday and it was supposed to be my turn for MAD Vibes duty, but it rained *sigh* And I didn't go for MAD today. I'm really really really sorry you had to do a one-man show, ZiepZiep! Owe you a favour 'k?

I'm currently drinking Yakult and tapping away at the keyboard. I managed to borrow the remaining two Alias Season 1 CDs (thanks ZisZis!) and I've finished watching three and half episodes already. I'll probably finish the remaining three and a half episodes over the next few days.

I'm terribly lost now. I wonder what I should do to find a aim for myself. I need a goal in life.

Why, of course, that could be everything and anything.

Maybe I should start learning Russian all over again. I keep forgetting once I've gotten the book *sigh*

And I need to work on Korean. Argh.

Oh and I forgot to add, I've installed a new comments sytem - Haloscan. PLEASE tag, people! Need your comments to know that everything's ok =]

Nothing Groundbreaking Yet.

2005-05-11T04:01:00.000-07:00

Yep, nothing too ground-breaking yet, only that I've started a brand-new blog. It isn't really a blog since I'll post lyrics there. I've done my first post and it's there already. My new blog might have song reviews soon but currently I'm a little exhausted.

Oh the address. It's [ http://howlyrical.blogspot.com/ ]. Yep, I didn't host it on my server. I want to save space =] (remember, I'm hosting a few subdomains and a hostee...)

*double grin* =] =]

Raining Cats and Dogs [And Men and Women].

2005-05-10T04:25:00.000-07:00

It's almost 7.30 in the evening and here I am blogging away. Within a kilometre radius I believe that at least 75% of the people are having dinner. I'm starving here *cries out and struggles in the Sims way*

It's a Tuesday, so there was MAD today.

Wait wait, too fast, I need to start from something earlier.

I had a Biology test today. Nutrition and digestion in mammals. Well, it was con-si-der-a-bly okay, since there weren't really any questions which made you scratch your skull. Most of the answers came off the top of my head (yes I know - SHUT UP about my hairdo). I had to use a calculator for the balanced diet question because the calculations were too...too...difficult and would be too time-consuming to do by hand.

Ok, enough about the Biology test. After recess was Elementary Maths. Oh dear, another test. This time on inequalities, number patterns, and direct and inverse proportion (I have a SERIOUS feeling that I left out something. Oh never mind, the test's over). I think...I did...okay. I don't know. My answers were rather wonky. Hmm.

So skip skip skip and I'm back to MAD. It was s'posed to be the juniors' first official debate session but some people simply couldn't be bothered to come, claiming they had something to do. Ok, so maybe they do, but could they at least confirm it personally? To a senior?
Ok, I'm going to cut the complaints. To the debate.

Well, I'd say they weren't really TOO prepared. I guess you can't blame them. I mean, for my first debate I was also stuttering away. Goodness, I still remember the stupid motion - "This house believes that photography is more efficient than painting." I was on the proposition team. Now, I really want to kick myself for not making use of the fact that I was on the proposition. At that time I didn't fully comprehend the meaning of "efficient" and all along I thought that my team was in a disadvantaged position. Now that I realise what "efficient" really denotes I realise that I had been REA-ALLY STUPID then. I STILL want to kick myself. Like in the face or something.

Whoa, how did I get so far?

Oh by the way, I borrowed a Foxtrot book from Amanda yesterday. Finished it in German class. Returned it to her today.

Wow, that makes FOUR Foxtrot comic books in THREE days. Amazing.

Ok ok, at last.

2005-05-08T05:38:00.000-07:00

Yes yes, I know, don't complain - I KNOW I haven't posted for a long time. 8 days, yeah yeah.

Ok ok, so here I am, posting. I'm listening to Britney's "Baby One More Time" ('Sleep with me I'm not too young!' - if you don't know what I'm talking about, please reverse the song using Goldwave) and I'm currently ill. Yes that's right, I've fallen ill. I think it's because I made my poor Alain hurt himself in http://www.coldnights.net/ - oh my poor Alain. *sigh* I really love him as a character too much (Yes, I know I created him. Stop shouting "Narcissist!" or else).

Anyway I've been ill and it's been Speech Day. Yeah, Speech Day. Which means I've spent a good whole two to three weeks rehearsing for my emcee role. Yep, I'm emcee again, for the FOURTH time. Talk about being a Master of Ceremonies. I'm a Tired Master of Ceremonies, and I've made a truce with Mrs Tan not to look for me for at least the next few months. I need to catch up on my studies AND my beauty sleep. Yep, I NEED my beauty sleep.

Oh, and I need to swim more. I NEED the exercise. Talk about beauty.

Hey, guess what, it's Mother's Day, and Mom had to cook! *sigh* AND I haven't done anything for Mom yet. I feel bad. Eeps.

And guess what, I read THREE volumes of Foxtrot in TWO days. Yep, I love the dysfunctional family just a little too much. Just like I like my darling Alain *sigh* He currently lies in a hospital bed after having lost too much blood. Hope Elle hurries up with her post so he can wake up *sigh*

Oh by the way, a little bit of trivia. Did you know that "Edan", the pseudonym (yes, I know it's the umpteenth pseudonym I've had - stop shouting "Fickle idiot!" or I'll SHOW you an idiot) I use to post with in ColdNights.net is actually Celtic for 'fire'? It's a Celtic name.

And yes, I went to the library yesterday. Three volumes of Foxtrot ("Think iFruity", "Enormously Foxtrot", and one about cactus hotels - sorry, couldn't remember the full name), one Anne Rice book ("Blood and Gold" - about the vampire Marius, a Roman-senator-turned-big-bad-vampire), a book on Greek (Hugo's "Greek in Three Months", to be specific - yes, I know I've borrowed that a million times - whatever), a book on Japanese (realis'd that there were a few pages missing *sigh*) and a Chinese book on Korean (title translated would be "800 words in Korean"). Yep, that'd be one empty slot left. I returned "Enormously Foxtrot" today at the library@Orchard and borrowed a book on Irish ("Teach Yourself: Irish") and a book on Hebrew ("A Modern Israeli Hebrew Textbook"). Time to work on it, guys.

Nothing much.

2005-05-01T05:58:00.000-07:00

Yes people, it's another post to let people know I'm still here. I can't bear to leave the blog untouched, so I thought I'd post something.

Anyway, upgrades and improvements to HoD.net are currently under way and I guess they'll be up pretty soon. In the works are four (including this blog) subdomains, each of which deals with different topics and subjects. I'll release the details or even the website soon.

New Layout.

2005-04-29T07:44:00.000-07:00

I've got a new layout - Sfumato del Maestro. I think it's kinda ok, except that the text formatting seems to suck. Ztak and Zis deny it but I STILL think it sucks.

Ok, sorry, I'm beginning to get irritating, *sigh*

Sorry, really tired, it's already 2246 hrs and I'm exhausted. Can't really type. And I did about like, what, around 4-6 Tarot readings? Was really really taxing on my mind, got a headache. Eating solved the headache, but it came back when I did about two or so more readings after the break. Haha.

Well, be off, be well!

Yawn Quick Post

2005-04-28T09:08:00.000-07:00

Yep, here's a quick post to let people know that the blog's still being updated, haha.

It's already 0009 hrs. *Yawn*

Oh, in case you guys didn't know, I've managed to install Blogger into HouseOfDreaming.Net. I'm currently still in the process of making a page to link to all the subdomains I've made for HoD.n. There'll be this blog, and there are plans for a resource site for General Literature or perhaps specifically Twelfth Night, a site for my research, and possibly a blog in ONLY Chinese or a blog in PURELY German. Hey, that's a really good idea.

*Yawn*

I think I'd better go to sleep, my eyelids are drooping.

Night all!

Haven't blogged for a while.

2005-04-27T07:34:00.000-07:00

Yep, it's me again, and I haven't blogged for quite some time.
I managed to install the Blogger system into HouseOfDreaming.Net. I thought it cool at first, and then I learnt that archive templates were NO LONGER supported. I was like, "FUCK!" How could that be? I use IFRAMES, how the HECK am I supposed to make an archives page? Now, I have no choice except to create a list of the months with each month being linked to a weblog-style archive page.
This sux, total.
I'm not sure if I'm gonna complain anymore.
Oh by the way, I'm working on an RPG right now. Wait, should be, I'm HAVING FUN with an RPG right now; yeps.
And of course, Drama got SILVER *big grin*

New Blog, I'm Sorry :=]

2005-04-20T23:50:00.000-07:00

Well people, I'm afraid it's another blog again. This time it's up at Blogger.

Yeah okay, I know you guys must be like, "What the HELL is wrong with you? You've got a DOMAIN NAME! What for d'you need a blog at Blogger?" Well for damn's sake, I hope you know that not every darnit webpage works like a blog! I'm sick of updating my blog manually (ok Kathy, I'm sorry I didn't listen to you, my apologies, I'm sorry I'm sorry *bows and bows*) and it's time I installed an automated system. Ok I was planning to use Wordpress but I'm practically a fool when it comes to all the tech details of the system. Ok maybe I'll figure it out but I'm a bit of a slack now so cool off, ok? *grits teeth*

Ok, so I know I'm using a Blogger standard template. I'll be making a new template soon, and once it's done I'll install it ASAP. Hope you guys won't mind 'k?

Whoa it's 2:55 PM already. I'd better go, rehearsal @ 3.00 PM. See you guys around?

Dahz, I'm Tired.

2005-04-08T22:49:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm like totally exhausted and freaked out all, so bear with my tired tone carrying itself on and on through this entry, 'k?

So anyway there was SYF today, and we were rehearsing in the hall. I had a little hiccup here and there, otherwise I s'pose I did ok. Supposedly I was trying to actually ACT the age, though I guess it was a bit inevitable.

Well, I AM an inexperienced actor after all.

Frankly, I think I thought this was minestrone soup but I ended up in carrot soup instead. The original real deal I thought ELDDS had was stuff like debating, speech, "fun" with English and stuff. I didn't expect to end up getting so steeped in all this drama (BOTH meanings, dearie). Yep, I didn't expect to become an actor.

Well, acting has pretty much been something that's influenced me a lot. It's built up in me a passion I guess I could never find if I spent all my CCA time in secondary school having "fun" with English. Well, I know drama is a type of "fun" but you know what I'm talking about.

Acting's also demanded a lot from me that I never thought I could fulfil before. I mean, it's really pushed me to certain limits and broke through a lot of barriers within me. Plus the real life drama going on, I've gotten a total kick out of all this. I've got a total paradigm shift and I'm no longer what I used to be. D'you hear that, Henry Park? I'm no longer who I used to be. Learn it, ex-classmates! I used to be trudged on by you, treated like utter shit from you, ostracised, insulted, teased, left me out, everything negative you can possibly do. Listen up, ya little brats! I'm not who I used to be, and although I won't deny that you have left on me a mark I can never erase, I affirm my stand and I will always intentionally contradict or ignore or totally forget you idiots even existed. Go get a life, and pick on someone your own size, so you can grow bigger! Wait, your head's getting bigger already? Well, too bad!

Ok, I'll cut the crap there. I've gotten a kick out of this blog thing and I'm totally hooked.

Freaked Out and It's a Wednesday

2005-04-06T22:37:00.000-07:00

Yep, after a long period of neglecting the blog, I'm finally posting and updating it again.

So far I haven't done a lot of changes except the layout (ok, so that's a big change), added a new link (check it out, Yiling and her friends really do graphics like pros), and struck something off my I-Want-Them List (the Naruto wristband, specifically, though I've gone and lost it).

Darn, leg cramp :=%

Ok, never mind.

So it's a Wednesday, I had SYF today, and I had gel applied on my hair so I would 50 years or so younger. Friggin' hair gel, it made my hair so friggin' thick and hard. I tried washing it off at school and my hair still felt oily, almost like I had dipped my hair in olive oil or something. I went home and shampooed my hair three times over. My poor hair. It's lost its shine and has become totally dry now. Eeks. My poor hair. I tell you, after SYF and CP I'm not ever ever ever ever ever going to let my hair come into contact with gel - ever 200X again.

Ok, enough about my hair.

Let's talk about, say, food?

Oh darn, that reminds me of the Liberty Square thingy the Secondary Ones had yesterday. Goodness, the food rawks total, 'k? Especially the laksa, the soup mee pok, the soup ji si mee, the soup macaroni (wait, nobody eats macaroni DRY, do they?), the rice, the fries, everything's nice! I remember adding lots of salt into my French fries (they only sell those on Wednesdays - must make the best use of it!) and believe me, it tastes absolutely delicious. I love salt. Remember, for those who know me, my name's YAN, remember? (For those who don't get the joke, DON'T get it. It's better to not know some things than to know them. I'm simply afraid you'll be absolutely stoned to the core when you GET the joke. GEDDIT?)

Talk about Literature class now? I printed out the whole text of The Bet by Anton Chekhov and placed it in my file. I must be mad, but something - something made me do it. Guess I need the rest of the text to understand what's even going on in the extract. Well actually I DID understand the extract and the plot a little - I simply was a little anxious to know how long and what the rest of the text looked like. It wasn't too long luckily (six pages with two columns of text on each page) and the language was pretty easy (mind you, it's translated from Russian, and I guess they tried their best to keep things simple) so (hopefully) it should be an easy read.

I realised I'm excessively using brackets and aside-comments. Hope ya don't mind 'cos I like to slip in an extra note here and there, and everywhere.

Ok ok, I'm getting draggy, enough 'bout today. Be around, and stay tuned!

Another Silly Test

2005-03-24T21:12:00.001-08:00

Yes people, more silly tests. Enjoy. This time, it's Lovecraft - the Cthulhu Mythos.

That's right, you're the mack daddy of the Great
Old Ones and future conquerer/destroyer of
Earth. To you, raw power is what matters above
all else. When the Stars are right, You shall
rise again.

What H.P. Lovecraft Entity/Character Archetype Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Which just about says everything [again].

Finally Blogging Again

2005-03-24T21:12:00.000-08:00

Yes, I know, I know, that I haven't posted for a total of six or so days already.

C'mon, I'm busy ya know.

Ok, maybe not that busy.

Oops, haven't finished Maths tuition homework yet.

Better hurry and finish.

So it's been about a week (less than that) since I've gotten my braces and I'm still feeling a little miffed about them. Honestly speaking, I'm still a little uncomfortable with them on and I can't really eat a lot of food with them on. I miss all those lovely McDonald meals, chocolates, apples, rice, noodles, and other really solid food that I can't eat so far. Oh well, I hope I can eat them soon.

I feel like talking about Michael Jackson. His trial has put him in the limelight as of late and I think something needs to be made clear.

My guess is that he is now pedophilic not because he is by nature a pervert or anything too negative - instead, it is the paparazzi and the crazy screaming fans who cannot seem to control themselves that are the cause of him being a pedophile. He joined the Jackson Five at the tender age of 8 and a lot of unnecessary media attention was attracted to him as he was the youngest of the group. He did not have a proper or happy childhood because of all the pressure that he received from the various sources.

This lack of a childhood underwent a twist and transformed into pedophilia. His desire for the happiness and innocence, for the love and peace of a childhood turned into a terrible thing. Yes, this is all the fault of excessive media attention, and the crazy, screaming fans who stalk and disrupt his every chance of peace. Michael Jackson's ex-wife once commented that he, as a pop star, was not able to go to even a nearby store to buy something - he would be disturbed by swarms and swarms of his fans.

Fans, I guess you must think. Think of your idol. If you really are a fan, you should try to learn to put yourself in his or her shoes - how would you feel if swarms of strangers came over, hording around you, screaming away, and making a hoo-ha out of you? Wouldn't your life spin out of control? Think, before you act - if you really like him or her and want his or her autograph or photo, ask nicely and don't get too excited and make a total fool of both him or her and yourself.

Well, I guess that's about as much as I can type today. I'm not really sure what else I can talk about ^_^

Braces

2005-03-18T19:29:00.000-08:00

Yo all, hallo da and I'm blogging again :=] Yeps, it's the last weekday of the March holidays which means I've only got two days to finish whatever holiday homework I need to finish i.e. everything.

I got my braces today! The poor dentist, he probably suffered a lot dealing with my ultra-sticky and duper-thick saliva. It was quite uncomfortable - I've got my braces anyway. They're black *ooh* though they make it look rather dirty - they're cool anyway, okays?

Dagh, they're still quite uncomfortable. Hmm.

Ok, nothing much to say for now. Except, I'm listening to the What're You Waiting For and Toxic Remix.

More weird tests

2005-03-17T18:45:00.000-08:00

Well, it's going to be seven already, and it's already Thursday. This means I've got only three days left to finish whatever holiday homework I have *sigh* I still feel lazy, and I really want to get moving...I need to do a complete "renovation", of myself. Perhaps it's time I underwent a serious "operation". To change myself. For the better.

Well, more strange tests. Some of them assume that the quiz-taker's female - I post the results anyway. Well, the last two kind of say everything, haha.

You are 'Gregg shorthand'. Originally designed to
enable people to write faster, it is also very
useful for writing things which one does not
want other people to read, inasmuch as almost
no one knows shorthand any more. You know how important it is to do things
efficiently and on time. You also value your
privacy, and (unlike some people) you do not
pretend to be friends with just everyone; that
would be ridiculous. When you do make friends,
you take them seriously, and faithfully keep
what they confide in you to yourself.
Unfortunately, the work which you do (which is
very important, of course) sometimes keeps you
away from social activities, and you are often
lonely. Your problem is that Gregg shorthand
has been obsolete for a long time.

What obsolete skill are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

You are an earth angel! You are always doing
something good for mankind, and even when
you're not, you're thinking about how to
improve yourself and the world! You have to be
the most compassionate being ever!

Which natural angel are you? (awe-inspiring pics!)
brought to you by Quizilla

Your Hidden Power Is:
Earthly

You are sort of childish yet brave. If you get
pissed off you become a very strong fighter.
You hate seeing the earth die and you use your
special powers to save the earth from becoming
hell. You are loved by many and hated by few
but you only despise those that try and destroy
your wonderful earth.

Gem Stone:Emerald Eye Color:Lime
Green Hair Color:Brown with green on the
bottom tips and it is shoulder length flipped
out.

Quote:I tear my heart open. I sew my
self shut. My weakness is that i care to much.
And our scars remind us that the past is real.
I tear my heart open just to feel.

What Is Your True Hidden Power? .::Beautiful Anime Pics::.
brought to you by Quizilla

Your a Dark Dragon! Ok, yes, not very nice. Your
evil, spiteful, malicious, and jsu darn bad.
You like to see othrs in pain, or cause it. Im
sorry to say, but you scare me. Fly around
somewhere...err, far away.

What elemental dragon are you?
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you're an angel of death and destruction. you like
hurting others and chaos.

what kind of angel are you?
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Some weird tests

2005-03-16T23:07:00.000-08:00

Was bored and I saw these weird tests on Eud's blog, so I tried them out.

Your Brain is 33.33% Female, 66.67% Male

You have a total boy brain Logical and detailed, you tend to look at the facts And while your emotions do sway you sometimes... You never like to get feelings too involved

What Gender Is Your Brain?

You Are 19 Years Old

19 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

You Belong in 1970

1970 If you scored... 1950 - 1959: You're fun loving, romantic, and more than a little innocent. See you at the drive in! 1960 - 1969: You are a free spirit with a huge heart. Love, peace, and happiness rule - oh, and drugs too. 1970 - 1979: Bold and brash, you take life by the horns. Whether you're partying or protesting, you give it your all! 1980 - 1989: Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day. 1990 - 1999: With you anything goes! You're grunge one day, ghetto fabulous the next. It's all good!

What Year Do You Belong In?

Mona Lisa

2005-03-16T22:08:00.000-08:00

Phew! It connected!

Thought it would go back to before and not work.

New entry, yepz.

Uhm, write what?

Hm.

Never mind then.

She's Smiling At You

2005-03-15T21:16:00.000-08:00

YAY!!! I can finally log on to and access the FTP SERVER! YA-HOOO!

Yep, I've got a new layout - it's Mona Lisa. She now smiles at you everytime you visit the page.

So it's been a long time since I've posted and I'm really glad I can post again.

Was quite heart-breaking for me when I realised I couldn't blog anymore when the server didn't work *boohoo*

Well it's finally there again, so I can update it. PLEASE - I STAY connected. AFFIRMATION - YES! *nods head*

I'm bursting with energy suddenly. Haha.

So this week's the holidays, and I had my common tests about two weeks ago. Goodness, I guess I didn't do THAT well.

Especially Chemistry. Oops. Passed by 1.5 marks (i.e. got 26.5 out of 50 marks). Dagh, got me there.

Chemistry. I conquer you!

*brings out all the long sharp Roman spears and red shields that are so hard you can knock things flat with it*

*takes position*

*charges*

Chemistry! I attack you! I devour you and conquer you, no matter how acidic or alkaline you are! Don't care if you try to poison me or explode in my face! Conquer! ARARRARARARRR!!!!!

Sorry, had to do that *oops*

Got lotsa thingsa to do during tha holidays. Ar, need to get to work.

See ya guys 'round!

Blogging for the Seventh Time

2005-02-10T20:27:00.000-08:00

It's the second day of Chinese New Year and I'm completely exhausted. I've got absolutely no idea whether I'll have energy for school tomorrow.

Frankly speaking these two days have taken its toll on me. I'm stressed both physiologically and psychologically.

I think I'm exaggerating.

Oops.

And I think my English's getting worse.

Whoa.

Time to get more of those English books.

Hell, I don't even know what the hell is wrong with people these days. I wish that guy on CNY Day 1 would just keep his damn mouth shut next time. What a smart guy. *pfft*

Damn it's getting warm in here.

The climate's changing.

Okay, maybe the weather's changing, not the climate.

It's getting warmer, and warmer, and warmer...

Heck of course.

It hasn't rained for like, weeks.

Drrrgh.

Can't stand it. It's getting sticky. Stickier, stickier, humid, humid, warm.

Okay, something's wrong here - I'm typing my entry in dribs and drabs, sentences by sentences, phrase by phrase, word by word.

What the hell.

Okay okay. Enough.

Blogging for the Sixth Time

2005-02-07T21:22:00.000-08:00

Yes, welcome to the Eden Oxycated Blog Show, where you get to watch ME, your host, whine on and on about how horrible or how boring life is.

Let's hope things get better.

Chinese New Year's up the corner! You bet :=]

And so, today's a Monday.

A normal, average, school day - eleventh-hour completion of homework, rushing for lessons, and especially worrying about test results.

Heck yeah, tests.

Okay okay, enough.

I didn't blog yesterday because I was a little forgetful yesterday. My mood wasn't exceptionally good yesterday though, so...*sigh*

Okay okay, no more sighing.

I'm not in the mood to be funny, for some reason.

Humour's gone and disappeared for once.

I feel bored.

I feel boring.

*sigh*

Blogging for the Fifth Time

2005-02-05T22:18:00.000-08:00

Here I am again.

I'm having that mental block again. I never seem to know what to write about in my blog.

Fine, I'll do the boring stuff.

So this morning I woke up at around 10+++ in the morning. Yes, I love sleeping. I almost couldn't get up and I kept collapsing into bed. Mom tells me it's late. Fine, I thought, so I get up and wash. End up discovering that breakfast was long over :=] Okay, sleeping too much isn't good for your stomach, folks.

So I get up, and after breakfast and lunch it's time for tuition. Something goes wrong and my pineal gland goes bonkers. I keep thinking I'm late, pack my stuff, tell my brother to hurry, and rush off. I realise later in the car that I left BOTH my handphone and even my wallet at home. Oh my.

So I reach tuition a tad early and wait a while before it starts.

Oh dear, logarithms.

*sigh*

Okay, enough whining. So tuition ends, and I try and get my mom to bring me my wallet and handphone so I can go to library.

I only discover that I still haven't paid my piano teacher what I owe her for the books yet.

So all my plans fail, and I don't end up in the library.

At least I end up eating KFC.

Okay, enough about my dietary habits.

So I'm at home, and I start watching TV, surfing the Internet, and basically doing a lot of stuff that only makes boredom more boring.

Dinner.

Dumplings, ooh.

Okay, ENOUGH about my dietary habits.

So dinner's over, and I take my bath, watch more TV, surf more Internet, and lo! Here I am.

That's life. [for me so far]

P.S. Sorry Eudora! I really really really didn't mean to leave your blog out! How could I forget about you? ARR! [ Okay, you probably think I'm crazy. I've apologised to you in like, 3 places - that would, of course, be on MSN Messenger, in the Links/Friends page, and here. Haha :=]

Blogging for the Fourth Time

2005-02-04T23:04:00.000-08:00

Four entries of blogging and I still haven't shaken the angst off yet.

Yes, I know you're tired of hearing me whining about how tired and stressed I am.

Talk about sounding like some idiot.

Okay okay, I'll cut the crap.

So today was a hellish day. What a day.

Chemistry, Biology, Literature, and English Test ALL in a straight row.

How often do you get four tests in a row?

Damn, gastric, I think I ate too much.

Oh wait, I guess it's probably being too nervous and anxious about the tests.

Oh, and for SYF too.

Oh no, the Maths, the Maths!

I'm a dead duck.

Yipes.

Blogging For the Third Time

2005-02-03T22:02:00.000-08:00

Damn, I'm spent. All too spent.

School today was considered okay, save except for the Chemistry textbook and Literature file I had to lug home today. God, I've got a Chemistry test, Biology test, Literature test and English test tomorrow. I had German today, giving me virtually no time to do any revision whatsoever. The day's also left me all spent and exhausted and I've got like absolutely no energy left for anything else. *sigh*

Okay, maybe I'll stop sighing. I'm feeling super tired now, though I WANT to blog something. Anything.

Oh yeah, still hafta print out that script ST asked me to print. Oh dear, hafta memorise what I can.

SYF. Haiz.

Okay, no point doing that.

How about something less tiring to hear about?

Like me ranting about philosophy, or my love for the tongues of Man (i.e. languages, not the anatomical part - do I really sound THAT SICK? :=])

I can hear my brother's hi-fi playing one of the songs from the soundtrack of the Korean drama about a newscaster. Can't remember the English name. Was it "All About Eve"? Oh never mind.

Oh yeah. Chinese New Year's just round the corner.

Next Wednesday. Can't wait.

I feel strange. I'm typing in short, brief sentences, rather like some faulty robot which has the intelligence of a half-wit.

Oh wait, I am a half-wit.

Next time, I'll cut the self-criticism.

Whatever.

Blogging for the Second Time.

2005-02-02T19:46:00.000-08:00

Yes, I'm finally blogging again!

SYF today. Serena was ill and her voice sounded deep. Really deep. Quite strange actually. Hope she gets better.

Well, too bad. I'm getting a sore throat myself *cough cough*

Now, what did I do that gave me this sore throat?

Oh yeah, oops. I ate a pack of medium fries from McDonald's yesterday, chomped on a few pieces of Xun Wei's Pringles Spicy Cajun potato chips, a plate of rice with hash brown, nuggets, fried tofu and fried chicken on it...and also a packet of fries just now before I left school after ELDDS.

Oh dear, that's a lot.

Oh yeah, not to forget about the bowl of spicy Korean noodles I ate after I reached home.

What is the freakin' problem with me?

Maybe, depression? :=[

I don't know, actually. Though I've not quite been in a good mood these few days, especially today.

I can't help feeling hapless. The group's breaking up. What was once a close-knit clique has become today a shattered piece of glass. All shards. With one being nicknamed "Carpet".

I'm not going to say who. All I can say is, I'm getting tired.

Fight, fight, fight. Conflict, conflict, conflict.

Are these things that come with gossip?

Can my life ever return to normal?

When will the war stop?

When will the fighting stop?

When?

How?

All I want is what was before. I want everything to be at its best. I want everything the way they were.

Cas the cheery girl who lifts everyone's spirits up. June with her bright hazel eyes and her great ideas, fast in "love" with Cas. Tanisha the "muscular woman" and her amazing insights and ability to spot flaws. Si Hui the writer and the one to support us well. Me the only guy in the group, trying my best to fit in. Sze Teng the efficient member, although prone to getting nervous and a little uptight - basically doing everything she can for the group.

Now, isn't that the best?

Everyone has their own personality. Yet everyone works well together.

I wish everything was the way it were.

I wish.

Lynn's lifted my mood okay, though I still can't help feeling down.

I tell her sometimes, I'm still disillusioned.

Illusion, perhaps, of a beautiful, perfect world where you are nice to everyone and everyone's nice to you.

Looks like the illusion's dis-illusioned. The illusion's become clear to me - it's nothing but an illusion.

I give up.

Total.

Blogging For the First Time.

2005-02-01T18:02:00.000-08:00

Hallo allerseits, I've finally managed to create a brand-new blog layout for my brand new subdomain.

Aww man, I must really thank Kathy for the subdomain. Guess it was quite bad that she was 'sabo-ed' by us to go on stage during the Youth And Media Conference. Poor Kathy! I'm super glad you won o'course, ya gamin' freak. I haven't tested EverQuest yet by the way, I wonder how it's like, haha :-)

So today's a Tuesday, and I've finally got a great chance to rest and relax. I came home today and had my lunch after washing up. I sat down in front of the TV and started to watch "P'ari-e Yon-in" ('Paris Lovers', or French 'Des amoreux á Paris') with my mom. We were watching the last episode and oh my god, I am so hooked. Okay, so sometimes Korean dramas get really sappy, mushy, or tragic at times - you can't help getting hooked, though. Okay okay, I'll hush about this, I'm taking it too far, haha.

I slept for around twenty minutes after watching TV (to be frank, it felt like forever). I'm still not feeling very refreshed though I reckon that if I slept any longer I wouldn't have any energy to do anything else - I'd just want to sleep more (trust me, it HAS happened before!)

Well, it's only 6+ in the evening now, and as I look out of the window I can see a bright patch of orange neatly spread out in the sky. It reminds me of how butter's spread on bread (okay, maybe I'm hungry - hey, I ate seaweed just now!), except much more beautiful (and trust me, you wouldn't want to see the butter I spread on bread. You want to see? Oh, you're sick :-P )

Okay, my finger's getting tired, especially my pinky (poor pinky!) I'll go rest now maybe (you wish!) and maybe play The Sims 2 or something. See you guys around!

P.S. I'll probably only be mentioning this once - I've got a secret on my blog! Click on the word "Eden" in Greek letters at the bottom-right side of this table and you'll be brought to a secret page where there'll be an Easter Egg waiting for you to watch (clue! clue! clue!)