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.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
50th Post! Woo-hoo!
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!
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!
Friday, October 07, 2005
Digging the Dirt on: "Corpse Bride"
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.
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.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
A Cynic's Guide to Twelfth Night.
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.
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.
Friday, September 30, 2005
If You're Free This Sat, Let's Go To My Church
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.
(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.
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