If there's one thing that defines me as a person, it's my great grand aversion to the cold.
I hate feeling cold, I really really do, and I'm incredibly sensitive to the slightest drop in temperature. Whenever it's chilly for more than say 15mins I get incredibly depressed and sleepy and grouchy. Whenever it's freezing (according to me) though, I just shut down and can concentrate on nothing except the endless shivering.
I tell ya, one of the reasons why I *heart* LSB so much is cos he radiates warmth. I've on more than one occasion described him as my personal heater, and it's exponentially hard for me to resist him when I'm feeling cold. (T_T)
My temperature paradise is sitting in a pool of sunshine in an air-conditioned room. That way I get to bask in the sun but don't suffer the effects of humidity and over-heating. I get to enjoy the air-con, but I also get to enjoy the wonderful wonderful warmth of the sun. *sighs wistfully*
Don't like the cold. *cries*
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Land
One of the biggest downsides to living in Singapore is probably land. The large majority of residents here will never be able to have their own piece of land, and have to content themselves with public housing - a little bit of space floating in the air, 14 storeys high. (I know I got this image from a Singaporean poet, but I can't remember the poem or the poet.)
The effect of Singapore's public housing is, I think, very alienating.
It's no surprise that land reform was often a populist (& socialist) policy in many countries. The slogan of the Russian revolution was 'Peace, Bread and Land' - people ranked land all the way up there with basics like food and security. On a national and international level, the most enduring and dangerous international conflicts are about land. The Arab-Israeli conflict can be summarised (albeit rather simplistically) thus - 2 peoples, 1 piece of land. The origin of the conflict (or 1 interpretation of the origin) is, of course, the problem of a Jewish nation which did not possess its own land. The Indo-Pakistani conflict is partly over land, land that India, Pakistan and some Kashmiris all want for themselves.
Of course I'm lumping very different conflicts together, but the point is, land is very important to people. Possession of land means you can hide in there when you don't want to see anyone, you can grow whatever you like on that land (perhaps subject to drug laws etc), you have the space to live and create your own 'country' so to speak. It means you have a great degree of privacy and freedom, and when it comes to our daily lives, these two often go hand in hand. It means you can say 'this is mine, you can't take it' (ref. lyrics: 'For Once in My Life').
In Singapore, we live in what are, quite honestly, very cramped quarters. We don't stay in one flat for very long, and we don't really own that space (it's public housing after all). When we go home from work, what do we go home to? A place that is not ours, a place that is in no way a repository of memories the way our old kampong houses were. We go home to just a temporary holding cell until we move to our next storage space.
We live too close together. Though we're all ideally supposed to be living in harmony in one big HDB estate community, most of the time, living in such close proximity. we just do our best to tolerate each other. If your neighbours make a whole lot of noise, apart from calling the police & HDB (often ineffective), you have to live with it. If your neighbours put their life's collection of pottery along the corridor, unless you're prepared to go to extreme measures, you have to live with it. If you simply don't like your neighbours, you still have to live bumper to bumper, nose to nose with them. You live so close that you can hear each other speak. You see each other the moment you step out of your door. You can smell each other's cooking and see each other's laundry. If your neighbour's a total bitch you just have to suck it up and live with the daily aggravation.
Basically we live in tiny pigeonholes stacked on top of and next to each other. Sometimes the lack of a piece of land we feel connected to makes us something like refugees without a disaster - possessing a high degree of security, yet lacking a sense of permanence and security and ownership.
Perhaps those who're born into this situation see no problem with it - I don't know. But I know plenty of people who've lived elsewhere who simply find it hard to swallow that they're to spend their whole lives travelling between work and a tiny little cell they have no choice but to call home.
I feel plenty depressed when I think about it. Do I have any solution? Du-uh, you should know me better than that. Absolutely none.
The effect of Singapore's public housing is, I think, very alienating.
It's no surprise that land reform was often a populist (& socialist) policy in many countries. The slogan of the Russian revolution was 'Peace, Bread and Land' - people ranked land all the way up there with basics like food and security. On a national and international level, the most enduring and dangerous international conflicts are about land. The Arab-Israeli conflict can be summarised (albeit rather simplistically) thus - 2 peoples, 1 piece of land. The origin of the conflict (or 1 interpretation of the origin) is, of course, the problem of a Jewish nation which did not possess its own land. The Indo-Pakistani conflict is partly over land, land that India, Pakistan and some Kashmiris all want for themselves.
Of course I'm lumping very different conflicts together, but the point is, land is very important to people. Possession of land means you can hide in there when you don't want to see anyone, you can grow whatever you like on that land (perhaps subject to drug laws etc), you have the space to live and create your own 'country' so to speak. It means you have a great degree of privacy and freedom, and when it comes to our daily lives, these two often go hand in hand. It means you can say 'this is mine, you can't take it' (ref. lyrics: 'For Once in My Life').
In Singapore, we live in what are, quite honestly, very cramped quarters. We don't stay in one flat for very long, and we don't really own that space (it's public housing after all). When we go home from work, what do we go home to? A place that is not ours, a place that is in no way a repository of memories the way our old kampong houses were. We go home to just a temporary holding cell until we move to our next storage space.
We live too close together. Though we're all ideally supposed to be living in harmony in one big HDB estate community, most of the time, living in such close proximity. we just do our best to tolerate each other. If your neighbours make a whole lot of noise, apart from calling the police & HDB (often ineffective), you have to live with it. If your neighbours put their life's collection of pottery along the corridor, unless you're prepared to go to extreme measures, you have to live with it. If you simply don't like your neighbours, you still have to live bumper to bumper, nose to nose with them. You live so close that you can hear each other speak. You see each other the moment you step out of your door. You can smell each other's cooking and see each other's laundry. If your neighbour's a total bitch you just have to suck it up and live with the daily aggravation.
Basically we live in tiny pigeonholes stacked on top of and next to each other. Sometimes the lack of a piece of land we feel connected to makes us something like refugees without a disaster - possessing a high degree of security, yet lacking a sense of permanence and security and ownership.
Perhaps those who're born into this situation see no problem with it - I don't know. But I know plenty of people who've lived elsewhere who simply find it hard to swallow that they're to spend their whole lives travelling between work and a tiny little cell they have no choice but to call home.
I feel plenty depressed when I think about it. Do I have any solution? Du-uh, you should know me better than that. Absolutely none.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
some stuff
I can't be bothered to think of titles for blog entries these days.
Went with family to Greenwood fish market today and had e.x.c.e.l.l.e.n.t. food. Of course my family is horrendously hard to please, and the inevitable complaint was that the soup was too salty. Nevertheless, relatively cheap and wonderfully good food hee. We almost went to Garibaldi, but since they only have the 56+++ Mother's Day set today, we left that for another day. :P
We also went to The Daily Scoop and got FOUR tubs of ice-cream. Unfortunately nobody likes my lime & black pepper ice-cream (T_T)
Am now imbibing red wine while blogging.
............................
If there's any piece of music that best represents le grand amour to me, it's the very appropriately named Salut d'Amour. I once heard that Elgar wrote that piece after meeting his fiancee for the first time, and really, it fits. I played this piece for one of my violin exams, but played it today on the piano. There is a tenderness and warmth and great, swelling passion that should sound cheesy but doesn't. It's really an extraordinarily beautiful piece that's easy to appreciate.
Ok, I tried to search on youtube for a good version that I could post here, but there're lots of atrocious versions up there, and those that are not atrocious, I don't quite like for reasons other than technique. So I shan't bother to put the video clips up, but shall provide links to you guys (who won't watch my videos anyway hmmpf).
This is Sarah Chang's --> http://youtube.com/watch?v=UqO7yuh8Wsg. Unfortunately I don't like her vibrato & slides (or whatever you call them).
This is Chee-Yun Kim's --> http://youtube.com/watch?v=uzCAhFfULtM. I've never heard of her before, but I think she's quite ok, except that certain parts of the piece that I imagine to be played deeper (I don't quite know how to explain this) she just plays through, so it's rather unsatisfying.
But Salut's a great piece and a good introduction to classical music, so those of you who don't usually listen, pls, just go ahead and listen to it. It's really very easy to listen to. *goes down on knees and begs*
............................
I think one of the reasons I love Heifetz is cos his playing has 'bite', you know. Your pulse races and yet it doesn't compromise the beauty of his piece. His playing is so exciting and passionate and yet so precise... urgh you see, I always sound like an idiot when I talk about music.
Oh come on, just watch it. And once you're done watching, pls, you can't tell me you haven't fallen in love with it. I'll just cry. I'll lose faith in humanity. I swear.
.............................
I think ours is a very visual world. I just feel that ever since I've started on music and then on perfumes, whole new worlds have been opened to me.
You've no idea what I go through when I walk through Taka basement on a crowded weekend evening. First there's the smell of the food, which is enticing enough. Then there's the million perfumes everyone is wearing, a million reference points that I go sniffing after. A familiar scent there - where did I smell that before - a familar scent there - the perfume I bought my dad - and of course my own perfume. Add my mp3 to that, and you get a sensory explosion, and a thousand associations that come alive - a piece of music that reminds me of scenery somewhere else, or scenery conjured up by my own imagination, a scent that brings back memory of some long-forgotten event or person... really, a thousand things. It's as if my surroundings come with so many associations, they aren't really merely what they seem. And then sometimes the scent or music is so beautiful that my entire mind goes blank and I can't think of anything else, and I live entirely in the present, and the present is so beautiful...
Ok I'm so incoherent. I really don't know how to explain it, but it's all very lovely and wonderful, and I don't think I could get through a single day without music and perfume. *sigh* I've got the feeling I'll never really be able to tell you all how I feel, which is kind of sad and lonely. If only you guys could love the things I love... :(
Went with family to Greenwood fish market today and had e.x.c.e.l.l.e.n.t. food. Of course my family is horrendously hard to please, and the inevitable complaint was that the soup was too salty. Nevertheless, relatively cheap and wonderfully good food hee. We almost went to Garibaldi, but since they only have the 56+++ Mother's Day set today, we left that for another day. :P
We also went to The Daily Scoop and got FOUR tubs of ice-cream. Unfortunately nobody likes my lime & black pepper ice-cream (T_T)
Am now imbibing red wine while blogging.
............................
If there's any piece of music that best represents le grand amour to me, it's the very appropriately named Salut d'Amour. I once heard that Elgar wrote that piece after meeting his fiancee for the first time, and really, it fits. I played this piece for one of my violin exams, but played it today on the piano. There is a tenderness and warmth and great, swelling passion that should sound cheesy but doesn't. It's really an extraordinarily beautiful piece that's easy to appreciate.
Ok, I tried to search on youtube for a good version that I could post here, but there're lots of atrocious versions up there, and those that are not atrocious, I don't quite like for reasons other than technique. So I shan't bother to put the video clips up, but shall provide links to you guys (who won't watch my videos anyway hmmpf).
This is Sarah Chang's --> http://youtube.com/watch?v=UqO7yuh8Wsg. Unfortunately I don't like her vibrato & slides (or whatever you call them).
This is Chee-Yun Kim's --> http://youtube.com/watch?v=uzCAhFfULtM. I've never heard of her before, but I think she's quite ok, except that certain parts of the piece that I imagine to be played deeper (I don't quite know how to explain this) she just plays through, so it's rather unsatisfying.
But Salut's a great piece and a good introduction to classical music, so those of you who don't usually listen, pls, just go ahead and listen to it. It's really very easy to listen to. *goes down on knees and begs*
............................
I think one of the reasons I love Heifetz is cos his playing has 'bite', you know. Your pulse races and yet it doesn't compromise the beauty of his piece. His playing is so exciting and passionate and yet so precise... urgh you see, I always sound like an idiot when I talk about music.
Oh come on, just watch it. And once you're done watching, pls, you can't tell me you haven't fallen in love with it. I'll just cry. I'll lose faith in humanity. I swear.
.............................
I think ours is a very visual world. I just feel that ever since I've started on music and then on perfumes, whole new worlds have been opened to me.
You've no idea what I go through when I walk through Taka basement on a crowded weekend evening. First there's the smell of the food, which is enticing enough. Then there's the million perfumes everyone is wearing, a million reference points that I go sniffing after. A familiar scent there - where did I smell that before - a familar scent there - the perfume I bought my dad - and of course my own perfume. Add my mp3 to that, and you get a sensory explosion, and a thousand associations that come alive - a piece of music that reminds me of scenery somewhere else, or scenery conjured up by my own imagination, a scent that brings back memory of some long-forgotten event or person... really, a thousand things. It's as if my surroundings come with so many associations, they aren't really merely what they seem. And then sometimes the scent or music is so beautiful that my entire mind goes blank and I can't think of anything else, and I live entirely in the present, and the present is so beautiful...
Ok I'm so incoherent. I really don't know how to explain it, but it's all very lovely and wonderful, and I don't think I could get through a single day without music and perfume. *sigh* I've got the feeling I'll never really be able to tell you all how I feel, which is kind of sad and lonely. If only you guys could love the things I love... :(
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
I totally rock!
I knew my sister liked someone and that he liked her back even before he told her (& she accepted!) today. I even knew the name of the guy, and I haven't even met any of her friends.
I knew simply because I asked her an innocuous question & she answered (if there wasn't anything in the works she wouldn't have answered that question).
I've been going around the house for weeks telling everyone, but nobody believed me.
Hah! Don't believe me eh. Take that all of you! I rock! I am totally triumphant today.
Haha my woman's intuition is nearly 100% accurate one :P
I knew simply because I asked her an innocuous question & she answered (if there wasn't anything in the works she wouldn't have answered that question).
I've been going around the house for weeks telling everyone, but nobody believed me.
Hah! Don't believe me eh. Take that all of you! I rock! I am totally triumphant today.
Haha my woman's intuition is nearly 100% accurate one :P
Thursday, May 01, 2008
hello - david cook
This is an incredibly sexy version of this song. Watching American Idol results show now (ok I'm uncool), and I absolutely love his voice. When it comes to voices like his I'm a swooner :P
I'm also a youtube junkie...
A perfume rant
Yes I know you're probably entirely sick of hearing about perfumes.
It's kind of strange when my friends choke on the perfumes I totally love but will probably never possess. (My life's a tragedy.) Look, I'm not kidding myself. I know these perfumes don't smell like an 18 year old girl. They might be quite heavy-going, and might even smell old to some. But they're also wonderfully gorgeous and sophisticated, and if I was a tasteful, sophisticated socialite who does not flash her underwear of choice everytime she steps out of her door (or stays at home), I'd totally totally wear them.
I'm on this because yesterday, I re-smelled Sisley's Soir de Lune for the nth time, and today I'm so obssesed by this perfume, I'm sniffing at the blotter (is that what you call it?) like a drug addict. It's such a lovely perfume, and about the only rose perfume I've ever fallen hard for. I truly truly love it. I feel like a teenage girl pining for her crush who will never look her way and doesn't even notice her existence. Argh. Help me, I really need a bottle of that perfume. It's one of the first perfumes I fell in love with, but I never had the spending power to get it. (though admittedly if I'd saved some...)
Anyway, Soir de Lune is going into my wishlist. I know it's just fantastic wishful thinking to imagine that someone or myself would spend more than 200+ on a teeny bottle of perfume, but still. And it isn't even available at discounters! *wails* But it's such a beautiful scent, a deep deep rose that is oh so classic and tasteful. A scent you'd have to wear an evening gown for. Someone just kill me, I'm pining away... It's so frustrating to love something that you can't have! Damn it all!
*sigh*
It's kind of strange when my friends choke on the perfumes I totally love but will probably never possess. (My life's a tragedy.) Look, I'm not kidding myself. I know these perfumes don't smell like an 18 year old girl. They might be quite heavy-going, and might even smell old to some. But they're also wonderfully gorgeous and sophisticated, and if I was a tasteful, sophisticated socialite who does not flash her underwear of choice everytime she steps out of her door (or stays at home), I'd totally totally wear them.
I'm on this because yesterday, I re-smelled Sisley's Soir de Lune for the nth time, and today I'm so obssesed by this perfume, I'm sniffing at the blotter (is that what you call it?) like a drug addict. It's such a lovely perfume, and about the only rose perfume I've ever fallen hard for. I truly truly love it. I feel like a teenage girl pining for her crush who will never look her way and doesn't even notice her existence. Argh. Help me, I really need a bottle of that perfume. It's one of the first perfumes I fell in love with, but I never had the spending power to get it. (though admittedly if I'd saved some...)
Anyway, Soir de Lune is going into my wishlist. I know it's just fantastic wishful thinking to imagine that someone or myself would spend more than 200+ on a teeny bottle of perfume, but still. And it isn't even available at discounters! *wails* But it's such a beautiful scent, a deep deep rose that is oh so classic and tasteful. A scent you'd have to wear an evening gown for. Someone just kill me, I'm pining away... It's so frustrating to love something that you can't have! Damn it all!
*sigh*
All about music!
These are my go-to pieces nowadays, and I need more like them:
I. Need. Songs. Like. This. I got this from Juno and I absolutely love it. I love the feedback & 'white noise'. I just got a Velvet Underground CD which I've yet to listen closely to, but I liked the same thing about that CD (the white noise). I also love the very nocturnal and glamorous feel, but with a rock edge and a touch of decadence. Like I should be wearing a slinky dress and stilettos but also a leather jacket and chugging beers instead of champagne. It's unabashedly dramatic, but not, you know, melodramatic. (pls agree with me here)
I kind of like Sonic Youth, but with the exception of some of their albums, I'm just not hardcore enough for many of their songs. (this particular song is a cover, not an original composition) I seem to be leaning towards the pop spectrum of alternative rock. As long as it's not TOO pop. Still twiddling my fingers over whether to get one of their albums.
Oh ya, speaking of feedback, Jimi Hendrix:
Cool right? Got a Hendrix CD already.
Next up, Concerto No.2 Rachmaninoff. I can't remember if I've posted it here already. Actually, I listen to the Ashkenazy version (I hope that's how you spell his name), but I can't find his version on Youtube. I guess I'll just put up the only version on Youtube that sounds right to me (even though it's somewhat faster than the one I listen to), Rachmaninoff playing Rachmaninoff:
This piece is so stormy and so unapologetically beautiful! (T_T) (I often use unapologetically beautiful to describe a lot of classical pieces).
Oh, and Horowitz playing the 3rd movement of Moonlight Sonata:
This one really gets my adrenaline going, and it's about the only version of the 3rd movement that I like. I know most people like the 1st movement better (it's certainly more famous), but playing the 1st movement always makes me want to sleep.
Hmmm I also want to listen to Chopin's concertos.
I'm falling asleep in my chair :(
I. Need. Songs. Like. This. I got this from Juno and I absolutely love it. I love the feedback & 'white noise'. I just got a Velvet Underground CD which I've yet to listen closely to, but I liked the same thing about that CD (the white noise). I also love the very nocturnal and glamorous feel, but with a rock edge and a touch of decadence. Like I should be wearing a slinky dress and stilettos but also a leather jacket and chugging beers instead of champagne. It's unabashedly dramatic, but not, you know, melodramatic. (pls agree with me here)
I kind of like Sonic Youth, but with the exception of some of their albums, I'm just not hardcore enough for many of their songs. (this particular song is a cover, not an original composition) I seem to be leaning towards the pop spectrum of alternative rock. As long as it's not TOO pop. Still twiddling my fingers over whether to get one of their albums.
Oh ya, speaking of feedback, Jimi Hendrix:
Cool right? Got a Hendrix CD already.
Next up, Concerto No.2 Rachmaninoff. I can't remember if I've posted it here already. Actually, I listen to the Ashkenazy version (I hope that's how you spell his name), but I can't find his version on Youtube. I guess I'll just put up the only version on Youtube that sounds right to me (even though it's somewhat faster than the one I listen to), Rachmaninoff playing Rachmaninoff:
This piece is so stormy and so unapologetically beautiful! (T_T) (I often use unapologetically beautiful to describe a lot of classical pieces).
Oh, and Horowitz playing the 3rd movement of Moonlight Sonata:
This one really gets my adrenaline going, and it's about the only version of the 3rd movement that I like. I know most people like the 1st movement better (it's certainly more famous), but playing the 1st movement always makes me want to sleep.
Hmmm I also want to listen to Chopin's concertos.
I'm falling asleep in my chair :(
Sunday, April 27, 2008
To love Rachmaninoff
I've fallen hopelessly in love with Rachmaninoff and am feeling very shame-faced about it. It's like admitting in public that you love Nietzsche (ahem). I don't know, Rachmaninoff is just so emotional and angsty and moody and dark that I feel quite the equivalent of a teenage emo-goth listening to him. I'm consoling myself that like Nietzsche, if you look hard & deep enough at Rachmaninoff you'll find that he transcends the popular image of him and is quite, quite divine. (Ok, that last line was pure smoke but anything to soothe my shattered self-image.)
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If you know me, you'll know that I'm absolutely addicted to getting pretty pics off the Interwebs.
via Zena Holloway:
I absolutely love this pic (you have to check out the site for more), and am even using this for my msn pic.
via Fashion Ivy:
I really love the shadows and light and the glamorous, vintage feel of these pics.
Hmmm I really like vintage, don't I? The last one seems a bit geisha like, perhaps because of the hair.
This one is just so pretty and flower-like.
Sadly, I've forgotten where I got these:
However, I do know it's one of the Dior haute couture collections. Love the geisha-inspired look. Especially love the 1st white origami dress. For some reason, it seems very dressed-up Princess Leia, no? (even though I'm no Star Wars fan)
I also like this from some Christian Lacroix collection:
It's so black widow with a twist. Especially love the 2nd one. Absolutely love that shade of blue.
Eeks ok, need to get back to work.
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If you know me, you'll know that I'm absolutely addicted to getting pretty pics off the Interwebs.
via Zena Holloway:
I absolutely love this pic (you have to check out the site for more), and am even using this for my msn pic.
via Fashion Ivy:
I really love the shadows and light and the glamorous, vintage feel of these pics.
Hmmm I really like vintage, don't I? The last one seems a bit geisha like, perhaps because of the hair.
This one is just so pretty and flower-like.
Sadly, I've forgotten where I got these:
However, I do know it's one of the Dior haute couture collections. Love the geisha-inspired look. Especially love the 1st white origami dress. For some reason, it seems very dressed-up Princess Leia, no? (even though I'm no Star Wars fan)
I also like this from some Christian Lacroix collection:
It's so black widow with a twist. Especially love the 2nd one. Absolutely love that shade of blue.
Eeks ok, need to get back to work.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
rumination
Yay my wireless is up. The day after I got my laptop back from repairs my wireless crashed. (T_T)
Anywayz, I've got a whole backlog of things to blog about. Actually I had two backlogs but I forgot half of it already.
First of all, I'm sorry, I love perfume reviews, but this is just funny: "The perfume conveys its, if you will, French style or Chanel world-view through its intuition for pure lines - like a French window, a French garden - in its sense of refined, controlled, balanced and clear, Cartesian elegance. At the same time there is to be found a sense of Baudelairean voyage to the perfume..."
I beg your pardon? Cartesian elegance and Baudelairean voyage? Are we really talking about a perfume here?
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I've just returned from a play that I got to watch courtesy of some very nice people, and that I HAD to watch and had to watch ALONE courtesy of LSB. It wasn't very good and tickets went at a whopping 50bucks (I had free tickets, else I wouldn't have stepped into the place.), but it was for charity. I guess it's only for charity that you're allowed to put up a lousy performance, over-charge people for it and THEN receive thunderous applause. Hmmpf. The last time I was in that theatre, I'd paid less than 20bucks (I think) to watch an excellent AND thought-provoking AND creative production of Hamlet, so damn charity.
I don't know, I didn't like the acting, it was all very stiff and self-conscious. I also didn't like the cannot-make-it fake accents, though it might have been some kind of voice-projecting technique that they teach. But it grates on my ears to hear kids with a very pronounced Singaporean accent labour over a snooty Brit accent.
Even the play was rather didactic (it was J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls), and all the moralising got tiring after a while. The plot was totally predictable except for the end, but then again I thought the final twist was kind of cheap. I was actually wondering how the playwright could possibly end the play given the way the plot was going (do NOT watch plays under the influence of LSB), and I guess this seemed like the only way. But still! cheap!
Oh yeah, it didn't help that throughout the first half of the play I kept smelling something very very familiar and I kept getting distracted by the smell, trying to find out where it was coming from and why it smelt so familiar. I solved the first - I'd let a stranger rub lotion on my hand (scandalous!) before watching the play. But the second... no answer yet. It's like that time I kept thinking a perfume smelled really familiar but couldn't place it until my mum came along and told me it smelled like the hair gel my dad used like, ten years ago.
Really, you guys should see me on the MRT to work. I'm like totally sniffing at people's armpits all the time cos there're too many perfumes wafting around the carriage. Drives me crazy!
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Nowadays I've been thinking about male butts. Not in a dirty way! And not just the male derriere in general, but a certain species of guy bottoms. The ones that are exceedingly feminine. It just disturbs me that some male butts possess a distinctly child-bearing silhouette. I'm not talking about perky butts or tiny butts. I'm talking male butts with an overwhelmingly womanly, almost maternal curve. They disturb me. They truly do.
And I know you're totally not interested in this, but nope, LSB does NOT possess of a feminine butt. After more than 3 years of careful observation, I can most confidently proclaim that LSB's butt is safely in the masculine-male genus. I know, I know you don't want to hear me talk about LSB's butt, and the above-mentioned butt is probably writhing with sheer embarrassment in its seat as the attached eyes and brains process the undeniable fact that I'm talking about said butt on a public blog. Too bad, I say.
[Deity of choice] help me should this blog fall into the wrong hands.
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I read a BBC article about this academic who makes the stunning argument that people love their ipod so much because it helps them assert control over their environment. (can't find article now) Is it just me or is that idea not terribly new? I'd assumed everyone knew that already. Perhaps I'm just brilliant? Oh what am I saying, of course I am.
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Ok that's it. I forgot what else I had to say. Besides, work tomorrow!
Anywayz, I've got a whole backlog of things to blog about. Actually I had two backlogs but I forgot half of it already.
First of all, I'm sorry, I love perfume reviews, but this is just funny: "The perfume conveys its, if you will, French style or Chanel world-view through its intuition for pure lines - like a French window, a French garden - in its sense of refined, controlled, balanced and clear, Cartesian elegance. At the same time there is to be found a sense of Baudelairean voyage to the perfume..."
I beg your pardon? Cartesian elegance and Baudelairean voyage? Are we really talking about a perfume here?
-------------------------------
I've just returned from a play that I got to watch courtesy of some very nice people, and that I HAD to watch and had to watch ALONE courtesy of LSB. It wasn't very good and tickets went at a whopping 50bucks (I had free tickets, else I wouldn't have stepped into the place.), but it was for charity. I guess it's only for charity that you're allowed to put up a lousy performance, over-charge people for it and THEN receive thunderous applause. Hmmpf. The last time I was in that theatre, I'd paid less than 20bucks (I think) to watch an excellent AND thought-provoking AND creative production of Hamlet, so damn charity.
I don't know, I didn't like the acting, it was all very stiff and self-conscious. I also didn't like the cannot-make-it fake accents, though it might have been some kind of voice-projecting technique that they teach. But it grates on my ears to hear kids with a very pronounced Singaporean accent labour over a snooty Brit accent.
Even the play was rather didactic (it was J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls), and all the moralising got tiring after a while. The plot was totally predictable except for the end, but then again I thought the final twist was kind of cheap. I was actually wondering how the playwright could possibly end the play given the way the plot was going (do NOT watch plays under the influence of LSB), and I guess this seemed like the only way. But still! cheap!
Oh yeah, it didn't help that throughout the first half of the play I kept smelling something very very familiar and I kept getting distracted by the smell, trying to find out where it was coming from and why it smelt so familiar. I solved the first - I'd let a stranger rub lotion on my hand (scandalous!) before watching the play. But the second... no answer yet. It's like that time I kept thinking a perfume smelled really familiar but couldn't place it until my mum came along and told me it smelled like the hair gel my dad used like, ten years ago.
Really, you guys should see me on the MRT to work. I'm like totally sniffing at people's armpits all the time cos there're too many perfumes wafting around the carriage. Drives me crazy!
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Nowadays I've been thinking about male butts. Not in a dirty way! And not just the male derriere in general, but a certain species of guy bottoms. The ones that are exceedingly feminine. It just disturbs me that some male butts possess a distinctly child-bearing silhouette. I'm not talking about perky butts or tiny butts. I'm talking male butts with an overwhelmingly womanly, almost maternal curve. They disturb me. They truly do.
And I know you're totally not interested in this, but nope, LSB does NOT possess of a feminine butt. After more than 3 years of careful observation, I can most confidently proclaim that LSB's butt is safely in the masculine-male genus. I know, I know you don't want to hear me talk about LSB's butt, and the above-mentioned butt is probably writhing with sheer embarrassment in its seat as the attached eyes and brains process the undeniable fact that I'm talking about said butt on a public blog. Too bad, I say.
[Deity of choice] help me should this blog fall into the wrong hands.
-------------------------------------
I read a BBC article about this academic who makes the stunning argument that people love their ipod so much because it helps them assert control over their environment. (can't find article now) Is it just me or is that idea not terribly new? I'd assumed everyone knew that already. Perhaps I'm just brilliant? Oh what am I saying, of course I am.
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Ok that's it. I forgot what else I had to say. Besides, work tomorrow!
Friday, April 18, 2008
laptop up & running!
Yay my darling laptop has returned to my loving embrace!
I'm not supposed to be up at this time, but I took a half-day today and slept the years of my life away.
Critical Theorist: You're being oppressed!
Poor sot: But I'm not.
CT: You only think you're not, but actually you feel oppressed and miserable.
PS: But I don't feel oppressed and miserable. I'm quite happy.
CT: You're so oppressed that you don't even know it!
This is why I love crit theorists, you just can't beat them. If you're a glass half empty kind of person, they'd probably tell you either: 1) the glass belongs to someone else anyway, you don't even have a glass, so why are you being so darn cheerful?, or 2) you're so oppressed that you're thinking about glasses when you should be thinking about subverting the hegemonic order.
This is one of my favourites from Mayday:
約翰藍儂
作詞：瑪莎/阿信 作曲：怪獸 編曲：五月天
那年冬天 子彈 它給了你自由
沒了 軀殼 就活在人們心中
看著 今天 你會笑還是會搖頭
整個世界 曾經 都跟著你作夢
如今和平 依然在歌曲裡頭
猜忌 戰火 還跟著我一起生活
能不能暫時把你的勇氣給我 在夢想快消失的時候
讓我的歌 用力的穿過天空 為我愛的人做一秒英雄
一顆紅豆 為何 想單挑這宇宙
都要 怪你 在我心中播了種
一把 吉他 就想對抗萬千炮火
玩著遊戲 出糗 喧鬧的攝影棚
怪獸 石頭 默默的吐在廁所
OK 再來 要世界為我們感動
能不能暫時把你的勇氣給我 在夢想快消失的時候
讓我的歌 用力的穿過天空 為我愛的人做一秒英雄
能不能暫時把你的夢想給我 在勇氣快消失的時候
總有一天 要人們叫我披頭 最後沒成功 也做過最美的夢
This song (especially this line: 一把 吉他 就想對抗萬千炮火) always reminds me of this iconic picture from late 1960s America with young protesters (students?) placing flowers in soldiers' gun barrels. Yeah, google it yourself if you're interested. I've learnt the hard, bitter way that no one ever follows my links or watches the videos I painstakingly put up. I'm a bitter, bitter person.
Hmmm I actually haven't listened to Mayday for a long time because I've been totally seduced and won over by Rachmaninoff's angsty brooding artist image. I was walking to work this morning when the sky grew ominously overcast and the wind whipped my now-rebonded (oh didn't I tell you?) hair around my face. And guess what? I was listening to Rachmaninoff and suddenly, the whole world made sense.
I'm not supposed to be up at this time, but I took a half-day today and slept the years of my life away.
Critical Theorist: You're being oppressed!
Poor sot: But I'm not.
CT: You only think you're not, but actually you feel oppressed and miserable.
PS: But I don't feel oppressed and miserable. I'm quite happy.
CT: You're so oppressed that you don't even know it!
This is why I love crit theorists, you just can't beat them. If you're a glass half empty kind of person, they'd probably tell you either: 1) the glass belongs to someone else anyway, you don't even have a glass, so why are you being so darn cheerful?, or 2) you're so oppressed that you're thinking about glasses when you should be thinking about subverting the hegemonic order.
This is one of my favourites from Mayday:
約翰藍儂
作詞：瑪莎/阿信 作曲：怪獸 編曲：五月天
那年冬天 子彈 它給了你自由
沒了 軀殼 就活在人們心中
看著 今天 你會笑還是會搖頭
整個世界 曾經 都跟著你作夢
如今和平 依然在歌曲裡頭
猜忌 戰火 還跟著我一起生活
能不能暫時把你的勇氣給我 在夢想快消失的時候
讓我的歌 用力的穿過天空 為我愛的人做一秒英雄
一顆紅豆 為何 想單挑這宇宙
都要 怪你 在我心中播了種
一把 吉他 就想對抗萬千炮火
玩著遊戲 出糗 喧鬧的攝影棚
怪獸 石頭 默默的吐在廁所
OK 再來 要世界為我們感動
能不能暫時把你的勇氣給我 在夢想快消失的時候
讓我的歌 用力的穿過天空 為我愛的人做一秒英雄
能不能暫時把你的夢想給我 在勇氣快消失的時候
總有一天 要人們叫我披頭 最後沒成功 也做過最美的夢
This song (especially this line: 一把 吉他 就想對抗萬千炮火) always reminds me of this iconic picture from late 1960s America with young protesters (students?) placing flowers in soldiers' gun barrels. Yeah, google it yourself if you're interested. I've learnt the hard, bitter way that no one ever follows my links or watches the videos I painstakingly put up. I'm a bitter, bitter person.
Hmmm I actually haven't listened to Mayday for a long time because I've been totally seduced and won over by Rachmaninoff's angsty brooding artist image. I was walking to work this morning when the sky grew ominously overcast and the wind whipped my now-rebonded (oh didn't I tell you?) hair around my face. And guess what? I was listening to Rachmaninoff and suddenly, the whole world made sense.
Monday, April 07, 2008
Just stay single.
I came online sacrificing essential work sleep because I forgot to blog about the most important discovery of the weekend!
*clears throat*
After 3+ years of dating, LSB STILL does not know my birthday!
Yes, I know, classic LSB, always making a girl feel like a million bucks.
Yeah, anyway, it's not like he remembers anyone's birthday, right? Oh... oops. Well you see, it turns out he DOES remember other people's birthdays and... let's just say I sincerely hope she rots in hell.
I also liked the way he told me to (this was after I waited THREE hours to meet him. after work.) deal with my emotions cos it was putting lots of pressure on him. Congratulate me, I got the most caring boyfriend in the world! Really, my happiness is top priority for him.
What more could a girl ask for?
*clears throat*
After 3+ years of dating, LSB STILL does not know my birthday!
Yes, I know, classic LSB, always making a girl feel like a million bucks.
Yeah, anyway, it's not like he remembers anyone's birthday, right? Oh... oops. Well you see, it turns out he DOES remember other people's birthdays and... let's just say I sincerely hope she rots in hell.
I also liked the way he told me to (this was after I waited THREE hours to meet him. after work.) deal with my emotions cos it was putting lots of pressure on him. Congratulate me, I got the most caring boyfriend in the world! Really, my happiness is top priority for him.
What more could a girl ask for?
Sunday, April 06, 2008
2nd week update
Hohoho this is getting to be a weekly thing. I actually don't know what to say, but I feel compelled not to ignore this blog, if only to preserve the little bit of personal space (can only tiptoe in here) left to me.
I bought a Jim Hendrix CD (diversification, diversification... you should know this by now), and it sounds pretty cool. At first I wanted to buy a 12.95 CD, but in the end decided that spending 7bucks more for sound quality is worth it (these days I always test my CDs before buying).
I was very tempted by a Sex Pistols CD because the cover looked SO cool, and I have a major crush on them even though I think their music sucks like crazy.
I was also VERY VERY tempted by a box-set of Beethoven's symphonies by Berlin Philharmonic, but I don't have 250bucks to spare. Once I get my pay though... (everything's hanging on the pay huh)
I've also been watching endless episodes of Scrubs, having gotten a one month rental membership at Gramaphone (just trying it out).
As for work... it could be better, could be worse. I'm just not quite used to feeling as incompetent as I am nowadays. I keep feeling I can't say too much about work on the interwebs, so that's as much as you're gonna get till I feel comfortable about saying more.
I've also spent the whole of this weekend sleeping. And watching Scrubs. And I'm visiting Ichiban much too often :P
I bought a Jim Hendrix CD (diversification, diversification... you should know this by now), and it sounds pretty cool. At first I wanted to buy a 12.95 CD, but in the end decided that spending 7bucks more for sound quality is worth it (these days I always test my CDs before buying).
I was very tempted by a Sex Pistols CD because the cover looked SO cool, and I have a major crush on them even though I think their music sucks like crazy.
I was also VERY VERY tempted by a box-set of Beethoven's symphonies by Berlin Philharmonic, but I don't have 250bucks to spare. Once I get my pay though... (everything's hanging on the pay huh)
I've also been watching endless episodes of Scrubs, having gotten a one month rental membership at Gramaphone (just trying it out).
As for work... it could be better, could be worse. I'm just not quite used to feeling as incompetent as I am nowadays. I keep feeling I can't say too much about work on the interwebs, so that's as much as you're gonna get till I feel comfortable about saying more.
I've also spent the whole of this weekend sleeping. And watching Scrubs. And I'm visiting Ichiban much too often :P
Saturday, March 29, 2008
This week
I don't even know where to start. It's like the earth shifted its position in the universe and is now located at 31B Rhododendron Ave, Kansas City. Ya anyway, so my life is completely different from the week before. I dress different, I talk different, I'm engaged in entirely different activities. I even wake up at a different time. (the shift in time zones is most disorienting.)
So I've been whining to LSB, and I've been experiencing for myself the great Venus-Mars divide that everyone talks about. LSB keeps giving me advice and telling me not to go to work in a monochromatic gothic clown-suit, making silently mournful but very obscene gestures at passers-by. And then I'm like, du-uh I know that already, whoever said I need your advice? And LSB goes, so why are you telling me all this? *sighz*
I never thought I'd say this, but TGIF.
So I've been whining to LSB, and I've been experiencing for myself the great Venus-Mars divide that everyone talks about. LSB keeps giving me advice and telling me not to go to work in a monochromatic gothic clown-suit, making silently mournful but very obscene gestures at passers-by. And then I'm like, du-uh I know that already, whoever said I need your advice? And LSB goes, so why are you telling me all this? *sighz*
I never thought I'd say this, but TGIF.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
From the CNA site
This is a screenshot from the Channel NewsAsia site. I was highly amused to see the un-PCness of the Google ad (highlighted in yellow):
Yes, teaching you how to attract girls in Singapore! Tested and proven methods! (click image to enlarge. you probably know this, but you know... just in case you're er, me.)
Many thanks to A/G for teaching tech-idiot me how to get a screenshot!
Yes, teaching you how to attract girls in Singapore! Tested and proven methods! (click image to enlarge. you probably know this, but you know... just in case you're er, me.)
Many thanks to A/G for teaching tech-idiot me how to get a screenshot!
Friday, March 21, 2008
Music
So the music diversification programme is in full swing.
After exploring the Sex Pistols & some folk music, I went on to take a look at Velvet Underground. I don't particularly like the recordings with Nico, her voice grates on me for some reason. But the song I actually quite like is this somewhat NC-16, not particularly safe for work song:
I was at HMV the other day, and seriously considered buying their CD, but resisted the temptation to splurge. But I did feel quite superior, looking for Velvet Underground CDs instead of whatever people like to listen to nowadays. Hilary Duff or something. Then I went up to the Asian music section and started looking for a couple of bands Kobe Girl's (hehehe) colleague recommended, as well as Dir en Grey CDs, which my sis introduced to me a couple of years ago. Again, feeling superior to people looking for Ayumi. Think my cool factor just increased exponentially.
Anyway, I successfully stopped myself from buying anything till I hit the classical section, at which point I simply died and went to Waterloo. I came across a CD by Heifetz with Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto D major and Mendelssohn's Concerto E minor, and I was totally like, girl you can't buy this, it's 26 good bucks and don't you have that Mendelssohn (albeit played by Joshua Bell) already? But I was also like, hey it's Heifetz and didn't I save myself hundreds of dollars by NOT buying all those previous CDs? In any case let's get a listen to this CD. And then I was like, damn this is good stuff, but maybe I can get the Itzhak Perlman version of the Tchaikovsky at 21 bucks, so let's listen to that as well. And then I was like, damn I don't like the Perlman version as much as Heifetz's. So in the end I was like, if the Heifetz version is better than the Perlman version, that's saying something, so I have no choice to get it. Seriously man, the exigencies of this world compel me to buy this CD.
And that's how I broke my no extraneous purchases rule. Not in the rock n roll or Japanese music section, but in the good ol' Classical & Jazz section. As usual. Which just shows that diversify as much as you want, there are some things that you can't diversify away from.
I don't think my music classes taught me how to play my instruments well, but they certainly taught me to love music, and that's good enough for me. And now I'm feeling really sick, which doesn't have anything to do with music or music classes, but has a lot to do with sniffing and tissue and general grossness. Shall spare you guys from that.
After exploring the Sex Pistols & some folk music, I went on to take a look at Velvet Underground. I don't particularly like the recordings with Nico, her voice grates on me for some reason. But the song I actually quite like is this somewhat NC-16, not particularly safe for work song:
I was at HMV the other day, and seriously considered buying their CD, but resisted the temptation to splurge. But I did feel quite superior, looking for Velvet Underground CDs instead of whatever people like to listen to nowadays. Hilary Duff or something. Then I went up to the Asian music section and started looking for a couple of bands Kobe Girl's (hehehe) colleague recommended, as well as Dir en Grey CDs, which my sis introduced to me a couple of years ago. Again, feeling superior to people looking for Ayumi. Think my cool factor just increased exponentially.
Anyway, I successfully stopped myself from buying anything till I hit the classical section, at which point I simply died and went to Waterloo. I came across a CD by Heifetz with Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto D major and Mendelssohn's Concerto E minor, and I was totally like, girl you can't buy this, it's 26 good bucks and don't you have that Mendelssohn (albeit played by Joshua Bell) already? But I was also like, hey it's Heifetz and didn't I save myself hundreds of dollars by NOT buying all those previous CDs? In any case let's get a listen to this CD. And then I was like, damn this is good stuff, but maybe I can get the Itzhak Perlman version of the Tchaikovsky at 21 bucks, so let's listen to that as well. And then I was like, damn I don't like the Perlman version as much as Heifetz's. So in the end I was like, if the Heifetz version is better than the Perlman version, that's saying something, so I have no choice to get it. Seriously man, the exigencies of this world compel me to buy this CD.
And that's how I broke my no extraneous purchases rule. Not in the rock n roll or Japanese music section, but in the good ol' Classical & Jazz section. As usual. Which just shows that diversify as much as you want, there are some things that you can't diversify away from.
I don't think my music classes taught me how to play my instruments well, but they certainly taught me to love music, and that's good enough for me. And now I'm feeling really sick, which doesn't have anything to do with music or music classes, but has a lot to do with sniffing and tissue and general grossness. Shall spare you guys from that.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
The Sex Pistols
I've been checking out the Sex Pistols because, well, of a manga/anime that I'm too embarrassed to admit I like. Let's face it, their music gives me a huge headache, and all that jumping around doesn't help. But they're really incredibly entertaining. I've become a big fan of Youtube interviews of John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) who's still alive and kicking as far as I can tell.
This is him in 1987:
And trust me, when he said he'd mellowed, he wasn't kidding man.
This is 1980:
That's the 1st part of that interview, you can poke around Youtube and I'm sure you can discover part 2 on your own.
Amazing that red hair and a pasty, skinny face could be so cool. And if you accept his premises, his attitude and actions are actually understandable and acceptable. Then again, if you accept their premises, anyone's actions could become acceptable. (kill the Jews anyone?) But not just anyone could pull it off with such incredible coolness. *squeals and attains fangirl status*
This is him in 1987:
And trust me, when he said he'd mellowed, he wasn't kidding man.
This is 1980:
That's the 1st part of that interview, you can poke around Youtube and I'm sure you can discover part 2 on your own.
Amazing that red hair and a pasty, skinny face could be so cool. And if you accept his premises, his attitude and actions are actually understandable and acceptable. Then again, if you accept their premises, anyone's actions could become acceptable. (kill the Jews anyone?) But not just anyone could pull it off with such incredible coolness. *squeals and attains fangirl status*
dulcimer = yangqin
Oh pity my ignorant soul!
I watched this youtube video (below), and was shocked to my socks (even though I'm not wearing any now, not having progressed so far in age that I'm wearing socks. in the tropics. at home. in the middle of the night. while typing at my comp.) that the dulcimer in the video looked totally like a yangqin to me.
I'd always known a dulcimer was some sort of medieval instrument, always thought it was English, always thought it was somewhat guitar-like. Bless me poor soul, I was actually thinking Appalachian dulcimer (thank goodness for Wikipedia). The HAMMERED dulcimer is totally different, and apparently the yangqin (according to Wikipedia again) is (probably) an imported Persian dulcimer. (so not all dulcimers are English then)
I've always been impressed by the yangqin, largely because it looks as if you need ultra-good eyesight and super-fast hands to play it. I've also been fascinated by traditional Chinese music (yet another topic I'm totally ignorant about dammit). I'd love to learn more, and even better, to learn how to play a Chinese instrument, but woe is me, I don't think I'll ever get around to it. *sigh* I really want to learn the guzheng (along with a million other things).
I really love the 'voice' (I can't think of another word) of the guzheng. Here I'm especially looking at the way you can control the sounding of the notes. (ok, I really really don't know anything about the guzheng, and I don't know whether anyone understands what I'm saying, but this is what I like, and I'm saying it in the only way I know how, so suck it up.)
I've been looking at a lot of Celtic songs and forums (because somehow when you're searching for folk songs online you end up smack in the middle of Celtic land) and the orientation tends to be nationalist. While I have no problem with the nationalism, and in fact, think the national history (myth or otherwise) contributes to the appeal of the music, it also saddens me that along with the nationalism comes a lot of xenophobia and tonnes of flaming.
I watched this youtube video (below), and was shocked to my socks (even though I'm not wearing any now, not having progressed so far in age that I'm wearing socks. in the tropics. at home. in the middle of the night. while typing at my comp.) that the dulcimer in the video looked totally like a yangqin to me.
I'd always known a dulcimer was some sort of medieval instrument, always thought it was English, always thought it was somewhat guitar-like. Bless me poor soul, I was actually thinking Appalachian dulcimer (thank goodness for Wikipedia). The HAMMERED dulcimer is totally different, and apparently the yangqin (according to Wikipedia again) is (probably) an imported Persian dulcimer. (so not all dulcimers are English then)
I've always been impressed by the yangqin, largely because it looks as if you need ultra-good eyesight and super-fast hands to play it. I've also been fascinated by traditional Chinese music (yet another topic I'm totally ignorant about dammit). I'd love to learn more, and even better, to learn how to play a Chinese instrument, but woe is me, I don't think I'll ever get around to it. *sigh* I really want to learn the guzheng (along with a million other things).
I really love the 'voice' (I can't think of another word) of the guzheng. Here I'm especially looking at the way you can control the sounding of the notes. (ok, I really really don't know anything about the guzheng, and I don't know whether anyone understands what I'm saying, but this is what I like, and I'm saying it in the only way I know how, so suck it up.)
I've been looking at a lot of Celtic songs and forums (because somehow when you're searching for folk songs online you end up smack in the middle of Celtic land) and the orientation tends to be nationalist. While I have no problem with the nationalism, and in fact, think the national history (myth or otherwise) contributes to the appeal of the music, it also saddens me that along with the nationalism comes a lot of xenophobia and tonnes of flaming.
Wild Mountain Thyme
Mudcat Cafe reminded me of this old song. Love this! Literally tears in your eyes stuff...
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