Tuesday, November 29, 2005

what i want

Seeing that we are still in college pursuing our studies, albeit for only a few more months, what we are doing can be boiled down to only these few things:

1. assignments
2. tests
3. study (hardly)
4. sleep
5. eat
6. repeat 1-5.

Damn it...this is basically my life in college...with only the occassional jalan-jalan in sg wang, KLCC, those sort of place......well at least for me...basically my life is full of mundane-ness......

Is it just me, or that just almost everyone i know can just splash their money and go on a shopping spree? How come i can't do that? Is it because that I'm too kiam siap to spend? Or too jimat? Even when I want something so badly I'd think twice, maybe thrice before buying it coz spending your parents' hard earned cash, especially if you come from a family who's not from a rich background, really makes me feel bad. No offense people, I'm not saying that u guys are splurging...just having a thought on the subject......

But the money issue aside, all I really want from the daily mundane lifestyle is just a break from it and doing something that I really enjoy, and not thinking about assignments and all that. Just once, I'd like to:

1. be able to read something, graphic novel, or novel maybe, and get something inspirational out of it. I tried The Lord of the Rings a few years back, but no time and the book was just too damn detailed. Maybe sometime later when I don't have anything to worry about, then can fully enjoy it.

The books, comic and novels, that I've been wanting to read: the LOTR trilogy, Fight Club, The Da Vinci Code, The Republic of Trees, Sin City, Y: The Last Man, Identity Crisis, just to name a few......

2. play video games!!! it's part of my lifestyle before the 6th generation video game boom in 2003-05 when all games are suddenly becoming high-end graphics showcases which suck all the powers from your PC. My dad promised a FREE PlayStation 2 early this year coz' his friend was giving one away, but until today still no news. Guess I have to upgrade my PC or get a console. But damn, the PS3 and XBox 360 and Revolution are coming out...

The games I wanted to play: Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Devil May Cry, Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, Killer 7, Resident Evil 4, 24: The Game.

Note that I am only interested in story based action adventures, never interested in strategy games or MMORPGs......

3. watch lots and lots of movies. Not those Hollywood bullshits (not all, just some mindless mediocre movies that I hate), but those that people consider boring art house stuff. I don't claim to understand all those art movies, but they do provide a stimulation to the mind. And the occasssional oddball films that has far more memorable moments in one film than 10 Hollywood blockbusters put together. (case in mind: Pulp Fiction, Fight Club).

Movies to watch: Dead Man Walking, The Hours, Braveheart, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Traffic, Buai Laju-Laju, Rain Man, Being John Malkovich, etc (and definitely waiting for Gubra)

4. watch all seasons of 24! Everyone who knows me knows I'm a 24 freak...either I'm gonna splash RM600 for all seasons in original material, or RM250 in pirated goods......either way I'm gonna get it after the exams. Or just Season 1 before the end of December...

5. get together with all the primary and secondary friends that I lost in touch with, but then found them in Friendster (the wonders Internet can do for you :P). Nothing like good ol' pals getting together talking cocks......

That's all I can think of for now...I blog too much...I should start doing the design documents already, or else the group leader's not gonna be happy.

can I play Stanley?

Finally! I submitted the final year project to Ms. Ngoi coz there was an error in Friday's printout, now that the FYP is no longer an issue, can start concentrating on this semester's assignments....it's gonna be my last semester in the college...hopefully I can end it with a bang......

Today's Drama class was special : instead of reading out text by text from the play like usual, Ms. Simone played the latter half of the 1951 version of "A Streetcat Named Desire" in the lecture hall, much to the surprise and enthusiasm from the students. It was good, coz' I wanted to finish it a few weeks back but couldn't. Even outsiders not from AIA2 snuck into the lecture hall to watch it. Never thought people would be interested in watching 50s movie. Anyone interested should check out "Rashomon" by Akira Kurosawa, which has a great story and lasting impact.


But back to the topic. One thing annoyed me: everytime there's an intimate or kissing scene some bozos will go "Ooh!" or "Ahh!" as if they haven't watch these kinda things before. Fuckin' annoying...

Watching the movie, I kept thinking how I can channel Marlon Brando when I play Stanley on week 11. The dude's so cool!!! That primitive anger, that raw energy, that brute physique...how I wish I could play Stanley as effective as he is......Teik Teng, like the other group members, wanted a small role, but seeing that he is the only other guy in the group, that effectively leaves him for the character of Mitch......

And I'm quite worried about the drama presentation, coz' 3 members were not present for the lectures since week 2...and the 3 are all girls, how can they pick up and analyse the story and understand the characters like that? Who's gonnna play Blanche (obviously the most difficult role) and Stella? we have only 3 weeks left goddammit! Other assignments are meeting the deadline!!! AARRGHHHHH!!!!!

Tried to borrow the VCD from Ms. Simone, but she insists on not borrowing for fear of losing it, instead wrote a permission letter to the library for a video viewing session......damn it......

******

Celebrated Kien Jean's birthday at the hostel canteen, nothing much, just a simple celebration for a friend's "coming of age"......shared the present with Gilbert, it's a belt and wallet combo...


Birthday boy's on my right. I really like this pic, dunno why, it's got a casual feel to it.

Me and my roomie, the most handsome-est guy there. Pics don't do justice.

Chris, Gilbert and Sang "how-come-I'm-so-fuckin-fair" What.

Wanted to do the OOSAD assignment after that, but ended up blogging.

til next time.

Sunday, November 27, 2005

big pour out

Been having diarrhea since last Wednesday, as a result my asshole is cracked up and my legs are numb ** weird and gross stuff to blog about LOL ** ...anyway, missed about 2 day's lecture and tutorial...nothing exceptional, just scared that I can't catch up on the Flash tutorials......

Speaking of Flash, Mr.Stephen Tang took over the lecture for Multimedia on Friday to show us some software that can aid in our edutainment software development......he then demonstrated what I can only say as technical superiority...the dude just draws an image, added a few ActionScript on the fly, and there you go, rain drops with splashing effect......maybe it's not so big a deal for you guys who are experts in Flash, but for this Flash idiot it's damn impressive lah...really respect the guy, salute!

******

College is having this Unplugged Pop Song competition, so they have a teaser performance in Canteen 2...haven't heard all of the bands, but seriously some of them can't sing. If have a live band might as well do a band competition, then we can listen to real music lah...really don't understand why those talented band members grouped with a subpar lead singer singing crappy pop songs, and the audience goes wild whenever a high note gone off-key...crazy...WE WANT ROCK!!!

******

Had dinner with Gil, Chris and Kien Jean in TBR, and Gil was in his usual dreamy-cum-in-love-with-himself state, plus he's also pokai already, somemore got the guts to ajak us makan, and expecting Chris to pay for him like everytime, dunno how he spend his cash one......so the guy was broke, and after makan we wait for him to go withdraw money from the ATM which is just 2 shops beside the diner.

He said "dowan, waste RM1."

WHAT THE FUCK?! spend so much money making outstation calls and buying beauty products and clothing, but don't wanna withdraw money because MEPS is gonna charge you a measly RM1 ??? You call that saving money? I will never understand his logic of saving a little and spending a lot, I thought it was the other way around...

So to teach him a lesson we decided not to pay for him. It took us 35 minutes to convince him to withdraw. But ATM left RM51, and the machine only dispense RM50 notes, in the end, let's just say that we deeply humiliated his pride.

Bear in mind, WE ARE TRYING TO HELP HIM. Some people just needs to be kicked in the butt to realize their wrongs.

******

Everybody is so outraged about the Chinese naked woman incident, "disgrace to the country" lah, "disgusting" lah, etc. dunno about you guys, but I'm pretty much immune to these kind of shits......I mean, with everything going on in this country, this is just something waiting to happen sooner or later.

Don't get me wrong, I still think the incident is disturbing and amoral, it's distasteful as women's pride is humiliated, the police is gonna have a hard time cleaning up this shit. I'm just saying that it doesn't shock me as hard as other people. Strip naked and doing ear-squats? I'm pretty sure other coutry has such issues to sort too...I guess this is the effect of information overload: you surf too much, played one too many GTAs, you pretty much seen it all. Know what's the scariest part is? After getting used to see shocked images, you kinda expect these sort of things to happen.

Demented mind? Maybe. Blame the Net.

******

Yesterday, invited by Chih Kok to attend the Universal Peace Federation's inaugural convocation at the KL Convention Center. Was thinking to see something different la, and hear what the founder of the UPF had to say on world peace......mana tau got a 3 hour lecture on God, Abel & Cain and the likes, sien lah......

Maybe this is the first time for the event, everything was not very well done...the performers' English was horrible when reciting a poem, and the translator in the radio frequency (the founder only speaked Korean) was terrible......you know you're in big trouble when the only good thing was the emcee......

******

Lots and lots of assignments and tests coming......damn busy......I think I'm the only one haven't submit the FYP......

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

miserable

My day has not gone well.

Yesterday's DCS mid-term test was a failure. I didn't manage to study much and turns out that I can only answer question 1......which means i have already failed my DCS mid-term test.....

Yesterday already damn jia-lat, today lagi suey. Dunno what the hell is wrong, since i came back from college i had stomach-ache the WHOLE GOD DAMN DAY. Slept in the noon after class, but the pain still haven't go away. Went and lao-sai for about 6,7 times, i dunno, didn't keep track...and after that vomit out my lunch...took me 3 attempts to get the shits outta my throat, YUCKS......dont' even know what's the cause...bought some stomach-ache pills and some Eno to tahan for a while, if tomorrow still like this then gonna go c doctor liao...

I am now in agonizing pain......fuck.

Sunday, November 20, 2005

shock

Eddie Guerrero passed away on November 13th as a result of heart failure...i'm pretty much sure wrestling fans are shocked by his sudden death, just as i did when i first read at Kok Leng's blog...it was so sudden that i went "WHAT!!!" before checking it out on the net......

Well i was always a wrestling fan...and this kind of news about wrestlers passing away don't have that much impact on me. I mean, those wrestlers were from the 60's, 70's. i don't even know some of them...but Eddie, i watched him since the day i watch wrestling man...he's got the moves and the charisma to go......and we as wrestling fans will miss him......

Thursday, November 17, 2005

50s' vs 90s'

went to the library on Monday for a video session, supposedly for a better understanding of the play, but i doubt it since the accent in the movie is hard to decipher, even for an accent junkie like me (*bleh*)...the movie in question was 'A Streetcar Named Desire'......the one that my class watched was the 1951 version starring Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando... it was quite funny watching the acting in the 50s' as it's a bit stage like, meaning the performances are geared more towards theater and stage drama, although it could be because of the nature of the script......i quite enjoyed it though......

but then the video session was cut short due to some tech glitches...so only watched like 30 minutes of video before went to see the project supervisor......

so today joined other class's session, hoping to at least watch the later portions of the movie...instead, ms. Simone played the 1995 version, with Jessica Lange, Alec Baldwin and Diane Lane....i was like, "sien lah...show the 50's version la, with Brando one, he's more cool la..."

personally, i liked the 50s' version better than that of the 90s' coz of the acting and stage design, it's got more of a theater feel to it....to be fair, both actresses playing Blanche was perfect la, what with all those dramatic Southern-accent speeches and those dame-like mannerisms (all perfectly captured by Ms. Simone in her lecture)......but my problem lies in Baldwin's portrayal of Stanley. Don't get me wrong, i like Alec Baldwin, some of his acting are quite enjoyable (check out The Cooler and his cameo in Friends season 8), but his Stanley just dun cut it, not when compared to Brando's suave portrayal. (during my class viewing, the laughs came when he lights the match by scratching it on his pants...COOL) Baldwin's obvious Bronx accent sticks out like a sore thumb. The only good thing is when he gets all angry and violent.

and Ms. Simone just fast forward to "get to the important parts", but the parts i enjoyed watching most is fast forwarded, and boring exposition scenes are played instead, phooey.......i'd rather spend 2+ hours watching the movie than sitting through important parts like that......dunno whether can book a time with the library and watch or not...jz me all alone...and maybe a few souls who are vaguely interested......

in the end, i still dun get the ending, but that's becoz i haven't read the book. anyone care to enlighten me?

click here
for Roger Ebert's review and his observation on Marlon Brando's method acting.

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

weights

Listening To: The Eagles "Desperado"

woke up at 9.30 in the AM...dragged my heavy fat ass body to wash some clothes that was soaked with sweat from yesterday's badminton session......then was thinking to do some amendments on the FYP before heading for Mr.Beh's practical class...was also pondering on the idea to donate blood as planned...alas, ended up playing NBA Live '03 (my PC's too rusty and wrecked to handle '06) instead......lazy again...donate blood tomorrow.....

sat in the lab for 1 hr...tried listening as hard as i could to Ah Beh's explanation...in the end still could not understand what he said..what sockets, packets, serverSockets, serverPackets, 2 way communication...WTF, langsung tak faham, like that assignment how to do......and it's raining outside, fuck, my clothes just sidai la, stupid weather......

don't have the slightest idea why i'm so pissed off right now...not angry at someone or anything...just hating myself for becoming more and more stupid...ever since i've installed the wireless Internet my grades have been slipping like a mud slide.....internet addiction sux.......the grades are not looking good, if i wanna graduate with a DISTINCTION i'll have to get a 4.0 or something like that for this semester's exam, which for me is damn near impossible......not that grades are important (i know i'm contradicting myself with this statement, but fuck it...), but it does lend some credibility at the end of the day......

the decision to continue studies for the top-up programme at LJMU is what's causing my headaches right now...travelling overseas aside, it's the financial problem that's bugging me...see, even if i work part time, 20 hours full per week AND eliminating any form of entertainments whatsoever, save for the ocassional happy hours, the COL is still pretty much high and way out of my budget...it's kinda shameful that i'm solely relying on mom and dad's savings for the education...really really have to start working after the exams for income......come to think of it, Stephen Tang's intimidating lecture on life is beginning to stick in my head: hunger, desperation, depression, surviving......

the conclusion ? WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD.

just a quick recap

nothing much happened in the past few days......went to the Philharmonic Orchestra Hall at KLCC on Saturday to watch a performance by some piano sisters duo...jz teman my fren who's studying the Music Appreciation sub this sem......

then submitted the final year project documentation draft yesterday...the supervisor said to come back on Thursday..what the fuck la...like that if got changes how to amend it on time...i know i late submission la...but still......

went to play badminton with Sye Mun, Wee Keong and Chuan Yik at the badminton complex in Setapak Indah during the evening......so long never play liao...my reflexes gone slow...accuracy hit an all time low...and my arm's still slightly sprained......

note to self: remember to make an appointment for another game of badminton next week.

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Nothing better to do......

Your Birthdate: October 1

You are a natural born leader, even if those leadership talents haven't been developed yet.
You have the power and self confidence to succeed in life, and your power grows daily.
Besides power, you also have a great deal of creativity that enables you to innovate instead of fail.
You are a visionary, seeing the big picture instead of all of the trivial little details.

Your strength: Your supreme genius

Your weakness: Your inappropriate sensitivity

Your power color: Gold

Your power symbol: Star

Your power month: January

That sorta explains me being a class rep...although IMO i'm not a very good one......

Your Brain's Pattern

You're a simple thinker, and this is actually a very good thing.
You don't complicate matters when you don't have to.
You look for the simplest explanation or solution, and you go with that.
As a result, your mind is uncluttered and free of stress.

this is VERY TRUE...but lately I am a bit stressed out......

Your World View

You are a happy, well-balanced person who likes people and is liked by others.
You question whether many conventional views on morality are valid under all circumstances.
You are essentially a content person.

Sometimes, you consider yourself a little superior.
You are moral by your own standards.
You believe that morality is what best suits the occasion.

Superior? i dun dare say i am...i dun qualify to say that...certainly not with my limited skills and interllect......
How You Life Your Life

You seem to be straight forward, but you keep a lot inside.
You are always tactful and diplomatic. You let people down gently.
You prefer a variety of friends and tend to change friends quickly.
You tend to dream big, but you worry that your dreams aren't attainable.

i dun change friends quickly...it's the external factors that caused it......and i do dream up a lot of unrealistic stuff and expectations......
You Are 50% Weird

Normal enough to know that you're weird...
But too damn weird to do anything about it!

i'm weird. so what...cannot do anything about it then dun do la......


Your Summer Anthem is Best Of You by the Foo Fighters

I've got another confession my friend
I'm no fool
I'm getting tired of starting again
Somewhere new


While you may seem bright on the outside, your insides have a distinct angst flavor.

Web 2.0 ?

"The usage of the Internet as a social community platform is dubbed Web 2.0."

found this interesting article some time ago but forgot to blog about it......it's something called the Web 2.0 and concerns the changing landscape of the Internet and the trends that follow......there seems to be some bruhaha and major debate on the topic by industry experts......

now i dun claim to know a lot about the Net, but what i see here is a very interesting and exciting change in concepts developed on the Net, eg: web content distribution, the emergence of blogging as a force to be reckoned in journalism, open-source development, wikis......anyway, enough of my insignificant craps.......wikipedia-ed the topic, enjoy the read......

bloggers rejoice! a new browser by the name of Flock is out.....the browser is design with bloggers in mind, or more specifically it is meant to integrate and interact with 'web social services' (the likes of Flickr, blogs, social bookmarking) for easier blogging......looking forward to it......

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

I am so goddamn sleepy

been stayin late all night working on the documentation for the final year project (yes, for the past 3 weeks i've been slacking off......)

this is about the fifth or sixth time this year that i been awake for 24 hours...i think my obsession for 24 is going too far...this is not a good way to emulate Jack Bauer......

am now typing this entry in college's CIT while waiting for Frankie to submit the draft to the supervisor......and so damn sleepy, can't keep my eyes open...and for some strange reasons my left eye has been developing this red eye syndrome...maybe it's the late night monitor radiation? damn, i dun wanna wear glasses......

til then, signing off......

Saturday, November 05, 2005

Of friends and neighbours

The last coupla days was quite fun, relaxing at home without having to worry about the projects (although in reality i should be), meeting old school mates, having big open house with the neighbours......

on first day of Raya, went to 3 of Dad's colleagues' house for free food, haha......the ayam curry and kurma are so damn delicious...also got to know from Uncle Suhaimi's wife about the life in UK, how the stuff were so cheap back in the mid 80s (of course, this was the time when the foreign exchange rate was only 3 to 4, and u can easily get an exercise machine for only 4 Pounds...believe it)......it's still good to hear u can get some serious bargain during sales......

again, I'm the most unphotogenic......

2nd day Raya, the gang from secondary school came to my place to 'Raya', LOL......wow, haven't seen them since CNY, and Lee Foong, since Form 5...it's been that long......and i'm somewhat surprised that she and JZ have hit it off since dunno when...diam diam starting pak-tor......hmmm, it's kinda weird seeing your good frens known each other for so long then getting together......

cute couple they make, no?

with Raj and JZ...Raj keeps making those "I'm so sexy" faces

after spending a few hours crapping and remeniscing about old times, went to have lunch at Salak. After that have to send Sze Ooi back coz she needs to work at KLIA (double pay on hols). Then decided that we go for bowling at Nilai Spring. As usual, I have the lowest score.

after getting back home, saw Dad and Mom busy preparing curry and only then I know that Uncle Ee Chuan and Uncle Somchit (they are Siamese) are coming for dinner. The whole place was so noisy I had trouble listening the dialogue watching 'Gangster' on ASTRO Ria...and The kids are nosy and obnoxious as hell, my cell also kena --- I was asleep, and the keypads are full of pen inks when I woke up this morning, damn......

FYP documentation draft have to submit on Monday, still not done yet......I didn't know I could be this lazy......

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

A Review of Pygmalion

Sorry for the late post...haven't got the time...been busy doing dunno what...even I'm confused...

Last Friday was a totally eye-opening experience for me. As mentioned in previous post, I went to the musical Pygmalion at the KLPac in Sentul West. Didn't take too many pics, coz me too pai seh to have the attention all around me when the flash goes off, so the pics are quite blurred.

Anyway, the area around the Performing Arts Center was spacious with a few funny looking building resembling the Angkor-Wat monuments :P We got into the stage 10 minutes before the show starts.


The actresses playing the Chorus Girls came out greeting us and chatting up with the audiences, already in character with their Ah Lian mannerisms. There's two who are quite beautiful I must say. They kept asking us where we're from and we said TAR college lah, of course. By the third enquiry I was already quite sien, so the obnoxious side of me emerged and thought I would play the fool with them...

Chorus Girl A: "where u all from hah ?"
me: "MMU, we traveled so far u know..."

Chorus Girl B: "where u all from hah ?"
me: "Sunway College lor..."
Chorus Girl B: "u dun play play with me ah!"
me: "u know already still ask ah? "
Chorus Girl B: (walking away) "I remember u ah!" (everyone looking at me. Me and my big mouth...but it was fun.)


Back to the show. The stage was elegant and simple, not too many objects obstructing the view, with a balcony for the musicians and their equipments built on the left. the music was great thoughout, credits to the musical director Llewellyn Marsh, who also did a cameo as Freddy. The progress of the story was quite OK, the first half was light hearted with the comedic elements more on the Ah Lian jokes and slapsticks to get the audience attracted I reckon. The second half was more dramatic as the story finds Lisa confronting Higgins about his role in 'creating' her.

As a lot of people already know, the dialogue is presented in a mixture of Brit and Manglish accents. It's to reflect the multiracial surroundings in Malaysia, so says the production, but sometimes it seems just out of place when the Ah Lians go over the top screaming the lungs out, as though Malaysians have trouble understanding Brit and Euro accents. I understand it's for more appeal to the average viewer, but to a certain degree it's dumbed down. The dialogue is also sprinkled with light political and social commentary, making for good satire. (The best: after Higgins said goodbye to an offscreen character complimenting her brand new car "I just spoke to Lady Rafidah, mom" ) Unsurprisingly, it's these subtle humour that sticks in my mind, not the slapsticks.

The character developments are fleshed out alright, but I have the feeling that some parts are hanging and especially during the transition from Act 3 to Act 4. The portrayal of Higgin's feeling for Lisa is too brief. I haven't read the original play and don't know much about the characters, so you can ignore my critical abilities.

There are some fun and memorable songs thrown in between dialogues (this is a musical afterall), some with a Malaysian twist judging from the titles ("Muddy Bunga", "We Talk Like That One", "What To Do Lah", "My England No Good" - obvious poke at the Ah Beng English). But the best has got to be Michelle Quah's stunning solo "Who Am I" in Act 4. It's such an emotional scene with her haunting voice, contrary to what others say. Only after finished mesmerizing by her soprano that me and Frankie realized we forgot to capture that scene in my camera and his MP3 player. Shit.

Now let's talk about the cast. Harith Iskander, as usual, is good as Professor Higgins, with shades of gray in his character. His mix of low key humour and intensity (during the aforementioned argument scene) is great, and he's the main reason I watched this play. Indi Nadarajah's character is cool, calmed and controlled, never flashy, obviously a veteran. And there's Michelle Quah, as Lisa Doolittle. Man, her transformation from street Ah Lian to classy Datin is great, and her singing, WOW! My only gripe is that she should've tone down the Ah Lian mannerisms. The fact that this is her first time doing a musical on stage reminds us that she will be a force to watch out for in the future. But the real scene stealer is Sarah Shahrum as Mrs.Pearce the housemaid. Her appearance is brief but memorable thanks to her sexual innuendos and watching her walking in high heels is quite funny.


All in all, it was a good experience. I can't compare it with other dramas or plays coz' this is only my first time watching a play and I'm no critic as good as Soe Chin, thus this sucky review, thank you for reading......but it's a good show nonetheless. Support Malaysian theater people!