11 years ago
Thursday 19 April 2007
Wednesday 18 April 2007
Monday 12 February 2007
Sunday 21 January 2007
Amigos Para Siempre?
Over the weekend, I met up with some old campmates from Tekong. It has been 6 long years since I last saw them.
The feeling was great, everyone is still comfortable with one another. We laugh, we crack jokes, we update each other on what's the current status of our lives. Somehow, everyone decided to get married and buy a flat in Sengkang (not with each other of course).
We parted ways and made promises to meet up for coffee or beer. Somehow, I remembered that we said the exact same thing 6 years back. Hmmm...
And I guess this wasn't the first time I had that little bit of déjà vu.
I've lost count of the number of friends I've not kept in contact with over the years. We always make promises to meet up, keep in contact and the likes...but you and I know, through the strange miracles (read: laziness and aloofness), it never happens.
But...it is through these stages of perdition that we we really do appreciate the ones that we still in contact with. Be it through indirect forms of communication (like MSN) or direct forms of interaction (like the occasional mahjong sessions).
So, let's make a resolution for this new year.
Make promises you can keep and keep the friends that you make each day.
The feeling was great, everyone is still comfortable with one another. We laugh, we crack jokes, we update each other on what's the current status of our lives. Somehow, everyone decided to get married and buy a flat in Sengkang (not with each other of course).
We parted ways and made promises to meet up for coffee or beer. Somehow, I remembered that we said the exact same thing 6 years back. Hmmm...
And I guess this wasn't the first time I had that little bit of déjà vu.
I've lost count of the number of friends I've not kept in contact with over the years. We always make promises to meet up, keep in contact and the likes...but you and I know, through the strange miracles (read: laziness and aloofness), it never happens.
But...it is through these stages of perdition that we we really do appreciate the ones that we still in contact with. Be it through indirect forms of communication (like MSN) or direct forms of interaction (like the occasional mahjong sessions).
So, let's make a resolution for this new year.
Make promises you can keep and keep the friends that you make each day.
A Lazy Sunday Afternoon Along Orchard Road...
Still brushing up on my photography skills...most of the subjects along Orchard Road seem pretty bored today.
I wonder why.
Roar!
And just when you thought you've seen it all...2 guys having fun at the fountain
Sunday 14 January 2007
Managing One's Expectations...
Over the weekend, I learnt a valuable lesson in life - we should learn to manage each other's expectations of us.
All of us live in a world of expectations, whether we have them or we are to fulfil the expectations of others. It's something that is almost as natural as walking for us.
There are many situations in life that expectations are abound. Maybe you expect this to be a funny post or maybe it's going to be boring. Or others expect you to subscribe to a set of moral values and believes...or not.
I guess we have all grown so accustomed to having expectations and what people have of us, that we sometimes fail to evaluate what they are really about. Without doing that, we will easily fall into the comfort zone of complacency. Why do you think people disagree or break out into arguments? That's because one party's expectations are not met and thus the frustration.
So, maybe we should start thinking about having in-depth discussions with people in your life, your loved ones, friends, co-workers, about your expectations and theirs. It might make the world a better and loving place to live in.
Or...do you expect them to do it first?
All of us live in a world of expectations, whether we have them or we are to fulfil the expectations of others. It's something that is almost as natural as walking for us.
There are many situations in life that expectations are abound. Maybe you expect this to be a funny post or maybe it's going to be boring. Or others expect you to subscribe to a set of moral values and believes...or not.
I guess we have all grown so accustomed to having expectations and what people have of us, that we sometimes fail to evaluate what they are really about. Without doing that, we will easily fall into the comfort zone of complacency. Why do you think people disagree or break out into arguments? That's because one party's expectations are not met and thus the frustration.
So, maybe we should start thinking about having in-depth discussions with people in your life, your loved ones, friends, co-workers, about your expectations and theirs. It might make the world a better and loving place to live in.
Or...do you expect them to do it first?
Tuesday 9 January 2007
"The Black Adder is a venomous reptile..."
Black Adder, my favourite BBC comedy next to Allo' Allo'
The sound of hoofbeats 'cross the glade,
Good folk, lock up your son and daughter,
Beware the deadly flashing blade,
Unless you want to end up shorter.
Unless you want to end up shorter.
Black Adder, Black Adder, he rides a pitch black steed.
Black Adder, Black Adder, he's very bad indeed.
Black: his gloves of finest mole,
Black: his codpiece made of metal,
His horse is blacker than a vole,
His pot is blacker than his kettle.
Black Adder, Black Adder, with many a cunning plan.
Black Adder, Black Adder, you horrid little man.
Monday 8 January 2007
I come from Kazakhstan
I had this conversation with my friend about the movie, Borat. This was sometime last week. Midway thru our MSN chat, she said: "My friend says it's slapstick." Somehow, hearing the words 'it's slapstick' triggered an uncontrollable urge to defend the movie, which I paid half price for, and invoked some painful memories (but more on those memories later).
Never in my life have I felt the irrefutable need to defend a movie that I've watched and liked. Not Kill Bill, not Star Wars, not American Beauty and yes, not even the Austin Powers Trilogy.
Didn't one realise that behind the façade of humour lies serious 'adult' themes like the widespread bigotry, the blood lust, the homophobia, the anti-semitism and the desire to make fun of people whom we deem weird, just because they are different from us?
To label it as purely slapstick is to turn a blind eye to all the travesties that are around us and say: "These aren't real, they are just scripted to get some kind of reaction out of us."
Oh, how much farther from the truth can you be?
Sure, some parts of the movie are scripted while some are not. But the underlying message is pretty clear, we live in a world where people are treated like pariahs just because we are not comfortable with their lifestyles (the homophobic scenes). Or we maybe we can just force our values onto others because we think it IS the right thing to do (the scenes of Borat egging the crowd to support the Iraq invasion by saying he supports their war OF terror and the church scene).
Slapstick? I think not.
Now back to the old memories, the word 'slapstick' never fails to remind me of Colin Goh (the guy who drew The Concrete Jungle). In an interview, during the earliest part of his career as a comic artist, he said: "I don't like Old Master Q, cause it's slapstick." I was between 12 or 13 i think, and Old Master Q had been part and parcel of my growing up years. (Incidentally, the 1st Old Master Q book I laid my hands on was as a prize from a church funfair...) Therefore, to me, Old Master Q was like this wise and humourous sage, entertaining the readers thru his antics and to brush it off as slapstick...it was unacceptable. From then on, I didn't really have a good impression of Colin Goh (people who dismiss Old Master Q aren't nice) plus the fact that I thought his drawing wasn't really that fantastic compare to Old Master Q.
Well, that was then...and 15 years have passed. Old Master Q is still one of my favourite reads and Colin Goh, well, I still find his comics...tacky.
Some things never change.
Never in my life have I felt the irrefutable need to defend a movie that I've watched and liked. Not Kill Bill, not Star Wars, not American Beauty and yes, not even the Austin Powers Trilogy.
Didn't one realise that behind the façade of humour lies serious 'adult' themes like the widespread bigotry, the blood lust, the homophobia, the anti-semitism and the desire to make fun of people whom we deem weird, just because they are different from us?
To label it as purely slapstick is to turn a blind eye to all the travesties that are around us and say: "These aren't real, they are just scripted to get some kind of reaction out of us."
Oh, how much farther from the truth can you be?
Sure, some parts of the movie are scripted while some are not. But the underlying message is pretty clear, we live in a world where people are treated like pariahs just because we are not comfortable with their lifestyles (the homophobic scenes). Or we maybe we can just force our values onto others because we think it IS the right thing to do (the scenes of Borat egging the crowd to support the Iraq invasion by saying he supports their war OF terror and the church scene).
Slapstick? I think not.
Now back to the old memories, the word 'slapstick' never fails to remind me of Colin Goh (the guy who drew The Concrete Jungle). In an interview, during the earliest part of his career as a comic artist, he said: "I don't like Old Master Q, cause it's slapstick." I was between 12 or 13 i think, and Old Master Q had been part and parcel of my growing up years. (Incidentally, the 1st Old Master Q book I laid my hands on was as a prize from a church funfair...) Therefore, to me, Old Master Q was like this wise and humourous sage, entertaining the readers thru his antics and to brush it off as slapstick...it was unacceptable. From then on, I didn't really have a good impression of Colin Goh (people who dismiss Old Master Q aren't nice) plus the fact that I thought his drawing wasn't really that fantastic compare to Old Master Q.
Well, that was then...and 15 years have passed. Old Master Q is still one of my favourite reads and Colin Goh, well, I still find his comics...tacky.
Some things never change.
Pictures of the swan whacking place...
If anyone wonders where I'm blabbering about, you most probably have not met the entity named 'Gary'.
Some of the 1st few shots using my Canon 400D were taken here...
Some of the 1st few shots using my Canon 400D were taken here...
Sunday 7 January 2007
Around Chinatown and People's Park...
I like this picture but too bad it was out of focus :(
Some of us might have seen him perform before.
This man was obviously mesmerised by the performance.
What? No mocha?
Ah...the smell of a new post
Salutations, fellow humans.
Guess I've finally given in to temptation and started my own blog. (Overcoming the laziness took quite a while)
The idea of having my own blog has always been attractive, you know, writing about what I had (and crapped) for lunch, how many times I pee-ed or sneezed today or even ranting about things in life which make us mad but do-not-really-want-to-confront-the-issue-in-real-life-so-I-write-on-my-blog-to-vent-my-anger.
Oh, you mean that's not all to it? Well, I guess I can post some photos (since I'm picking up photography again) and the somewhat random thoughts I always conjure in my head but goes away quietly after I leave the cubicle of bowel relief.
Yeah, that's about it I guess...oh and I realised my brain and fingers do not really have a good relationship with each other cause I ended up typing words with bad or wrong spelling.
Thank goodness for spell check.
Guess I've finally given in to temptation and started my own blog. (Overcoming the laziness took quite a while)
The idea of having my own blog has always been attractive, you know, writing about what I had (and crapped) for lunch, how many times I pee-ed or sneezed today or even ranting about things in life which make us mad but do-not-really-want-to-confront-the-issue-in-real-life-so-I-write-on-my-blog-to-vent-my-anger.
Oh, you mean that's not all to it? Well, I guess I can post some photos (since I'm picking up photography again) and the somewhat random thoughts I always conjure in my head but goes away quietly after I leave the cubicle of bowel relief.
Yeah, that's about it I guess...oh and I realised my brain and fingers do not really have a good relationship with each other cause I ended up typing words with bad or wrong spelling.
Thank goodness for spell check.
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