Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Where Wings Take Dream

Okay... I don't really think it mattered who won the election.
But nothing could be worse that this guy.



It's not difficult to improve on crap...

Saturday, February 14, 2009

MOE says we need to learn outside of the classroom

Sometimes we learn important lessons through our own actions and inactions. And over the last couple of days, I learnt a very important one.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Saint Rita's Day

Before St. Valentine's Day, there should be a day for all the lonely souls out there to just mope around and wonder what could have been. For V day is nothing but a commercially advertised market place holiday creating artificial demand for things that are readily available around the year and are in no danger of shortage.

If I sound bitter, that's cuz I am. I don't think I can express fully what I mean when I write here.

To me, it's just a time that rubs in salt to the wounds. Even the radio's been playing sappy love songs all night... Curse Class 95.... grrr

It's like the stars never align,
and the conditions are never right.
For the many out there, like I,
whose dreams we can not rely.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Time to Say Siao Liao

Okay. It's 12 days to the big day. And it's starting to feel like it might be a little tight. There are quite a number of things to touch up before it would really make an impact on the people watching. And there is really not enough time.

Well, with rehearsals every night until the big day, I'm sure that we'll pull through somehow.

Thursday, February 05, 2009

Is nothing sacred anymore?

I was looking at all the Superbowl ads that were posted on YouTube after the Superbowl earlier this week, and I came across this ad for AshleyMadison.com. Basically, it's a dating site for married people that are looking to have an affair. And their tag line is the one that really takes the icing off the cake.

"AshleyMadison.com
When divorces isn't an option."

Frankly, I'm just disappointed. To me, marriage is more than just a legal contract. It's a metaphysical bond between two people. One may argue that humans are, when it all boils down, animals and the majority of animals are polygamous. But that's beside the point. If you wish to believe in that train of thought, don't enter into a marriage, which is in essence a vow to participate in a monogamous relationship with another person.

While I don't think divorce is a viable solution to problems in a marriage, I don't think that this extra-marital dating service is much better. Scratch that, I think it's worse. Breaching the contract is not much better than terminating it. I think it's just a lose-lose situation for both parties.

I know whatever I have just said is idealistic and naive in this "real world" day and age. But I'd like to think of it as me holding true to what I believe in.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Blasted into Oblivion

I think I'm a very self destructive person. I get too easily affected by distractions around me and problems that don't exist. It's like I just get pulled into a downward spiral created by my own doing (and often by things that I don't do). I let myself fall behind and once I see the backlog, I don't do anything to clear it so everything compounds itself and I end up falling further and further into debt. Not monetary debt but in terms of work and school and other stuff...

It's a very human tendency to want what we cannot get. We look at what others have and wish for the same. But sometimes it's not even within our ability to achieve. The grass is always greener on the other side. It's not so much of a fact as a perception. We don't realise what we have already and we look longingly at the lives of others and try to draw parallels. Why can't we have what they have? Why is life so unfair to us?

Questions that do not make sense since those whose lives we crave often look at ourselves and wonder the same things.

I admit. I am one of those that look around and long after things that are not mine to take. The forbidden fruit is always sweeter.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Can they?

While all the hooha is going on about Obama's Inauguration, I'm keeping myself optimistic without being overly excited. I do acknowledge that Obama is a very intelligent man and an excellent public speaker able to rouse the masses, but one has to bear in mind that so far all he has done is talk and he's promised many things. It has yet to be seen if he can and will deliver all the changes that he said will bring the American economy back up.

Although many would not like to admit it, it is a fact that most of the world's economy depends on the US. Many countries still peg or use the US Dollar to measure the strength of their own currency and a lot of international trade still depends on America. Wall Street and the Dow Jones affects pretty much every stock exchange around the world. America's foreign policies also affect global markets as in the case of the highly unpopular wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It's global influence is easily attributed to the sheer size of the US economy and the US market. Trading in billions of dollars doesn't allow you to merely sit back and enjoy the show. Decisions made in the US market have repercussions all over. And as a consumer market, the size of the American population makes it an extremely attractive hunting ground for exporters from other nations.

I do not expect things to change overnight. It's an extremely naive notion that the world will change with the swearing in of a new American president. But this first year will be a critical year for the Obama team. American voters are a jittery bunch. If they do not see progress and jobs being created, sooner or later, Obama's inspirational messages of "Change" will start to fall on deaf ears.

It will take not only a man to change America's situation but the entire country to work together to bring themselves up and dust themselves off. And what I'm afraid of is that Americans will sit back and wait for this man to get the job done and solve their problems for them. What American needs now is not a miracle man. They need a man to bring them together to get the job done as a collective.

I do believe that they've done the right thing in electing him. But I don't believe that the efforts of one man alone can fix the problems that they're facing now.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Tired. But satisfied.

Well. Hall One has got off to a pretty good start in the inter-hall rugby. We played reasonably well against one of our main rivals for the title, Hall 2. Though we lost, we still made it though to the quarters although we were made to play an extra game to get there.

It's been a long time since I've played a 10's tournament like this so I'm really tired out. Aches and pains, but it's all good.

Rehearsal today was really excellent as well. I got to hear Omar and Dhaniah sing one of songs I wrote for the emotional climax of the whole musical. And it was awesome. As an amateur song-writer, most of the stuff that I write often gets lost or forgotten somewhere. So to hear my song sung with such feeling and emotion and with Samantha on the piano bringing the song to life, it was such a gratifying feeling. It kinda made all the late nights writing and rehearsing with them all worthwhile.

With everything finally starting to fall in place with the music and the scenes and the actors and the props etc. etc. etc., it's a really exciting time for [s.t.a.r] Productions. 22 Feb. A date to mark down on your calenders.

Friday, January 16, 2009

this stage is just my facade

AT LAST!

I'm done writing all of the songs for hall prod. It was just a burden off my back.
I honestly enjoyed writing them cuz it was all themed and I could be really corny with the lyrics. But it was creatively and emotionally draining. With all the other stuff that's been going on in my life, it was kinda hard to get the right emotion for certain songs.

But yes! They are all finally out and the process of arranging and perfecting the songs has begun. That, frankly, is the easy part. What was not easy was staying up late in the night with the production deadline coming up the next morning and a tutorial sitting untouched due the exact same day.

Haha, I was wondering what would it have been like if I hadn't signed up as the Music Director and joined as a cast member. Fun of a different kind I guess.

School today was awesome. I went for lecture and at the end of the lecture, the prof started handing out a surprise test.

(cue cursing and swearing from students)

But lo! To my surprise, and the rest of the people around me for that matter, I knew how to do every single question. Haha. Elation soon turned to misery as the prof announced that this surprise test would not be graded and instead used as a self-test for us to gauge our abilities.

(cue cursing and swearing from just me this time)

Oh well. I guess somethings are just not meant to be. Que sera sera.....

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

BIATCH

My month of January is packed to the max. I have something on pretty much every night of the week. If it's not OMC, it's Hall Prod, if not it's NRC. I honestly like being busy and doing stuff, but sometimes I'd like some actual quiet time not having to worry about deadlines, rehearsal scheduling, proposals and meeting sponsors etc. I'd like to just find some time to just absolutely do nothing. And by nothing, I mean NOTHING.

My ideal holiday. I'd rather go to some remote location in the middle of nowhere and chill out by the lake, or the beach. I don't need to do anything to enjoy the holiday. I'd just like to go somewhere to chillax.

Don't get me wrong. If I could, I'd still like to travel and see the sights. But there are times that I just want to get away the big cities and crowds.

My timetable this sem is pretty decent. 'Cept for Mondays. Which will yet again suck. I have two 2 hrs lectures in the morning, lab in the afternoon and some elective class in the evening. I'll be in school from 0830 to 2030. Yeap that's 12 whole freaking hours. On the up side, I have a free day on weds. Which will actually be used to catch up on admin stuff and assignments. But at least I have that time to work with.

I'll actually be glad once febuary is done with. I'll have two major events off my back and I can get back to doing some actual work. I hope.