Sports Day! - another edition of themed Tuesday =) Some of us had to take the photo again 'cos only half our faces were shown in the original pic. Next week's theme - BLUE! Although judging from this week's picture, most of us are already in blue. :X ~
Labels.Labels.Labels. Okay, not really talking about designer labels here.. but just 'labels' that people give each other. For those studying 201, is this slightly familiar? But don't worry, I wasn't inspired by that.
It's just that, I'm kind of affected by certain situations recently (happening to me, and others as well). Why are people so affected by labels? Well, of course, we only react when there's truth in it. But we also react if it is exaggerated, untrue - and when we are not given a chance to explain ourselves.
I'm sure most of us have been labeled in one way or another - some positive (we enjoy), some negative (we get hurt). Which brings me to my point that I want to make - I guess we shouldn't judge someone so quickly. But c'mon, you might say, every one makes that mistake of stereotyping sometimes (I admit I do), but is it nice/appropriate to label a negative?
(Inserts self-reflective pause. For me, too)
To sum up, I refer to a friend who mentioned about being quite affected by 'labeling' sometimes, and this was what I said, "At the end of the day, you only have yourself to answer to." Stay true to yourself. Believe in your friends. That's all I can say. ~
Not really emo-ing k! Just had some things to get off the chest. Sometimes if we can't really communicate it, your own personal blog is probably the best way to express yourself. SMILE! Please don't feel emo or anything. Not intended, anyway =D
Hmmm, labeling. Brings me to this video that a friend recommended I check-out. Will you / Have you already labeled her?
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("That's a Singaporean. That's a pastor's wife. That's a woman. That's a child's mother.") That's singer Sun Ho.
I know, some of you all are shocked. That was my first reaction. That's her first single to be released off her debut English album to be out in the States soon.
I don't particularly fancy her or anything, but I really do like one of her songs:
Black and white day.. imo, the most successful one so far! Ron observed that even the random girl on the bench is wearing black and white. Coincidence FTW. ~
And now, it's time for food!
Ah Lian Bee Hoon! Ate it twice so far, although the second time I went there, ah lian was in a decidedly bad mood. Heard she's getting married soon. But we'll still eat there, don't worry! :X
Although I'm going to sound like I'm advertising for them, but WOOHOO! Bakerzin is having a 50% off their delectable cheese cake until end of this month. Hurry, $3.25 nia! ~
And now, it's time to share some nice music =)
This is 苏打绿's 他夏了夏天. Really like their music - besides having the summer-feel, the video is really meaningful as well.
Even though lemons are sour, but the characters in the video are smiling. When life gives you lemons, make lemonades =)
Next up is Black Eyed Peas new song - Meet Me Halfway. I'm lovin' this group right now. All the singles released from The E.N.D (Energy Never Dies) album are bonafide crowd-pleasers (Boom Boom Pow and I Gotta Feeling).
Woohoo! ~
And in the spirit of Halloween, I shall end with this picture: Congrats on Best-Dressed! (Congrats to me for best expression)
Alrity.. can't believe there's another mid-term coming up -.- (did you feel that splash of cold water?)
Before I talk about catching that wonderful movie @ Grand Cathay, time for a Life, Curious advertisement first: It is the 18th run for this NTU-organised talent event that is opened to the public. Looking at the wide array of categories, as long as you have it, you should go for it! Registration closes 27th November. So hurry!! Visit www.cacimpresario.com for details =) ~
And now, the much-hyped about (500) Days of Summer. I'm so glad it screened at the Grand Cathay, which means people want to watch it! (Although theatre was only half-filled when I caught it) "I want that shirt." I give the movie:
"This is not a love story." The movie forewarns, although sometimes you'd wish it was. But as far as romantic comedies go, this one will be a memorable addition.
Greeting card writer and hopeless romantic, Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), meets the alluringly elusive Summer (Zooey Deschanel) at his work place, and he proclaims he has fallen in love. However, as the opening scene tells us, she will break up with him, and the rest of the movie is a back-and-forth zipping of the 500 days they've been together, with Tom revisiting his memories to find out what went wrong.
Unconventional is the word of the day. Marc Webb's debut feature film follows a non-linear but oft-amusing storyline, and interlaces the movie with quirky cuts, including a song-and-dance sequence (homage to Enchanted - oh yes, you read that right), and a split-screen that shows two versions of a scene at the same time, just to name a few.
The off-beat result matches the two characters' hot-and-cold relationship, and they do produce some hilarious moments. The charm of both the lead actors add colour to an already vibrant template.
But the big question here is: Will he discover the truth? Will he solve the problem? The film does answer that on day 499, and suffice to say, it stuck by to what it claimed at the start.
FINAL SAY:When a rom-com essentially makes you question "What is love?", you know you're in for something different. But is it good different? It is up for you to judge. I just thought it was very special. You can't stop smiling. ~
After some very bleah ramen at ION Orchard with head of SPBA, we went to eat the famed-tofu cheesecake at Sun with Moon. Isn't overwhelmingly cheesy (because of the combination of tofu) so it doesn't get very jelat. The cake is seamless - and the crust at the bottom is perfect. Thumbs up. ~
Just came back from project meeting at town. ION back-to-back. Feeling atas already. Okay, maybe not. Time to go back to study! Totally wasted this weekend. Okay, maybe not.
Guess this shall be a common fixture! This is STRIPES day, the second edition of Themed Tuesdays following the inaugural Wee Day previously :D
Themed Tuesdays rock!
Okay onto my story of the week:
There you go.. Mariah Carey's latest album Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200, selling 170,000 copies. Not since Charmbracelet (before The Emancipation of Mimi - 2005's best-selling album, and E=MC2 - her highest debut ever with 463,000 copies sold in the first week) has her album not debut at #1 on the charts.
What's more, she lags behind Barbra Streisand and Paramore. Has the diva really lost her lustre? My bet is far from it. Although Memoirs isn't her best effort (TEOM is still my fave of her recent releases), but it certainly is her most personal. E=MC2 is fun and mass-produced, but Memoirs will let fans have a taste of why we fell in love with Mariah in the first place.
From the brilliant opening Betcha Gon' Know (the prologue), the mood was laid for the rest of this confessional album. Some netizens have complained that the next 3 or 4 songs that followed sounded similar (disregarding the slightly grating Obsessed), but I preferred to think that it was a themed-album that was a melding of slow jams.
Give it a few more spins and you'll be addicted. H.A.T.E. U (abbreviation for Having ATypical Emotional Upset) is the stand-out of these R&B smoothies - with silky vocals and the showcase of her trademark whistle.. this is a herald to the glorious days of The Voice. Incidentally, this is going to be the third single to be released after I Want To Know What Love Is, which is on heavy repeat on my playlist.
Other tracks that are gaining fan popularity are Ribbon (old-school Mariah groove with modern arrangement), Angels Cry (inspirational) and Standing O (very Akon-ish).
Who can interlace modern R&B-pop with belting vocals? Nobody does it like Mariah Carey, let's hope she tops the charts next week! ~
Pop culture video screening is still the best way to teach a lesson, IMHO. =D COM201's Dr Vivien deserves credit for screening my all-time favourite TV show: FRIENDS as part of the communications lecture. And Susan Amy did good by showing the full-length satirical movie, Thank You For Smoking, to us. Not only was it extremely apt for the PR topic, it was welcome entertainment =))
And then there is Media in America. Remember that Facebook-digging incident that presented my guitar heroes pic to everyone? This week, we throroughly enjoyed the lecture when he screened this vid when he was touching on broadcast media in U.S.:
A classic scene from "I Love Lucy", the founder of situational-comedy, aka sitcoms:
[a note to all: the snippet that I wrote about MLIA (the history professor one) two posts ago is not me! So many thought it was! It's a snippet. Although I agree, it does sound like something I would do :P]
Something very rare happened yesterday - I flipped to the movies ad section of the newspaper and realised I wanted to watch almost every one on the page. :X
At the top of my list is: Click poster to view trailer. This has been raved by critics as the unconventional love-story to look out for. Boy-meets-girl. They break-up. And boy contemplates on the past 500 days they've spent to find out what went wrong. The guy looks like James McAvoy. The girl looks like Katy Perry. Pretty good-looking leads, I must say. I wanna watch! ~
On to something more serious... Click poster to view trailer. The Chinese director has received death threats amidst releasing this controversial movie about the Nanking Massacre. Shot deliberately in black-and-white, this winner at the San Sebastian Film Festival tells the story from both sides of the war: Chinese and the Japanese. ~
And something lighter now.. Click poster to view trailer. Good reviews, fantastic visuals and hilarious to boot - this movie is receiving very positive word-of-mouth. I want to catch it in 3D! ~
And finally, the upcoming... Click poster to view trailer. There's this saying that everything Meryl Streep touches turns to gold - and judging from the trailer, she is going to be the sole reason that carries the movie. But that is not denying the charm of her second-time collaborator, Amy Adams. Looks like a delicious, delightful movie already. ~
Now, for movies that I've watched.
Firstly, The Hangover. I give the movie:
The Hangover is the kind of crass comedy that you'd want to catch with your buddies and have a laugh over. Don't mistake this as some crude Epic Movie kind of crap - this road-trip of a movie is actually very, very funny.
As Katy Perry sings, "That's what you get for waking up in Vegas." 2 buddies and one future brother-in-law wakes up in a Vegas suite after a night of hard-partying to find that the groom-to-be is missing, and they've just added one unknown baby and a tiger (a living, breathing one) to their entourage. And the wedding's the next day. Tough luck, you'd say. But that's when the hilarity kicks in as they scramble to unravel what exactly happened the night before, and of course, try their best to locate their pal.
This is not really Judd Apatow-goodness, but for the earnestness in the comedy that it portrays, this hangover is actually not a headache afterall. Throw in a dash of romance and some very true outlook on love, you've got yourself a nice little movie.
FINAL SAY:As they say, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas - and that is exactly the mayhem that fuels this hilarious comedy. ~
And next, already primed to be the tearjerker of the Year: My Sister's Keeper. [thanks to zx for this movie!] I give the movie:
Beautiful actors, controversial storyline, touching plot - what could go wrong?
But that's usually what happens when emotional stories are brought to life on screen. No matter how good the acting is, you still get that slight hint that they are caricatures from a novel, and it is hard to feel connected to what we see on-screen.
That aside, this is going to be one of the most memorable movies you'll watch this year. I was struggling whether should I give this a 3.0/5; besides, critical responses have been rather lukewarm. But I finally decided to add another 0.5 because of how the movie made me feel. And although this is not the most important film to watch this year, I'd still recommend it.
Anna (the committed Abigail Breslin) is suing her mother (quite a miscast Cameron Diaz) and is demanding 'medical emancipation'. You see, Anna's sister is dying of leukemia, and her parents had conceived Anna seemingly for the sole reason that in the future, she can donate her one healthy kidney to her sister to ensure her survival. Does she succeed? How will this turn out for the family?
We are being introduced to the characters one-by-one by their various monologues, another jarring fact that this is a print-to-screen adaptation. But what is to be commended is the dedicated performances throughout - Sofia Vassilieva holds her own as the cancer-striken sister dealing with her own death, and watching her family degenerate before her eyes. While the final revelation is rather predictable, it is the actors' portrayal that we cling onto.
FINAL SAY:Bring your tissue. Seriously, you'll need it. Touching and contemplative - I'll recommend to either read the book or watch the movie. You would get the same feeling from it. ~
Argh, still haven't got the time to review Mariah's cd. But anyways, need to go for tuition now.
"Today, I sent a document titled "Love.doc" via MSN to a girl who I happen to really like. When she saw what was on her screen, she immediately said "yes" and agreed to go on a date with me. She doesn't know the document was for a speech presentation. I've never been happier with MSN Messenger. MLIA."
"Today, I sent a document titled "Love.doc" via MSN to an ugly girl sitting next to me in class to ask her to help me print it out for a presentation. When she saw what was on her screen, she immediately said "I accept" and hugged me. FML."
~
LMAO.
Have to credit Huiying for this coincidental comic incident that inspired those two lines.
Cramming in this case means two things - firstly, it has to do with the ironically-named recess week that just FLEW past! It was full of assignments, and studying. I totally regretted studying my Intro to Psychology only on Sunday! =( Well the second meaning of 'Cramming' describes this post. There are just too many things that I didn't update!
Firstly, Yakiyakibo with part of Lamerz. Food's great! And of course, we did our usual crapping. These are yummy teppenyaki food! Still can't believe we took this in the middle of Jurong Point. Totally tourist-like. Buay tahan =P ~
Next, J'adore times with Wilson Wang and Kenny. At JP's Cyrstal Jade and the oft-visited Ji De Chi. Me with my gui ling gao. Slurp.
Wang with his mango ice. We were trying to make the back-drop look like we're in HK. :X
Kenneth with his Mango ice. His background reads: "I love my HK desserts!"
Now that's more like it! [all photos courtesy of Kenneth Goh =)] ~
And now it's... JB outing @ City Square!! Don't be fooled by our happy faces. We're on the wrong bus.
Ducky building!
City Square here we go!
Accented-Blue.
Lunch was rice burger. Although I grumbled about the portion, it still tastes great =)
Shaved ice.. silky, sweet and smooth..
Digging in..
Burp.
As for the things that I bought, well, suffice to say, I spent around S$70 there in a few hours. You can see me wearing them in the days to come =)
And next, after arriving at Singapore, it was off to...
My Virgin Flight on the Singapore Flyer! Approaching the giant..
We were there just one day after the F1 night race!
Stepping into the cabin.
Going up!
F1 pit!
Feeling of vertigo..
My laptop's current wallpaper.
Singapore Tourism Board-like picture.
One fast-food restaurant that Singapore should have more of. ~
And now, a trip back memory lane.. last visit to GYPS old compound. Thanks Liang Wei. Effectively nostalgic..
Still can't get over the fact that this looks like a toy model!
And here's presenting to you our very own payphone advertisement =P
Aww.. that nostalgic bridge =)
For more photos please see Facebook! ~
That night, some of us GYPSies went to catch the highly-anticipated movie that almost everyone is talking about.. FAME! I give the movie:
Firstly, how nice is that poster?! Basically, those 4 glittering letters would instantly conjure up images of a creative burst of energy, and that youthful talent that is just waiting to be tapped - all this dynamism quite effectively captured by this 2009 remake.
Fame is a musical that tells the story of a myriad of characters going through their years - from freshman to graduation - at the New York Academy of Performing Arts. We catch glimpses of their initial struggles to personal triumphs via flashes of their story arcs.
Although these separate anecdotes do showcase the dynamic range of the plot (from singing to dancing to piano-playing to drama), the off-balance focus on some of the characters do get rather jarring.
However, we are here for the performances, aren't we? And boy, does Fame deliver. Every single musical number / dance routine / dramatic monologue are finely-executed and gloriously fleshed before our eyes - what more can we expect?
Naturi Naughton has done to Fame what Nikki Blonsky has done to Hairspray. Hair-raising talent. Her pipes are fantastic and her solo piano-song vocal performance carried the sole weight of the movie, and brought it to greater heights.
FINAL SAY:Although many critics agree that this version still cannot compare to the much-loved Oscar-winning original, this serving does deliver a more-than-welcome pallete of exhuberance to this generation starved of youths that are really passionate for their craft. And Fame did just that. ~
Fann & Chris's Wedding + The Mistfor the umpteenth time! So... Kenneth, Fifi and Yinghui came over to catch the Wedding of the Year.. which turned out to be the Public Relations event of the Year.. the most-sponsored event of the Year.. the most head-scratching wedding dress of the Year..
Well, I'm not surprised if Mediacorp actually releases the chronicles of their wedding in a DVD package that gives us a free handphone strap in the shape of the inspired-by-dunno-what wedding dress.
...okok being sarcastic here :P but yeah, their much-anticipated ceremony did go down wrong to some of the viewers in more ways than one.
During the stayover I introduced to them the movie The Mist, since ff was in such a horror-movie mode. I know, I know, I've watched this with at least 2 groups of people who stayed over already.. and at least 2 more times on separate occasions. But my stand still remains that the movie is one of the most provocative explorations of human behaviour. And guess what? It's based on a Stephen King novel! ~
And finally... Paparazzi 2009! - THE CONCRETE SKIES Sorry, this is the most complete photo I can find. But yeah, the acting were good throughout! ~
Went for Lala 徐佳瑩's Campus Concert (hosted by Y.E.S933)! Simply put, I'm happy we decided to queue up for the tickets. Not only were her songs nice, her voice was flawless =) All hail the once Taiwan One Million Star champ who's going to be the next budding singer-songwriter! ~
Ok, shall review Mariah's album next post. This is simply too long.
Oh ya, for those who knew about my COM205 presentation, I would've introduced fmylife.com. Now there's another version: www.mylifeisaverage.com! I tell you, this is all the rage now.
A snippet: Today, I was reading MLIA in class and several times had to stifle a chuckle. The kid sitting next to me whispered, what website are you on?", to which I responded, "My Life Is Average." I was very surprised when my professor whispered from behind me, "So is your grade." US History Prof. for the win. MLIA
Sports Day! - another edition of themed Tuesday =) Some of us had to take the photo again 'cos only half our faces were shown in the original pic. Next week's theme - BLUE! Although judging from this week's picture, most of us are already in blue. :X
