ok maybe i'm really slow, but only when i read the imdb did i realise that both the wife and clarisse were played by one person -- julie christie. who has a fantastic list of movies to her name, and grew up on a tea plantation in assam (gorgeous part of india) before boarding school in paris and then london for theatre training, and then having an affair with warren beatty and being good friends with faye dunaway and catherine deneuve and all.
yeah, so i'm slow. and the wife looked a lot prettier than clarisse. it was the hair, i think. and the wife's called linda in the movie and mildred in the book. why? strange. maybe cos the movie was made in the 60s when linda was a common name? i don't know. the book was only written in the 50s, i guess mildred was a more common name then or something. maybe.
and still trying to figure out the meaning of montag. hm.
another claudia created template
Thursday, March 31
aparna:
Monday, March 28
Vivien @fashfix:
ehhh i just realised i can change the sign out name.. i THINK if i didn't screw it up so anyway on to more pressing issues
singapore intl film fest is coming up and there are a couple of things that look interesting and i was wondering if i could convince any of you guys to go! so i dont look like a loser with no friends =) hehs. please dont make me type it out all for nothing!
1. this charming girl - korea - 28/04
tv actress kim ji soo plays jeong hye, a post office worker who masks her crises and past injuries beneath a carefully worn expression on a wan face. one day she decides to ask one of the customers frequenting the post office out for dinner. shot entirely on a handheld cam, leeyongki's film is a minimalist, quietly visceral portrait of a woman tackling the pte and public aspects of her life with strange detachment. winner of top prize and the new currents section of pusan 2004
2. samaritan girl korea 23/04 M18
interesting continution of Spring, Summer... (SIF 2004), exploring themes of religion, suffering and absolution. to raise funds for a european trip, teenager yeojin earns money as asex worker while er yg friend manages her clientele of older men. his work is daring discomforting and powerful. winner of silver bear and berlin intl film fest 2004
3. Millenium mambo - 27/04 - taiwan
caught btw her absucive DJ bf and the older gangster Jack, vicky (shuqi) seems unable to find love in either relationship and exists in a narcisstic bubble that keeps her moving tho w/o direction. won tech grand prize at cannes 2001, the silver hugo at chicago 2001 and the golden hrse award 2001
yepyep. tickets are $8.40 + $1sistic. i have the entire book of all the films so if u want i can bring but pls pls pls go for these 3 cause they sound interesting esp the last yesyesyes =)))
singapore intl film fest is coming up and there are a couple of things that look interesting and i was wondering if i could convince any of you guys to go! so i dont look like a loser with no friends =) hehs. please dont make me type it out all for nothing!
1. this charming girl - korea - 28/04
tv actress kim ji soo plays jeong hye, a post office worker who masks her crises and past injuries beneath a carefully worn expression on a wan face. one day she decides to ask one of the customers frequenting the post office out for dinner. shot entirely on a handheld cam, leeyongki's film is a minimalist, quietly visceral portrait of a woman tackling the pte and public aspects of her life with strange detachment. winner of top prize and the new currents section of pusan 2004
2. samaritan girl korea 23/04 M18
interesting continution of Spring, Summer... (SIF 2004), exploring themes of religion, suffering and absolution. to raise funds for a european trip, teenager yeojin earns money as asex worker while er yg friend manages her clientele of older men. his work is daring discomforting and powerful. winner of silver bear and berlin intl film fest 2004
3. Millenium mambo - 27/04 - taiwan
caught btw her absucive DJ bf and the older gangster Jack, vicky (shuqi) seems unable to find love in either relationship and exists in a narcisstic bubble that keeps her moving tho w/o direction. won tech grand prize at cannes 2001, the silver hugo at chicago 2001 and the golden hrse award 2001
yepyep. tickets are $8.40 + $1sistic. i have the entire book of all the films so if u want i can bring but pls pls pls go for these 3 cause they sound interesting esp the last yesyesyes =)))
Sunday, March 27
claud:
Unions! Bad! Unions! Bad!
The London Underground
the above link is a hilarious little song that's hugely vulgar. vulgar vulgar very funny. grin.
now, do we all appreciate how there's no MRT union?
shooj, I'd offer but I think you already have the red #1s album already.
I'm really bored. I feel aimless and scared of tomorrow.
the above link is a hilarious little song that's hugely vulgar. vulgar vulgar very funny. grin.
now, do we all appreciate how there's no MRT union?
shooj, I'd offer but I think you already have the red #1s album already.
I'm really bored. I feel aimless and scared of tomorrow.
Saturday, March 26
superoldgranny:
hahaha
Wednesday, March 23
claud:
REALLY VERY IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
while we were all not looking, and mugging our heads off for the commons;
one kitson edward symes arrive in singapore, un-pre-empted!
immediate action must be taken to counter this invasion of our shores!
one kitson edward symes arrive in singapore, un-pre-empted!
immediate action must be taken to counter this invasion of our shores!
Sunday, March 20
claud:
blogs about Iraq, by Iraqis
Democracy in Iraq for starters.
his subtitle: "A blog by an Iraqi on the future of Iraq, an Iraqi who is excited about a new democratic Iraq."
fascinating, especially since the Internet is so wonderfully anonymous and non-verifiable. regardless this is certainly worth a read.
the links are rather worth following too.
blogger, vanguard of the future in journalism and the record of history; or repository of hugely irrelevant, boring as heck personal ramblings?
his subtitle: "A blog by an Iraqi on the future of Iraq, an Iraqi who is excited about a new democratic Iraq."
fascinating, especially since the Internet is so wonderfully anonymous and non-verifiable. regardless this is certainly worth a read.
the links are rather worth following too.
blogger, vanguard of the future in journalism and the record of history; or repository of hugely irrelevant, boring as heck personal ramblings?
Saturday, March 19
'liane:
a literary take on the crisis of comm in the ussr ;p
Neighbours
Gillian Clarke
That spring was late. We watched the sky
and studied charts for shouldering isobars.
Birds were late to pair. Crows drank from the lamb's eye.
Over Finland small birds fell: song-thrushes
steering north, smudged signatures on light,
migrating warblers, nightingales.
Wing-beats failed over fjords, each lung a sip of gall.
Children were warned of their dangerous beauty.
Milk was spilt in Poland. Each quarrel
the blowback from some old story,
a mouthful of bitter air from the Ukraine
brought by the wind out of its box of sorrows.
This spring a lamb sips caesium on a Welsh hill.
A child, lifting her face to drink the rain,
takes into her blood the poisoned arrow.
Now we are all neighbourly, each little town
in Europe twinned to Chernobyl, each heart
with the burnt fireman, the child on the Moscow train.
In the democracy of the virus and the toxin
we wait. We watch for bird migrations,
one bird returning with green in its voice,
glasnost,
golau glas,
a first break of blue.
*
glasnost - openness (the policy gorbachev adopted which led to collapse of the soviet union, this for the benefit of the geoggers ;p)
golau glas - welsh for blue light
incidentally if anyone can explain the "lamb's eye" reference i would be very grateful.
i like this poem.
it's from pdd.
Gillian Clarke
That spring was late. We watched the sky
and studied charts for shouldering isobars.
Birds were late to pair. Crows drank from the lamb's eye.
Over Finland small birds fell: song-thrushes
steering north, smudged signatures on light,
migrating warblers, nightingales.
Wing-beats failed over fjords, each lung a sip of gall.
Children were warned of their dangerous beauty.
Milk was spilt in Poland. Each quarrel
the blowback from some old story,
a mouthful of bitter air from the Ukraine
brought by the wind out of its box of sorrows.
This spring a lamb sips caesium on a Welsh hill.
A child, lifting her face to drink the rain,
takes into her blood the poisoned arrow.
Now we are all neighbourly, each little town
in Europe twinned to Chernobyl, each heart
with the burnt fireman, the child on the Moscow train.
In the democracy of the virus and the toxin
we wait. We watch for bird migrations,
one bird returning with green in its voice,
glasnost,
golau glas,
a first break of blue.
*
glasnost - openness (the policy gorbachev adopted which led to collapse of the soviet union, this for the benefit of the geoggers ;p)
golau glas - welsh for blue light
incidentally if anyone can explain the "lamb's eye" reference i would be very grateful.
i like this poem.
it's from pdd.
Thursday, March 17
aparna:
world jump day
despite all the arguments that world jump day is bad, i am merely miffed that we can't take part in the fun! in fact, on that day we'll have to make sure we don't jump or else it might be counterproductive.
or, if shoojee manages to convince us that it's all bad then we can organise a world jump day on the same day on our side of the world, in order to prevent the earth's orbit from shifting. this way everyone can have fun jumping, and nothing will happen. or we can see who wins. asia has more people, but less per capita internet access.
anyway, i am curious - what would a more homogenous climate mean? does it mean cooler climate everywhere? because that is highly tempting. the sun is very hot here. oh wait it says that the range will be narrowed, which is GOOD! what nonsense though, "extreme climates of the third world regions." do they have any clue what third world means?
hm. shall we turn this into a pseudo-serious discussion about playing god?
is countercyclical keynesian stance in the syllabus for commons??
or, if shoojee manages to convince us that it's all bad then we can organise a world jump day on the same day on our side of the world, in order to prevent the earth's orbit from shifting. this way everyone can have fun jumping, and nothing will happen. or we can see who wins. asia has more people, but less per capita internet access.
anyway, i am curious - what would a more homogenous climate mean? does it mean cooler climate everywhere? because that is highly tempting. the sun is very hot here. oh wait it says that the range will be narrowed, which is GOOD! what nonsense though, "extreme climates of the third world regions." do they have any clue what third world means?
hm. shall we turn this into a pseudo-serious discussion about playing god?
is countercyclical keynesian stance in the syllabus for commons??
Vivien @fashfix:
1 day = 24hrs!!!
!!!!!!!!!
i have just (yesterday night) finished watching ALL my MVP qingren vcds!!! =))
thats 22discs in FIVE DAYS!!!!! which is like 23 hours including extended versions and rewinding and changing discs and what not which is like TWENTYFOUR HRS OKAE. thats like ONE ENTIRE DAY OF STUDYING gONE!!!!!!!!!!!! -sighs- chenfeng is dAMNNNN cute. and GAO XING! =)) whee! am still in MVP-lala-land =))))
now i just have to get through the load of dvds/vcds my rents kindly bought for me in msia
bridgetjones, shall we dance, kungfu hussle, ido i do, killbill2, aladin and beauty&beast.
:) somebody get me away from the TV!!!
on a more inspiring note to everybody
bu yao qing yan fang qi, fo zhe dui bu qi zhi ji :)
(translate: dont give up easily, or your just letting yourself down)
i have just (yesterday night) finished watching ALL my MVP qingren vcds!!! =))
thats 22discs in FIVE DAYS!!!!! which is like 23 hours including extended versions and rewinding and changing discs and what not which is like TWENTYFOUR HRS OKAE. thats like ONE ENTIRE DAY OF STUDYING gONE!!!!!!!!!!!! -sighs- chenfeng is dAMNNNN cute. and GAO XING! =)) whee! am still in MVP-lala-land =))))
now i just have to get through the load of dvds/vcds my rents kindly bought for me in msia
bridgetjones, shall we dance, kungfu hussle, ido i do, killbill2, aladin and beauty&beast.
:) somebody get me away from the TV!!!
on a more inspiring note to everybody
bu yao qing yan fang qi, fo zhe dui bu qi zhi ji :)
(translate: dont give up easily, or your just letting yourself down)
Wednesday, March 16
claud:
σοφια:
Something to look forward to
I was just telling my roommate how I cannot live well if I have nothing to look forward to. And now, thanks to Chernise, I have just that. Here's something from a random weblog.
Yesterday, Sunday, I returned from an overnight stay on a kelong at Pulau Gogok, starved of sleep and in desperate need of a cleansing shower, but sat electrified as I watched Before Sunrise, Linklater’s 1995 film with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, before collapsing into a state of stubborn inanimation. Since then, I’ve watched Before Sunrise two more times, finding in its simplicity and devastating dialogue a romance that hurts as well as salves. Before Sunrise defies judgement, for it is neither good nor bad. To paraphrase Yew Leong’s mother, it must be true. Narrow in scope, asphyxiatingly brutal in its portrayal of a realistic romance, but true nonetheless. Reviewers all over the world have grasped the essence of Before Sunrise, especially in the wake of the premiere of Before Sunset (the sequel) all over America late last month. Before Sunrise (and, as I’m told, Before Sunset) is a naturalistic romance that defies you to be cynical about romantic attachment, an affirmative yet disarming romance that is impossibly intellectual and terrifyingly real. Similarly, critics are gushing about Before Sunset. Read this, this and this, and cringe when you read that Before Sunset will arrive in Singapore only in December.
Throughout the weekend, on a overwhelmingly wooden and spartan kelong off Malaysia, I thought little about what would transpire before sunrise. It was in itself a magical and surreal experience to spend a night out on the open waters, watching fish, crabs and marine creatures of all denominations corralled into an enclosure, jostling in the sugarcane-green water and enraptured by a blindingly brilliant white light installed for the sole purpose of attracting them. To one side, under an equally brilliant light and bobbing languorously on the outgoing current, sat a score of people swarming about a makeshift barbeque seething in a stainless steel kitchen sink. Throughout the night, I drifted in and out of a wordless trance as rudimentary versions of a vicious reality show were enacted, allegations, recriminations, vengeance and all. Argentinean music wafted over the water towards the distant shore and lights of Tanjung Pelapas, and on the floorboards weathered and restless as driftwood, neophytes stumbled through the basic steps of tango. I wonder if the catch that morning was any different.
On the way back from Pulau Gogok, I sat on the back of a brilliant blue wooden boat and talked about land. Land that had been dredged up in some distant Indonesian shallow and was now being fashioned into precious real estate along the eastern shore of Singapore all the way back. I talked, feeling the faint stirrings of an former intellectual interest in biology, ghosts of an education past, and an inkling of obligations yet to be.
On the way home, I discovered that the hawker centre around the corner will soon close to be dolled-up, echoing a prescient thought I had a week back. Relentless, unforgiving, implacable. It must be true.
Yesterday, Sunday, I returned from an overnight stay on a kelong at Pulau Gogok, starved of sleep and in desperate need of a cleansing shower, but sat electrified as I watched Before Sunrise, Linklater’s 1995 film with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, before collapsing into a state of stubborn inanimation. Since then, I’ve watched Before Sunrise two more times, finding in its simplicity and devastating dialogue a romance that hurts as well as salves. Before Sunrise defies judgement, for it is neither good nor bad. To paraphrase Yew Leong’s mother, it must be true. Narrow in scope, asphyxiatingly brutal in its portrayal of a realistic romance, but true nonetheless. Reviewers all over the world have grasped the essence of Before Sunrise, especially in the wake of the premiere of Before Sunset (the sequel) all over America late last month. Before Sunrise (and, as I’m told, Before Sunset) is a naturalistic romance that defies you to be cynical about romantic attachment, an affirmative yet disarming romance that is impossibly intellectual and terrifyingly real. Similarly, critics are gushing about Before Sunset. Read this, this and this, and cringe when you read that Before Sunset will arrive in Singapore only in December.
Throughout the weekend, on a overwhelmingly wooden and spartan kelong off Malaysia, I thought little about what would transpire before sunrise. It was in itself a magical and surreal experience to spend a night out on the open waters, watching fish, crabs and marine creatures of all denominations corralled into an enclosure, jostling in the sugarcane-green water and enraptured by a blindingly brilliant white light installed for the sole purpose of attracting them. To one side, under an equally brilliant light and bobbing languorously on the outgoing current, sat a score of people swarming about a makeshift barbeque seething in a stainless steel kitchen sink. Throughout the night, I drifted in and out of a wordless trance as rudimentary versions of a vicious reality show were enacted, allegations, recriminations, vengeance and all. Argentinean music wafted over the water towards the distant shore and lights of Tanjung Pelapas, and on the floorboards weathered and restless as driftwood, neophytes stumbled through the basic steps of tango. I wonder if the catch that morning was any different.
On the way back from Pulau Gogok, I sat on the back of a brilliant blue wooden boat and talked about land. Land that had been dredged up in some distant Indonesian shallow and was now being fashioned into precious real estate along the eastern shore of Singapore all the way back. I talked, feeling the faint stirrings of an former intellectual interest in biology, ghosts of an education past, and an inkling of obligations yet to be.
On the way home, I discovered that the hawker centre around the corner will soon close to be dolled-up, echoing a prescient thought I had a week back. Relentless, unforgiving, implacable. It must be true.
σοφια:
Is it me or is it me? I must have amazing diplomatic capabilities (or everyone else must not have started asking for alliances yet) coz all I did was send one e-mail and I'm in an alliance with woa.. enough people to be pleased about it. Or maybe I'm just seeing this from a slack one-person point of view. At any rate, I'm completely zonked out. Funny how such -small- amounts of econs can knock the brain out so rapidly. Funny how today there are so -few- people in school. Is it because it's wednesday? Is there an important function that I have forgotten? And why aren't the scholars studying? With the exception of my roommates that is.. why is everyone having 'fun'? In the scholarly sense of the word. Ah, I like the feel of paper. I like sitting down and doing work coz it makes me feel -smart-. Of course I don't like the bump upon landing on earth again, when the results come back in. So I like studying, but I don't like the results. There. No, I don't like studying. I take that back. I like sitting around with a books, reading. Studying has negative connotations. I like, thinking. there.
σοφια:
Yes! Kitson! Clever Kitson. Good boy Kitson. Okay, so i wasn't sure if it would alright for me to say it but since kitson has said it (in the tagboard) I concur! I concur concur concur. Who cares really. It's good to know there are a whole lot of liberals but all this indignation and antagonism (ah, I should talk)... =) Anyway, as can be seen for my now-censored e-mail =( I do not have much to say. Homosexuals, heterosexuals, in the words of a wise old sage =) "it's nobody else's business".
PS. But this is not to say I didn't enjoy the humour, of which I now realise (or have realised for quite some time) that Matt has plenty.
Oh, but there is a point to this post. I went for lunch early today (the motivation for which i really do not know) and since there was nobody in the dining hall I decided to try my hand at the keyboard. Within a few minutes the hall was filled with the most melodious of sounds (amazed myself really). Who knew that after so many years I hadn't become too rusty. anyway, kids flocked into the hall, some pausing to appreciate the wonderful symphony coming from my direction.. then I had my lunch, felt quite pleased with my performance and left.
It wasn't easy you know.
Finding the pre-records button.
PS. But this is not to say I didn't enjoy the humour, of which I now realise (or have realised for quite some time) that Matt has plenty.
Oh, but there is a point to this post. I went for lunch early today (the motivation for which i really do not know) and since there was nobody in the dining hall I decided to try my hand at the keyboard. Within a few minutes the hall was filled with the most melodious of sounds (amazed myself really). Who knew that after so many years I hadn't become too rusty. anyway, kids flocked into the hall, some pausing to appreciate the wonderful symphony coming from my direction.. then I had my lunch, felt quite pleased with my performance and left.
It wasn't easy you know.
Finding the pre-records button.
Tuesday, March 15
wisevice:
before a word peeps out, at the request of worm i am posting this here:
--Some Reticence-- Please do not accept being added to the MSN list of sweet_ting7@msn.com. Virus, again. says:
but sex is so *wrong*, i say
and homosexuality is so *unnatural*, i say
it is best if we were to sweep it under the rug, really
because our society will not be accustomed to this for the next two and a half centuries, by conservative (haha pun!) estimates
but we're opening up
to become a more inclusive (of GST, service charge etc.) society
now.
the straits times isn't the only party guilty of sensationalising this issue. it's pretty obvious that balaji's statement was ridiculous and could qualify as libel. and it's understandable that the liberal majority on this class blog, as well as the vocal minority on the humanz mailing list gets pretty pissed off by such irresponsible remarks, made by a relatively prominent character in singapore [hehh given its size virtually everyone's prominent eh]. and tst certainly didn't help matters by deciding to pull a Sun/National Enquirer/Star tabloids on everyone.
yet, rather than focussing on his comment itself, the debate seems to have veered off on an entirely separate tangent about how
1. homosexuality should/should not be accepted by singaporeans
2. whether homosexuality is just about sex [and honestly, why is that argument even existent - i echo mr sowden in saying that one's sexual orientation is defined by one's whole approach to life - sure sex plays a part, but how big a part is not for any heterosexual to determine]
3. the whole conspiracy theory about shutting down the nation party [which actually probably isn't as much a theory as a very concrete possibility].
which, to me, misses the point of kicking the article to pieces - unless everyone's decided that the above three are much more interesting tangents to discuss (: [cant say i'd disagree with that].
in which case,
with regards to (1), i would vehemently disagree with shoojee that "You[lindakwek] have no right to label homosexuals" - she has every right to label them as anyone/thing she sees fit - she can be horribly bigoted and a narrow-minded prick [ha!] in the process, but she still has the right to tell a newspaper what she thinks. the beauty of liberalism [even singapore's pseudo-sort] is that it allows both conservative and radical [?] voices their say.
on the other hand, balaji does not have a right to say what he did, because he did so in the capacity of a minister, a member of the government of a republic. off-handedly and informally citing an epidemiologist's hypothetical assertion - which had no serious research to back it up - either belies a keen lack of awareness to the sensitivity of the issue, or an overriding desire to blunderingly impose his perception on the supposedly vacuous, cud-chewing singaporean. either stance is unacceptable - and that's where the article - the tst itself, in fact, screws itself over. everything else is fascinating and intriguing stuff, but not something exclusive to this article and therefore irrelevant as far as this slew of articles is concerned - more than half of america subscribes to his view anyway.
--Some Reticence-- Please do not accept being added to the MSN list of sweet_ting7@msn.com. Virus, again. says:
but sex is so *wrong*, i say
and homosexuality is so *unnatural*, i say
it is best if we were to sweep it under the rug, really
because our society will not be accustomed to this for the next two and a half centuries, by conservative (haha pun!) estimates
but we're opening up
to become a more inclusive (of GST, service charge etc.) society
now.
the straits times isn't the only party guilty of sensationalising this issue. it's pretty obvious that balaji's statement was ridiculous and could qualify as libel. and it's understandable that the liberal majority on this class blog, as well as the vocal minority on the humanz mailing list gets pretty pissed off by such irresponsible remarks, made by a relatively prominent character in singapore [hehh given its size virtually everyone's prominent eh]. and tst certainly didn't help matters by deciding to pull a Sun/National Enquirer/Star tabloids on everyone.
yet, rather than focussing on his comment itself, the debate seems to have veered off on an entirely separate tangent about how
1. homosexuality should/should not be accepted by singaporeans
2. whether homosexuality is just about sex [and honestly, why is that argument even existent - i echo mr sowden in saying that one's sexual orientation is defined by one's whole approach to life - sure sex plays a part, but how big a part is not for any heterosexual to determine]
3. the whole conspiracy theory about shutting down the nation party [which actually probably isn't as much a theory as a very concrete possibility].
which, to me, misses the point of kicking the article to pieces - unless everyone's decided that the above three are much more interesting tangents to discuss (: [cant say i'd disagree with that].
in which case,
with regards to (1), i would vehemently disagree with shoojee that "You[lindakwek] have no right to label homosexuals" - she has every right to label them as anyone/thing she sees fit - she can be horribly bigoted and a narrow-minded prick [ha!] in the process, but she still has the right to tell a newspaper what she thinks. the beauty of liberalism [even singapore's pseudo-sort] is that it allows both conservative and radical [?] voices their say.
on the other hand, balaji does not have a right to say what he did, because he did so in the capacity of a minister, a member of the government of a republic. off-handedly and informally citing an epidemiologist's hypothetical assertion - which had no serious research to back it up - either belies a keen lack of awareness to the sensitivity of the issue, or an overriding desire to blunderingly impose his perception on the supposedly vacuous, cud-chewing singaporean. either stance is unacceptable - and that's where the article - the tst itself, in fact, screws itself over. everything else is fascinating and intriguing stuff, but not something exclusive to this article and therefore irrelevant as far as this slew of articles is concerned - more than half of america subscribes to his view anyway.
aparna:
haha ok i just sent a super long mail to the humanz yahoogroups about the hiv vs gays thing, and unfortunately i only saw matt's mail after sending my email, or i would've commended his comments because i really like the humour =)
"ST actually seemed quiteshocked that people end up sleeping with strangers after parties!They're probably too used to throwing happy meal parties at McDonalds.Given that they proportionally contribute the most to this increase,the government should instead be looking at how they can specifically reach out to gay men, possibly through more subtle means than a poorly drawn cartoon lion, rap and song contests or Put the Dick Down Day. If this were the cultural revolution Balaji would be made to wear one of those i'm a dunce of a reactionary monster signs."
the boy is funny!
"ST actually seemed quiteshocked that people end up sleeping with strangers after parties!They're probably too used to throwing happy meal parties at McDonalds.Given that they proportionally contribute the most to this increase,the government should instead be looking at how they can specifically reach out to gay men, possibly through more subtle means than a poorly drawn cartoon lion, rap and song contests or Put the Dick Down Day. If this were the cultural revolution Balaji would be made to wear one of those i'm a dunce of a reactionary monster signs."
the boy is funny!
Monday, March 14
σοφια:
I'm such a stupid shit. I said I'd do math and I end up going blog surfing. and start reading about the old malaysian circle almost all of whom seem to have gotten JPA scholarships to every country in this godamn world. And then I receive an e-mail reminding me about my 'entry into the working world'. Stupid Stupid Sophia.
Last night I had an awful dream about how we were all going for an 'econs trip' to malaysia and were boarding the bus (i din want to go but had to) and i saw ZhiAn outside. So I asked her why she wasn't boarding the bus then she alluded to changing subject combi or something so i said "but you haven't changed yet wad, so you still have to go" then she said "No, I quit already". And then I felt very depressed because it emphasised all my fears that I've chosen the wrong subject combi in that I can't get a friggin A for Lit and I'm not scoring for my godamn subjects like my roommates etc etc. And ZhiAn changed to 'SO3K'.
Then the dream changed to how it was time to get our PSLE results (which I didn't even sit for!) and apparently we had to call some hotline to get the results but I din know so I had to wait for the 'next appropriate time' when the hotlines would open again... then after some blurry parts of the dream this guy came along and said he marked my lit paper. And he reeled out my results. it went something like "4B4s, 3B3s, 2C[something], 2As... 4B4s.." was like, "oh shit. why so many b4s". in my head of course. then he said I messed up the last few questions of my lit paper and therefore got a b4 for that. Dammit. And Malaysia's top scorer got 17A1s for SPM this year (equivilant to O Levels) and a few hundred got straight As. Stupid Stupid Sophia.
Anyway, last night I had a wonderful dinner at Judith's. Woke up thinking I'd miss this dinner but then my roommate said we were having 'fish and white vegetables' for dinner at RI so I decided to call Ju and upon hearing 'kebabs' I decided it was worth the journey. So I headed down to some of the best people I've known in Singapore and had lazy times. Lazy time with the gang is the best. haha, coz you feel less need to... be something, or someone. or have something. or be fashionable. or worry about gossip. there I can talk about all the shit in the world and talk about lesbian relationships with bos and lyn, and everytime jerm still says "soph is made of sugar". And things we do don't end up somewhere in the RJ rumour mill which sheng told me about but I din really -get- till I got here. my god, I think rafflesians are seriously deprived.
Last night I had an awful dream about how we were all going for an 'econs trip' to malaysia and were boarding the bus (i din want to go but had to) and i saw ZhiAn outside. So I asked her why she wasn't boarding the bus then she alluded to changing subject combi or something so i said "but you haven't changed yet wad, so you still have to go" then she said "No, I quit already". And then I felt very depressed because it emphasised all my fears that I've chosen the wrong subject combi in that I can't get a friggin A for Lit and I'm not scoring for my godamn subjects like my roommates etc etc. And ZhiAn changed to 'SO3K'.
Then the dream changed to how it was time to get our PSLE results (which I didn't even sit for!) and apparently we had to call some hotline to get the results but I din know so I had to wait for the 'next appropriate time' when the hotlines would open again... then after some blurry parts of the dream this guy came along and said he marked my lit paper. And he reeled out my results. it went something like "4B4s, 3B3s, 2C[something], 2As... 4B4s.." was like, "oh shit. why so many b4s". in my head of course. then he said I messed up the last few questions of my lit paper and therefore got a b4 for that. Dammit. And Malaysia's top scorer got 17A1s for SPM this year (equivilant to O Levels) and a few hundred got straight As. Stupid Stupid Sophia.
Anyway, last night I had a wonderful dinner at Judith's. Woke up thinking I'd miss this dinner but then my roommate said we were having 'fish and white vegetables' for dinner at RI so I decided to call Ju and upon hearing 'kebabs' I decided it was worth the journey. So I headed down to some of the best people I've known in Singapore and had lazy times. Lazy time with the gang is the best. haha, coz you feel less need to... be something, or someone. or have something. or be fashionable. or worry about gossip. there I can talk about all the shit in the world and talk about lesbian relationships with bos and lyn, and everytime jerm still says "soph is made of sugar". And things we do don't end up somewhere in the RJ rumour mill which sheng told me about but I din really -get- till I got here. my god, I think rafflesians are seriously deprived.
Sunday, March 13
aparna:
i did consider that we ought to, one of us, send a letter to ST. consider we obviously have strong views about the issue.
but then when the thought of editing my words and carefully shaping them comes, i get lazy. and apathetic. and... scared? i don't think i'd be brave enough to write a scathing letter to the forum about it.
atleast i'd have to work myself up to it, atleast on the premise that the likely cause of apathy among all singaporeans is fear of putting themselves out there especially in defence of a controversial cause. like "would i be branded homosexual myself?" "would i get branded a pinko-liberal, badforthekids type of thing?"
strange, though, isn't it? we're all straight (i think) and yet we have such strong opinions.
i will try and get off my lazy ass and write something and not make excuses like Common Tests! because otherwise the controversy will die. i don't even know how sensible half the stuff i've said is. feels more like vehement defence which is slightly irrational in its own way. anybody want to assist me?
i'm being such a WIMP.
but then when the thought of editing my words and carefully shaping them comes, i get lazy. and apathetic. and... scared? i don't think i'd be brave enough to write a scathing letter to the forum about it.
atleast i'd have to work myself up to it, atleast on the premise that the likely cause of apathy among all singaporeans is fear of putting themselves out there especially in defence of a controversial cause. like "would i be branded homosexual myself?" "would i get branded a pinko-liberal, badforthekids type of thing?"
strange, though, isn't it? we're all straight (i think) and yet we have such strong opinions.
i will try and get off my lazy ass and write something and not make excuses like Common Tests! because otherwise the controversy will die. i don't even know how sensible half the stuff i've said is. feels more like vehement defence which is slightly irrational in its own way. anybody want to assist me?
i'm being such a WIMP.
wisevice:
hrmph.
all i can say is,
so much for tst's bravery in publishing the first article on the front page.
that said,
i just read the article in the sunday times and immediately came up knowing it would have elicited a response from you guys (:
i think we should all write letters to the forum page. that way, noone can accuse singaporeans of being apathetic or actually in favour of such ridiculously bigoted articles.
so much for tst's bravery in publishing the first article on the front page.
that said,
i just read the article in the sunday times and immediately came up knowing it would have elicited a response from you guys (:
i think we should all write letters to the forum page. that way, noone can accuse singaporeans of being apathetic or actually in favour of such ridiculously bigoted articles.
'liane:
aps: i strongly suggest that you edit your post and then send it in as a letter to the straits times.
it's a good thing my family doesn't buy the sunday times--or often, even the papers at all--if the editors (the government? can they track my ip address? ;p) will insist on printing such blatantly bigoted articles. and letters as well--though i haven't actually seen the letters page. i'm assuming that they didn't actually print any letters in defence of the (here i am tempted to make a bad pun on 'party line') gay community in singapore.
i wish they would remove their blinkers and realise that homosexuality has been around as long as heterosexuality has. that mutual love and fidelity are qualities not restricted to heterosexual couples; that the gay community should not be target of the witch-hunt (all right, i exaggerate; we need the pink dollar after all, no?) aimed at rooting out casual sex and, ah, libertarian ideals. that restrictions placed on homosexual acts (and not merely those of a sexual nature!) will only serve as a stopgap measure: in the end all they do is blind people to where the real dangers lie (closing down the afa booth, hello!) and postpone a freedom that has to come some day.
i think it was once said, in defence of the official stance, that society was "not yet ready" to accept homosexuality. as someone very rightly pointed out then, does that mean that there have to be legal restrictions on it? (but how does this work: how do you restrict love, make it run within the boundaries you have set? sex is not the issue here.) surely people are mature enough to decide for themselves: and if they make a wrong decision, then they will bear the consequences that society will impose on them. it's as simple as that; we don't live in a nanny state, at least not officially.
(ah i'm tired. these are the points that come most coherently to mind. will go back now to reading about alexander the great and his lover and best friend hephaistion, and his other lover, the persian boy bagoas, and his wife roxane. i haven't yet got to the part where he acquires more wives.
lover is such a bad word; with all its connotations and free usage it cheapens so many other precious things.)
it's a good thing my family doesn't buy the sunday times--or often, even the papers at all--if the editors (the government? can they track my ip address? ;p) will insist on printing such blatantly bigoted articles. and letters as well--though i haven't actually seen the letters page. i'm assuming that they didn't actually print any letters in defence of the (here i am tempted to make a bad pun on 'party line') gay community in singapore.
i wish they would remove their blinkers and realise that homosexuality has been around as long as heterosexuality has. that mutual love and fidelity are qualities not restricted to heterosexual couples; that the gay community should not be target of the witch-hunt (all right, i exaggerate; we need the pink dollar after all, no?) aimed at rooting out casual sex and, ah, libertarian ideals. that restrictions placed on homosexual acts (and not merely those of a sexual nature!) will only serve as a stopgap measure: in the end all they do is blind people to where the real dangers lie (closing down the afa booth, hello!) and postpone a freedom that has to come some day.
i think it was once said, in defence of the official stance, that society was "not yet ready" to accept homosexuality. as someone very rightly pointed out then, does that mean that there have to be legal restrictions on it? (but how does this work: how do you restrict love, make it run within the boundaries you have set? sex is not the issue here.) surely people are mature enough to decide for themselves: and if they make a wrong decision, then they will bear the consequences that society will impose on them. it's as simple as that; we don't live in a nanny state, at least not officially.
(ah i'm tired. these are the points that come most coherently to mind. will go back now to reading about alexander the great and his lover and best friend hephaistion, and his other lover, the persian boy bagoas, and his wife roxane. i haven't yet got to the part where he acquires more wives.
lover is such a bad word; with all its connotations and free usage it cheapens so many other precious things.)
aparna:
ok so shoojee directs me to this here blog with these words:
i am entirely appalled
universally appalled
distressed and appalled
and amazed and appalled
and that's perfect. because i am APPALLED.
and i just went to read the article in the newspaper and i have Things to Say.
the article's completely stupid. anything that begins like some second-grade trying-to-be-thriller, "they come to party, but many end up pairing up and going off to hotel rooms" should be trashed. damn melodrama. the entire article is melodrama. how is it even relevant to the issue (besides to juice up the action) to describe what the men at the parties were wearing? just perpetuates the images of homosexuals - "fairies and sailors" which is apt indeed right?
"desensitises and normalises a behaviour which would be construed intuitively as unnatural." first, her english needs work. secondly, what does she mean by "a behaviour"? because if she's referring to the fact of homosexuality, well, tough. it happens. and it's goddamned bigoted to try and denounce it because while singapore obviously entertains the anti-gay sentiment pretty well, i think society in general has sort of progressed beyond calling gays unnatural and evil. i think. privately held views obviously differ, but to make such comments in a public forum is fucked up. if she's referring to a lifestyle of casual sex: a) not all homosexuals indulge in a bacchanalian lifestyle of drunkenness and sexsexsex. b) casual sex is a fact, even in the heterosexual side of the world. even in singapore. and the very repressed nature that causes you to believe in the purity and chastity of your straight (pun intended) little world is half the reason there is a rather strong subculture of casual sex even among HETEROSEXUAL TEENAGERS. face up, little lady.
"couples, both same sex and otherwise, lock lips and grope each other discreetly on the crowded dance floor". correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't this the general eventage on any dance floor at any party? i mean, parties with young people, not fancy Ferrari Club parties.
so sam and his hongkong guy? it could easily have been sally and her hongkong guy whom she met one night in some crowded smokey club and ended up in his room fucking like little rabbits. they would've used a condom too, and her behaviour would have just been as much cause for concern as sam's. so why does the gay community have to be blamed? so the Nation parties end in sex for a lot of people. but how about the thousands of other parties at clubs etc, which also end in sex for a lot of people? i don't know if i'm even making sense anymore, but i'm disgusted at the evident prejudice.
and, really "it undermines the basic family value of committed love, the importance of marriage". you know if singapore were a little more accepting of homosexuals there would actually be couples who wanted to be married here? and i can't believe she's cheeky enough to insinuate that a 'gay lifestyle' - and generalising the whole thing into a single Type of Lifestyle in itself is so wrong - is fundamentally opposed to committed love. homosexuals here can't even have families, they can't adopt kids as a legal couple, they can't be a legal couple. so how does this nonsense even apply? if kids are going to be homosexuals, underexposure to the fact that a community exists in singapore is just going to make it worse? atleast based on the assumption that you can't change your sexuality. and underexposure leads to repression, which just strengthens an underground culture of so-called depravity. a little openness would be good, you know?
why can't people accept that homosexuals are Human? and realise that removing a party from the social scene isn't going to do a whole lot to remove either homosexuality or casual sex? IF at all homosexuality and casual sex ought to be removed. in my opinon: homosexuality exists, it's as good or bad as anything else about human behaviour. and because homosexuals are human beings, they deserve human rights and human compassion just like any other humans. casual sex: not so good, but it happens so the only thing to do is to encourage safe sex, and NOT target one group of society for apparently promoting casual sex, and maybe create a society that's more open about sex so that sex doesn't become such a repressed desire and doesn't breed rebellion.
god my blood just boils. i know that homosexuals are more into the pleasure principle and all, and to some extent casual sex bothers them less, but i just hate when people make gross generalisations and say mean things in newspapers, knowing full well that gay men and women will be reading them. i don't think i'm coherent anymore. i think i shall stop blogging about this.
ohmygod. did anybody realise that the page that the article on is dominated by a large purple advertisement for Marriage Convention 2005? All "family matters" and stuff. How fucking ironic.
i am entirely appalled
universally appalled
distressed and appalled
and amazed and appalled
and that's perfect. because i am APPALLED.
and i just went to read the article in the newspaper and i have Things to Say.
the article's completely stupid. anything that begins like some second-grade trying-to-be-thriller, "they come to party, but many end up pairing up and going off to hotel rooms" should be trashed. damn melodrama. the entire article is melodrama. how is it even relevant to the issue (besides to juice up the action) to describe what the men at the parties were wearing? just perpetuates the images of homosexuals - "fairies and sailors" which is apt indeed right?
"desensitises and normalises a behaviour which would be construed intuitively as unnatural." first, her english needs work. secondly, what does she mean by "a behaviour"? because if she's referring to the fact of homosexuality, well, tough. it happens. and it's goddamned bigoted to try and denounce it because while singapore obviously entertains the anti-gay sentiment pretty well, i think society in general has sort of progressed beyond calling gays unnatural and evil. i think. privately held views obviously differ, but to make such comments in a public forum is fucked up. if she's referring to a lifestyle of casual sex: a) not all homosexuals indulge in a bacchanalian lifestyle of drunkenness and sexsexsex. b) casual sex is a fact, even in the heterosexual side of the world. even in singapore. and the very repressed nature that causes you to believe in the purity and chastity of your straight (pun intended) little world is half the reason there is a rather strong subculture of casual sex even among HETEROSEXUAL TEENAGERS. face up, little lady.
"couples, both same sex and otherwise, lock lips and grope each other discreetly on the crowded dance floor". correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't this the general eventage on any dance floor at any party? i mean, parties with young people, not fancy Ferrari Club parties.
so sam and his hongkong guy? it could easily have been sally and her hongkong guy whom she met one night in some crowded smokey club and ended up in his room fucking like little rabbits. they would've used a condom too, and her behaviour would have just been as much cause for concern as sam's. so why does the gay community have to be blamed? so the Nation parties end in sex for a lot of people. but how about the thousands of other parties at clubs etc, which also end in sex for a lot of people? i don't know if i'm even making sense anymore, but i'm disgusted at the evident prejudice.
and, really "it undermines the basic family value of committed love, the importance of marriage". you know if singapore were a little more accepting of homosexuals there would actually be couples who wanted to be married here? and i can't believe she's cheeky enough to insinuate that a 'gay lifestyle' - and generalising the whole thing into a single Type of Lifestyle in itself is so wrong - is fundamentally opposed to committed love. homosexuals here can't even have families, they can't adopt kids as a legal couple, they can't be a legal couple. so how does this nonsense even apply? if kids are going to be homosexuals, underexposure to the fact that a community exists in singapore is just going to make it worse? atleast based on the assumption that you can't change your sexuality. and underexposure leads to repression, which just strengthens an underground culture of so-called depravity. a little openness would be good, you know?
why can't people accept that homosexuals are Human? and realise that removing a party from the social scene isn't going to do a whole lot to remove either homosexuality or casual sex? IF at all homosexuality and casual sex ought to be removed. in my opinon: homosexuality exists, it's as good or bad as anything else about human behaviour. and because homosexuals are human beings, they deserve human rights and human compassion just like any other humans. casual sex: not so good, but it happens so the only thing to do is to encourage safe sex, and NOT target one group of society for apparently promoting casual sex, and maybe create a society that's more open about sex so that sex doesn't become such a repressed desire and doesn't breed rebellion.
god my blood just boils. i know that homosexuals are more into the pleasure principle and all, and to some extent casual sex bothers them less, but i just hate when people make gross generalisations and say mean things in newspapers, knowing full well that gay men and women will be reading them. i don't think i'm coherent anymore. i think i shall stop blogging about this.
ohmygod. did anybody realise that the page that the article on is dominated by a large purple advertisement for Marriage Convention 2005? All "family matters" and stuff. How fucking ironic.
Saturday, March 12
claud:
I just had a really random thought:
In a poetry-to-the-death match, who would you put your money on to beat the other:
1. Shakespeare VS TS Eliot
2. ee cummings VS Robert Frost
In a prose-to-the-death match:
1. George Eliot VS Arundhati Roy
2. Mary Shelley VS Iain Banks
In a poetry-to-the-death match, who would you put your money on to beat the other:
1. Shakespeare VS TS Eliot
2. ee cummings VS Robert Frost
In a prose-to-the-death match:
1. George Eliot VS Arundhati Roy
2. Mary Shelley VS Iain Banks
aparna:
wiggy that isn't brueghel's icarus!
this is:
it's a really beautiful painting. for a bigger version, http://www.artchive.com/artchive/b/bruegel/icarus.jpg.
that link you put up - what painting is it supposed to be? i don't claim to have a particularly well-trained eye either but it looks like a mess to me. and i googled "fall of icarus" and mostly you only get this one, so it's quite strange that you found some other painting...
ah wait i found the one you were looking at, by Ger Lataster. it says "Lataster is known as an abstract expressionist, for whom the recognizability of the motif becomes steadily subordinate to the emotion evoked by the total image." huh. the only emotion that painting provoked was distressed confusion. is that appropriate? i guess abstract expressionism isn't my thing at all.
this is:
it's a really beautiful painting. for a bigger version, http://www.artchive.com/artchive/b/bruegel/icarus.jpg.
that link you put up - what painting is it supposed to be? i don't claim to have a particularly well-trained eye either but it looks like a mess to me. and i googled "fall of icarus" and mostly you only get this one, so it's quite strange that you found some other painting...
ah wait i found the one you were looking at, by Ger Lataster. it says "Lataster is known as an abstract expressionist, for whom the recognizability of the motif becomes steadily subordinate to the emotion evoked by the total image." huh. the only emotion that painting provoked was distressed confusion. is that appropriate? i guess abstract expressionism isn't my thing at all.
claud:
kelly!! how odd to dream of kayaking with wilfred owen. knowing you I'd have thought you'd dream of something- er, moving on.
I was thinking of commenting on the AIDS/Gays issue but it makes me too mad to think straight, so I'll just keep my mouth shut.
Why is everyone suddenly posting so rabidly? Is it because of the onset of the hols?
and on yeats VS owen:
On being asked for a War Poem
I THINK it better that in times like these
A poet keep his mouth shut, for in truth
We have no gift to set a statesman right;
He has had enough of meddling who can please
A young girl in the indolence of her youth,
Or an old man upon a winter’s night.
-- w. b. yeats
I was thinking of commenting on the AIDS/Gays issue but it makes me too mad to think straight, so I'll just keep my mouth shut.
Why is everyone suddenly posting so rabidly? Is it because of the onset of the hols?
and on yeats VS owen:
On being asked for a War Poem
I THINK it better that in times like these
A poet keep his mouth shut, for in truth
We have no gift to set a statesman right;
He has had enough of meddling who can please
A young girl in the indolence of her youth,
Or an old man upon a winter’s night.
-- w. b. yeats
skttrbrain87:
for those (if any still) who are still pondering over the link between the myth of daedalus and icarus and war: a simple google search has given me the answer:
"The Fall of Icarus portrays, in an expressive manner, the ancient Greek story told by Ovid: Icarus received, for his escape from the island of Crete, from his father Daedalus, a pair of wax wings and the warning not to fly too high, because then the glow would scorch them. But Icarus flew to the sun. The wax melted, the wings came of and Icarus plunged into the sea. This painting was prompted by the Dutch government’s purchase of fighter jets during the 1950s; a number of these had quickly crashed. For [Ger] Lataster, this act of rearmament so soon after the war is disappointing and incomprehensible. Lataster’s social commitment is incorporated into his paintings in an abstract manner. Nevertheless, this is done in such a way that the themes can be felt and experienced by the viewer, and in that sense they are portrayed in an almost realistic manner."
the painting itself is somewhat messy to the untrained eye though --
someone point out icarus to me?
"The Fall of Icarus portrays, in an expressive manner, the ancient Greek story told by Ovid: Icarus received, for his escape from the island of Crete, from his father Daedalus, a pair of wax wings and the warning not to fly too high, because then the glow would scorch them. But Icarus flew to the sun. The wax melted, the wings came of and Icarus plunged into the sea. This painting was prompted by the Dutch government’s purchase of fighter jets during the 1950s; a number of these had quickly crashed. For [Ger] Lataster, this act of rearmament so soon after the war is disappointing and incomprehensible. Lataster’s social commitment is incorporated into his paintings in an abstract manner. Nevertheless, this is done in such a way that the themes can be felt and experienced by the viewer, and in that sense they are portrayed in an almost realistic manner."
the painting itself is somewhat messy to the untrained eye though --
someone point out icarus to me?
Friday, March 11
skttrbrain87:
Young Pilgrims by The Shins
A cold and wet November dawn
And there are no barking sparrows
Just emptiness to dwell upon
I fell into a winter slide
And ended up the kind of kid who goes down chutes too narrow
Just eking out my measly pies
But I learned fast how to keep my head up 'cause I
Know there is this side of me that
Wants to grab the yoke from the pilot and just
Fly the whole mess into the sea
Another slow train to the coast
Some brand new gory art from way on high
I sink and then I swim all night
I watch the ice melt on the glass
While the eloquent young pilgrims pass
And leave behind their trail
Imploring us not to fail
Of course I raised to gather courage from those
Lofty tales so tried and true and
If you're able I'd suggest it 'cause this
Modern thought can get the best of you
This rather simple epitaph can save your hide, your falling mind
Fate isn't what we're up against there's no design, no flaws to find
There's no design, no flaws to find
But I learned fast how to keep my head up 'cause I
Know I got this side of me that
Wants to grab the yoke from the pilot and just
Fly the whole mess into the sea
A cold and wet November dawn
And there are no barking sparrows
Just emptiness to dwell upon
I fell into a winter slide
And ended up the kind of kid who goes down chutes too narrow
Just eking out my measly pies
But I learned fast how to keep my head up 'cause I
Know there is this side of me that
Wants to grab the yoke from the pilot and just
Fly the whole mess into the sea
Another slow train to the coast
Some brand new gory art from way on high
I sink and then I swim all night
I watch the ice melt on the glass
While the eloquent young pilgrims pass
And leave behind their trail
Imploring us not to fail
Of course I raised to gather courage from those
Lofty tales so tried and true and
If you're able I'd suggest it 'cause this
Modern thought can get the best of you
This rather simple epitaph can save your hide, your falling mind
Fate isn't what we're up against there's no design, no flaws to find
There's no design, no flaws to find
But I learned fast how to keep my head up 'cause I
Know I got this side of me that
Wants to grab the yoke from the pilot and just
Fly the whole mess into the sea
'liane:
i reserve comment on the aids issue, apart from agreeing (generally) with aps, especially on the AFA booth at nation04 issue. homosexuality's been around a long time (as long as heterosexuality, one might say), and repressing it certainly isn't going to go any way in raising aids awareness, much less changing the nature of society.
anyway.
i am beginning to dislike yeats, claud! (no personal offence intended. i will get over this--am merely being defensive over my dear wilfred.) he called owen's poetry "blood, dirt, and sucked sugar-stick". aestheticism huh. "a lonely impulse of delight." "in balance with this life, this death". at the same time you've got the disabled, and the mental cases, and dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. the mud and the blood and the reality, "bitter as cud".
anyway. do you know i dreamt of owen the other night--it was a nice dream involving kayaking and companionable silence. clearly i have been holing up in the library reading up on ww1/ wilfred owen too much.
incidentally does anyone know of good war poetry that isn't from ww1? walt whitman wrote some poems based on his experience in the american civil war.. but i don't -really- like his writing (generally i think i prefer english poetry). i have keith douglas on ww2. there's also hardy, who wrote before ww1. auden wrote on ww2.
anyway.
i am beginning to dislike yeats, claud! (no personal offence intended. i will get over this--am merely being defensive over my dear wilfred.) he called owen's poetry "blood, dirt, and sucked sugar-stick". aestheticism huh. "a lonely impulse of delight." "in balance with this life, this death". at the same time you've got the disabled, and the mental cases, and dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. the mud and the blood and the reality, "bitter as cud".
anyway. do you know i dreamt of owen the other night--it was a nice dream involving kayaking and companionable silence. clearly i have been holing up in the library reading up on ww1/ wilfred owen too much.
incidentally does anyone know of good war poetry that isn't from ww1? walt whitman wrote some poems based on his experience in the american civil war.. but i don't -really- like his writing (generally i think i prefer english poetry). i have keith douglas on ww2. there's also hardy, who wrote before ww1. auden wrote on ww2.
aparna:
balaji thing:
it was really in very bad taste for him to not only blame the gay community, but pinpoint an event and degrade the whole issue to "seeding infection" -- an obviously explosive comment, with no conclusive data whatsoever. while it's true in many parts of the world that AIDs spreads faster in the gay community, gays are still a minority in the AIDs victims here. and the general Asian AIDs situation seems to be more with hets than gays, because it's been more among the unaware than the promiscuous. (who says all gays are promiscuous anyway. gross generalisation.)
granted, he himself says that it's only a hypothesis and all, but being a public figure he should know that by quoting such a theory, he's validating it to some extent. shouldn't politicians etc have a responsibility NOT to give controversial opinions about very controversial issues if they don't have strong evidence?
atleast the fact that the article was on the frontpage of ST shows that the newspaper is venturing to be more open about the whole issue of homosexuality in singapore, and sparking discussion and all.
also: on fridae.com it says that an AfA booth handing out condoms etc at Nation.04 was closed down because the authorities felt it was promoting gay sex. this is just despicable and irresponsible. if the point is to curb the AIDs epidemic, then any group that is willing to acknowledge that gay sex WILL happen and that any sex does bring with it the risk of AIDs and is willing to try and promote SAFE sex is doing something good. and then the government goes and fucks it up.
they can't be deluding themselves that NOT handing out condoms will reduce the number of sexual acts going on that night, can they? or do they think that just because gay sex is illegal - which defies sense in itself - that people should not try to make it safer? it makes absolutely zero sense to me. in my opinion, anything that promotes safe sex among everyone - not just gays - should be authorised. especially as fridae also says that blaming gays for introducing AIDs may make people complacent about heterosexual sex.
like the website says, putting the spotlight on the gays is just counterproductive because increased stigma will just lead to increased reluctance to get tested etc, when the very root could have been that more people are getting tested and therefore there's been an increase in IDENTIFIED AIDs victims.
another article on fridae says:
"[balaji] said Singapore was fortunate that HIV had not entered the general population in a big way, with the disease generally limited to two distinct groups of men that needed attention: "MSM i.e. the gays, and heterosexual men having casual sex in other countries."
He added, "Of the two, the gays are the bigger concern.""
1. people in singapore have casual sex. 2. since when is a rise of 23 cases in a gay community of thousands big statistical evidence that they should be a bigger problem? 3. perhaps it's just people are getting more comfortable with coming out with their homosexuality and with getting tested, thus the rise in gay AIDs cases. 4. gay AIDs victims are still only a third of all cases, and yet they find any excuse to pintpoint the gay community for causing the problem?
you know i don't think i deny that gays might very well be the problem. it's just that how can balaji go around making accusations with no concrete evidence? because making baseless accusations just shows that they seem to care less about countering an AIDs epidemic than making evident their distaste for homosexuality.
and conspiracy theory no. 2: maybe they're just trying to shut down the Nation parties because they morally disapprove of public gay fraternisation. if they can straightfacedly keep a law that puts restrictions on the very private act of sex, then i can easily see the government secretly having such an objective as well.
it was really in very bad taste for him to not only blame the gay community, but pinpoint an event and degrade the whole issue to "seeding infection" -- an obviously explosive comment, with no conclusive data whatsoever. while it's true in many parts of the world that AIDs spreads faster in the gay community, gays are still a minority in the AIDs victims here. and the general Asian AIDs situation seems to be more with hets than gays, because it's been more among the unaware than the promiscuous. (who says all gays are promiscuous anyway. gross generalisation.)
granted, he himself says that it's only a hypothesis and all, but being a public figure he should know that by quoting such a theory, he's validating it to some extent. shouldn't politicians etc have a responsibility NOT to give controversial opinions about very controversial issues if they don't have strong evidence?
atleast the fact that the article was on the frontpage of ST shows that the newspaper is venturing to be more open about the whole issue of homosexuality in singapore, and sparking discussion and all.
also: on fridae.com it says that an AfA booth handing out condoms etc at Nation.04 was closed down because the authorities felt it was promoting gay sex. this is just despicable and irresponsible. if the point is to curb the AIDs epidemic, then any group that is willing to acknowledge that gay sex WILL happen and that any sex does bring with it the risk of AIDs and is willing to try and promote SAFE sex is doing something good. and then the government goes and fucks it up.
they can't be deluding themselves that NOT handing out condoms will reduce the number of sexual acts going on that night, can they? or do they think that just because gay sex is illegal - which defies sense in itself - that people should not try to make it safer? it makes absolutely zero sense to me. in my opinion, anything that promotes safe sex among everyone - not just gays - should be authorised. especially as fridae also says that blaming gays for introducing AIDs may make people complacent about heterosexual sex.
like the website says, putting the spotlight on the gays is just counterproductive because increased stigma will just lead to increased reluctance to get tested etc, when the very root could have been that more people are getting tested and therefore there's been an increase in IDENTIFIED AIDs victims.
another article on fridae says:
"[balaji] said Singapore was fortunate that HIV had not entered the general population in a big way, with the disease generally limited to two distinct groups of men that needed attention: "MSM i.e. the gays, and heterosexual men having casual sex in other countries."
He added, "Of the two, the gays are the bigger concern.""
1. people in singapore have casual sex. 2. since when is a rise of 23 cases in a gay community of thousands big statistical evidence that they should be a bigger problem? 3. perhaps it's just people are getting more comfortable with coming out with their homosexuality and with getting tested, thus the rise in gay AIDs cases. 4. gay AIDs victims are still only a third of all cases, and yet they find any excuse to pintpoint the gay community for causing the problem?
you know i don't think i deny that gays might very well be the problem. it's just that how can balaji go around making accusations with no concrete evidence? because making baseless accusations just shows that they seem to care less about countering an AIDs epidemic than making evident their distaste for homosexuality.
and conspiracy theory no. 2: maybe they're just trying to shut down the Nation parties because they morally disapprove of public gay fraternisation. if they can straightfacedly keep a law that puts restrictions on the very private act of sex, then i can easily see the government secretly having such an objective as well.
skttrbrain87:
my two cents:
for one, the article in st: although yes the start of the article i feel is not the type you want for such a touchy issue, despite having "mitigating" words like "suggest" - the suggestion alone is enough, really - it does try to level it out, and if you read on you realise that the article's real focus is not on gay men per se, but gay men with aids. and with reason - sex that results in aids is irresponsible somewhere in the equation. well, at least in this case, with the stats given.
and balaji isnt really the bigot that some may make him out to be: the fact that he recognises - publicly as well - the need to destigmatise testing for aids as well as prevent discrimination against these patients gives sign that he is trying to help. quote: [he] said the health ministry was most concerned about the rising number of aids patients.
though yes all that about the link between nation party and aids in the gay fraternity is a tad insensitive to the issue. you should never let your personal prejudices taint what you are trying to say.
there's a link between this case and the luis aragones racism case (those who follow football will know what i mean.) i'd rather call him boorish than bigoted.
for one, the article in st: although yes the start of the article i feel is not the type you want for such a touchy issue, despite having "mitigating" words like "suggest" - the suggestion alone is enough, really - it does try to level it out, and if you read on you realise that the article's real focus is not on gay men per se, but gay men with aids. and with reason - sex that results in aids is irresponsible somewhere in the equation. well, at least in this case, with the stats given.
and balaji isnt really the bigot that some may make him out to be: the fact that he recognises - publicly as well - the need to destigmatise testing for aids as well as prevent discrimination against these patients gives sign that he is trying to help. quote: [he] said the health ministry was most concerned about the rising number of aids patients.
though yes all that about the link between nation party and aids in the gay fraternity is a tad insensitive to the issue. you should never let your personal prejudices taint what you are trying to say.
there's a link between this case and the luis aragones racism case (those who follow football will know what i mean.) i'd rather call him boorish than bigoted.
Thursday, March 10
claud:
just to butt into the europe trip planning- if you choose 4 cities connected by train, you can save lots on lodging by taking overnight trains.
also, museum trips are really expensive- my uncle told me it cost him something upwards of US$70 for a day of museum visiting in france. costs are much higher in europe, especially if you're heading to uk/switzerland/that kind of place.
I. must. go. to. Scandinavia. (london, paris, amsterdam, stockholm, helsinki for me!)
also, museum trips are really expensive- my uncle told me it cost him something upwards of US$70 for a day of museum visiting in france. costs are much higher in europe, especially if you're heading to uk/switzerland/that kind of place.
I. must. go. to. Scandinavia. (london, paris, amsterdam, stockholm, helsinki for me!)
wisevice:
YooRope / YourUp
so sue me i reached home early for once and after completing a history s paper [ok fine havent collated it with chunlong yet but his internet's down anyway so can only do that tomorrow] i found out about TODAY am feeling vastly accomplished and entitled to some small dose of daydreaming - so i pull out my pet fantasy; the post-As trip to Europe! -grin.
seeing as how it is ridiculously expensive, perhaps the original extravagant 2-month fantasy was a tad unrealistic [i know that with time this trip itself will sound unrealistic but bear with me for now, im still starry-eyed! =P] so make it a month. actually, if you're willing to work for your money you'll be able to afford it - it'll come to around 7k for four cities, around 6 days in each [give the 7th day for travelling around]. which is only 3k more than the uk trip which lasted for two weeks. so hmm seems like a pretty good deal, and very comfortable shopping budget :D so the list of options [after agonising selection process]:
prague
paris
frankfurt
amsterdam
venice
rome
madrid
london
athens
lyons
ok heh not much of a paring down but seriously HOW is one supposed to choose between these countries? utter madness really hrmph. -goes off to sulk in a corner.
nevermind, my fantasy can remain intact till 2006 :D
seeing as how it is ridiculously expensive, perhaps the original extravagant 2-month fantasy was a tad unrealistic [i know that with time this trip itself will sound unrealistic but bear with me for now, im still starry-eyed! =P] so make it a month. actually, if you're willing to work for your money you'll be able to afford it - it'll come to around 7k for four cities, around 6 days in each [give the 7th day for travelling around]. which is only 3k more than the uk trip which lasted for two weeks. so hmm seems like a pretty good deal, and very comfortable shopping budget :D so the list of options [after agonising selection process]:
prague
paris
frankfurt
amsterdam
venice
rome
madrid
london
athens
lyons
ok heh not much of a paring down but seriously HOW is one supposed to choose between these countries? utter madness really hrmph. -goes off to sulk in a corner.
nevermind, my fantasy can remain intact till 2006 :D
Wednesday, March 9
claud:
Yeats, W. B. 1919. The Wild Swans at Coole:
"THE TREES are in their autumn beauty,
The woodland paths are dry,
Under the October twilight the water
Mirrors a still sky;
Upon the brimming water among the stones
Are nine and fifty swans.
The nineteenth Autumn has come upon me
Since I first made my count;
I saw, before I had well finished,
All suddenly mount
And scatter wheeling in great broken rings
Upon their clamorous wings.
I have looked upon those brilliant creatures,
And now my heart is sore.
All's changed since I, hearing at twilight,
The first time on this shore,
The bell-beat of their wings above my head,
Trod with a lighter tread.
Unwearied still, lover by lover,
They paddle in the cold,
Companionable streams or climb the air;
Their hearts have not grown old;
Passion or conquest, wander where they will,
Attend upon them still.
But now they drift on the still water
Mysterious, beautiful;
Among what rushes will they build,
By what lake's edge or pool
Delight men's eyes, when I awake some day
To find they have flown away?"
I... cannot believe I was given this for an unseen exercise in Sec 3. My lit teacher then must have had seriously overestimated our abilities. Nonetheless I am now frantically searching for my answer to see what I made of it nearly 4 years ago.
"THE TREES are in their autumn beauty,
The woodland paths are dry,
Under the October twilight the water
Mirrors a still sky;
Upon the brimming water among the stones
Are nine and fifty swans.
The nineteenth Autumn has come upon me
Since I first made my count;
I saw, before I had well finished,
All suddenly mount
And scatter wheeling in great broken rings
Upon their clamorous wings.
I have looked upon those brilliant creatures,
And now my heart is sore.
All's changed since I, hearing at twilight,
The first time on this shore,
The bell-beat of their wings above my head,
Trod with a lighter tread.
Unwearied still, lover by lover,
They paddle in the cold,
Companionable streams or climb the air;
Their hearts have not grown old;
Passion or conquest, wander where they will,
Attend upon them still.
But now they drift on the still water
Mysterious, beautiful;
Among what rushes will they build,
By what lake's edge or pool
Delight men's eyes, when I awake some day
To find they have flown away?"
I... cannot believe I was given this for an unseen exercise in Sec 3. My lit teacher then must have had seriously overestimated our abilities. Nonetheless I am now frantically searching for my answer to see what I made of it nearly 4 years ago.
Tuesday, March 8
wisevice:
To An Unborn Pauper Child
this is gorgeous. if i were doing s lit i would leap at the chance to do hardy poems - somehow i think i like them more than his prose, actually. which sounds funny when i think about it, but it's true.
oh oh OH and for history s i have got the coolest title ever for my essay and i cannot WAIT to start researching! unfortunately, i'm afraid i'll have to, until the CTs are over anyway.
just don't want to come to school anymore. does that make any sense?
To an Unborn Pauper Child
Breathe not, hid Heart: cease silently,
And though thy birth-hour beckons thee,
Sleep the long sleep:
The Doomsters heap
Travails and teens around us here,
And Time-Wraiths turn our songsingings to fear.
Hark, how the peoples surge and sigh,
And laughters fail, and greetings die;
Hopes dwindle; yea,
Faiths waste away,
Affections and enthusiasms numb:
Thou canst not mend these things if thou dost come.
Had I the ear of wombed souls
Ere their terrestrial chart unrolls,
And thou wert free
To cease, or be,
Then would I tell thee all I know,
And put it to thee: Wilt thou take Life so?
Vain vow! No hint of mine may hence
To theeward fly: to thy locked sense
Explain none can
Life's pending plan:
Thou wilt thy ignorant entry make
Though skies spout fire and blood and nations quake.
Fain would I, dear, find some shut plot
Of earth's wide wold for thee, where not
One tear, one qualm,
Should break the calm.
But I am weak as thou and bare;
No man can change the common lot to rare.
Must come and bide. And such are we --
Unreasoning, sanguine, visionary --
That I can hope
Health, love, friends, scope
In full for thee; can dream thou'lt find
Joys seldom yet attained by humankind!
thomas hardy
oh oh OH and for history s i have got the coolest title ever for my essay and i cannot WAIT to start researching! unfortunately, i'm afraid i'll have to, until the CTs are over anyway.
just don't want to come to school anymore. does that make any sense?
To an Unborn Pauper Child
Breathe not, hid Heart: cease silently,
And though thy birth-hour beckons thee,
Sleep the long sleep:
The Doomsters heap
Travails and teens around us here,
And Time-Wraiths turn our songsingings to fear.
Hark, how the peoples surge and sigh,
And laughters fail, and greetings die;
Hopes dwindle; yea,
Faiths waste away,
Affections and enthusiasms numb:
Thou canst not mend these things if thou dost come.
Had I the ear of wombed souls
Ere their terrestrial chart unrolls,
And thou wert free
To cease, or be,
Then would I tell thee all I know,
And put it to thee: Wilt thou take Life so?
Vain vow! No hint of mine may hence
To theeward fly: to thy locked sense
Explain none can
Life's pending plan:
Thou wilt thy ignorant entry make
Though skies spout fire and blood and nations quake.
Fain would I, dear, find some shut plot
Of earth's wide wold for thee, where not
One tear, one qualm,
Should break the calm.
But I am weak as thou and bare;
No man can change the common lot to rare.
Must come and bide. And such are we --
Unreasoning, sanguine, visionary --
That I can hope
Health, love, friends, scope
In full for thee; can dream thou'lt find
Joys seldom yet attained by humankind!
thomas hardy
σοφια:
All Hail Good Writers
soph: I wish I could say I wrote this. But I didn't. =(
Few things in the world spread as much misery as a happy, smiling, well-adjusted pair of newly minted lovebirds. Wherever you go shopping malls, restaurants, target ranges you're likely to run into this evil breed, grinning, giggling and holding hands like a pair of lovestruck teenagers. What is it about a happy couple that provokes such rage and despair in its unintentional victims? We could spend all day on this, but for convenience's sake here's a short list of the top five irksome offenses:
1. Cute nicknames
"What are you thinking about, Itsy-Poo?" "Just how much I love you, Frumkins." Listening to a happy couple is like being trapped on the set of H.R. Pufnstuf. Even worse than these insipid monikers is the incessant baby talk — "Ooh, are we a wittle upset today, lamby-kins?" — which, if nothing else, confirms the widespread impression that newfound love causes your I.Q. to drop by at least 50 points.
2. Public displays of affection
It'll be summer soon, so brace yourself for all those smug, magazine-gorgeous happy couples who won't be satisfied until they've recreated that famous beach scene in From Here to Eternity, with as big an audience as possible. If it's any consolation (and it's not much, I admit), the only reason these folks indulge in such blatant PDA is because, deep down, they're insecure about themselves and about each other. As if that matters.
3. Finishing each other's sentences
"You know, this appetizer reminds me of..."
"...that delicious ceviche we had down on Cape Cod! Oh, Frumkins!"
If you're looking for a way to kill an evening, try staking out a happy couple near you and participating in this mind-reading routine (expressing your thoughts out loud is, of course, optional).
"Didn't that waitress look just like..."
"...that friend of yours I hit on after our last date? Oh, Inky-Doodles!"
4. Utter condescension
He's smart and good-looking; she's smarter and even better-looking. So, naturally, they want to set you up with their dumb, unattractive friend, and can't understand why you should be the slightest bit ungrateful. This "we didn't settle, but we expect you to" act is only slightly better than the related "Gosh, how can you stand being single?" routine, as sure an incitement to happy couple homicide as ever was invented.
5. Even more utter self-absorption
A happy couple could cruise by a twenty-vehicle interstate pileup involving a bus full of nuns and a Girl Scout troop, and all the gal will say is something like, "you see the orange-yellow upholstery in that car? That's what I had in mind, only a little less summery." But don't despair: science has proven that "Happy Couplehood" has only a six-month duration (a year, tops), so they'll be immersed in the unpleasantness of everyday existence soon enough, just like the rest of us.
Soph: yeeha!
Few things in the world spread as much misery as a happy, smiling, well-adjusted pair of newly minted lovebirds. Wherever you go shopping malls, restaurants, target ranges you're likely to run into this evil breed, grinning, giggling and holding hands like a pair of lovestruck teenagers. What is it about a happy couple that provokes such rage and despair in its unintentional victims? We could spend all day on this, but for convenience's sake here's a short list of the top five irksome offenses:
1. Cute nicknames
"What are you thinking about, Itsy-Poo?" "Just how much I love you, Frumkins." Listening to a happy couple is like being trapped on the set of H.R. Pufnstuf. Even worse than these insipid monikers is the incessant baby talk — "Ooh, are we a wittle upset today, lamby-kins?" — which, if nothing else, confirms the widespread impression that newfound love causes your I.Q. to drop by at least 50 points.
2. Public displays of affection
It'll be summer soon, so brace yourself for all those smug, magazine-gorgeous happy couples who won't be satisfied until they've recreated that famous beach scene in From Here to Eternity, with as big an audience as possible. If it's any consolation (and it's not much, I admit), the only reason these folks indulge in such blatant PDA is because, deep down, they're insecure about themselves and about each other. As if that matters.
3. Finishing each other's sentences
"You know, this appetizer reminds me of..."
"...that delicious ceviche we had down on Cape Cod! Oh, Frumkins!"
If you're looking for a way to kill an evening, try staking out a happy couple near you and participating in this mind-reading routine (expressing your thoughts out loud is, of course, optional).
"Didn't that waitress look just like..."
"...that friend of yours I hit on after our last date? Oh, Inky-Doodles!"
4. Utter condescension
He's smart and good-looking; she's smarter and even better-looking. So, naturally, they want to set you up with their dumb, unattractive friend, and can't understand why you should be the slightest bit ungrateful. This "we didn't settle, but we expect you to" act is only slightly better than the related "Gosh, how can you stand being single?" routine, as sure an incitement to happy couple homicide as ever was invented.
5. Even more utter self-absorption
A happy couple could cruise by a twenty-vehicle interstate pileup involving a bus full of nuns and a Girl Scout troop, and all the gal will say is something like, "you see the orange-yellow upholstery in that car? That's what I had in mind, only a little less summery." But don't despair: science has proven that "Happy Couplehood" has only a six-month duration (a year, tops), so they'll be immersed in the unpleasantness of everyday existence soon enough, just like the rest of us.
Soph: yeeha!
claud:
just a short post to say that I completely agree with soph on her last post. I went to Ny for the same reason a lot of my batch had- we were too crap at psle to get into RG. ;) nevertheless I envy no RGS girl her experience or her place in the school; instead I sometimes think they must envy me for not being the receipient of 'oh yeah, same old, same old Raffles story' when I say I was NY.
anjali (who was from crescent) blogged once, if I recall correctly, that she was glad of her different experience. 我通通支持她的看法。 我用华语来表达那句话， 是有意示的。
anjali (who was from crescent) blogged once, if I recall correctly, that she was glad of her different experience. 我通通支持她的看法。 我用华语来表达那句话， 是有意示的。
Monday, March 7
σοφια:
About the last line of my previous post, I meant it thus:
Going to MGS would not have been my choice had I known of RGS' existence. Simply because all my life I've been brought up to go for the 'best', the highest ranked, the best as defined by the systema nd the world. But life had it that I went to MGS and looking back, I would never ever for the life of me consider going to RGS now that I've been to MGS. I think it's a feeling with most MG girls. And it's really hard for me to explain. Tis funny, I was telling Anan about it the other day and he said Arika (a friend of mine) told him the same thing. And we weren't even in the center of MG's social life.
It's sorta like, I really don't know. Like I said, it's hard to word and even if it weren't, I'm not good with words. But it's just like finding a beautiful island in the Middle of the Alantic Ocean. No one in their right mind would chose Island X over say, England (if they haven't been there), but when you've been to the island paradise you don't want anything else. Does that make any sense? Ah well.
Going to MGS would not have been my choice had I known of RGS' existence. Simply because all my life I've been brought up to go for the 'best', the highest ranked, the best as defined by the systema nd the world. But life had it that I went to MGS and looking back, I would never ever for the life of me consider going to RGS now that I've been to MGS. I think it's a feeling with most MG girls. And it's really hard for me to explain. Tis funny, I was telling Anan about it the other day and he said Arika (a friend of mine) told him the same thing. And we weren't even in the center of MG's social life.
It's sorta like, I really don't know. Like I said, it's hard to word and even if it weren't, I'm not good with words. But it's just like finding a beautiful island in the Middle of the Alantic Ocean. No one in their right mind would chose Island X over say, England (if they haven't been there), but when you've been to the island paradise you don't want anything else. Does that make any sense? Ah well.
σοφια:
Red, Blue, Gold was held at ACS barker campus this year. It had a really lovely ambience and setting. The palm trees were swaying in the breeze, the sun's setting rays glistened down on us, there was gentle, melodious music playing in the background. But most important were the company and fellowship we shared.
I do not miss MGS really, but I do miss being part of the AC family. There's a sense of security about ACS. Perhaps you could say it's all that 'God' that is around. I was in the AC Barker Hall a few days ago. Looked up, and to my immense satisfaction there sat the words -not ::The Best is Yet To Be:: but- To God Be The Glory. There is something immensely satisfying about being in the presence of God, or at least feeling like you're in it. The past year has been my first in a secular school (have been to christian schools/convents most of my life). I suppose, it's okay, but I dunno. There's just an edge in people here that you don't get in people there. It's well, it's all about loyalty and trust. Not everyone here thinks loyalty and trust matters coz ah, nevermind.
The bottom line is, I do miss the AC community (not even the people but the feeling you get there. Perhaps not in ACJC but at least in MGS). I like Raffles that's for sure. I like the individualism, I like (somewhat) the challenge, I like being considered _important_ (or at least feel it) but there ain't no love here. Nope, no no love.
(And if you guys don't get it, you don't have to. coz I think if you don't get it now you never will)
I do not miss MGS really, but I do miss being part of the AC family. There's a sense of security about ACS. Perhaps you could say it's all that 'God' that is around. I was in the AC Barker Hall a few days ago. Looked up, and to my immense satisfaction there sat the words -not ::The Best is Yet To Be:: but- To God Be The Glory. There is something immensely satisfying about being in the presence of God, or at least feeling like you're in it. The past year has been my first in a secular school (have been to christian schools/convents most of my life). I suppose, it's okay, but I dunno. There's just an edge in people here that you don't get in people there. It's well, it's all about loyalty and trust. Not everyone here thinks loyalty and trust matters coz ah, nevermind.
The bottom line is, I do miss the AC community (not even the people but the feeling you get there. Perhaps not in ACJC but at least in MGS). I like Raffles that's for sure. I like the individualism, I like (somewhat) the challenge, I like being considered _important_ (or at least feel it) but there ain't no love here. Nope, no no love.
(And if you guys don't get it, you don't have to. coz I think if you don't get it now you never will)
Sunday, March 6
claud:
the hist-geog war reaches new levels.
scatterbrain | we are accidents waiting to happen says:
depends on whether i can finish geog in the morning. left my stuff in class over the weekend.
[ ! ] claud /je veux seulement l'oublier says:
tut tut.
what've you to do?
scatterbrain | we are accidents waiting to happen says:
tys qn
[ ! ] claud /je veux seulement l'oublier says:
boggle
geog has tyses???
scatterbrain | we are accidents waiting to happen says:
...
[ ! ] claud /je veux seulement l'oublier says:
how....!
scatterbrain | we are accidents waiting to happen says:
HOY.
depends on whether i can finish geog in the morning. left my stuff in class over the weekend.
[ ! ] claud /je veux seulement l'oublier says:
tut tut.
what've you to do?
scatterbrain | we are accidents waiting to happen says:
tys qn
[ ! ] claud /je veux seulement l'oublier says:
boggle
geog has tyses???
scatterbrain | we are accidents waiting to happen says:
...
[ ! ] claud /je veux seulement l'oublier says:
how....!
scatterbrain | we are accidents waiting to happen says:
HOY.
Friday, March 4
claud:
Frank'll get you.
I honestly wish I could post excerpts from the Wasp Factory here. I just had an eminently satisfying read of some bits that are so cathartic.
But I know what the outcry that will follow will no doubt be like, so no inventive murders for today.
But I know what the outcry that will follow will no doubt be like, so no inventive murders for today.
Thursday, March 3
wisevice:
actually:
it's not hugely difficult =) some beads, hooks, wire and you're set. and it's so fun to fiddle around with bead combinations and create your own one-off designs.
ooh girls we should have a earring-making session one of these days after school! on a friday or something, between the end of school and s papers. just hang out in class and design funky earrings yes? tell me if you'd like to, could pop down to bras basah and buy the materials :D
ooh girls we should have a earring-making session one of these days after school! on a friday or something, between the end of school and s papers. just hang out in class and design funky earrings yes? tell me if you'd like to, could pop down to bras basah and buy the materials :D
σοφια:
The ipod's good. thank you so so much mark for setting it up for me. I still haven't the faintest idea how itunes work but am free-loading of mark for now (at least till I figure out how to reconfigure the laptop/somthing and get a.. what do you call it? Programme? That is compatible to itunes (as in, the thing that appears when you turn on the comp, like, XP etc etc).
A certain scholar has breath like vomit. really really really. you should smell it. now everytime I see her I can't help but cringe coz of that time when the more I leaned away the more she moved towards me. like she was trying to say "smell my breath! smell my breath! smell my breath!"
A certain scholar has breath like vomit. really really really. you should smell it. now everytime I see her I can't help but cringe coz of that time when the more I leaned away the more she moved towards me. like she was trying to say "smell my breath! smell my breath! smell my breath!"