images by onionhead, RebzxJonasxMoseley
Not exactly the most fabulous live performance, but the item did spice up the festive atmosphere of this year's CCTV CNY Gala.
Jay Chou's "本草纲目" with a spicy twist!
I especially love the fusion of 2 totally unrelated songs. And Jay's Nunchucks on drums was WIN.
One reason I didn't regret going for Gravity Unleashed Japanese singing competition was because one of my seniors at VOICES emerged champion in the end.
That aside.
Watching the bands, telling the tight ones from the not-so-tight, it seemed to me that my sitting in the theatre, there and then, wasn't by chance. Though I should say that my decision to turn up was made at really short notice.
Somehow, God must have put me there to remind me the purpose for which I was given my post in Emerge 09. Beyond my weariness in body and spirit I could see, through the eyes of the audience, the raw exhilaration that a fabulous live band act can actually stir up.
We've just got to want it badly enough.
A nice spiritual retreat before the bustling school life begins all over again!
Besides learning more about the Gospels and getting to know the brothers and sisters better, there were lots of other stuff I've learnt from serving in the Camp Committee and as one of the pianists for worship sessions.
One big family!
Camp Committee
Group "Frankincense"
Taking up my first ever stint as a "photographer", I realised instead that I've developed a liking of taking "Camera B" shots. As in...
For the spontaniety I guess.
One downside is that the time for the camp will always coincide with module bidding, which poses as, well, quite a distraction for some of us, including the author of this post who was rash enough to drop an unbiddable allocated module and had to submit online appeals to reverse his error.
Laptops. Yeah.
There are people around with this so-called "Messiah complex", who somehow think they're on a mission to change the world, or things of a smaller scale.
But how does this state of mind manifest itself? I have no idea.
~
I've been noticing you since that time. You're someone who, well, doesn't really get the attention you want sometimes. Might be because of the way you talk, or the stuff you talk about.
Is it just me, or is it some kind of aversion of eye contact that I observed?
I think you're not someone who's unwilling to share. I think you're willing to share loads about yourself, just that this lack of a sense of presence in a huge group is getting to you.
And when you finally find someone who listens, you'll probably, well, pour it all out. And look him in the eye.
If I'm not already reading too much into things, I might just want to say that I see some of myself in you. And I can relate.
I wish to see you open up. Cause I think I'll be able to feel your delight when you do.
=)
My supposed best module was really my best module, and my expected worst module was really my worst module.
I thought I'd be "killed all kinds of dead" by maths, so much so that my heart actually leapt when I saw that grade. Not a very high grade, mind you.
That my best module wasn't my core made me think of a few things, but then again, that Japanese Studies module is clearly different from the rest. It'll take me another semester to sort things out, like whether to minor in J-studies.
Meanwhile, I'm just going to visit the Science Library much more next Sem.
This December has been too short and too busy for me to do anything unrelated to school or CCA. Or video games.
But I know what I'll do come summer '09. I'll draw.
It's an old hobby of mine, which nearly reared its head for a comeback during that short period of time in Army when I got fascinated with the world of Anime and related illustration.
I said nearly.
This time, it all started with my little stay at Bedok Library when I was supposed to study Statistics for that fateful Maths Paper.
I had to seat myself near the Illustrations section.
Along came this guy with a book filled with short indie graphic novels, and naturally (for me yes) when I wanted to take a breather, I started to do this sketch of the shelves before me.
One aspect of drawing I avoided like a plague in my textbook-doodling days came right back at me -- the perspective aspect.
I admire people who can draw landscapes. Natural or urban, but definitely 3-dimensional.
A bit of talent, yes, but it's bound to take lots of practice. And that's what I'll start doing next summer.
I was reminded of this Chinese artist called Qi Baishi. Though the sources were of questionable credibility (how else would I classify Secondary School Comprehension passages?), Qi was definitely one of the "practised" artists. He basically mustered the resolve to keep drawing prawns when he was young, and he eventually established himself as an artist famous for his drawings of, erm...
prawns.
Yeah.
As if in silent tribute, and partly because of the fresh impression from the seafood Hor Fun I had the previous day, I made a sketch too.
prWned
If I go far enough I might just start entertaining that doujin dream I stuffed in the closet long ago.
When we watched Always Sunset on 3rd Street 1 for our post-war Japanese film module, I couldn't really appreciate the "nostalgia" theme (I know what it's there for, though) as it's considered to be a "misplaced nostalgia", i.e. a "longing" (?) for a past that one had never experienced.
Yeah by the way, I wasn't born in the 1950s.
Me and my big mouth. Now in the sequel I got served an uber atomic blast of nostalgia in my face.
I was particularly amused when Suzuki Auto shouted "TEMEE" at the lizard!
Why does it work on me this time? 'Cause I've just watched the original 1954 Godzilla film, so I can even recognise the original theme music they used in this dreamy spin-off!
Ah, in case you're wondering, the above scene was merely the speculations of the novelist character in the story, probably on the day right after a dose of the monster at the cinema.
Do you know that...
Nostalgia, when the term was first coined, was used to describe a pathological longing of home, experienced by travelers.
An ancient vending machine in PGP residences awakened my "pathological" longing for the old Heaven & Earth tea series.
More than anything else, I miss the Imperial Orchid tea the most. And they still haven't brought it back.
"Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them."
-- 2 Timothy 2 : 3 - 4
华川: "...the analogy of soldiers. Isn't the aim of soldiers to 'please the one who enlisted him' - "
在下: "I thought it's to wait for ORD?"
My pride still threatens to eat me up for breakfast sometimes.
I don't get people telling me I'm wrong. But I hate it when people do or say things that merely give me the idea that they're saying I'm wrong.
"Gochisousama!"
During one of the J-Studies lectures our Prof was talking about Studio Ghibli, and there's this logo of the studio in her slide, with a profile view of our friendly neighbourhood Totoro.
Greatly inspired by Totoro-sama and the movie of the week (I'll just very loosely translate it as the Racoon Dog Wars), I doodled the following.
Excerpt from conversation with VOICES seniors about upcoming production.
~
Andy: "Emo rock."
Roger: "死了都要爱!"
在下: "Yeah. We'll let the guy scream his lungs out up till the end of the pre-chorus, then...
.
.
A girl takes over in the same key. How's that for unexpected?"
I can understand the campaigns against the cruel luxury of, say, sharks' fin and animal furs, but calling this
"Upsetting of nature's balance"
while simply accepting this
as "Ecology"
makes no sense to me. Are we not part of the ecosystem as well?
I was at St. Andrew's Cathedral for a meeting with my fellowship for the coming camp, and alas, at the welcome centre here's what I saw.
あっ、そうですね...
I can't tell you how much I love tomatoes.
Tough love, that's what they call it.
"我已不能多爱你一些~"
(God,)You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
- Psalm 139:16
