Dance Social at Top B

so i decided to go to the Union in the end - but was too 'chicken' to dress up in 80s gear because (a) it was snowing/cold and (b) i look fat in 'hot pants' - i.e. short shorts and the whole legwarmers thing didnt help with the illusion of a slim figure...

sadly, i stuck out in the crowd of dancers because everyone was dressed to party 80s style and i was basically wearing what i wore to class that day... sigh...

but all in all it was fun! it was rather cool to hang out with the tap dance exec people (well, they were pretty much the only Tap people that came... we arent exactly as social as Street Vibe people...) and just let loose. was too tired (plus the music was getting boring) to stay till the end so decided to leave early and go back and rest/do more readings for my essay due friday... on the way out though, i slipped on the icy path and fell my big fat ass. in front of a group of guys who went "Ow that must have hurt". Yes boys, it did hurt. :(

My consolation? at least i wasnt in hot pants and legwarmers when i fell...

Winter is here...

you know it's winter when you finish your essay at 7am and the sky is still dark...

on the BRIGHT SIDE, it SNOWED today! hehe... SO EXCITING! it was almost blizzard-like when i was at Tap just now, which is going to make tonight's social a little hard to dress up for... it's 80s themed and i was thinking of wearing my bright green shorts, tights, pink leg-warmers and so big t-shirt... i'm wondering if i should just go in jeans and a t-shirt and VERY wrapped up...

NO MORE SMOKING IN THE UNION!

wheeee...

iain told me about the referendum results and i was like YAY!

but iain was like THAT'S TERRIBLE!

and i was like WHY?

and he was like BECAUSE WE WILL LOSE FUNDING FOR SOCIETIES!

(hehe... bimbo re-telling of the conversation...)

and then we had this whole long conversation about how MTW can get sponsorship and raise funds! it was SOOO COOL because he was actually going to run for exec next year (and for Sponsorship and Communications Officer) and i found myself so excitable about what we were discussing and all the ideas we came up with.

i think i might join MTW's next production.

and run for one of the dance execs next year.

the other day i was getting all excited about helping nic with ideas as to how he can decorate a room on a low low low budget of S$50 to look like a disco!

why cant my assignments/essays be like that? maybe i'm just not suited for the academic life...

if i was director of broadcast in Mediacorp...

i'd create a Singaporean version of Strictly Come Dancing.

it's a weekly show that has celebrities from different disciplines who have not danced before paired up with a professional dancer and each week they compete in different latin and ballroom dance styles - tango, jive, swing, waltz, fox-trot, quickstep... a panel of 4 judges give a score and the audience can call in/text to vote (50-50) and each week, someone is sent home... the 'contestants' are made up of people like a cricketeer for the national team, a chef and a tv presenter.

it's such a great way to expose people to dancing and singapore DOES play host to a lot of international ballroom dancing competitions but hardly any airtime is given... wouldnt it be sooo cool?

i'm sitting here in front of my laptop typing this...

INSTEAD OF MY ESSAY!

sigh

i'm supposed to be doing an essay on Greek Theatre and the portrayal of judgement, guilt and punishment. i've been reading soooo much on it over the last few days and i've sort of got the points i want to write about but i cant seem to start. do it do it playwright by playwright (or rather, poet by poet)? or thematic? but if i do it thematic i'll be even more jumbled up. however, i'm thinking that if i stick to poet by poet i'll just seem too boring and not going to WOW the marker.

random information: listening to number 1 hits on the radio... and my chicken macaroni soup in front of me surprisingly tastes like the stuff at home. :) i said grace over the chicken as i was cooking it because i was worrying whether the chicken can still be eaten because it 'expired' on thurs though i DID freeze it for a few days before. and as fear creeped in, praying over it gave me a sense of peace...

Satyricon by Fellini

i have one thing to say about the film i watched today.

WEIRD

and rather homoerotic, yet also strangely asexual...

someone was mentioning today (i think it was Will) before the film started that it being a film that has been chosen by Richard D., it will most likely be homoerotic.

indeed it was... and i spent most of the film scribbling on a piece of paper which companies i was going to apply to for internships over summer.

the film is mostly about scantily clad men and women, flaunting their sexuality, bodies, and being totally and utterly weird. men going after men who go after women who look rather manly anyway; homosexual marriage on a ship, which i should mention, doesnt even look like it SHOULD be floating if you think about physics; a court of people stuffing themselves with food that is plain disgusting; someone hand being chopped off as part of theatre (and them showing the stump to the camera); an earthquake that collapses onto a tower of babel sort of housing block; a hermaphroditic demi god who dies from being exposed to the sun; 'fire to the loins'; a barren land with Fellini's signature wind-blowing soundtrack and sandstorms... the list goes on... and i should mention that the people are either fat (and i mean bulging with fats) or super skinny that they are like stick figures and have the most disturbing make-up... brightly coloured eyeshadow ALL over the eyes, two blobs of rouge on the cheeks, painted white faces which are unevenly slapped on so that it looks like it is cracking, bright red lipsticks which make their lips look unrealistically shaped...

throughout the film i was asking Esther whether she understood what was happening because i certainly did not and next to her, Guy was taking a nap. the backrow was chatting and had to be shushed by Chris M., while jake got out to buy a cup of minestrone soup to drink during the screening.

when i got back i went on IMDB to find out and make sense of this weird film that i watched and found these user comments:

"...and because I had read "Satyricon" before I saw it I probably was less baffled by the movie than most people. Very little survives of the content of original story, a few longish bits and lots tiny fragments, sometimes as short as a sentence or a word. All disconnected from each... ...ning and end of Petronius' novel are missing, what we have left suddenly starts in the middle without any background or prelude. And each of the surviving bits is the same way, giving few, if any hints, of how our heroes got there from their last adventure, or how their current one will be resolved. Or even what their current crisis is. We can onl... ...bother making a film of from such a fragmentary source? Because Petronius is wickedly funny and has a gifted insight into human... ...participant in the decadence and depravity, yet judging and commenting on it at the... ...2000 years been read and translated... ...amorallity, but social standards always... ...Fellini captures the spirit not only of Imperial Rome but of... ...doesn't make sense, so like you do in the original, you have to extrapolate based on... ...satiric, sardonic, and visually stunning... ...enjoy..."

"If you're really into cinema, I mean as an artistic media more than as entertainment, you MUST see "Satyricon", as it's to my sense the most *visually* outstanding movie ever made."

i can see the whole significance of the film IF you look at it as a Fellini film. the conematography was good (in some weird ways) and it is true to the nature of the film. i liked the ending of the film though - where the character morphed into a panting of himself on a rock wall and as the camera drew back, showed a bunch of stones erect amongst some ruins and on them had the paintings of the other significant characters.

other than that, the film was hard to digest and the violence and bawdiness of it was too much for me to handle...

the peplum

peplum = greek for short tunic, worn by women

peplum films = italian films with 'strong men' like hercules, samson, maciste, where men are bare-chested and wear REALLY short skirts, fight 10 soldiers at one go, lift rocks, pull heavy ships with chains...

watched Hercules Conquers Atlantis today. imagine a class of 55 students being tickled at the mention of the name 'Uranus' in a film about GREEK MYTHOLOGY. that equates to a lot of laughs in one film.

it also didnt help that it was dubbed with funny american accents and they were saying stuff like 'son of Uranus' and 'red blood that flows from Uranus'.

*giggle*

this is what you do for someone you care for who is scared of monsters with more/less than 2 eyes

liquid paper and black marker - tada! 2 eyes each!

Father me

O Father of the fatherless
In whom all families are blessed
I love the way You father me
You gave me life, forgave the past
Now in Your arms I'm safe at last
I love the way You father me

Father me, forever You'll father me
And in Your embrace I'll be forever secure
I love the way You father me
I love the way You father me

When bruised and broken I draw near
You hold me close and dry my tears
I love the way You father me
At last my fearful heart is still
Surrendered to Your perfect will
I love the way You father me

If in my foolishness I stray
Returning empty and ashamed
I love the way You father me
Exchanging for my wretchedness
Your radiant robes of righteousness
I love the way You father me

And when I look into Your eyes
From deep within my spirit cries
I love the way You father me
Before such love I stand amazed
And ever will through endless days
I love the way You father me

woke up this morning and lo and behold

looked out the window and saw how much my Father loves me...

frost covered ground/trees/houses/cars...

today a tree cried on me

i'm melting i'm melting...

weather forecast for sunday 20 nov

according to BBC1, there will be freezing fog tomorrow and a warning is to be issued to drivers that driving condition is classified as 'dangerous'.

what is freezing fog?

Fog is a cloud in contact with the ground. It occurs when moisture from the surface of the Earth evaporates; as this evaporated moisture moves upward, it cools and condenses into the familiar phenomenon of fog. Fog differs from cloud only in that fog touches the surface of the Earth, while clouds do not. It can form in a number of ways, depending on how the cooling that caused the condensation occurred:

Freezing fog occurs when liquid fog droplets freeze to surfaces, forming white rime ice. This is very common on mountaintops which are exposed to low cloud. It is equivalent to freezing rain, and essentially the same as the ice that forms inside a freezer which is not of the "frostless" or "frost-free" type.

over the last few days there have been sub-zero temperatures at night which to me is FANTASTIC (even though it is soooo cold) because of one simple reason:

SNOW! it will snow this winter! like good, proper snow... which leads to...

SNOW FIGHTS! SNOW ANGELS! magical movie moments... aahhhh... :)

Union Referendum

NEXT WEEK! from tuesday to friday

well, you might be wondering why i would even bother mentioning because i pretty much do not have faith in the president's competency BUT something stood out in the referendum motions:

(2) BAN SMOKING IN THE UNION

please vote for that! i guess the union is going with the recent developments in the country about banning smoking in eating places. going to a pub in dublin was great precisely because of this total ban and it would make the union a much more accessible/enjoyable/cool/healthy place to chill.

please please vote YES to the motion.

have i mentioned RaW recently?

heard myself on the radio today and it was such a moment to embrace.

today's Cinematic Hall of Fame year was 1985 - which started out with me and jen both saying that it was a FANTASTIC year simply because it was the year we were born. had a smashing vinyl of Back To The Future's soundtrack from which we grooved to Earth Angel (When Will You Be Mine). they've started playing Spotlight On Campus in CHOLO!

had a FABULOUS time on air because it felt so much like a family in the station, with mike, matt, jimmy and jen all bickering and just laughing our heads off. it's amazing that despite not seeing these guys much recently, everyone is just so wonderfully inviting and loving.

WICKED.

on a side note, this year has been a year of a lot of reflection (not to say that last year was not). in some ways, the wool has been removed from over my eyes. i was rather naive about certain issues and i guess that it is about time to grow up and accept it rather than try to make excuses for it.

perhaps this is what university prepares you for.

world, i am ready.

dance...

1. makes your calves hurt, so much that climbing stairs hurt... :(

2. makes your abs hurt (because you do a crazy amount of crunches and push ups to warm up before jazz)

3. is expensive - mens' tap shoes are like £60 here! and i was already feeling the pinch when i bought mine in singapore for S$75

4. can sometimes be discouraging when you cant get the step right

5. is not all the glamour it is hyped up to be - practices are sometimes boring and painful/tiring/exhausting

6. is all worth it, from simple exercises at the barre to show-stopper numbers on stage

:)

the family dog and its love for food

i miss this fuzzy little thing - some things have not changed in years... like its appetite... :)

it's very touching when...

... your friends offer physical violence as an option.

"Ice Kachang" by Kopi Kat Klan (CD Title: Laughing Stock)

Yai yai yai yai…. (repeat)

You always say I’m unromantic
Don’t know ways to make a girl tick
I must say you’re right about it
For I am truly unpoetic

But I am not dumb
And not that stupid
It’s just that sometimes brain not working
So I didn’t sleep
Used my little wit
To write this little bit (Yai yai yai yai yai yai yai…)

You are my ice kachang (ice kachang)
In this tropical heat (my heart melts for you…)
You are my favourite dessert (ooh la la)
So inviting, so sweet
Would you like to bo bo cha cha (cha cha cha)
Come along and dance with me (shoo bee doo wap shoo bee doo wap)
You are my love
My tutti fruitti
Someone I’d like to eat

Sha la la… Yai yai yai yai…

Every time when we go dating
First the movies then go shopping
You always hint I’m unexciting
It has been so since the beginning

But I am not dumb
And not so stupid
‘Tis just that sometimes I’m a blur king
So I didn’t eat
Used my little wit
To write this little bit (Yai yai yai yai yai yai ya…)

You are my ice kachang (ice kachang)
In this tropical heat (my heart melts for you)
You are my favourite dessert (ooh la la)
So inviting, so sweet
Would you like to bo bo cha cha (cha cha cha)
Come along and dance with me (shoo bee doo wap shoo bee doo wap)
For you are my love
My one atapchee
Someone I’d like to eat

Each time I look into your eyes
I see some pretty colours, very nice
I wouldn’t mind paying any price
I’m kachang over you (I sago honeydew)

You are my ice kachang (ice kachang)
In this tropical heat (my heart melts for you…)
You are my favourite dessert (ooh la la)
So inviting, so sweet
Would you like to bo bo cha cha (cha cha cha)
Come along and dance with me (shoo bee doo wap shoo bee doo wap)
For you are my love
My tutti fruitti
Someone I’d like to eat

Ice-kachang…