Wednesday, September 29, 2004

Memories

I have NO IDEA why my post suddenly disappeared.. I typed out a nice long post depicting my thoughts and when I highlighted scrolled down the ENTIRE post disappeared!!!!!!!!!! ARGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Fine, I will try to recollect what I typed about an hour back. *Huff* This is absolutely IRRITATING!

I received news about YY [My Ex] yesterday. Seems that she has a new boyfriend. I'm happy for her but can't help feeling sad at the same time. Wanted to find someone to talk to but didn't know where to start. Headed down to the studio after work for my practise. When the music started I grooved and bounced to the beats of Machi and Ludacris, 2 hours later I was feeling much better. Though I still wanted to find someone to just talk and the next thing I knew Mr J messaged me saying he's bored. God!! Talk about unnecessary coincidences! I need someone to talk to! Not listen to someone rambling to me!! Ignored his SMS, he didn't sms a second time so I guessed he's found someone else to ramble to. Bad Company anyway, a magnet to trouble. Only thing that made me listen to him in the past was the fact that we were pretty close during JC days and managed to stay in contact for the past 8 years. 1-2 years back he started his path of self-destruction & none of us could pull him back. I tried and tried till I got so tired but he wouldn't listen. You see, he doesn't listen to advice. He only wants someone to listen to him complain, complain & complain, blah blah blah but he doesn't really do anything about it! Wait, I was supposed to be talking about YY. Heck, to hell with that b*tch. I just hope she treasures her new partner more.

Well since we're on the topic of memories I might as well just pour some old memories out. I've made some new friends and lost a few old friends. To me, nothing is more painful than acknowledging the fact that some friends are worth keeping while some friends [which you thought they were your friends] are just plain making use of you. Trusting is a inborn nature of mine and while it made me new good friends amongst people whom I didn't realise were such nice people, it gave some other people opportunities to take advantage of me. I do not regret my actions despite the nature, I only feel sad when the people whom I've done the thing for had another motive in mind. While I'm trusting by nature, my subsequent decisions can be pretty quick and decisive. At least, I made the decision to stop helping 2 friends - One from JC days and another from National Service days. Let us call them Mr J [JC days] and Mr E [army days].

Mr J and I were not very close during JC days actually, we became closer after he was admitted into a local University and we shared lots of good memories like doing part-time jobs together, fooling around in a big group, etc. The typical carefree, student days. After he graduated.. I wont elaborate too much let's just say he set up his own business and it almost ate into his entire social life. I was among the few he chose to keep in contact with. I ever asked him why, says amongst the people he knows I am one of the few who makes him feel comfortable and approachable. Started calling me like 1am? Just to ask me out for coffee? Well he had LOTS of troubles to confide with. Trouble began when he started drinking and hanging out at nightspots to "drown his sorrows away" AND naive me was accompanying thinking he needed someone to look out for. Slowly I realised no amount of persuasion and confiding can change him. At least, he needs to be willing to change first. I still call on him once in a blue moon just to check out how he's doing, last time I heard from him he's having difficulty with his business and emotionally involved with a waitress from some pub. Sigh~

Now Mr E is relatively easier to describe because he's got a bad temper, impatient, gets involved in fights, unable to hold a job for long, always in debt, spendthrift and a compulsive gambler. The reason why he became my friend was the fact that we used to share a common weekend activity - Clubbing. Yes I do admit that I used to club a lot and get drunk pretty often. It seems strange though 'cause now as I look back I still cant figure out the reason I drank, smoke and club so much. Like.. 4 times a week? Different venues though. Those were the army days. I was an administrative clerk and he was a sentry guard. On our off days we'd go clubbing so.. you get the point. Through the years he was drifting from job to job losing the new job as fast as his previous job because of his bad temper. Things went beyond the boiling point when he started compulsive gambling and when he lost, he vented his frustrations on friends. THAT is something which I am throughly intolerant of. Communications cut and mobile numbers deleted, the last time he saw me I simply smiled waved and walked away. I think he got the message because he did not call back to ask why.

But I'm grateful for some of my close friends from my school, my dance studio and old, old friends from my JC & Secondary School. *Ahem* You know who you are so dun bother to act blur. Huh.


I'll be preparing for a Corporate Retreat cum Training this weekend at Pasir Ris. It'll start @ Saturday 1:30pm till Sunday 6pm. Heck, wat kind of training would we need that makes us stay overnight?? Oh well, at least this is the first time I'm receiving Corporate training with colleagues on a more.. informal level. Not to mention I'm also having jazz conditioning this Saturday morning @ NUS studio. *Groan* Hope I'll have enough energy left to play whatever games that this Retreat has planned for us.

Hey Guys, I am so sorry this post turned out to be a long rant. Somethin else I wanna tell you guys.. I had verrryyyy nice mooncakes yesterday. Guess where they're from?

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

New Police Story

Watched Jackie Chan's latest movie yesterday at Shaw Towers [Beach Road] with K [a lady] from my dance studio. Before entering the cinema I was rather dubious about the movie, after the show I was just plain disappointed.

A little breakdown -


Jackie plays a cop [as usual] more exactly a senior police inspector who's famed for his zero failure records in the Police Department. Funny that they didn't specify which department though they sure get to wear suits all the time. A stellar cast of Charlie Yeung, Nicholas Tse and Daniel Wu have provided candy for the eye but fails to bring enough life to the show overall. My opinion? Daniel Wu needs more time to practise his sneer. He just doesn't convince me as the main villian. When I think of memorable villians I think of Anthony Hopkins [Silence of the Lambs], Al Pacino [Devil's Advocate] and even Jack Nicholson [Batman]. Cameos from Wu Bai, Wang Chieh and HK stunt veterans to spice up the scene so overall it's a typical Jackie Chan film.

That's where the problem starts - You walk into the cinema and there you go. You know what to expect in the beginning and what to expect in the ending. My opinion? Jackie is getting old. Even the posters I see at the bus stops with his gun-hoisting poise just makes me think, "My that gun looks heavy, maybe you put it down and go back to directing." I know I know, medical reports have certified that his body age is still like a 25-yr old despite him being twice the age. But when he comes to the screen up close all the wrinkles start to show not to mention that most of his cast are all young, athletic and good looking actors. In addition, Charlie Yeung looked more like his daughter than his girlfriend



Oh yes, one Asian Actor [Note I longer use just HK Actor because I'm promoting their status to global. Hey, they've been around the scene for like more than 20 years. It's the least they deserve] that I feel who ages with grace and kills with style is Mr... *drum rolls*



Chow Yun Fatt! Why? Haven't you watched Replacement Killers [But the story sucks anyway] and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon?? Not to mention his trademark Gangstarrrrr flick a.k.a. A Better Tomorrow? Go watch it damnit! And then compare!

Right. Let's use another angle of comparison - If they were both dancers then... Jackie Chan scores on techniques while Chow Yun Fatt scores on the style and grace! Ahhh...

As a little note - Throughout the show I could almost predict what will happen next. Villian kills cop's friends/family/partners, cop gets depressed. Cop gets new partner. New Partner injects new lease of life into jaded cop and brings him back to his old motivated self. Cop sets out for revenge, kills villian and voila! He marries the girl of his dreams!! Wow...

*Faints and falls down from chair*



Only thing that pleased me was the layout of the cinema. Shaw Towers Prince Jade 1. Man... it looked more like a grand amphitheatre for opera rather than an actual cinema. I'm impressed actually.

Something for Jackie Chan fans - here
Dun say I'm being biased, though to support my view you can read this article about his Jackie's overall synopsis not just as a an actor but as someone who's been in the movie industry and how he's evolved over the years.

Here you go

Well......... To end it off, it's the Mooncake Festival today so go home and have a simple dinner with your loved ones! Light a Lantern and enjoy the nice moon tonight!

Monday, September 27, 2004

A New Birth

Got this title from a quote by Pamela Brown. She quoted this phrase for the meaning of dance - "Dance can give the inarticulate a voice" [Pamela Brown, 1928] - so by my own interpretation I believe she was referring to our body language. Through one of the courses I've attended I learnt that body language constitutes up to 55% of our "language". So for every 10 meanings interpreted by the opposite party more than half of the meanings are influenced by our body language.

Our usual ranting and ravings are reflections of our issues in life and how we want to get through them, though I'm not trying to sound philosophical here but damn when the mood strikes me I think twice as much as most people. To be frank, I can't be sure that I would be able to update my blog everyday so I admire people who can find the determination and effort to update their blogs consistently.

Well, this is my own personal blog and plain and simple it is. At least for the current moment, saw a few blogs on the Net and the designs looked really nice. First priority - wrangle some information from AM [it's the name of a lady whom I'm pretty close to] on blog templates and html codes. Oh, for your information I'm totally new to all this.

Wanna know more about me? Drop by once in a while. =)