hugo.

so you live in a train station? you are not alone.

go back to the 1930's, where magic is still alive. hugo is the story of a boy with the gift of curiosity. despite the loss of his father, the dire circumstances of his existence do nothing to impair his ability to see beauty in an ugly world. this movie is proof that sometimes, the answers are right.

we're just asking the wrong questions.

8 out of 10!

note: this is also one of sacha baron cohen's better appearances, in my opinion. much as i hated the dictator and borat, it's appearances like this and in sweeney todd that save his soul from total and eternal damnation, methinks.

nebraska jones.

today finds me feeling rather mellow, slightly morose, with a tendency to over-dramatize things. for some reason, perhaps the restlessness of the week peaking, i got to thinking about how some things are so out of my control. i'm sure we've all been there.

what, then, is the definition of living? people cross the roads with caution, the same caution that they believe is the protective bubble that keeps them from bad things ever happening to them. does that mean we are all, in some tiny way, trying to play god? trying to control our teeny universes from imploding seems like a full time job. more so, it crushes the urge to experiment. ahh, the illusion of safety. personally, i question how much more of this mundane existence i can take.

not to say that i haven't stirred my fair share of shit in my teens. but what does that even mean? that because i've had fun in the past, i'm too old for it now? putting it out there like that makes it sound ludicrous i know, but isn't that basically maturity we take at face value?

maybe it would be healthy to discard the belief that the mistakes of our youth sometimes follow us throughout life. maybe that will somehow compensate for the emptiness that come with age because if nothing else, we've memories. maybe.

here's an idea. why shouldn't i be as wild as i bloody want? reason has got nothing to do with the fact that everyone needs an outlet every once in a while.

because every once in awhile it feels good to forget inhibitions and just get lost in life.

snapshots of society #1

so many people that should be shot.

so here is the text that was accompanied by the photo:

PARENTS ALERT!!!! Do you know what teen kids are doing online these days?

We discovered that many pri and sec sch students are active in a particular Singaporean-based facebook group with 560,000+ members and growing. Young teens would post pictures of themselves and invite strangers to "rate", whatsapp, sms, follow, add them on FB and chat up via other social platforms like twitter and instagram

on a DAILY BASIS.

Are our teens socialising and seeking attention actively without understanding the full consequences and ramifications on social media... Many leave their personal details in the open, like their mobile numbers, emails, facebook IDs, twitter IDs, instagram IDs.

Do you think we should be concerned?

PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH YOUR FRIENDS IF YOU FIND IT IMPORTANT TO EDUCATE OUR YOUNGER GENERATION ON HOW TO PROTECT THEMSELVES WHILE SOCIALISING ONLINE.

while i see a cause for concern when kids like that leave their private information online for the world to see, i see absolutely nothing wrong with posting pictures and asking their friends to rate them. they are kids man, they obviously need the attention. more over, parents should be happy about the fact that their kids are home facebooking as opposed to snorting coke with worse company.

who are these busybodies that keep posting such things anyway? while berating kids for posting pictures that aren't compromising in anyway, making a collage of their photos is somehow going to make things better?

honestly, singaporeans. it's about time you guys start learning how to pick your bloody battles.

the phantom deconstructed.

all because beauty is an unhealthy obsession of mine.

epic or what??? finally, one doesn't simply violin into mordor.

yes i did. more later.

cos everybody digs a swingin' cat.

so here's the original version of one of my favorite musical numbers of all time,

EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE A CAT

you know it's true. anyways, pick your favorite!

like how sexy is that? or maybe you'd prefer a lean, mean man-child, with a mesmerizing voice, and wild hair.

haa. maybe an acapella quintet would be more suited to your taste?

or maybe a version sung by four of the same man?

not bad aye. but here's my personal fave! presenting the brian setzer orchestra!

whoever sang this, i wouldn't mind having your babies. meow!
(edit: i just read this, and obviously, this is brian setzer.)

black.

black follows the transformation of a blind, deaf and dumb child as she blossoms into a woman who's soul once knew nothing but darkness. thanks to her teacher, guide and guardian, she learns what strength means.

yes. bollywood. MINUS the singing and dancing.

while many have knocked it, i love the movie for it's honesty, so raw, it kind of chafes you in a way. then again, brutal honesty does that sometimes. while the storyline itself is poignant, what really sold the movie for me was the delivery. apart from the brilliant casting, the incredibly realistic portrayal of their individual characters can only be described as sheer genius. the message was not only conveyed, but put across in such a way that you are aware that the protagonist could very well have been you.

bear in mind, this is not a movie about the tragedy of birth defects, but rather the transcendence a human spirit is capable of. it is not a sad movie engineered to garner sympathy for people handicapped in anyway, nor a movie to create awareness of their "plight". more so, black serves as a reminder that there is is always hope, and that hope, however small, in whatever situation you are in, is worth holding on to.

9 out of 10.

the legend of 1900

tim roth has always been one of my favorite actors, but this is just too, too beautiful. the poetry of this cinematic adventure leaves me speechless and partially blind, due to the bawling i am still partaking in. not a sad movie by any standards, but touching and incredibly heartfelt. (get the tissues)

music lovers, there is an added incentive for you bunch as well. the music is all original art, save for "silent night", works by roger waters, amedeo tommasi and of course, ennio morricone.

by tommasi, i present to you my favorite track, magic waltz.

i know right. ladies and gents, 10 out of 10.

the poor are getting poorer.

something about this song just really turns me on.

doubts today.

"there is the fear factor..

the fear that i will never be satisfied

with anything i achieve

because if i achieved it,

it can't be that difficult to achieve.

the fear that i will never reach

what i believe is my full potential

because i am disillusioned about the potential

of my full potential..

i fear that my karmic lesson in this lifetime

is humility.

i fear that lesson is beneath me.

i fear the future."

in the eternal words of sam harris' jest, lie the truth of today's society. so thought of the day is this: how long is fear going to cripple life? fear holds us back. fear is doubt, and doubt is death. the skies really are as blue wherever we are at whatever point in our life as that somewhere over the rainbow.

dare to dream. live long and prosper babies.

now you know you know it.

while i've pretty much been in my hole working my ass off, the world outside my little cave has been thriving on without me. what i've come to learn over the last few days is truly disturbing. kindly view exhibit a:

even to my some of you who may not be from singapore would see that this is obviously offensive. i note this and whole-heartedly agree. as some of you know, i am dating a member of the here targeted muslim/malay community. this does nothing to ease the irritation and discomfort with the remarks so off-handedly cast by miss cheong and miss tan.

of course, singaporeans everywhere are enraged that some fool would be so callous in a multi-racial society such as ours. again, i feel no different. how we dealt with this information, however, is a totally separate matter.

over the last two days, cheong has lost her job due to her insensitivity, and her company's eagerness to prove they aren't all bigots. BOTH tan and cheong alike have been flamed like crazy over the likes of facebook and twitter. (observation: more chinese people are sticking up for their malay compatriots than angry malay people demanding cheong and tan's heads.) up till now i've merely provided information, but the real question here is, how much of this anger is necessary?

to be honest, while the racial and religious aspect of our culture here is a sensitive one, people sometimes take it too far. while cheong and tan have obviously crossed a line here, it's a fact that we are all offensive at one point or another, be it a personal attack or a blanket judgement on a whole community.

take me, a 22 year old with a multi-racial social circle. i readily admit that i haze my friends about their race, among other things, from time to time (those that are comfortable enough in their own skin, of course. i'm not completely tactless.), much like they make fun of my chinky-ness. this does not mean that we discriminate, it's just a manifestation of our opinions projected in a sometimes offensive manner. while that is nothing to condone, it's not something to overreact about.

at this point, most of you are wondering if i think that being overtly expressive, ala cheong/tan, is okayy. the answer is, of course, no. but to be publicly persecuted as such, to the point of causing someone's loss of income, is a bit too much. some of you may argue that by posting such comments on such an accessible platform, they're asking for it. just a thought: no one asks to lose their job, or for a break up, or for their candy dropping on the floor. bad things happen, but some of them we happen to have control of.

what i am so trying so desperately to say is that, people, get real. there are always going to be idiots who are going to be opinionated. what i believe the solution to be is simple. just ignore them. these are obviously cries for attention, so why enhance their drab lives by giving it to them? our very hope in telling these morons off are that they will stop feeling this way. much like a parent tells a child to be an engineer rather than the next britney spears.

lesson:

a fool may be worthy of his namesake,

but he still deserves his dreams

and reserves his right to his opinions.

ahh well.

another way to look at it, i suppose, is that nothing more can be done. let's just hope they have the good sense not to reproduce. of course, seeing idiots are what they are, they probably don't know not to do that.

parting thought: