Scattered Thoughts

Hmm...rereading the last entry, I was too harsh on the DS. In the capable hands of a TSD student it should be able to reach a performance-standard of some sort, even if it isn't the sterling standards that I've come to associate with them. Heh, maybe I was spoiled with all the brilliant performances I've seen so far coming out of there. But TSD or not, all actors face the same problems with communication and portrayal. All very post-modern things. The thing that will set them apart is how they decide to approach and solve the problem. I await eagerly whatever Grace has up her sleeve =) At any rate, I'd rather help all week with her DS than sit the common tests. But at least her actual performance (calling it an exam would cheapen it) would be on Thu, which is just perfect timing for us (it's the first time I've heard of Humans pple finishing exams before the Science guys =P)

Been doing up notes today, and yet it feels like I've wasted a lot of time today. Played SimCity for the whole morning, because I corrected a bug in the programme and now I can build the big buildings =P Heh, I wouldn't mind taking urban planning in Uni, but I don't have the required foundation. So I guess my megalomaniac tendancies will have to be restricted to fake virtual landscapes =P Anyway, it seems like finally people are loosening up with their notes. Received Mr. Sowden's macroeconomy notes which effectively make my ones obsolete =P And Chun Long's Crisis of Communism notes are great...I daresay even more useful than my own notes. It's nice to see signs that other people will be generous too. That's the entire idea of the whole Super Duper exercise anyway, to maximise the utility of every piece of notes.

Guitar is in better straits now...some of the SYF pple quit on their own accord, so we have to cut less people by force. And Yu Hsin is back in the conductor's chair, which means a more rigorous practice, which at this stage is eminently more satisfying. I guess right now I won't feel like we've done something constructive during prac unless no one is condescending with us and will tell us our faults straight up. Anyway, it feels like we're going places, what with a surprising level of literary analysis being carried out on the piece of music. It's the first time I've seen it done on notes, and it's quite fascinating. And we actually sound not too bad right now, from the perspective of the audience. Trying to listen to the whole ensemble from within doesn't yield reliable results at all.

Met up with the Pre U Sem people on Tue night at J8 for dinner at where else but Pastamania =P Well, there were only Chiat Ying, Rash, Gerard, Shawn, Saw Hoon and me, but it was grand to see them all again anyway. Somehow it feels more homey to be with them, and that's a nice change from the usual crowd of RJ/VJ/HC people. All you people are great to be with, to be sure, but after a term, it feels like I'm getting divorced from real people, if you know what I mean. No offence, of course. It's just a different kind of appeal...the ease of unassuming simple chatting, no ulterior motives. And it's humbling in its own way. One must be reminded what normal people's lives are like. Puts things in perspective. It reminded me that I'm quite incapable of carrying out a conversation in slang, and on their wavelength - and that is quite a life skill worth knowing.

I can't really pin down why they are so lovable. Hehheh, it was memorable, that moment when we were all laughing at our antics on the last night of Pre U Sem...that Mission Impossible scenario of sneaking back to our dorms =P It's something to do with the believability, and simplicity, of how they see and do things. It's times like these when the importance of simplicity is brought out. Perfection lies there, after all.

Hmph. And this is juxtaposed with the Lit Wings' publication. I'm sorry if I sound sardonic about that, but the longer this thing drags, the less regard I have for it. The issue is not that I'd like more of my stuff published (though I won't deny that it hurt for a moment to know that Cyril Wong rejected Violinist, but I can't really blame him for that, now can I?) - that would be too petty. But it's just that everything is turning so pretentious. I mean...Cyril Wong's forward is just condescending, really, and lots of the poet bios are so prim and proper...it's as if we were actually printing good poetry.

Now I'm of the stand that local poetry is actually better than we give it credit for...the hidden talents in all the Humans classes of all the JCs just give evidence to this. But I think we shouldn't take to any pretensions that local poetry is good. The biggest problem with this publication, I think, is that people take it way too seriously. I mean, is this anthology really an important milestone in the history of Singaporean youth literature? To make it sound good is a big mistake, I think, because we simply don't have the substance to stand up to detailed analysis. Rather, we should take a more lighthearted approach...it's the usual tactic, to be funny if you can't be good. At this rate it's just becoming one pretentious piece of work. I don't particularly feel proud that I'm being published under these circumstances (heck, we actually have to pay the publisher to print us!). If things go on like this I may not recommend anyone actually spending money on it.

Bleah...okay, enough ranting. Tomorrow will meet up with the Texprog people, which will be excellent. That train of thought has set me off on a trail for all the songs that have meaning for me, basically because they're attached to the trips that I've made. Each trip has its share of memorable songs...

Yunnan - Guan Huai Fang Shi, Peng You
OBS - Peng You again (CHS pple always revert to this song)
Frexprog One - Life is a Road, Angel
Texprog - Sun Yanzi's Wo Ye Hen Xiang Ta

The last one is a favourite for the moment. It has an excellent music video, because apparently it's the OST for a Japanese movie about this girl who knows that she has exactly one day to live, and her and her fiance spend the day touring Japan and trying to avoid death. She eventually collapses in the airport, in a particularly heartwrenching tableau. I remember watching that music video on the last days of Texprog, when we were staying at the hostel, cos it was like the rage at that point in time in Taiwan. And falling asleep on our night vigil, and feeling intensely sad because this song was so appropriate and timely. It's the profound sadness that you can only get from making fast and simple friends and having to be separated from them indefinitely after a short and intense period of togetherness.

pondered by phoenican @ 17.3.05