Saturday, March 31, 2007
The Seduction of EBM
Only lazy people can come up with a script as cheapskate as my 202 script.
And I am that lazy person.
Ahh... Convenience is gold...
If all filming sessions are as short (2 hours) and comfortable as this one, I will abandon the terribly terribly intellectual and garang people in CR and join EBM instead. ARGGHHH.
unclaimedpropertyofthecounts
9:18 PM
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
On 300
You know, many professors in my school do nonsense like watching movies in the name of research. But when you ask them about the topic/subject of their research, you'll most likely get a false answer. They'll try to sound nobel, altruistic... as if they are conducting "research" to advance knowledge for the good of the entire human population. Fakers. HAHA.
On the contrary, I am honest. I admit that I went to watch 300 with only one research objective in mind - to find out "Jingshi's opinion on Rodrigo's hotness". I am selfish. I don't care about advancing knowledge other than my own.
But then to my surprise, I was distracted from Rodrigo's hotness.
The amount of Orientalism and racism found in the movie made me even more excited than seeing Rodrigo half-naked. Freaking freaking freaking interesting!
Examples:
Xerxus: "I deplored the monsters from the other half of the world..."
- The "other half of the word" being the Orient half, and monsters being the Orient.
The strange Orient: The weird costumes, Xerxus' too-pretty-brows, his height, his voice, the crab-like and monster-like monsters...
The Effeminate Orient: Xerxus' too-pretty face (can't help it lah, Rodrigo is himself too pretty in the first place)...
The degenerate Orient: Males = assholes... Females = promiscuous, whores...
The dehumanizing strategy: Orients (other than my beloved) are all portrayed as faceless creatures... they either wear a mask, is disfigured, or are too black such that you can't really see their features.
Depersonalizing strategy: No names for the Orient... or at least most of them. They are portrayed 90% as a sea if black, faceless figures.
etc...
Then another thing that got me excited was when I tried to picture the storyboard as I watched the movie and came to realize that this movie is like a super typical graphic novel! (ok I was stupid I didn't know it's KNOWN to be so... but hey I figured it out independently so give me credits despite my slowness!)
When I hear the rock music, when I see the blood splurt and vanish and leave no trace on the ground... I was like... YEA I GET IT.
Happiness.
I love love love love love what I'm doing in school this sem. I feel so enlightened!
But then you see, I was distracted from my original objective. So I gotta catch the show again, for Rodrigo! :)
(Note: Anyway I was disturbed when he kindda suggested that I watched the show for the half-naked men... I mean yea but you don't have to say that right? Okie maybe I'm reading too much into it but still... )
On Being Retarded
I am a superficial person, but I am not a retard.
I know he's a bitch.
And I know by bitching in front of his colleague, B, he's dragging her into a situation she might not wana find herself in - to be involved in the politics and taking sides in the, erm, rivalry?
- But it doesn't matter because B is not my Mom so I don't care.
I know he's a bitch.
And I know by bitching in front of us he's trying to manipulate us - use us to gather ammunition to launch attacks on his colleagues.
- But it doesn't matter because I am aware of his intention and I am willing to be manipulated. In fact I'm glad to share his resentment towards his colleagues.
I know he's a bitch.
But I'm a superficial person. He's hot, so I'm just gonna act retarded and ignorant and do what he wants us to do.
But still, I'm not retarded.
unclaimedpropertyofthecounts
6:01 AM
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Disillusioned
Canteen B.
(The palms sweat)
Cab.
(The fingers tremble)
NY Mart.
(The heart sinks)
Boyfriend.
(The nose twitches)
Asian Boyfriend.
(The heart cringes)
Slim Boyfriend.
(The tears well)
Young Boyfriend.
(The vision blurs)
Cute Boyfriend.
(The hope fades)
Extremely Young Boyfriend.
(The fear emerges)
Ugly Boyfriend.
(The heart aches)
On-campus Accomodation.
(The heart tears)
Very Short Shorts.
(The faith vanishes)
Racer-Back.
(The hope dies)
Netted Top.
(The horror sinks in)
Old.
(The soul disintegrates)
Very Old.
(... Perished)
Bitch.
(.)
But my maternal instinct pulls all the strength I have left in me as I jump to defend the unsavable soul... the last line of defence being:
"But he is hot!"
Then, the physical being disintegrates and vanishes.
unclaimedpropertyofthecounts
12:59 AM
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Division Talk
The division talk today was hilarious.
Dr. D is, as usual, as funny as ever. He's a bit dumber than I am. I count like this "10, 20, 30, 80" and he remembers his ABC like this "C, J, E, P". Ahhh... so if he can head the CR division I can most probably survive in it. No fears!
Cherian is unusually funny too. His collaboration with Dr. D to crack jokes was gloriously successful.
Example
Context: Sarah was asking if JP has any modules that trains people to become celebrity journalists... (she is pretending that she wants to go JP. But that's a LIE. She's going PPC. It's as big a lie as Tinky claiming she wants to go CR, and Kevin wants to go JP, and Janus PPC. They're all going to EBM. The GLORIOUS EBM!!!).
Then I forgot what happened but Cherian gave this very lame example of what a "celebrity journalist" might wana report.
Cherian: "Is it true that Tome Cruise is sleeping with that... what's her name?"
Dr. D: "Katie Holmes?"
Cherian: "Yes Katie Holmes."
Dr. D: "His wife?"
Why is a man sleeping with his wife breaking news??? I almost died laughing at how stupid this example is... so much from 2 head of divisions. I love our profs.
Okie anyway stupid things aside... I'm slightly disturbed by the fact that people joining CR are either 1) Deans List geniuses or 2) Double major peeps (and most of them Psych majors). Meaning, they are either clever enough to grasp the many research methods in 3 seconds, or are already using the many research methods in their Psych modules.
And Mark happily announced to me yesterday that "Yes you are in direct competition with them... the curve system is true there can only be so many As and so many Bs and so many Cs...". How encouraging, huh.
Nevermind nevermind nevermind. I'm already preping myself to become a full time nerd. I can do it!!!
Anyway I suddenly realize that my decision to do CR came as a shock to many people. Alot of them already expressed their disbelief when I told them "I'm doing CR!!!"
But why? I mean... how can you tell whether or not a person is doing CR? This "I-can-tell-you-are-doing-XXX" phenomenon applies only to EBM! You look at the face: tired, sick, sad, geng. You look at the jacket: thick, big, over-used. You get the idea: EBM.
Whatever. Back to Untouchable.
p.s. Dear friends. I hereby announce that I'm supremely impressed by Dr. D once again, and am seriously considering grabbing him as my FYP sup instead of you-know-who. I'm never known to be loyal. I haven't considered LOVE an eternal entity... at least not yet. WAHAHAHA!!!
unclaimedpropertyofthecounts
4:22 AM
Friday, March 02, 2007
Division Selection
I am going to EBM!!!
... if somehow I don't get into CR. Which is IMPOSSIBLE because it is impossible impossible impossible impossible impossible...
So ironic, huh.
So much for laughing at the EBMers since taking 229... and swearing upon heaven and earth that I'm never gonna wana be one of them because I don't want to look perpetually sick and tired and cold and homeless (they stay in school, as in CS, not at home).
And my first choice? CR of course. I wasn't lying when I told Mark I'll be traumatized if I don't get into CR. He laughed, but I think he knows I'm telling the truth.
Another irony.
Because I came to CS despising everything and everyone related to CR. Booooring. Researchers... are they even human? I felt that going to CR means being a freak.
Now I'm gonna be a freak. Because not only am I going to CR, I am not doing so by default i.e. I didn't pick CR because I don't want to be a homeless EBM person, or a traumatized PPC person, or a constantly failing Journ person. I love CR. I like reading academic books, I like the process of formulating research questions, I like looking at research results, I like genging sampling methods... I just hate stats and that's about it. Scary, huh?
Another mega huge change in decision/opinion is directed towards PPC. Believe it or not, I chose CS because I wanted to do PPC. If not for PPC, I wouldn't be here at all (ohhhh think about the things (and person) I'll miss if I didn't come at all). And now, I totally don't wana have anything to do with this division.
Here's why.
PPC sounded so bad EBM seems like a better division to be in. At least they have good instructors, and I like editing. I just hate to film.
What about journ? Nah... it's not like I dislike journ or I heard horror stories about it. I love 102, but the thing is I can't write. Dunno why but my news stories just wouldn't look too right somehow... Hedwig's just kind to give me a B for my 203. I thought I might have to bao it. Haha.
The choice has to be made soon, but mine's already made.
Looking forward to this Wednesday's talk. I feel like confronting the PPC HOD during the Q&A and ask her things like "I heard that PPC has lousy profs... are you guys doing anything about it?"
Hahaha but I'll be too terrified to ask. Skully my CR instructors are present and slaughter me for "releaseing their findings" lor. But dying in his hands doesn't sound like a bad idea. Ha!
unclaimedpropertyofthecounts
4:01 PM
The Seduction of EBM
Only lazy people can come up with a script as cheapskate as my 202 script.
And I am that lazy person.
- 6 camera positions.
- No special sound design.
- Everything within the frame is more or less static.
- And most importantly, just ONE location: An air-conditioned bedroom. With a fridge. With a generous dweller who supplies us with Pepsi and Sprite Light. With 2 beds. With soft toys, pillows, and everything else you need to have before you can fall asleep.
Ahh... Convenience is gold...
If all filming sessions are as short (2 hours) and comfortable as this one, I will abandon the terribly terribly intellectual and garang people in CR and join EBM instead. ARGGHHH.
unclaimedpropertyofthecounts
9:18 PM
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
On 300
You know, many professors in my school do nonsense like watching movies in the name of research. But when you ask them about the topic/subject of their research, you'll most likely get a false answer. They'll try to sound nobel, altruistic... as if they are conducting "research" to advance knowledge for the good of the entire human population. Fakers. HAHA.
On the contrary, I am honest. I admit that I went to watch 300 with only one research objective in mind - to find out "Jingshi's opinion on Rodrigo's hotness". I am selfish. I don't care about advancing knowledge other than my own.
But then to my surprise, I was distracted from Rodrigo's hotness.
The amount of Orientalism and racism found in the movie made me even more excited than seeing Rodrigo half-naked. Freaking freaking freaking interesting!
Examples:
Xerxus: "I deplored the monsters from the other half of the world..."
- The "other half of the word" being the Orient half, and monsters being the Orient.
The strange Orient: The weird costumes, Xerxus' too-pretty-brows, his height, his voice, the crab-like and monster-like monsters...
The Effeminate Orient: Xerxus' too-pretty face (can't help it lah, Rodrigo is himself too pretty in the first place)...
The degenerate Orient: Males = assholes... Females = promiscuous, whores...
The dehumanizing strategy: Orients (other than my beloved) are all portrayed as faceless creatures... they either wear a mask, is disfigured, or are too black such that you can't really see their features.
Depersonalizing strategy: No names for the Orient... or at least most of them. They are portrayed 90% as a sea if black, faceless figures.
etc...
Then another thing that got me excited was when I tried to picture the storyboard as I watched the movie and came to realize that this movie is like a super typical graphic novel! (ok I was stupid I didn't know it's KNOWN to be so... but hey I figured it out independently so give me credits despite my slowness!)
When I hear the rock music, when I see the blood splurt and vanish and leave no trace on the ground... I was like... YEA I GET IT.
Happiness.
I love love love love love what I'm doing in school this sem. I feel so enlightened!
But then you see, I was distracted from my original objective. So I gotta catch the show again, for Rodrigo! :)
(Note: Anyway I was disturbed when he kindda suggested that I watched the show for the half-naked men... I mean yea but you don't have to say that right? Okie maybe I'm reading too much into it but still... )
On Being Retarded
I am a superficial person, but I am not a retard.
I know he's a bitch.
And I know by bitching in front of his colleague, B, he's dragging her into a situation she might not wana find herself in - to be involved in the politics and taking sides in the, erm, rivalry?
- But it doesn't matter because B is not my Mom so I don't care.
I know he's a bitch.
And I know by bitching in front of us he's trying to manipulate us - use us to gather ammunition to launch attacks on his colleagues.
- But it doesn't matter because I am aware of his intention and I am willing to be manipulated. In fact I'm glad to share his resentment towards his colleagues.
I know he's a bitch.
But I'm a superficial person. He's hot, so I'm just gonna act retarded and ignorant and do what he wants us to do.
But still, I'm not retarded.
unclaimedpropertyofthecounts
6:01 AM
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Disillusioned
Canteen B.
(The palms sweat)
Cab.
(The fingers tremble)
NY Mart.
(The heart sinks)
Boyfriend.
(The nose twitches)
Asian Boyfriend.
(The heart cringes)
Slim Boyfriend.
(The tears well)
Young Boyfriend.
(The vision blurs)
Cute Boyfriend.
(The hope fades)
Extremely Young Boyfriend.
(The fear emerges)
Ugly Boyfriend.
(The heart aches)
On-campus Accomodation.
(The heart tears)
Very Short Shorts.
(The faith vanishes)
Racer-Back.
(The hope dies)
Netted Top.
(The horror sinks in)
Old.
(The soul disintegrates)
Very Old.
(... Perished)
Bitch.
(.)
But my maternal instinct pulls all the strength I have left in me as I jump to defend the unsavable soul... the last line of defence being:
"But he is hot!"
Then, the physical being disintegrates and vanishes.
unclaimedpropertyofthecounts
12:59 AM
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Division Talk
The division talk today was hilarious.
Dr. D is, as usual, as funny as ever. He's a bit dumber than I am. I count like this "10, 20, 30, 80" and he remembers his ABC like this "C, J, E, P". Ahhh... so if he can head the CR division I can most probably survive in it. No fears!
Cherian is unusually funny too. His collaboration with Dr. D to crack jokes was gloriously successful.
Example
Context: Sarah was asking if JP has any modules that trains people to become celebrity journalists... (she is pretending that she wants to go JP. But that's a LIE. She's going PPC. It's as big a lie as Tinky claiming she wants to go CR, and Kevin wants to go JP, and Janus PPC. They're all going to EBM. The GLORIOUS EBM!!!).
Then I forgot what happened but Cherian gave this very lame example of what a "celebrity journalist" might wana report.
Cherian: "Is it true that Tome Cruise is sleeping with that... what's her name?"
Dr. D: "Katie Holmes?"
Cherian: "Yes Katie Holmes."
Dr. D: "His wife?"
Why is a man sleeping with his wife breaking news??? I almost died laughing at how stupid this example is... so much from 2 head of divisions. I love our profs.
Okie anyway stupid things aside... I'm slightly disturbed by the fact that people joining CR are either 1) Deans List geniuses or 2) Double major peeps (and most of them Psych majors). Meaning, they are either clever enough to grasp the many research methods in 3 seconds, or are already using the many research methods in their Psych modules.
And Mark happily announced to me yesterday that "Yes you are in direct competition with them... the curve system is true there can only be so many As and so many Bs and so many Cs...". How encouraging, huh.
Nevermind nevermind nevermind. I'm already preping myself to become a full time nerd. I can do it!!!
Anyway I suddenly realize that my decision to do CR came as a shock to many people. Alot of them already expressed their disbelief when I told them "I'm doing CR!!!"
But why? I mean... how can you tell whether or not a person is doing CR? This "I-can-tell-you-are-doing-XXX" phenomenon applies only to EBM! You look at the face: tired, sick, sad, geng. You look at the jacket: thick, big, over-used. You get the idea: EBM.
Whatever. Back to Untouchable.
p.s. Dear friends. I hereby announce that I'm supremely impressed by Dr. D once again, and am seriously considering grabbing him as my FYP sup instead of you-know-who. I'm never known to be loyal. I haven't considered LOVE an eternal entity... at least not yet. WAHAHAHA!!!
unclaimedpropertyofthecounts
4:22 AM
Friday, March 02, 2007
Division Selection
I am going to EBM!!!
... if somehow I don't get into CR. Which is IMPOSSIBLE because it is impossible impossible impossible impossible impossible...
So ironic, huh.
So much for laughing at the EBMers since taking 229... and swearing upon heaven and earth that I'm never gonna wana be one of them because I don't want to look perpetually sick and tired and cold and homeless (they stay in school, as in CS, not at home).
And my first choice? CR of course. I wasn't lying when I told Mark I'll be traumatized if I don't get into CR. He laughed, but I think he knows I'm telling the truth.
Another irony.
Because I came to CS despising everything and everyone related to CR. Booooring. Researchers... are they even human? I felt that going to CR means being a freak.
Now I'm gonna be a freak. Because not only am I going to CR, I am not doing so by default i.e. I didn't pick CR because I don't want to be a homeless EBM person, or a traumatized PPC person, or a constantly failing Journ person. I love CR. I like reading academic books, I like the process of formulating research questions, I like looking at research results, I like genging sampling methods... I just hate stats and that's about it. Scary, huh?
Another mega huge change in decision/opinion is directed towards PPC. Believe it or not, I chose CS because I wanted to do PPC. If not for PPC, I wouldn't be here at all (ohhhh think about the things (and person) I'll miss if I didn't come at all). And now, I totally don't wana have anything to do with this division.
Here's why.
- According to the 9 year fours who participated in our focus group discussion, PPC has terrible instructors.
- 222 was a bad, bad experience. It is a fine example of how a PPC instructor can be screwed up.
- I wana do the creative aspects of advertising, but PPC trains you to do anything but that (maybe I should be in SADAM instead if CR doesn't exist).
PPC sounded so bad EBM seems like a better division to be in. At least they have good instructors, and I like editing. I just hate to film.
What about journ? Nah... it's not like I dislike journ or I heard horror stories about it. I love 102, but the thing is I can't write. Dunno why but my news stories just wouldn't look too right somehow... Hedwig's just kind to give me a B for my 203. I thought I might have to bao it. Haha.
The choice has to be made soon, but mine's already made.
- CR
- EBM
- PPC
- JP
Looking forward to this Wednesday's talk. I feel like confronting the PPC HOD during the Q&A and ask her things like "I heard that PPC has lousy profs... are you guys doing anything about it?"
Hahaha but I'll be too terrified to ask. Skully my CR instructors are present and slaughter me for "releaseing their findings" lor. But dying in his hands doesn't sound like a bad idea. Ha!
unclaimedpropertyofthecounts
4:01 PM