Monday, March 28, 2005
(by Madonna)
You wouldn't let me say the words I longed to say
You didn't want to see life through my eyes
You tried to shove me back inside your narrow room
And silence me with bitterness and lies
Did I say something wrong?
Oops, I didn't know I couldn't talk about sex
Did I stay too long?
Oops, I didn't know I couldn't speak my mind
And I'm not sorry
It's human nature
And I'm not sorry
I'm not your bitch don't hang your shit on me
You punished me for telling you my fantasies
I'm breakin' all the rules I didn't make
You took my words and made a trap for silly fools
You held me down and tried to make me break
Did I say something true?
Oops, I didn't know I couldn't talk about sex
Did I have a point of view?
Oops, I didn't know I couldn't talk about you
And I'm not sorry
It's human nature
And I'm not sorry
I'm not your bitch don't hang your shit on me
[I'm not apologizing]
[Would it sound better if I were a man?]
[You're the one with the problem]
[Why don't you just deal with it]
[I don't have to justify anything]
[I'm just like you]
[Why should I be?]
[Deal with it]
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Saturday, March 26, 2005
However, after watching the documentary (I think it was called "The Control Room"), you've got these guys who are former BBC reporters in the station, and the senior producer actually hopes he can send his kids to the US to study and he can "exchange the Arab nightmare for the American dream". What anti-American sentiment? The only thing they seem to really hate about America is the way Bush is just screwing up these people's lives with his stupid "smoke them out of their holes" strategy (which basically translates to bomb everything in sight and out of sight, and if we drop enough bombs maybe we'll hit them). And then there's Hassan Ibrahim (I believe he also uttered the immortal "Democratize or I'll shoot you."), former journalist for BBC's Arab News service, who asserts that he has absolute faith in the American people, and that "the United States will stop the United States Empire".
It's like what the US Marines Corp Comms officer said, that every station is just reporting for their people. I mean, these guys are there and they're watching their people die. You expect them to be shiny happy people asking you questions politely when your commarades are out there bombing their country into smithereens? There was plenty of anti-MidEast sentiment on the media when 9/11 happened, so what makes Americans so justified to say they're not in the wrong?
Sometimes I think America is completely delusional. They think the world bloody revolves around them or something. Look at the kind of arguments they put out; EU can't sell arms to China, 'cause that would "threaten U.S. security interests". WTF? And the US happily building up their own military power isn't threatening the security interests of other countries? Fascinating logic. And the next thing you know, Bush is going to be reading very sincerely from his script about how Osama bin Laden is suspected to have spent the last few months digging an underground tunnel through one of his caves, and now he's in North Korea convincing them to use weapons of mass destruction on the US.
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Tuesday, March 22, 2005
As you can imagine, my mind has been chasing its tail around the whole day since then. Giving me a massive headache.
And now I shall attempt to go back to doing my work while my annoying mind overloads itself and yaps constantly in my head. I leave you with this snippet of conversation:
"I got very bored and depressed, so I went and plugged myself into [the ship]'s external computer feed. I talked to the computer at great length, and explained my view of the universe to it," said Marvin.
"And what happened?" pressed Ford.
"It committed suicide," said Marvin.
(Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy)
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Sunday, March 20, 2005
| You scored as Buddhism. Your beliefs most closely resemble those of Buddhism. Do more research on Buddhism and possibly consider becoming Buddhist, if you are not already. In Buddhism, there are Four Noble Truths: (1) Life is suffering. (2) All suffering is caused by ignorance of the nature of reality and the craving, attachment, and grasping that result from such ignorance. (3) Suffering can be ended by overcoming ignorance and attachment. (4) The path to the suppression of suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path, which consists of right views, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right-mindedness, and right contemplation. These eight are usually divided into three categories that base the Buddhist faith: morality, wisdom, and samadhi, or concentration. In Buddhism, there is no hierarchy, nor caste system; the Buddha taught that one's spiritual worth is not based on birth.
Which religion is the right one for you? (new version) created with QuizFarm.com |
| Check out this short film! It's written, directed, produced, and edited by my friend Jacen, who also acted in it and composed the music. Good stuff. Got into finals of the SAE National Film Fest 2005 and a mention on Mr. Brown's blog too. The film is in Singlish/Chinese/Hokkien, but it's got English subtitles.
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Saturday, March 19, 2005
Like the ubiquitous candy "conversation" hearts, "BitterSweets(tm)" are made of flavored, chalky-tasting sugar and sport messages on their faces. But unlike other candy hearts, ours are stamped with bitter musings and mockeries perfectly suited to the dejected spirits of those who will spend the holiday alone, or wishing they were.
"BitterSweets(tm)" are the perfect gift for you OR for someone you love, especially if that special someone is one who doesn't want to hurt your feelings but just doesn't feel that way about you but still wants to be friends so they can torment you with stories about their crushes on someone who doesn't appreciate them like you do, can't love them like you can, and actually takes pleasure in corralling a herd of fawning "just friends" behind themselves as they indulge in one self-destructive relationship after another, with no hope of ever finding true love, despite an army of souls eager to lavish it upon them.
(You know what we're talking about.)
Supplies are limited. But the pain that accompanies them may not be.
Available in two distinct options. Multi-colored, multi-flavored hearts (tastes like five different types of chalk!) and also in white breath mints.
*ROTFL*... I love Despair.com
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Sunday, March 13, 2005
Back to the grindstone.
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Thursday, March 10, 2005
First of all - someone should tell him that three-legged thing called a tripod is supposed to help you keep the camera steady. It's not for shoving up your ass - which might have been what the moron did 'cause that would certainly explain the Blair-Witch-Project wannabe camera motions.
Aside from the fact that the guy apparently has Parkinson's Disease and had an epileptic fit for most of the concert, he also focused on the wrong people (like not having the solo singer in view at all), focused on the same people for the entire musical so that I hardly saw myself, and is incapable of zooming in and out smoothly, or panning smoothly. For that matter, he can't even keep two stationary people in focus. I suspect a trained chimpanzee could have done a better job.
Last but definitely not least, the editing. Never mind the erroneous, ugly subtitles. Never mind the missing starting of "Here, There, Everywhere" because they were changing tape or something. Never mind the inconsistent colour tone and lousy image quality. They inserted techno music for the credits. This is a choir concert, for crying out loud! What does the guy have in place of his brains, saline solution?! And he refuses to give us the original footage.
And then they had the absolute temerity to charge us $60 for it. An absolute disgrace - you have no idea how utterly depressing it is to consider that these idiots belong to the same species as me. It's one thing to be feckless and useless, and another thing be so inept when you're doing this for a client... if there were a Consumers' Association in this freaking place, I'd sue the skins off these imbeciles. We should have just left the camera on a tripod, at least it would be steady.
Someone should yank the balls of these guys over their heads and then hoist them up a flagpole by their own innards as a warning to others and to appease the Gods of Videography or whatever. In fact, give me their addresses and I'll do it.
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Sunday, March 06, 2005
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Saturday, March 05, 2005
An Arundel Tomb
(by Philip Larkin)
Side by side, their faces blurred,
The earl and countess lie in stone,
Their proper habits vaguely shown
As jointed armour, stiffened pleat,
And that faint hint of the absurd -
The little dogs under their feet.
Such plainness of the pre-baroque
Hardly involves the eye, until
It meets his left-hand gauntlet, still
Clasped empty in the other; and
One sees, with a sharp tender shock,
His hand withdrawn, holding her hand.
They would not think to lie so long.
Such faithfulness in effigy
Was just a detail friends would see:
A sculptor's sweet commissioned grace
Thrown off in helping to prolong
The Latin names around the base.
They would not guess how early in
Their supine stationary voyage
The air would change to soundless damage,
Turn the old tenantry away;
How soon succeeding eyes begin
To look, not read. Rigidly, they
Persisted, linked, through lengths and breadths
Of time. Snow fell, undated. Light
Each summer thronged the glass. A bright
Litter of birdcalls strewed the same
Bone-riddled ground. And up the paths
The endless altered people came,
Washing at their identity.
Now, helpless in the hollow of
An unarmorial age, a trough
Of smoke in slow suspended skeins
Above their scrap of history,
Only an attitude remains:
Time has transfigured them into
Untruth. The stone fidelity
They hardly meant has come to be
Their final blazon, and to prove
Our almost-instinct almost true:
What will survive of us is love.
And you know what is the saddest thing about this poem? That in the end it's only an "almost".
Another random poetry post! Was suddenly reminded of this poem by a comment someone else made on a friend's LJ. And I also feel a need to point out that Larkin's technique of using that phrase as the last line of this poem very artfully sums up his argument - that if you don't pay attention to the details and only see the beautiful things that stand out (like the last line of a poem), then you only see the beautiful things and fail to notice the sad truth of reality. < / end random snippet of literary criticism >
Anyway it's my dad's bday today. Happy Bday Dad~ =D
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