31 August 2006
"In the parallel worlds of Japanese writer Haruki Murakami, the magic happens between the lines. His spartan lyricism, rendered in deceptively plain and airy prose, tends to shade without warning into deep, dizzying melancholy. It's hard to fully grasp the chemistry of this process, and presumably harder still to transpose it to another medium.Both protagonist and story are barely there, but "Takitani" is Murakami in miniature, a brief, precise inventory of the novelist's themes: cosmic loneliness, the shadow of mortality, jazz, the coincidence of materialist abundance and spiritual barrenness. Ichikawa retains a portion of the text as voice-over.
Shot in a wan, neutral palette that emphasizes its protagonist's muted desolation, Ichikawa's film is, in more ways than one, a model of economy: The elder Takitani's Shanghai stint is conveyed in a series of sepia stills; most of the interiors utilize a single, repeatedly re-dressed set. Languid, left-to-right tracking shots, one image wiping into the next, give the impression of a picture book's slowly turned pages. Ryuichi Sakamoto's spare, insinuating piano score conjures an atmosphere of dreamlike suspension, as does the low-key voice-over, which at times trails off, only to be picked up by the characters. Oneiric as it is, though, Tony Takitani conveys a powerfully tangible sense of loss and loneliness. In both concrete and existential terms, it's a film that dwells on what the dead leave behind and how the living carry on."
- Dennis Lim
VILLAGE VOICE
I just couldn't believe my eyes when I flipped open the papers today and came across the review of this movie!! I saw a poster of it online a few months back, and had reconciled myself to the fact that they probably wouldn't screen it in Singapore. But lucky us, they are! So yeah, catch it at The Picturehouse.
27 August 2006
SSO' s performance in the Botanic Gardens.
It's been such a long time since i've been there, since the long trek there for a picnic during crescent days. I forgot just how gorgeous that place is.
It was evening, and it's been dusky the whole day. No sun, just clouds and a hazy film over everything. The air was quite still but it rang with the music.
Stacy's family to my left, mine to the right. Right in front of the Symphony Stage. Prime seats.
The orchestra, like a pearl, was nicely framed in the stage shaped like an open oyster.
Behind the stage, palm trees and lush foliage and a glimpse of the pond behind. All illuminated in a fuzzy glow, which rendered them the softness of a tranquil watercolour painting.
Families dotted the field. Some reclining. Some cross-legged. All with a look of content on their faces.
Little ang moh kias chasing each other around. Girls in pretty frocks. Boys in t-shirts and khakis. A few in their football kits, proclaiming The Little League proudly. Fast friends in a few minutes. Olivious to the music, to the sprawl of people around. Just happy to run, run and run.
Picnic baskets with blue-and-white plaid insides. The intoxicating aroma of red wine.
Then, came the strains of a Beatles tune. Eleanor Rigby. Yellow Submarine. Yesterday. Hey Jude. A medley of beautiful beautiful tunes.
It could have been Heaven.
It's been such a long time since i've been there, since the long trek there for a picnic during crescent days. I forgot just how gorgeous that place is.
It was evening, and it's been dusky the whole day. No sun, just clouds and a hazy film over everything. The air was quite still but it rang with the music.
Stacy's family to my left, mine to the right. Right in front of the Symphony Stage. Prime seats.
The orchestra, like a pearl, was nicely framed in the stage shaped like an open oyster.
Behind the stage, palm trees and lush foliage and a glimpse of the pond behind. All illuminated in a fuzzy glow, which rendered them the softness of a tranquil watercolour painting.
Families dotted the field. Some reclining. Some cross-legged. All with a look of content on their faces.
Little ang moh kias chasing each other around. Girls in pretty frocks. Boys in t-shirts and khakis. A few in their football kits, proclaiming The Little League proudly. Fast friends in a few minutes. Olivious to the music, to the sprawl of people around. Just happy to run, run and run.
Picnic baskets with blue-and-white plaid insides. The intoxicating aroma of red wine.
Then, came the strains of a Beatles tune. Eleanor Rigby. Yellow Submarine. Yesterday. Hey Jude. A medley of beautiful beautiful tunes.
It could have been Heaven.
I've got mountains of problems.
They all catch me off guard and
start when I'm not looking.
They make noise when I'm sleeping.
I've got mountains of mistakes.
They all come back to haunt me.
Every fork in the road I didn't take
has never once cut me a break.
- Mountains
Spinto Band
They all catch me off guard and
start when I'm not looking.
They make noise when I'm sleeping.
I've got mountains of mistakes.
They all come back to haunt me.
Every fork in the road I didn't take
has never once cut me a break.
- Mountains
Spinto Band
25 August 2006
Sometimes, it's the simplest, most unexpected things that make you smile.
Like shopping with Mich and coming across designer threads at an obscure shop for cheap, cheap prices! Haha, how we smiled.
Clubbing with friends of friends of friends, and everyone has a great time.
Admiring looks, and proposals (Not like I accept them. But that's a story for another day).
Chatting with ml and new-found friends in the hall room till dawn.
Gazing at cocker-spaniel-shaped clouds at dawn when it feels like we're the only two persons in the world. The whiff of a new day!
Like shopping with Mich and coming across designer threads at an obscure shop for cheap, cheap prices! Haha, how we smiled.
Clubbing with friends of friends of friends, and everyone has a great time.
Admiring looks, and proposals (Not like I accept them. But that's a story for another day).
Chatting with ml and new-found friends in the hall room till dawn.
Gazing at cocker-spaniel-shaped clouds at dawn when it feels like we're the only two persons in the world. The whiff of a new day!
24 August 2006
What does it say about my luck in like, love, guys, etc. when such things happen?
Yes, that it's a sad, dismal zero. Non-existant.
Fancy living in the same area as someone you liked for years, and never seeing him.
And I kept it going. Reincarnating him in other guys. Seeing shadows of him in them.
Then now, now that I'm completely over him, guess who I saw at Clementi mrt on the way to NUS? Yep, we're schoolmates now.
Just as I had predicted long ago.
sorrow drips into your heart through a pinhole
just like a faucet that leaks
and there is comfort in the sound
and while you debate half-empty or half-full
it slowly rises
your love is gonna drown
- Marching Bands of Manhanttan
Death Cab for Cutie
Yes, that it's a sad, dismal zero. Non-existant.
Fancy living in the same area as someone you liked for years, and never seeing him.
And I kept it going. Reincarnating him in other guys. Seeing shadows of him in them.
Then now, now that I'm completely over him, guess who I saw at Clementi mrt on the way to NUS? Yep, we're schoolmates now.
Just as I had predicted long ago.
sorrow drips into your heart through a pinhole
just like a faucet that leaks
and there is comfort in the sound
and while you debate half-empty or half-full
it slowly rises
your love is gonna drown
- Marching Bands of Manhanttan
Death Cab for Cutie
21 August 2006
white vintage dress
yellow where age has left its mark
shades so big
my face looked small
traipsing around Singapore
a country I never felt i belonged
it's hard living
when your whole life is spent
wishing you were somewhere else
yellow where age has left its mark
shades so big
my face looked small
traipsing around Singapore
a country I never felt i belonged
it's hard living
when your whole life is spent
wishing you were somewhere else
20 August 2006
Well yeah, stranger things have happened. Who would have guessed that for all my resistance to technology, and disgust at the idea of a blog, "Why would I want bits and squibbles of myself flying around cyberspace?! Who knows who might wind up with them?", I have done it.
Why? It was an urge that had been accumulating for months now. I go to my fair share of fashion blogs and all, but I've always had just that tinge of prejudice for personal ones. They just seemed so, trivial. But, you can say a few friends' blogs changed that.
I remember reading ml's entry a few months back about putting out the laundry. White sheets, blue skies, a breeze...and a sudden sense of peace and happiness. I couldn't have been there with her, but reading that simple explanation brought erm, tears, to my eyes.
Then, a few days back, reading through the entries in pauline's blog - a similar post. Fresh, crisp smell of laundry flapping in the wind, alone in the balcony, and the momentary halt as one realises just how blessed she is.
And despite being sick, and perspiring in front of the com on an insanely hot and boring afternoon, reading about such moments was so preciously illuminating.
Not to be overly-ambitious, but hopefully my entries can do that for someone, someday too. I hope I can leave a smile on someone's face after reading them. Or at least plant a thought in their mind.
(P.S. thank you so much to my darling ah mei for setting this entire thing up. I love you!)