Saturday, June 30, 2007

New Romantics Ballet

Last night was part two of our ballet subscription (part three I will not be able to attend - The Nutcracker - since I will be in Europe *sniff*). And it was a double event to celebrate because after twenty-odd years, Steven Heathcote is retiring and the New Romantics bill was to be his swansong.

Except he wasn't bloody performing the night we had tickets! Arrrrgh! My reaction was just like the one I had for Pirates. No matter *sigh*.

The New Romantics is promoted as a showcase of neoclassical ballet, but I thought it more like making nice shapes out of human bodies. It had all the trappings of modern ballet - something usually akin to modern art in my mind - unflattering flesh coloured leotards (above), flexed hands and feet ruining the lines, simulated birth....but despite all that, I really enjoyed it!

The first was Balanchine's Apollo which had perhaps the nicest shapes (e.g. left) that showed to the best advantage from our seats in the heavens. Then was Stanton Welch's Constant Variants which I found the most entertaining - it was full of action and had nice maroon/blue leotards. The final piece was After the Rain (featuring the flesh leotard) which was supposed to feature Heathcote. Instead we got Matthew Lawrence (right). Male ballet dancers have such nice musculature, and Rain really needed them cos there was a lot of lifting the ballerina around and balancing her on various limbs!

Actually, I think that's what I liked best about Romantics, there was an excess of acrobatics compared to other modern ballets which made it fun.
(Photos from Australian Ballet website)

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Some things change, others remain the same

Pooey and Spuey have been having great fun together in London and thereabouts (see here, here and here). And to rub it in that I'm not there with them, they sent me some of the silly photos they took.

While I was sobbingly looking at them, I realised - they took photos with the same Beefeater bear that was propped up in the gardens of the Tower of London...

That bear looks much happier to see me than them! I hope that bear has been cleaned.

and Spuey also managed to get the EXACT SAME Yeoman that I had my photo taken with!
It is the same guy. I was gonna photoshop Pooey's face on top of Ruilin.

These then teaches me two things:
  1. Summer light sure makes a difference in photography!
  2. Some things just run in the family.
  3. I need to get to Europe asap.

Monday, June 25, 2007

What I love about Winter...

Winter food!!! I love how cold weather cancels out diets and makes it almost illegal to eat salad as a main course! But most of all, I love how you can drag out the soup! And with a few slices of buttered bread (because any fat intake you have in winter doesn't count either :P) it makes a great meal.

Off the top of my head, my favourite soups (discounting the usual soup noodles) are:
University Cafe - Tortellini and baby spinach in chicken broth
Chicken with angel hair spaghetti and dumplings
Ti Amo2 - Prawn and lobster (crab?) soup
Duck and tortellini with vegetables
Some cafe in the city - Cream of Mushroom
That soup place in CentreWay/Degraves - pretty much everything they have.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Madame La Presidente Rides Again!

I just read Dancing Hula's entry and thought I'd add that, yes, I am once again Madame La Présidente de la société d'étudiant de l'anatomie. I was also mightily unimpressed that people who make up the society did not attend, especially since they are the ones who benefit from my actions.

*cough*

And seeing as I was actually voted in this time, and that I have declared that this presidency will only go for six months, LET MY REIGN OF TERROR BEGIN!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Indecision

Like many other people of my generation and acquaintance, I have joined Facebook. And like all the other times I join a *networking* thingamajig, they ask you to make a list of favourite movies, songs/music, books and so forth.

I am not Maria Von Trapp. It is difficult to write out a list of things that one can call the absolute bestbestbest in one's mind! How do you decide? I mean, the criteria to decide these things are so vague! I love opera but I can't tell you if I like it better than RnB! And then how do I choose between individual operas and arias and whatnot?

The same goes for books. I've read a lot of books, many of which remain with me years after reading. But would you define best as something you'd read over and over again? I loved War and Peace but I'm not going to read it every year - to do so would be sheer folly! Likewise L'Assommoir by Emile Zola which I've read in English and French. It's a brilliant book that's absolutely devastating not something I'd tackle again in either languages. And then you have those romances that I do read over again if I'm feeling like something light. I wouldn't be calling them the 'best' though. I will however say is that The Da Vinci Code is a load of crap.

Movies? TV shows? I watch so many of them, often repeatedly, that that I can't decide. And don't get me started on artists and their paintings. Hell, I can't even decide if I prefer Melbourne over London over Paris over Venice over Rome. English breakfast, chai, Earl Grey, or jasmine? Life is just too short to decide what you like best!

Saturday, June 23, 2007

New Link

This entry of our night out on the town has apparently inspired Dancing Hula to start up her own blog chronicling her nights out.

Her blog has been added to the *links* list as, guess what? Dancing Hula.
Enjoy!

Thursday, June 21, 2007

First he took my heart and then he ran...

Usually I don't like the dance remixes of 80s songs, but I much prefer the Linus Loves (ft. Sam Obernik) version of Stand Back to the Stevie Nicks original.

The thumping beat, the cute lyrics, Sam Obernik's distinct voice, and of course the corny 80s throwback video where the geek reveals himself as a true superstar.

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

The Miss Hong Kong Pageant 2007

While I am a staunch believer in Womens' Rights, I will admit to be oddly fascinated by beauty pageants. I think it's mostly got to do with what and how people define beauty and what makes a person enter the competitions. I've been particularly intrigued by the Asian pageants due to my own racial background and a friend competing in one a few years ago.

The Asian Ideal of beauty is not particularly different from other races (i.e. taller, slim etc) but there are a few aspects that set it apart. There is a big emphasis on being pale. The MHK pageant often has a token tanned girl within the competition but is almost never guaranteed to win a big prize. When Shermon Tang (left) won Miss Photogenic in 2005, she was widely derided as being an ugly *ban-ban* (filipino maid) who got the award due to her connections. While I find her neither particularly attractive or ugly, her photos since then have shown her skin to have undergone extensive whitening. (Image from www.misshongkongpageant.com/mbphotogenic.htm.)

And then there is the emphasis on being thin. While I'm aware being slim is a pre-req in these kinds of things, I think the Asian ideal of *thin* is something a little extreme. Take for
example the 2001 winner Shirley Yeung who at 43kg, had a BMI of 16.17 (height 5'4). I do believe a BMI of less than 17.5 is a feature of anorexia nervosa. I'm not that I'm saying she was anorexic, I'm saying the definitions in the pageant/society are a somewhat extreme.

The reason why I'm writing this entry is because I've been following the pageant press this year
and I'm becoming increasingly outraged by the publicity around contestant number 2, Lily Ho Ngo Yee (right, image source).
At 18 years old, she was considered a favourite to win until the contestants were photographed in bikinis, where she has since been derided for having "wide shoulders, full bottom and thick hands (thick hands?!?source) and since being nicknamed "Miss Hips" (source). People, the girl has a BMI of approx 19, a 24 inch waist and 34 inch hips, neither measurements are as huge as you seem to think. Consider that the slimness of her waist may produce an optical illusion which highlight her hips in comparison? I found it particularly sad to read the translation of this article where after the girls were interviewed and offered beauty and slimming treatments, Lily was questioned about slimming her hips and she indicated her intention to slim herself all over in response to the criticism.

Girl, you are thin enough as it is and considered the best in the competition (until forced to wear a bikini). Being healthy is far more important than squeezing out that one extra inch. Don't do it.

Sunday, June 17, 2007

Movie Review - Stranger Than Fiction

Stranger Than Fiction is the story of Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) an IRS auditor. His life is ordered (to him) and boring (to us). Everything changes when one day he becomes aware that an anonymous person is narrating his life - a narration that he, and no one else, can hear. It doesn't bother him too much other than thinking he's crazy until, one day, the voice says that Harold is going to die. Trying to stop his imminent death, he seeks the help of a literature professor (Dustin Hoffman - best academic office I've ever seen!) in order to identify the voice. Meanwhile, the author, Karen Eiffel (Emma Thompson), is stuck with writer's block and an assistant from the publishing house, Penny Escher (Queen Latifah) has been sent to help her. And so in the course of trying to find Karen before she finishes the book and kills him, Harold begins to live his life fully.

It was a bit difficult to figure out what this movie was trying to be. In some parts, it was pretty damn funny, in other aspects, particularly the message, it was quite serious. Everyone plays their roles completely straight - even Will Ferrell, when he does his crazy yelling mode is completely understandable as being representative of Harold's psychological trauma at finding out he's going to die! But by playing it straight, they too seem absolutely hilarious. This doubleplay is seen everywhere as the plot and script waver between complete absurdity and being deeply serious. I suppose the best description would be that this movie is analogous to Adaptation or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but a little less of a mind-$@#% than those movies.

But the wavering that the movie makes means that I'm not sure whether this is a great work of absurdist movie making or a great dissertation on the meaning of life - how an ordinary person in an ordinary life can in oneself be extraordinary. The things I like: As an existentialist reading of life, it's amusing. As a criticism of modern literature (where the protagonist has to die to make a masterpiece) I think it's spot on! The things I didn't like: I didn't think there's much between Maggie Gyllenhaal and Will Ferrell. He's funny and she's the alternative world to him, I guess, but it didn't feel like something natural. Also, the carpe diem message can be a bit heavy at times.

In the end, I think it's a good movie. Not brilliant, not terrible, just good.
6.5-7/10

Friday, June 15, 2007

Geeky quizzes!

49%

Mingle2 - Free Online Dating


I need a gun and learn how to use it properly.


Mingle2 - Free Online Dating


Spelling! Severely underrated in this age.

Mingle2 Free Online Dating - Science Quiz

Got the physics ones wrong :(

Paquita!

As an adjunct to the opera subscriptions, Laura organised a ballet subscription. Last night we saw the 'tutu spectacular' Paquita.

While I enjoy ballet and don't dispute the level of technical mastery and artistry involved, I generally don't enjoy ballet as much as opera. This is probably due to the telling the story through dance/pantomime element - I feel less involved in it than I would watching and listening to people singing. The emotional hook is there as much in ballet for me compared to opera. But when ballet rocks, its rocks. I still remember describing Grand Tarantella as completely psycho dancing due to all the crazy leaps and whatnot.

Paquita goes into the rockin' crazy territory. The programme was pretty much a number of cele
brated pas de deux and a newly choreographed from from a dancer in the company. My personal favourite was Spring Waters that featured the ballerina doing a horizontal jump into her partner's arms - imagine how horrible wrong it could have gone! But it didn't so it was fine. And there was another point where she was held above his head and spun around, also tricky. But the general favourite went to the aptly named La Favorita (left) which was a few minutes of Spanish inspired crazy. I can't remember who was the male, but the ballerina was Reiko Hombo who despite being only a member of the Corps de Baller, gave a wonderfully tight execution of the dance. Sue declared it the best performance of the night and thinks she'll go far.

As for the main performance of the night...hmmm...when it went well, it was beautiful. When it wasn't it was scary. My high (low?) light was when a bead fell off a soloist's costume - the *ping!* was audible. I was so scared another performer would slip on it during the night!
(Photos from Australian Ballet site.)

Thursday, June 14, 2007

The Stats!

Ok, I've finally finished putting labels on all my back blogs. Never before have I wished that I wrote less. God, it took four days. Anyway, I've made 22 categories - I could have made more (e.g. pics of cute animals) but it was tiring enough as is. So the categories I've made with their respective number of entries (most entries double up) is as below:The *filler blog* category are entries that either start off on something and then ramble into something else, or really are about nothing. Not all entries labelled *movie reviews* are movie reviews but include passing comments I've made about movies (individual entries will stay on the sidebar). On the other hand, I can't believe I've only written about tv six times. That's got to be wrong.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

For those who have been paying attention...

although I'm guessing most haven't or don't care, I've been slowly attaching tags to my posts. At first I thought they were stoopit, but then I used them to navigate someone else's blog and I do admit, they can be useful.

So instead of me putting lines and lines of links in the sidebar, if you want to see all I'
ve written about *food* they are now linked together. i. Likewise if you want to see my pics of Safin, they are all visible if you click on *eye candy*.

Monday, June 11, 2007

I *heart* Supernatural

I know I have written repeatedly little comments about how I love Supernatural. I remember the first time I saw something about it. I think it was was December 2005/January 2006 and me and Pooey went to the movies. I can't remember what movie it was, but a trailer fro Supernatural came up.


This isn't the trailer - it was way scarier, but it had th
e right effect of me and Pooey turning to each other and going *We're gonna watch that!* And Pooey was interstate when it finally aired on tv, but as soon as it was done, we rang and each other to say *We love this show!* and anointed it our new Buffy.

So why do I love it?

I could write a huge analysis about why, but I won't. Basically, it runs down to these points:
  1. I love being scared. And by scared, I don't mean that bullshit like Hostel. I mean by things that I can't explain or are plain creepy, like when a scarecrow moves of it's own volition. The creepy factor - ooh yeah.
  2. Humour! Them guys are funny. Those writers are funny. For all the creepiness, the show is just funny, especially with the one-liners
  3. Pop culture references. If a show combines horror and humour with pop culture, I am usually always happy (Death to CSI!)
  4. The casting. Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki really act like bickering kids! And it's fun to see guests that have appeared on other much loved shows. I still think it's funny that their Dad is Denny from Grey's Anatomy. And Tina did comment that while the guys are obviously the focus, the producers do make an effort for the male audience by casting hot women in guest roles.
This then leads to the great Dean vs. Sam debate.Sam is young, rational, sensitive, pre-law, and very responsible. Dean is a joker, liar, womaniser and happy to pull a gun when the situation suits him.I'm firmly in Dean's camp, especially when he's rockin' the coat like in this pic.Nice
(All pics from tv.yahoo.com)

Happy Long Weekend?

Well we celebrated our head of state's birthday this weekend by declaring a public holiday and the uni celebrated by having a (rare) shutdown.

But hold on! Not only was I in today (sectioning), but I was in on Saturday and Sunday prepping for today! I suppose the only good thing was that I managed to section 4 blocks (10 slides at 3 sections/slide) in less than three hours!

In other news:
Happy Birthday to Glendam, and Khoon makes awesome onion, bacon, sausage and bbq sauce....food.
Nance and RachiePoo attempted to buy accessories for Nance's wedding - no joy.
Nice to meet the iggs girls again in boxy (baked chicken and sweet corn rice - num nums!). And funny running into so many ppl there.

Friday, June 08, 2007

It's Official!

For the last few days I’ve been talking as if something crawled into my throat and died, as well as making strange little honking sounds that mutated into little bubbling sounds while I breathed. Despite the sign that ill health was approaching, with the exception of a sore throat I have felt perfectly fine. So fine in fact that it didn’t stop me from going to the gym on both Tuesday and Wednesday (although I largely did just weights on Wednesday), and Pilates with Glen on Thursday.


Well our fears have come true.

My sore throat that I had been trying to stave off with regular lemon and honey drinks has developed into an upper respiratory infection. I woke up today with that vague kind of chest pain and have started to cough up thick coloured sputum. Nice.


Man, I seem to get one of these every year. I’ll give myself a week to get over it. Lucky it’s a long weekend. Unlucky I’m busy all through it.

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Bai Spuey!!!

The lil'est member of the household has gone out to explore Euroland, just like his big sisters before him.

Unlike the girls, he's exploring Eastern Europe.

He has not seen Hostel despite encouragement from various relos.

Good luck!

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Quick shots

On Sunday we had a nice extended family day to celebrate
1. Spuey going away,
2. Loi going away, and

3. Auntie getting older.
Mumsie made
Bún riêu, among other things and I took the opportunity to take a few shots of Ethan and Amelia.
Ethan eating himself into exhaustion

Amelia already chanelling the phone princess

Other than that, we played the wii (bowling, golf), watched a lot of television, and ate a lot of food, like any good family gathering.

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Friday night out!

Well the semester has come to a close bringing an end to classes (yay!) but also the end of seminar drinks (boo!). So DancingHula, Marlene and I decided to head into the city and attend a Lane Party (i.e. a party in a lane).

The lane party, meh...the excitement of the location wore off pretty quickly when we saw the massive queue to get into the lane and the excitement of two free glasses of alcohol wore off even quicker when we found the wine to be yerky. But here are some pics.

The location and crowd

Some of the entertainers. I found the silver stilt ppl quite creepy.

We three party girls

Our drink cards were cards from the bar secrets pack!

Taking time to enjoy the champagne

Alcohol induced silly posing!

We left the lane to meet up with Hula's sister Kt and went off to Degraves to get food before meeting up with some of Hula and Marls' friends. The next drink location was Bambu were Uncle Loi was having his going away party as well as to satisfy Marlene's desire for a good margarita.

Kt, Hula, Vinh, Lisa
Me, Mike, Kt, Studds, Hula

Marls trying to get a margarita (I find this pic unbelievably amusing)

Bringing out my inner jap posing.

Unforch, pretty much every time I went to go buy Loi a drink, he usually had one in each hand. Eventually we left (quite early) for tea in a warm and quiet-ish place to converse. Despite the silly posing, I only sunk three drinks and was home by midnight! If only all Friday drinks would be so easy and eventful!

Saturday, June 02, 2007

Me and the Internet: A Love/Hate Story

I love the internet. I don't deny it. But I hate it as well - also undeniable. I love how much easier it makes my work - to go to PubMed, type in a few words and have it spit out journal articles that haven't even been published yet! No poring over that medical compendium index or whatever its called. But at the same time, I miss the effort and satisfaction of having to physically track down an article, photocopy it and slog over its pages. Plus, the lack of tangibility that books have. I had to pore over journals that were over 100 years old for Art Hist and referenced the collected works of John Ruskin that had obviously had generations of over researchers go over it - it was that beaten up. *sigh* But then, it wouldn't be beaten up if it were on the net since it would then not require physical handling!

After hearing rumblings of it, I had my first interaction with the internet in 1996 when our IT teacher tried to demonstrate its use and other things. I was largely unimpressed due to the slowness of our school's connection and poor formatting. It was just like reading the MSY site. Things changed in 1998 when the internet was connected to our house via a 32.2k modem. Still slow, but now I could satisfy my desire for knowledge at home! I also discovered email and chat rooms and somehow ended up exchanging correspondence with a US Marine until he got posted to the Gulf (probably not the wisest thing I've ever done).

University brought huge changes in the role of internet in my life but it didn't become that integral as my Faculties continued publishing their own notes and forcing us to purchase them rather than download.
Instead the net became the means to explore celebrity gossip and use a variety of instant messaging programmes such as tetranet Big Two and ICQ to communicate with friends. And of course a way to share our favourite music and to waste time while significant others were busy playing LAN games :P.

While I accept its role in my life, I curse my dependence on it for communication (oh god, life stopped when the email server went down) and deadlines are even scarier when you have to submit something online and you know everyone else is jamming it at the same time. Procrastination increasing multi-fold. The downgrading of print media. The constant threat of viruses...*sigh* But I appreciate the ability to see and speak to people on the other side of the world short of flying over there. How much easier it makes my working life and a myriad of other aspects. From my original dismissal to the present dependence, the internet and I have had a difficult relationship. I consider it akin to an abusive lover - capable of doing things to make me sing your praises to all and sundry, but never knowing when you're going to turn against me and make life hell. And yes, I see the irony in me posting this online