The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

This is a below average film.

Although I haven't read the novel before, I could sense that the film is a rough adaptation of the original novel, with breadth but lack the depth of the story. Gaps were present everywhere, though such peccadilloes did not hinder my understanding of the entire storyline. Well, in any case, the producers certainly deserve some kudos and credits for making the story not as arcane as the Harry Potter series.

The effects did not live up to my expectation, especially when the trailer has done a great job in teasing me. I thought it would be as good as LOTR, or at least 70% the standard of LOTR.

But alas! The effects were egregious. Especially the scene when the 4 young ones were standing on top of some highlands overlooking, I think, the river. The beaver was poiting to them the location of the "Stone Table". At that particular scene, the background was so artificial that for a moment, I thought that this movie was produced by China or Singapore.

And the battle scenes were disappointing. It was done in an amateur manner. There were hardly any battle scenes that could match the standards of LOTR, or even to be described as nerve-wrecking. None of its battle scenes managed to fix my eyes on the silver screen or to glue my bottoms onto the cushion seat.

In short, it was plain boring.

The film certainly lacks the "omph-factor" to keep me interested in the film.

The cast for the movie was equally bad. Their acting skills certainly need a lot of polishing, for their acting would certainly be described by my teacher, who taught me acting, as "inorganic". They just don't appear natural to me.

I am not sure whether the film is a British or an American production, since the cast are British, while it is a Walt Disney production.

If this movie is a British production, then it seems that the British movie industry has a lot of catching to do if she wants overtake, or to be at least on par with Hollywood.

If it is indeed an American production, then I am sure they had either underperformed or their standard havve fallen.

Nevertheless, the movie is still "watch-able" because the stroyline is relatively easy to follow. I don't think anyone would get lost trying to comprehend the story.

Rating: 6 / 10

P.S. Yeah I know that I am bit "slow" and "lag" to only watch the movie nearly 2 months after its premiere. But hey! You wouldn't believe what I have seen in the theatre! The theatre was actually half-filled, and Caucasians form the majority of the audience. So are they equally "slow" and "lag" as well? (Nothing racist here)

如果说水为财。。。

那么为何大年初一太阳公公要那么勤劳地干活儿？

晒死人热死人的天气，晒得我满脸通红，热得我汗流浃背！

不是说“遇水则发”吗？干吗有不下点雨，降点财给人间的凡人们？

真讨厌，每年的大年初一天气都这么热。要穿新衣，打扮得美美的，都一律不行，否则只会惹来一身豆大般的汗珠。

Campus Superstar

I just watched the encore telecast of Campus Superstar and presenting to you my favourites:

Ng Chee Yang 黄智阳

Not that I am bias, but I really like his singing. He's really really talented. Especially when he sings F.I.R. songs. The entire school just goes wild and and frenzied.

Teresa 曾咏霖

Oh my gosh! She did not catch my attention until when she opens her mouth and started singing. Since then, I got so mesmerised whenever she starts to sing. Great singer, despite her young age. One of those rare 实力派 singers you can find in this era. The best female singer in this comptition.

Geraldine See 史心莹

She's so cool! Her singing is not superb or terrfic and that she's probably the weaker singer among my favourites, but nevertheless the aura that she emits from within simply bedazzles me. Believe it or not, I actually like butches. They are one of my types.. :p

Yi Yuan 陈义元

I am so willing to turn gay bisexual for him. His voice is just so appealing and sexy... :p Hahahaha... And his eyes are mesmerising as well. Oops. The best male singer in this competition I dare to claim.

Initially I fell for Yang Ce 黄扬策 because I thought that she's so cute and adorable. But as soon as I realised that she can't sing, I got so turned off.



Black horse: 黄韵琴



She's a little cute and her singing is above average. Nearly made it to my Favourites' List.

Oh yah, Xiaxue thinks that people who can play piano deserves 7 out of 10 in terms of sexiness. To me, a terrific singer is equally, if not even sexier than pianists. My heart will just go out to those who can sing. I am willing to do anything for/to those who can melt my heart with their singing.

Arghs, I think I am just desperate for love. Whatever. Too much digression.

Anyways, the rest of the contestants suck. They are just crap.

狗急跳墙

觉得今年的农历新年来得太突然了。

或许金犬的确是太着急了一点。

或许是因为这几个星期我都将自己沉浸在《黄城夜韵》的筹备工作当中，忙得不可开交，忙得忘我，忙得忽略了新的一年即将来临。

又或许，我对时间的观念又恶化了。

就好像去年的O水准会考一样，直到前一个星期，我才意识到我下个礼拜有个高级华文的统一会考。之前，我还迷迷糊糊，懵懵懂懂的，玩世不恭，还一直以为：“O水准会考还早呢！”

言归正传，我对今年的春节，一点感觉也没有。

是否是麻木了？我不晓得。

只是觉得今年的春节好象少了点什么似的。

或许由于我最近少看电视，少听广播，所以就少了感染新年气氛的机会。

现在，对我而言，今年的春节只不过是一个“长假”(Long Weekend) 罢了。

在结束这篇牢骚前，我在此敷衍地，perfunctorily地祝贺各位：

Happy 旺 Year!!!

P.S. 旺旺并没有找我做代言。

Memoirs Of A Geisha

It was an average film.

Not too bad, not too good. Just average.

It gave me what I had expected. Nothing more, nothing less.

I would declare this movie a good summary of the book should you have not read the book before. However, ifyou had read the book in advance, you would probably agree with me that the film was ambitious enough to attempt to cover so many aspects of the novel.

The book is very detailed. Be it Sayuri's conflict with Hatsumomo or the sexual scenes, they are made explicable with vivid description and generous use of adjectives.

The resulting film has a storyline with breadth, but without depth. Many aspects of the novel were indeed covered, but they are mainly "touch-and-go".

And oh, I thought that the "eel-and-cave" analogy was totally not neccessary in the movie.

For more details, go buy the book. It's around SGD$16 per copy.

Gong Li's performance in the movie is disappointing. Her role, Hatsumomo, is bitchy and slutty, just to put it crudely. If we were to use "spiciness" as the yardstick to gauge Gong's performance, she would be ranked as "Green Curry", while the actual Hatsumomo should, in my opinion after reading the novel, be one of those Mexican peppers.

It was far too mild from my impression of Hatsumomo.

Before I forget, I think that Gong Li's English is, perhaps, just as bad as Zhang Zi Yi's. Well, in terms of pronounciation, that is. Perhaps together with Zhang and Phua Chu Kang, Gong could attend more English lessons.

Michelle Yeoh's acting is "safe". Neither impressive nor disastrous. Pretty bland, I would say. I shan't blame Yeoh since her role, Mameha, hasn't got much personality in her as well.

As for Zhang, I felt that she did fairly well in this movie. Not exactly superb, though, but at least I thought that she had acted the role of Sayuri (Chiyo) the way I had assumed her to be after I had finished with the book.

As for Nobu, I felt that he looked more presentable than I had imagined. Shouldn't he only have one arm and his face, marred by the scars, a reminder of his participation in the Manchuria War?

Anyways, I don't think that the movie sucked THAT badly, but still, it has lots of rooms for improvement.

Rating: 7 / 10

Spirit

Nothing about ghouls and alcoholic drinks.

You know the thing about class/school/whatever group spirit, it is one of those things that is better said/expresse when nothing is said at all.

It should be mutually felt by all members of that union.

默契。

More than words.

Words cannot express such feeling to its fullest meaning. Words are, in fact, redundant, when it comes to describing feelings.

Nothing more is needed to say to encourage the members of the union to be more enthusiastic, more proactive and to have a greater sense of belonging to that union.

If you have it, then good for you, you have it; otherwise, too bad, you just don't have it.

You can't extract this "spirit" from one's heart. If you need to do so, what you will get is something that is factitous.

Hypocritical in another way.

Such thing should come out naturally from the hearts of members of the union.

I never believe in attempting to extract such feeling from a person. After all, the feelings that you have extracted will be short-lived and ephemeral. Would you rather see your union consists of a whole bunch disingenuous hypocrites, or a small quality group of people who truly have a sense of belonging to their union?

I would have forgone quantity for quality.

To me, the thing about "Class, let's have an outing to improve class spirit" and "OG! Let's have an outing so that we can bond with each other" don't work this way.

I am sick and tired of hearing such things. They are, in fact to me, meaningless. Just say it because the speaker has to say something. To put it crudely, it's plain bullshit.

If you guys can click with each other, then you can; if you guys can't click, then you can't. There's no point forcing things to develop unnaturally.

I mean, if you can click, then you can click at anytime, anywhere. You won't need to create an opportunity for you guys to click. It's just to factitious to me. And people who do that seem pushy to me.

Artificial friendships/spirits won't last. I'd rather let Nature takes its course than to forcefully control my own Fate. I am sure naturally-developed friendships/spirits would be of a better quality.

Observations after 2 weeks of College Life

1. Many Nanyang girls are lesbian/ behave like lesbians.

What can you expect from people like Lan Fang, Si Ting, Wang Wan, Chen Yang, Han Yan and Ya Qi? Nuff said.

2. People from Chinese High are shocking me by the minute with their eccentric decisions made.

I'll elaborate in point 3.

3. I've finally learnt the true meaning of "Never judge a book by its cover".

For instance, I certainly didnt expect Kay Siong, Ming Wei and Kai Herng to go for Music and Dance auditions. I mean, they definitely don't look like the sort who have flexible limbs. Perhaps joining badminton will not be THAT shocking.

Well, they indeed prove me right about their inflexible joints till the time of publication of this entry.

4. Hwa Chong Students' Council likes to distract the freshmen

There are at least 2 new events organised by the council per day. It's taxing on us because with all these new events, it adds on to the number of announcements being made during morning assembly, which translates to a longer standing time in the Central Plaza, making us utterly bored. And I mean, UTTERLY.

To make things worse, most, if not all, of these events are made mandatory.

5. Hwa Chong Students' Council sucks.

As in, they are money-suckers. Most, if not all, of their events require us to pay some form of fee. Even though when split among our class each person only has to pay about 30 cents, it's still annoying for us to keep "paying up", especially when these events are compulsory.

*********************************

No, I am not grumbling about the Students' Council. I am not being picky or what. I appreciate that they have organised so many events and activities for us to make our college life a colourful and vibrant one. But the thing is, there are TOO MANY of them. they probably should tone down a bit and try not to make things compulsory. Compelling people to do something will only invite outrage and disdain.

*********************************

6. The school admin decides that J1 students are not very important, so new and fresh teachers are all sent to teach us.

My chemistry tutor looks like she is no older than 20. Two of my Chinese literature tutors doesn't seem to have much teaching experience. And my Math tutor will be on maternity leave from February to July.

I guess I have to self-study.

Evade

I don't understand what was so exciting and happiness-inducing about the whole damned thing; when I was a year-one student last year I certainly didn't care at all about the entire event. It was really quite pointless, and I remember trying with utmost determination to skip as much of the programme as I could, mainly because I thought it was boring and I really didn't feel like acting so chummy with my orientation group mates (hello, I'd only known them for less than a week then, I just couldn't bring myself to pretend that I was enthusiastic about the whole 'We-are-one-big-family-and-we-love-each-other-so-much-that-we-must-have-at-least-one-outing-every-two-days' thing, because I really wasn't. I thought it was damned superficial), partly because the way in which the dance was choreographed made me feel nauseous.

-- extracted from Miao's blog, on her school's orientation programme

Somehow I share her sentiments, to a certain extent that is.

By no means am I suggesting that the friendship that I've made over these two weeks is superficial. I love everyone for who they are. And I am glad that I am blessed with such opportunity to make so many (crazy) new friends who have once shared the joy and laughter with me during the orientation period.

All the fun's ended and here comes the lessons...sianz...actually I won't say "fun's ended" cause I don't really think that this orientation is that fun...though we had a lot of class interaction through practising for the performance, painting the banner and going out to eat together everyday....but the orientation programme itself is quite boring, which was made even worse by the bad weather...

-- extracted from Kay Siong's blog, on our school's orientation programme.

I love my school's orientation programme. And I really mean it.

But the thing is, each time when all the fun has ended, what is left within is a sense of emptiness.

A horrible, terrible and incorrigible feeling.

One moment you are cheering your hearts and screaming your lungs out, the next you see yourself walking home silently in the wee hours of the night.

One moment the school is bustling with enthusiastic freshmen with energy levels that never seem to dry up and graduated seniors who come back to their ex-school with nostalgia, the next you see the school compound empty.

I hate contrast. Sharp ones that play with your feelings, especially.

And the worst thing is that after all has ended, I realised that all the friendships that I've made may only be temporary. After all, things may/will change again when they receive their 'O' Level results a month later.

And then I regret putting in too much emotions.

This is where I begin to agree with Miao. Only that I won't deem that the friendships forged over the fortnight as superficial. They are for real, and I would say, too real.

Putting in too much emotions in forging new friendships, only to have them leaving you a month later, is just like you saving millions of dollars in a bank, only to have the bank announcing that they have went bankrupt when you least expect it.

All your efforts, all your hardwork, poof! Gone. Vapourised. Bermuda triangulated.

And you'll start feeling sad.

Crying doesn't help, by the way. After all, you are not in control of fate. And that makes the world-renowned quote "Your destiny lies in your own hands" bullshit.

I was telling this to my Xin Yu, a senior who happens to study in the same primary school as me. She says that I am evading reality. I won't deny that. I can't bear and I am not prepared to face the harsh world. She said that life's like that, and we'll have to learn to accept it, but I hate to give in to this cruel reality.

Pehraps I am still too naive. If only the world is ideal. A utopia. A Shangri-La.

P.S. On a lighter note, visit Kay SIong's blog,
Kai Herng's blog,
Yan Min's blog
Yun Zhou's blog for the details of my school's orientation programme. I can't bear to pen them down, lest I get sentimental. Sometimes it's better to be cold-blooded.

Exhausted

It's only the orientation week loh. if you can't even survive this, you are not going to survive college.

I overheard this statement while waiting for my turn to perform on Huang Cheng's auditions.

How true.

I am not quoting this to spite all you out there. But the fact that I've been whining recently about how tired I am made me pause for a moment, amidst all my hectic "schedule" of painting banners, rehearsing skits and dances and settling various other class stuff, to think if I am seriously getting myself too involved in too many things.

Being ethusiastic is one good thing. But being able to keep up with your enthusiasm is another thing.

And more often than not, I can't. Partly because I need a lot of rest to recharge myself, unlike the others who can sleep at 2AM, wake up at 6AM and still stay fresh for the rest of the day.

I can do that too, but I don't think it's worth sacrificing my health for that.

It's only Week 2. 50 more weeks to go.

Perhaps I should really get myself "out of trouble" as far as possible.

Because I am tired.

Because I know that there are 50 more weeks to go.

And I want to join Students' Council. I want to join Huang Cheng. I want to go for movies. I want to go K-BOX. I want...

Sigh.

A couple of Vitamin C tablets, a can of Pokka Green Tea. Repeat sequence for high energy level.

Perhaps I should stop my cupidity of leisure.

Rest. Rest. Rest.

滥竽充数

写了很多篇关于假惺惺的伪君子，以及他们虚伪的行为的篇章。如果看官们早已对我所写的这类篇章一点信心也没有，觉得以下篇章又会是一篇被我那烦人的牢骚所充斥着的篇章，那你们大可就不必看下去了。

******************************************

那天在家收看了Discovery: Travel and Living 的 "Faking It"节目，里头的一位来自纽约，没有身材，没有样貌可言的女参赛者必须在3个星期内改造自己，摇身一变，成为一位专业的美式足球队的啦啦队的队员之一，并且还得瞒过3位专业评审，不让自己是个“新手”的身份泄露出去，企图瞒天过海，鱼目混珠。


众所周知，我今年读初级学院一年级，在选科方面，我选修了H2高级华文，也就是我们常说的华文语文特选课程（简称：语特，下同） 。

那你们可能会问了，语特和探索频道的节目有何关联？

因为有些选修了语特的同学，其实并没有那股对中文以及对中华文学的热爱与热诚。

为了种种理由，这些人企图鱼目混珠，滥竽充数。

让人以为他们中文程度佳，但其实不然。

谁叫教育部要给那些选修语特的同学们2个优待分？

虽然用意是为了要鼓励学生们选修这门科目，多栽培双语精英，但是教育部却间接为我国“栽培”了更多的南郭先生。

其实，这类学生，我还能学蔡依林一样睁一只眼，闭一只眼，因为毕竟在这个社会里，不现实一点，不pragmatic一点是很难生存的。

但是，lo and behold! 竟然有人为了要与好友同班而选修了这门科目。

还有种，有那个脸颊（got the cheek)告诉我说他其实对这个语言有热诚的。

连鬼也都不会相信这种屁话嘞！ 探索频道的那位女参赛者可以骗过那3位专业人士，但你万万甭想骗过我。

我也无需小题大做，大惊小怪，毕竟这是人家的决定，哪儿轮到我来插手？我只是觉得愤愤不平，老师，校方以及教育部固然会展开双臂殷勤地，盛情款款地欢迎这些学生，但他们其实却根本不重视这门科目，把这门科目当作“替代品”。

就好像华侨中学是那群考不进莱佛士书院的学子们的替代品一样。

这样的不给你们面子，不给你们应有的尊重，你们却还是那么孬种地去欢迎他们，就好像当年非洲人以及其他地方的土族一样，一看到白人就热情地欢迎他们，结果呢？还不是变成了白种人的奴隶，最终惨遭剥削，虐待，一点做人的尊严也没有。

我不知道有多少人会有我这种想法，也许你们觉得我在making a mountain out of a molehill,但是我的原则是，你既然对华文一点兴趣与热诚也没有，干吗选修它呢？你把这门科目当成替代品，不仅仅不尊重这门科目，你也同时不尊重编写课程的相关人士，不尊重教这门科目的老师，也不尊重因为真心的对这门科目有热诚而选修它的学生们！！！

既然你为了要更接近你的朋友而做出了这样愚蠢的选择，我也无话可说。 命运就掌握在你自己的手里，如果你不介意往后的日子被你这样一时鲁莽，冲动的决定给毁了，而且还是毁得面目全非，then go ahead.

***********************************************************

后记：我为什么要写这么多，要小题大做？ 试想想，若是因为这些南郭先生的存在而剥夺了来自其他初院且又对这门科目真心地有热诚的学生们成功地申请到“语特奖学金”的机会，那么，这些学生们岂不是“死”得很冤枉？

就拿两位学生来做比较：一位在O水准考试考取满分6分的学生但没有选修语特，和另一位在O水准考试中考取7分，但有选修语特。

结果前者纵然成绩斐然，但却考不进顶尖学府，而考试成绩没有那么斐然的后者却能考进顶尖学府。

为何？只因为后者有可能滥竽充数地说自己热衷于中文以及中华文学。

累

精疲力尽。

1个星期的迎新会，早已消耗掉我在过去两个月的学校假期里所储蓄累积起来的精力。

虽然嘴里喊累，但怎样也睡不着，睡不好。

或许是早上的游戏使得我的肾上腺特别活跃，直到晚上还处于“兴奋”的状态。

但迎新会还没结束，还有多1个星期。

我不是在抱怨。相反的，我很庆幸，比起我们的学长学姐，幸福的我们能有多1个星期的玩乐。

结果，2006年的第一个周末，我推掉了两场约会，只为了要让我能好好的利用这个周末为来临的一周充电，准备。

休息，就是为了要走更远的路。

我的朋友，抱歉啦！

第一天

第一天的纯真色彩，它总是永远那么灿烂。

的确。燕姿唱得真贴切。

开学的第一天，彼此初次见面，对于这新脸孔还感到陌生，或许因为害臊的缘故，互相地冷落对方。

不晓得各位是否和我一样，在还没与他们打破隔阂，在还没有更进一步了解对方，对于这些陌生的脸孔的印象总会是良好的。

总会认为对方是善良的，是纯洁的。

我的纯真无邪[你也可以说是“天真幼稚”]，或许是源自于我太过相信他人的性格吧。

当然，日后这些人的原形毕露，我们就撇开不谈！

1月3日，新脸孔不仅仅出现在校园里，就连巴士上也出现了陌生的脸庞。

空气里也霎时弥漫着一股由新鞋，新袜子，新书包，新课本和新校服所散发出来的阵阵“新东西”的香气。

有一种焕然一新，新年新气象的感觉，还真是令人神清气爽呢！

我说霎时而已。

因为这种感觉，只会出现在新学年的第一天而已。

因为过了这一天，新校服也会被学生们从额头上一级从背上所冒出来的汗给染黄了，变成了旧校服；鞋子袜子也会被操场上的泥土给沾黑或被粗糙的跑道给磨损，变成了旧鞋子旧袜子；新书包也会因为长期的使用而终究负荷不了课本的重量，逐渐出现损坏的症状，变成了旧书包；新课本也会因为莘莘学子长期不断的翻阅，导致课本每页纸的角落翘起来，变成了dog-earred的旧课本。

只有第一天是灿烂的，因为过了以后，是我们原形渐渐毕露，窘态渐渐暴露的时候。

在第二天写一篇叫你去珍惜第一天的篇章，似乎有点马后炮，事后诸葛亮。希望各位看官能够原谅慢半拍的小权纯裕郎！

花田大错特错

歌手王力宏延续了上一张专辑的Chink-out的风格，在他最新的专辑《盖世英雄》里的《花田错》这首歌曲，破天荒地尝试了将京剧与嘻哈音乐风结合起来。

结果出来的成品不伦不类，大错特错！

觉得王力宏太过贪心了，《花田错》里的京剧成分与嘻哈成分各占一半，以至于这首歌曲没有一个很明显的风格，两头不着岸，不伦不类。

50/50这种比例不对。王心凌的《睫毛弯弯》和周杰伦的《发如雪》就是中西曲风合并的成功例子。

为何？

因为这两首歌曲里的中国风和西洋风的比例分配得对了。70/30这比例就比较得体，那就是70%的西洋风和30%的中国风，这样歌曲的风格就会较为明显，不至于不伦不类，而听众也就比较能接受。

就好像你在做一道菜，一定会有主角和调味料。如果你的材料全都是主角，那么你觉得这道没有调味料的菜会好吃吗？

《睫毛弯弯》和《发如雪》的中国风并不是贯穿了整首歌，而是在适当的时候出现，比如在开头，和在各个桥段里出现，以做“调味”和“提味”。

然而，《花田错》里的京剧曲风却是贯穿了整首歌，与西洋曲风硬碰硬，相互排斥。

总得来说，这首歌曲可说是雷声大，雨点小。继上一张专辑的风格，《花田错》打着“破天荒第一次将京剧与嘻哈曲风结合起来的作品”的名堂，结果出来的成品却大失所望，乱七八糟。

王力宏可要加把劲儿咯！

BAN AEROSOL FOAM SPRAYS!!!

BAN AEROSOL FOAM SPRAYS!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!