Back To The Cinema, People

So I've been jobless for over 6 months now. Sucks to be broke. Sucks even more to have to depend on my mother to give me money. But still I survive on pocket money.

Okay, a little confession here. I admit I've been making 'illegal' purchases electronically with my mother's card. Just a CD here and there, and pricey magazines every now and then. Call it self-delusional, but I can easily convince myself that my purchases are worthwhile and non-impulsive.

I mean, I heard Sia Furler's song, fell in love with her VOICE, found out she's gay, fell in love with HER; so it's only normal that I go down to HMV (almost) immediately to get her album, right?

So anyways, I've a guaranteed payroll at the end of May, that's for sure.

The haircut I got was almost like a burden lifted off me. I felt damned shiok after the cut! It's like all-the-boys-and-girls-on-the-streets-so-wanna-do-me kind of shiok. I just felt really good.

Strangely, I felt ready to go back working, having money coming in for myself. For the past few months. I've been complaining about how lazy I was to go back working. The haircut did wonders for me! Thank goodness Hairianto still kept in touch with the ultra fab stylist, Noreen.

On Monday, I spontaneously dropped by the cinema at Handy Road and asked for a job. I filled up the form, had a chat with the 'kak'['sister' in street-Malay(??); informal, but respectful manner of address], and bam! I'm reporting for work on the following Monday.

BAM! That's how it is! Easy, breezy! (Okay, this is my shout out to Ed. Alright Ed, this is where you do the Covergirl commercial lines, yeah?)

I brushed aside all my prejudices for cinema operations, didn't give two hoots about the some-say-meagre pay rates and with a burst of desperation, dived right back into working at a cinema.

I realised my prejudices for cinema ops stemmed from the previous company. I didn't have a problem with cinema operations. My real problems were with the company. So I was being really unfair to myself by refusing to go work for another cinema company.

I want to work-work and get paid and treated REASONABLY, not slack-work and get paid and treated MINIMALLY. Minimalism is the 'in' thing, but just not when we're talking about paychecks, yeah?

Extra Prata For The Dog

My mother returns home, with 2 packs of rice and an odd-one-out packet of prata.

So I was in the kitchen with my mother, and she tells me that the prata is extra, either my brother or I could have it. It was not as though I was going to talk to my brother, much less negotiate with him who gets the prata! (My mother tends to put us in situations where we kinda have to negotiate. But of course, I really can't care less. I've met assholes in my life, my brother being the biggest one.)

A while later, the asshole enters the kitchen, and my mother asks him if he wants the prata.

The asshole farted, “才不要！那个是给狗吃的！” (I don't want the prata, that's for the dog!)

Well, ‘狗’ or 'dog' refers to me in a more affectionate way. I told you he's an asshole...

As usual, I ignore his snide remarks. I've been conditioned to shut him out of my system.

My mother then left the kitchen to take a snooze. I settled down on the dining table with my dinner. In front of me on the table were my brother's portion of dinner and the extra prata.

Just as I was working into my dinner, the asshole came back to the kitchen, grabbed his dinner, AND THE PACKET OF PRATA.

Is that an effing asshole or an effing huge-ass asshole?!

The Things I Record In My Journal

As creative entities, we take much pride in keeping journals. I, personally, put my journal on a pedestal. A creative journal is highly personal. We do not like people snooping through our journals. We record our thoughts, our observations, or inspirations, etc.

There can be extremely creative content in a journal, yet there can be downright stupid stuff too! I personally like to record stupid stuff. Especially during note-taking in lectures. Lecturers say the funniest things some times.

The excerpts from my journal that I'm sharing now date back to early 2006, when I was in Nanyang Polytechnic. I really only stayed a year there, doing Digital Media Design. Bleargh! I hated it.

So there's this Web Design lecturer, let's call her Pam, who I found to be particularly annoying at first, then became more endearing later on in the semester.

For some reason, she nagged a lot. And she wasn't exactly auntie-material, you know. I didn't know where her stamina to nag and deliver pep talks came from. I did a quick sketch of her from the back of the lecture theatre and it turned out looking pretty accurate.

And she cannot enunciate properly for nuts! It was kinda excruciating to listen to her bad enunciation, so to make myself feel better, I had to put it down on paper. The 'librarieees', 'prop-ly's, 'ex-peck's and 'suspen-dird's.

“...80% to think, think and think. Don't just do, do, do...”

The thing about lecturers in polytechnics, they think they're all that. [As opposed to students in art schools(see: me) who think they're all that.] So back in my NYP days, there was a bit of an ego clash, weren't there? With the lecturer(s) and me thinking we're all that.

So Pam gave her two cents worth on how we can produce good, quality work, by saying we should think more than we do. Riiiiiiight. I cannot necessarily agree with that.

OH MY EFFING GAWD! For the finale, the strangest, queerest, most eyebrow-raising 'advice' Pam ever gave:

“Do not be a chicken; neither be a cock,”

OMG, that is so classic, don't you think?

Deep Fried Hotdog Rolls, Marlboro Reds and Ginger

I spent the most of today in bed. Sleeping, lazing around, but on Facebook most of the time. I think I'm one of the many many people who live their lives on Facebook.

Anyways, in the afternoon, I was rummaging the fridge for food. I've to say, something smells funky in there. I found half a pack of sausages(5 pieces) at best and settled for it.

Hit by a brain wave, I flattened slices of bread with a rolling pin, rolled a hotdog in each slice, 'glued' the roll together with egg white and dunked the rolls into a pan of hot oil.

It was bad. But I was hungry and lazy.

So I had my snack in bed, watched a couple of episodes of How I Met Your Mother and took a nap.

The next thing I knew, I was feeling damned hot, yet freezingly cold at the same time. I fucking incubated a fever!

I only have myself to blame, really. On top of the 5 oily hotdog rolls, I was smoking reds. Seriously, I should just stick to menthol cigarettes.

Since I incubated the fever, I had all the rights to kill it, don't I? Not to sound like a braggart, but I make one helluva fever-killer. Popped a couple of Panadol Extra, downed water, smothered my forehead with aloe vera gel, warmed up my freezing toes and snuggled under the blanket for 30 minutes and I felt so much better.

Just as I felt ready to step out of bed, my mother returns home with fish porridge. I suddenly got my appetite back and had a mad craving for, well, ginger. I don't know where I've heard it from, but ginger is supposed to be one of the many traditional fever-reducing remedies, right?

So despite being slightly feverish and groggy, the first thing I did after getting out of bed was doing the dishes. I made an oily mess earlier in the afternoon with the hotdog rolls. After which, I managed to patiently and leisurely julienne a small piece of ginger.

I mixed the ginger strips into the fish porridge, ate it and poof! I'm fruity and up and about and good as new!

I Love House Music And I'm Sharing It

“Mercy” by Duffy. Just a really infectious track.

(Duffy's Welsh! The Welsh accent is incredibly sexy. Ever watched Little Britain, where Dafydd Thomas is the 'only gay in the village'?

)

Okay, back to the music video:

The next 2 songs are covers of older classics.

“Buffalo Stance” originally performed by Neneh Cherry back in, OMFG, the 80's. Look at the style of the video. It's cheesy, it's tacky, but the old school vintage vibe to it is very cool.

This is the Electric Allstars Club mix by DC Roc.

“If You Love Me” by Brownstone in 1994. The old school R&B still sounds the best. Before I got hooked on house music, I was an R&B kinda person. And I have no idea why people think that exclusively R&B-listening people will NOT enjoy house music.

I've a friend who 'only listens to R&B'. When I let him sample like 10 seconds of funky house, he claims the beat gives him a headache.

I specifically love funky house music, so I suppose if you like strong rhythm and beat, then R&B and house will both sound great.

And O M F G, house music is NOT AH-BENG TYPE OF MUSIC. (That's techno, okay! Hahaha!... Ok, ok, let's not stereotype people based on their music preference.)

“If You Love Me” the Thomas Gold remix, now by Buzz Junkies (Buzz Junkies on Facebook here.) featuring Elesha.

Alright, frankly, this song makes me cry. I hear it in the club, and it's awesome 'cause it gets me high and all, but IT JUST MAKES ME CRY!

Jump Shots

I spent the night yesterday chilling in Little India and Lasalle College.

I met Jana and Nadia to help them with their textile studies, doing what I do best, screenprinting and all. (The screenprinting bit on Wordpress, please.)

It was past midnight.

We were done printing.

I was bored.

The studio was huge.

Hence, I cam-whored.

But I've to say I cam-whore with zeal and enthusiasm, okay!

And the best shot, in my opinion, is:

I realised that if you long enough at the pictures, I actually look really stupid. I mean, I'm sure you already think I'm pretty insane 1)taking jump shots; 2)in the middle of the night; 3)in the school studio. But when you see the photos, I just look REALLY insane.

But what can I say, I'm a zany person. And I wasn't even acting under the influence of alcohol. I suppose screenprinting gets me high..

Wet Market

Remember how I was griping about rubbing shoulders with fishy-smelling aunties at the wet market?

Well, I finally shopped for groceries at the wet market! Well, strictly speaking, I cheated because I only went shopping around noon. You know how aunties NEVER go wet-marketing after 8 or 9AM, right?! So at noon, there was basically no one else to rub shoulders with me. Haha!

But at least I made an effort to show up at the wet market to get groceries, right?

It was a lazy morning, as usual, and I was exceptionally hungry and horny.

You know, I'm really the kind of people that can substitute sex with food. I know I have to stop harping on the fact because it is neither glamourous nor polite. But what the heck.

So I decided to whip up a storm in my kitchen. I NEED FOOD.

I looked at the rice cooker, sitting idly for some time now, and thought to myself, “OMG, I'll cook the perfect rice today,” Which of course, I didn't. It was almost perfect, just a tad too soggy when I fried it later.

Hmm, I'm sorry if were waiting for the moral of the story, 'cause there isn't any.

Happy 20th, Hairianto!

All right, Hairianto's birthday was last Friday, so to wish him here seems a bit belated, but what the heck.

Spying Couples, Partying and Mustafa Centre

I was at the kitchen window late one night, when I caught sight of a couple lovey-dovey-ing on the bench downstairs. I don't have fabulous eyesight, so I saw 2 guys instead. 

Hence, I spied a wee bit more and took a grainy('cause I zoomed in to the max on my lousy compact camera) picture. Nah, it wasn't 2 guys. The girl's just a bit full.

Anyways, back to late-night activities, went partying last Saturday. It was a boring night for me. I guess I was slightly perturbed subconsciously. Plus I didn't quite 'feel' the need to party. So I just had a so-so time.

HOWEVER, I did bump into unexpected people, namely, secondary schoolmates Jack and some others. I swear, it was fucking unexpected. I think I freaked out for a bit. Haha!... (But Jack, if you reading this, then it was nice to see you on Saturday night! And Eelen and Kenneth and whoever I missed out, too! Hahaha!...)

It was a full-fledged lazy day for me, too, so it was difficult to let loose and get high. Well, Taufiq got high, that's for sure. Remember Taufiq my online friend that I finally just met? (Rewind a couple of posts to read about it.)

I bumped into him at the club too. Apparently, he was damned high and crazy at that point in time. I think in low light conditions and perhaps under the influence of alcohol, people behave differently. No inhibitions and all... Haha!..

Later into the night, Ghani saved me with his call. 1 hour later, we were at Mustafa Centre!

O M G! Mustafa Centre is heaven, okay! I've really only been there once, when I NEEDED to get myself a discman. (Yes, I'm using a discman. Or portable CD player, if you'd like to call it. Old skool and vintage, right...) And it was at night. This time, it was MIDDLE of the night, since they're open 24/7.

To quote Ghani, “They have all sorts of junk here,” Which is pretty true. But junk is treasure to me, so Mustafa centre is more like a treasure trove to me.

Ghani and I were checking out cowboy hats and trench coats(they really DO have everything) when Jana called me for directional help. Apparently, she got herself stranded in Pasir Ris. But all was fine.

Little India is a nice place. I'm not racist, so I enjoy the place. Plus the best thosai is in Little India. I'm very glad it's near campus. I mean, even in my art school 'uniform', I'd still charge right into Little India and eat thosai with my hands, okay!

Mas Selamat At Large A Joke?

The newspapers have been saying that we're not taking the Mas Selamat escape seriously, making jokes out of it.

So I thought, would it be funny if I made a Mas Selamat mask, wore it out, and went shopping at, say, Topman?

Friends I Finally Meet

Yesterday was an exceptionally good day. I finally met 2 of my online friends.

First things first, meeting people on the Internet is not sleazy, desperate nor unfathomable. It only gets sleazy when people abuse it.

I bumped briefly into Samuel in town. He's a fellow-blogger-turned-friend., who later tracked me down on a social site. You dare tell me that's sleazy and desperate?!

Apparently, he spotted me from afar, and was staring at me. As for me, I really don't notice people until they're right up in my face. I'm normally in my own world. (Note: In my own world; not lost in my own world. I NEVER feel lost in my own world.)

So by the time I noticed Samuel staring at me, I only had time for a double take. After we crossed paths several metres, he waved at me. I returned a smile, feeling puzzled. I didn't know for sure if it was him, but somehow, I just 'felt' that it was him.

You see, I really have seen only ONE ambiguous display pic of his, so I can't really be too sure.

No time to stop for a chat, but I was glad 'cause it was serendipitous.

Later into the day, I met Taufiq, who I met solely on a social site. See? This is making good use of social sites. They are there for a reason and they actually WORK.

We were texting each other the day before and I only 'replied' yesterday. I don't think it's fair to count a 24-hour late reply as a 'reply' eh? Haha!

It turned out that he was at Bugis, so we arranged an impromptu meet-up. It was great to finally meet him as well.

Virtual friends 'morphing' into real-life beings; 'tis a strange feeling...

Mug Shot

The mug shot is addictive! The more I look at it, the more I like it! Maybe I'll turn it into a screenprint, I dunno... I look like Mas Selamat's accomplice... Hahaha!~

Redirection

Okay, new posts up on TheNuFlow@Wordpress instead.

I realised that it's wayyy too cluttered on Blogger. I got too much shit. 

So I'm diverting all creative endeavours to Wordpress instead. 

I got into a manic bout of screenprinting again, which is very much of a good thing, if you asked me. I was so afraid that I might somehow lose my basal flair for arty-farty-craft-y stuff.

It sometimes get disturbing when I see and feel myself more like an artist than a designer. A designer still get bound by constraints and regulations. And I can not, for nuts, function with restraints. I like to do what I like, when I like, how I like.

It's one of those traits that could either make or break you. I just think about making it rather than breaking it. It is better to be optimistic.

I Miss Figure Drawing

Simplification: A Little Says A Lot

I was in queue to get fried oyster. It's one of those incredibly popular stalls at the hawker centre, so there was a high influx of customers. They came in, well, all shapes, colours [(!!) I mean the clothes eh...] and sizes.

So to keep sane and keep track of the takeout orders, the hawkers developed their own system of symbols to match customers with their respective orders. With a humble ball-point pen, they do a quick visual scan of the customer and scribble on the takeout styrofoam box:

Aww, isn't that bloody cute?! The angel-in-trouble smiley face is so accidental that it makes me happy. It's accidental things like that that truly constitutes 'happy' design. 

So I dissect the ball-point scribble:

Incredible, incredible, incredible! And very clever too! Gender wise, I feel strongly that it's 'M vs. W' rather than 'M vs F'. Man vs. Woman; not Male vs. Female.

The letter 'F' is a hindrance to scribble. 'W' makes for much easier scribbling. Plus, 'W' makes the smiley face smile, don't you think?!

Let's Whoop And Cheer And Make Noise

My 24-year-old ass-for-a-bro, I repeat, TWENTY-FUCKING-FOUR-FUCKING-YEAR-OLD brother(why we're blood-related is beneath me) needs to grow up, pronto.

First of all, he fucking bastard me for smoking. It was one fine Sunday morning when I let my guard down and he happened to be there at the right time to catch me smoking.

He stared at me in the eye. May I remind you, I don't talk to him, I don't look at him, I don't bother about him. Basically, I just cannot give two hoots about him. Talk about brotherly love! LOL.

So first he stared, then he started grinning slyly. And then, O M F G, the asshole started whooping and clapping! He immediately proceeded to call my mother on the phone.

I have to say, there's nothing like news for busting someone to bring two cold war parties together! My brother and mother were kinda in the middle of their usual cold war, and suddenly they're talking?!

For a fact, I know my brother smokes too. I've personally witnessed him smoking in public and what do I do? Do I go squealing to my mommy? No, I don't. Do I clap my hands in glee and whoop like a monkey? No, I don't.

Today, the asshole mopped the floor. I was in the room sleeping, recuperating from last night's partying. All I have to say is, thank goodness I was done resting when he mopped the room floor, because he made such a din! Yeah, I know, right? Since when is mopping the floor a noisy affair?

There is a drawer bed underneath me, and the mattress on the drawer makes funny noises. There's something cranky with the spring coils, so when you move on the mattress, the coils make squeaky, snappy sounds.

The fucking asshole enjoyed mopping under the bed the most 'cause that's where he gets to make most noise. He pulled out the drawer bed, sat cross-legged on it, and being the circus monkey that he is, starts humping the mattress(!!), in effort to make as much noise as possible.

He plunged the mop under the bed, deliberately knocking the handle of the mop against the bed frame. So he went, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock...

And when he was done, he haphazardly pushes the drawer bed in, bumping it hard on the bed frame many times. That of course, sent shock waves to me, who was unfortunately sleeping on the bed.

And the whole time, the ghastly fluorescent light was on! The one thing I can't stand most is when I have light in my eyes when I sleep.

After all his circus monkey tricks, I woke up and went to the kitchen for some dinner. I felt incredibly bored. It wasn't a good circus show at all.

That monkey needs a great deal of growing up. And I think I've said that 2 years ago too.

Sia Furler

“The Girl You Lost To Cocaine” by Sia Furler. I first listened to the Stonebridge vocal remix though. Love it, love it, love it.

And whether you like it or not, I'm fucking ecstatic because Sia's gay! Haha! I have an inborn penchant for lesbian vocalists! Tell me I'm deluded, but I strongly think lesbians make great musicians! 

Sia came out as lesbian on AfterEllen.com; article here.

P.S. Did you see her goofy moves while grooving to the music? Adorable!

P.P.S Sigh, Season 5 of The L Word wraps up with it's finale. Plenty of questions left unanswered. There's like 8 more months before the 6th and final season starts. I don't know what else to watch online anymore. Suggestions?

The Righteous Will Inherit The Land And Dwell In It Forever

It's a lazy Saturday morning, I'm surfing some brainless, vapid stuff on the Net while blasting off music and there's a knock at the door.

They always say, do not open doors to strangers. But what they say precisely not to do, I do it. 

At first I was greeted by nothingness. I thought it might be some neighbourhood pranksters playing the fool, but then a middle-aged couple appeared. (They later introduced themselves as Mr. Aw and Mdm. Tan.)

So they started with small, casual talk, making me comfortable. Then the asked the most random question: “Have you thought about your life, your future?”

WTF?! It's a late and lazy morning and my brain's not recharged. And yet, they shot me with the most profound question. For a moment, I stood there dumbfounded, hemming and hawing away. 

Not long after, I found myself telling them about my definitive career path in the creative industry. I think they got taken aback because that wasn't the answer they were looking for. Because as 'volunteers' from wherever they're from, they're more looking for answers along the line of: “I haven't thought about my life or future! I just study and work and make money and retire. My life is mundane and routine,”

All right, they heard about my life's calling and they were glad and supportive. Then somehow or other, Mr. Aw started talking about global warming and terrorism. He started talking about how volatile the world is, how Beijing and Japan would sink into the oceans due to global warming, how terrorism is an imminent threat and WHAT I WAS GOING TO DO ABOUT IT.

He stressed that these were matters of grave concern and that I should give my future a thought while factoring in the aforementioned matters.

The whole time, I was dying to ask for which organisation they were representing, because to have people knocking on doors on a lazy morning asking spiritual questions is slightly out of line. My doubts were more or less cleared up when Mr. Aw whipped out the Bible.

Referring to Psalm 37, which is a poem with many stanzas, Mr Aw. showed me a few stanzas and how they correlate to the things he had said.

11th stanza: But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace

38th stanza: But all sinners will be destroyed;...

“Sinners including terrorists, murderers and criminals...” Mr. Aw explained.

29th stanza: The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever

Okay, Mr. Aw reads this stanza and stops short at 'it', which I suppose was cue for me to complete the sentence for him by saying 'forever.' But I think I gave him the what?!-can't-you-read-no-more look! Haha!...

Okay, so the stress point was on FOREVER. The act of living forever. Growing old, but staying youthful, living FOREVER.

He asked me what I thought of eternal life. I said that I didn't really have much solid opinion on that.

So he asked if I'd like eternal life. Stump me once; stump me twice...

He asked if it was possible to live forever. Stump me twice; stump me thrice...

Sheesh, I suppose it was excruciating for me, hence it became excruciating for them as well. I might deduce that they were looking for answers like, “Yes, I'd love to live forever, growing old, but staying youthful. Eternal life is like a dream!”

Because Mr. Aw and Mdm. Tan were quick to presume that eternal life comes across as an unachievable dream to me. But fact is, I've got no bloody opinion on that!

They left shortly after, stressing how I should give my life and future much serious thought.

“Thank you Mr. Kang, we'll talk to you again,”

All riiiiiiight...

There's Hope

Did some quiz thingy from Sheryl's blog; basically just writing people and song names in 11 numbered slots and they later correlate the numbers to make sense of what you filled in.

I'm not going into details, just summarising and going straight to the point.

Under numbers 10 and 11, I filled up the song titles 'Without You' and 'There's Hope' respectively. Turns out, the song title in number 10 reveals what's on my mind, and that in number 11 reflects on my view of life.

I'm Without You, but There's Hope to life.

ZOMG. They don't call it 'scarily' true for nothing, I guess.

Good, hopeful song from India Arie anyways. “There's Hope,”:

Do Not Spook Thyself Out

I got home tonight, all hot and sweaty from the weather. They say it's cooler at night, but I find myself perspiring even more at night! A short walk from say, Heeren Shops to Far East Plaza leaves me perspiring like a pig! I need to do something about my hyperactive sweat glands. My mother says that acupuncture can fix the excessive sweating.

Anyways, my bandana-turned-headband* was horrendously half-soaked with icky perspiration and I didn't have the conscience to leave it overnight for bacteria to fester, so I washed it briefly.

(*I got 3 new bandanas from Lips Enterprise; and you didn't hear it from me, but I paid S$8 for 3 of 'em. I don't really care what people say/perceive/notion-conceive, I'm into wearing bandanas. I think it's alleged evidence from a fashion crime scene, but hey, criminals CAN be GOOD people too, you know.

Because I don't have money for proper clothes, I've decided to just jazz up and accessorise. And the square piece of cloth happens to be ultra versatile, making it the ultimate accessory for me. Bandana, check. Neckerchief, check. Headband, check. Wristband, check. À la-Boy-Scout scarf, check.

Lastly, it's not WHAT you wear; it's HOW you wear it.)

So I wrung the cloth dry and seeing how it's night and no one airs their laundry out anymore, I took the liberty to flick the excess water from the cloth out the kitchen window.

Then I recalled someone saying that, superstitiously speaking, airing laundry out at night will attract some form of spirit. And I immediately regretted my actions. What I did was equivalent to airing laundry out, right?

As soon as I was consumed with regret, somewhere downstairs, a dog barks.

A. DOG. BARKS.

And we all know how dogs have the extra-perception towards all things paranormal, right? *shudders*

I stood still 2 metres from the kitchen window, looking out into the night, half-expecting something to rise from the dark.