p.s. warren, you're hot!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
pump it!
after oh-so-very long, i finally gathered my courage to go to the gym again! was welcomed with a pleasant themed class surprise. nice!
the thought-provoking dark knight
Excerpted from the GUARDIAN
A vapid hero, surrounded by ciphers. A one-note villain. A ludicrously elaborate plot, taking what seems like a (wasted) lifetime to unfold. Those who consider The Dark Knight the best film ever made, in spite of these attributes, are entitled to their view. But not, surely, to the claim that this woefully disappointing hodge-podge says something useful about the central predicament of our age.
That it purports to do so is wearisomely inescapable. The film's very poster manages to tip us the wink, proffering an image that seems to have more to do with 911 than with any scene actually occurring in the movie. Not, though, that The Dark Knight is otherwise short of heavy-handed references to the war on terror.
Gotham is challenged by an "agent of chaos" who has superseded the ordinary decent criminals who previously plagued it. He wears a suicide-bomber's explosives-packed coat and shows videos of hostage executions he has conducted. Special measures are required to deal with him, and those who apply them become morally conflicted.
The city's protectors, even the most virtuous of them, are corrupted by the thirst for revenge. They torture, terrorise children and engage in extraordinary rendition. They resort to blanket electronic surveillance of the city's population, and end up at each other's throats.
All of this is welcomed by the enemy, who encourages his interrogators to abuse him and reveals that his key objective has been to destroy the moral authority of the city's public guardian, since this will guarantee more chaos than his own actions ever could.
Such stuff may indeed seem to have the makings of a fable for our times. Unfortunately, the potential elements of any such message are lost in a welter of Hollywood cliches that may or may not be relevant. Thus, the Joker's nihilism turns out to have less to do with Bin Laden's boringly purposeful agenda than with the gothic playfulness of the traditional movie mega-villain.
Hang on, you may say. We're talking allegory here, not docu-drama. No need to get too literal about all this. Yet, the confusion matters. It provides a smokescreen behind which the task of weaving all of those casual allusions into some kind of coherent whole can be persistently ducked.
Is total surveillance a smart way to catch terrorists, or a crime against human dignity? When a ferry-load of good guys decline to save themselves by blowing up a ferry-load of bad guys, is this to be seen as virtue or squeamishness? Extraordinary rendition seems to deliver the goods. Does that make it okay or not?
The film certainly recognises a conflict between the vigilante fighting evil unfettered and the lawman with his hands tied by the rulebook. Though the lawman seems to have been accorded higher moral status, he is the one who turns bad. Batman protects the city from learning of its official champion's misdeeds by claiming them as his own. An act of virtuous self-sacrifice, perhaps, to atone for his own past lawlessness. But he is basing the city's salvation on a lie.
All of which would doubtless be explained away easily enough by the scholars of Bat-philosophy. The ambiguity of it all is the point, see. We live in times when the distinction between good and evil has evaporated. Our fates depend on the flip of a coin, like those of the lawman's victims, not on what is right. Cool, man!
Whatever. Certainly, Hollywood's other superheroes also seem to be losing their moorings. Yet if they can offer us no succour, then their time has passed.
The Dark Knight's ethical indigestion will be the death of him. For, without morality, there can be no saviours. Once you've arrived in Mad Max land, you don't need another hero.
A vapid hero, surrounded by ciphers. A one-note villain. A ludicrously elaborate plot, taking what seems like a (wasted) lifetime to unfold. Those who consider The Dark Knight the best film ever made, in spite of these attributes, are entitled to their view. But not, surely, to the claim that this woefully disappointing hodge-podge says something useful about the central predicament of our age.
That it purports to do so is wearisomely inescapable. The film's very poster manages to tip us the wink, proffering an image that seems to have more to do with 911 than with any scene actually occurring in the movie. Not, though, that The Dark Knight is otherwise short of heavy-handed references to the war on terror.
Gotham is challenged by an "agent of chaos" who has superseded the ordinary decent criminals who previously plagued it. He wears a suicide-bomber's explosives-packed coat and shows videos of hostage executions he has conducted. Special measures are required to deal with him, and those who apply them become morally conflicted.
The city's protectors, even the most virtuous of them, are corrupted by the thirst for revenge. They torture, terrorise children and engage in extraordinary rendition. They resort to blanket electronic surveillance of the city's population, and end up at each other's throats.
All of this is welcomed by the enemy, who encourages his interrogators to abuse him and reveals that his key objective has been to destroy the moral authority of the city's public guardian, since this will guarantee more chaos than his own actions ever could.
Such stuff may indeed seem to have the makings of a fable for our times. Unfortunately, the potential elements of any such message are lost in a welter of Hollywood cliches that may or may not be relevant. Thus, the Joker's nihilism turns out to have less to do with Bin Laden's boringly purposeful agenda than with the gothic playfulness of the traditional movie mega-villain.
Hang on, you may say. We're talking allegory here, not docu-drama. No need to get too literal about all this. Yet, the confusion matters. It provides a smokescreen behind which the task of weaving all of those casual allusions into some kind of coherent whole can be persistently ducked.
Is total surveillance a smart way to catch terrorists, or a crime against human dignity? When a ferry-load of good guys decline to save themselves by blowing up a ferry-load of bad guys, is this to be seen as virtue or squeamishness? Extraordinary rendition seems to deliver the goods. Does that make it okay or not?
The film certainly recognises a conflict between the vigilante fighting evil unfettered and the lawman with his hands tied by the rulebook. Though the lawman seems to have been accorded higher moral status, he is the one who turns bad. Batman protects the city from learning of its official champion's misdeeds by claiming them as his own. An act of virtuous self-sacrifice, perhaps, to atone for his own past lawlessness. But he is basing the city's salvation on a lie.
All of which would doubtless be explained away easily enough by the scholars of Bat-philosophy. The ambiguity of it all is the point, see. We live in times when the distinction between good and evil has evaporated. Our fates depend on the flip of a coin, like those of the lawman's victims, not on what is right. Cool, man!
Whatever. Certainly, Hollywood's other superheroes also seem to be losing their moorings. Yet if they can offer us no succour, then their time has passed.
The Dark Knight's ethical indigestion will be the death of him. For, without morality, there can be no saviours. Once you've arrived in Mad Max land, you don't need another hero.
shut yOur trap!
i am so intrigued by this plant that i have to post it up. somehow it juz reminds me of some of the 'traps' lurking around in the office. and most of the time, they happen to be a specific species/breed with similar characteristics. e.g. more free time than others who have to juggle between work and family, perhaps, their families have lesser pple.disclaimer: any views or opinions presented in this email which are of a personal nature are solely those of mine, and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
since when?
since when the HK dollar is called the "Special Administrative Region Dollar"? the Special Administrative Region simply sounds like some exclusive area in Resident Evil, somewhat like the Umbrella Corporation? hehheh.
Monday, July 28, 2008
obviously dissatisfied...
from the not-so-filling BBQ, glad and weiwei decided to move on to 2nd round!
MOF!
BBQ matters
games exist in many forms, and when they fall into the hands of erm, creative gamemasters, we'd better watch out...
fundamentally, games have the purpose of allowing pple to know more of the other party, be it in a group...
or in a one-to-one setting.
they can be messy at times. players after all can be over enthusiastic and run amok.
while we try our best to have order in games by requiring the players to sit down and listen to instructions.
when playing games, esp those that involve taking off of one side of your shoe...always know wat shoe to wear, or rather, wat not to wear..
and we'll leave u with some nice clips of our exciting game.all sorts of games can be played, but know that there's no free lunch in the world. some come with a price to pay.
(stay tuned for the video. heh.)
when the pple (and food) have settled down, its time for some sit down and think games.
always noe that there will be faithful (and camera ready) pple working hard at the bbq pit.
all sorts of food can be cooked. but not all can be eaten.
and finally, some decent photos...
Friday, July 25, 2008
sick
help help. i have been sick for a week.
issit due to:
(a) the aircon at work
(b) the junk i eat, or rather the normal stuffs i usually eat
(c) the crazy workload and the usually overdue timelines at work
(d) the amt of sleep i have, or rather the lack of it
(e) all of the above
help.
issit due to:
(a) the aircon at work
(b) the junk i eat, or rather the normal stuffs i usually eat
(c) the crazy workload and the usually overdue timelines at work
(d) the amt of sleep i have, or rather the lack of it
(e) all of the above
help.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
jay chOu!
for once, a pretty surprise to brighten up my otherwise blue monday!
i *heart* surely! hehheh~
i *heart* surely! hehheh~
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
competition exclusive pics!
~DF fans u guys rox!~
~crooner~
~the one behind ki siao (i.e. going mad) liao. keke~
stuffs that leave u shuddering in fear. and sometimes disgust.
... realising that you've juz made 10 mistakes at work...
... not knowing wat to say when asked a question which left u dumbfounded...
... trying hard to squeeze out some miraculous extra minutes from the 24 hours a day you have...
... wondering if you can ever keep to your 'save money (desperately) routine...
... getting to hear of a dispute between someone close to u and a ridiculous person...
... finding out who that ridiculous person actually is...
... being thrown to complete a task 5 minutes before it is needed...
... and being shove outta it by a 'i-am-more-experienced-and-so-i-am-taking-over" (but nonetheless LATE) person...
... falling sick...
**********
hadnt been exactly a good week for me i would say. many responses i could have, many paths i could take to react to such near-to-doom kinda situations.
well, in fact, i did take some emo paths. claimed to need some time to myself. but one look, even i can tell i juz chose to entertain my lazy, emo alter ego.
at the end of the day, i do have to thank certain people for allowing me to throw tantrums. =) and cheering me up with some silly card that requires me to pour coffee for 2 yakking erm, rabbits? (cant rem wat animal le)
... not knowing wat to say when asked a question which left u dumbfounded...
... trying hard to squeeze out some miraculous extra minutes from the 24 hours a day you have...
... wondering if you can ever keep to your 'save money (desperately) routine...
... getting to hear of a dispute between someone close to u and a ridiculous person...
... finding out who that ridiculous person actually is...
... being thrown to complete a task 5 minutes before it is needed...
... and being shove outta it by a 'i-am-more-experienced-and-so-i-am-taking-over" (but nonetheless LATE) person...
... falling sick...
**********
hadnt been exactly a good week for me i would say. many responses i could have, many paths i could take to react to such near-to-doom kinda situations.
well, in fact, i did take some emo paths. claimed to need some time to myself. but one look, even i can tell i juz chose to entertain my lazy, emo alter ego.
at the end of the day, i do have to thank certain people for allowing me to throw tantrums. =) and cheering me up with some silly card that requires me to pour coffee for 2 yakking erm, rabbits? (cant rem wat animal le)
ok morale of the story: there're definitely stuffs in life that leave u gasping for air and exclaiming "OMG, really?!", or "wat have i done to deserve this?". how u choose to respond to it is another game plan altogether. =)
Thursday, July 17, 2008
walau seribu rebah
MERCIES THAT RISE WITH THE NEW MORN
SET ME APART AS A NEW BORN
EACH MOMENT I LIVE
BY FAITH I BELIEVE
WITH YOU I'M NEVER ALONE
DARKNESS MAY COME, TRIALS SEEM SO LONG
YOU ARE THE LIGHT I DEPEND ON
THROUGH VALLEYS AND STORMS
YOUR WORD KEEPS ME STRONG
MY SHELTER, REFUGE AND SONG
I TRUST IN YOU
SET ME APART AS A NEW BORN
EACH MOMENT I LIVE
BY FAITH I BELIEVE
WITH YOU I'M NEVER ALONE
DARKNESS MAY COME, TRIALS SEEM SO LONG
YOU ARE THE LIGHT I DEPEND ON
THROUGH VALLEYS AND STORMS
YOUR WORD KEEPS ME STRONG
MY SHELTER, REFUGE AND SONG
I TRUST IN YOU
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
gladysappointment. =s
“We must all suffer one of two things:
the pain of discipline or the pain of regret or disappointment.”
~Jim Rohn~
the pain of discipline or the pain of regret or disappointment.”
~Jim Rohn~
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
he who shall not be named.
have u ever had someone who gets on your nerves, so much so that the very existence of him pisses u off?
for my own sake, have decided that such a person shall be named 'he who shall not be named', not that he's gonna read my blog anyway, but juz for safety's sake. the world is small u noe.
sometimes i juz marvel at how someone can have such low EQ.
he struts around like one with a century's worth of experience under his belt.
he doesnt listen (to most pple), although i have to say i am basing this on my own assumptions and experience. after all, this is my blog and i say wat i want.
he feels that the whole world is against him (which prolly is from the way he handles pple and things).
he smiles and apologises for errors made by him, but stabs you in the back once u smile and say 'it's ok, lets be frens again'.
btw, such a person is not fictitious. he (or she) exists in the very midst of us. *shudders*
for my own sake, have decided that such a person shall be named 'he who shall not be named', not that he's gonna read my blog anyway, but juz for safety's sake. the world is small u noe.
sometimes i juz marvel at how someone can have such low EQ.
he struts around like one with a century's worth of experience under his belt.
he doesnt listen (to most pple), although i have to say i am basing this on my own assumptions and experience. after all, this is my blog and i say wat i want.
he feels that the whole world is against him (which prolly is from the way he handles pple and things).
he smiles and apologises for errors made by him, but stabs you in the back once u smile and say 'it's ok, lets be frens again'.
btw, such a person is not fictitious. he (or she) exists in the very midst of us. *shudders*
Monday, July 14, 2008
randOm pics
~moonlight in the day~
~huge cab~
~huge cab~
~leonardo da vinci created the scissors?(click to magnify)~
Sunday, July 13, 2008
a bruised reed.
Isaiah said: "A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench;..."
.
.
.
In God I still trust.
.
.
.
In God I still trust.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
p.l.a.n
excerpt from a certain dictionary:
plan [plan] verb
to decide how something is to be done; to arrange (something)
Example: We are planning a party; We'll have to plan very carefully if we are to succeed.
Arabic: يُصَمِّم
Chinese (Simplified): 设计
Chinese (Traditional): 設計
Czech: projektovat
Danish: designe; tegne
Dutch: ontwerpen
Estonian: planeerima
Finnish: suunnitella
French: dresser les plans de
German: planen
Greek: σχεδιάζω
Hungarian: megtervez
Icelandic: hanna
Indonesian: merancang
Italian: progettare
Japanese: 設計する
Korean: …을 설계하다
Latvian: plānot; projektēt
Lithuanian: projektuoti
Norwegian: tegne
Polish: projektować
Portuguese (Brazil): projetar
Portuguese (Portugal): planear
Romanian: a proiecta
Russian: проектировать
Slovak: projektovať, navrhovať
Slovenian: napraviti načrt
Spanish: proyectar, diseñar, hacer los planos de
Swedish: rita
Turkish: plânlamak, plânını çizmek
i muz have been planning too much. i am beginning to detest it. arghs.
plan [plan] verb
to decide how something is to be done; to arrange (something)
Example: We are planning a party; We'll have to plan very carefully if we are to succeed.
Arabic: يُصَمِّم
Chinese (Simplified): 设计
Chinese (Traditional): 設計
Czech: projektovat
Danish: designe; tegne
Dutch: ontwerpen
Estonian: planeerima
Finnish: suunnitella
French: dresser les plans de
German: planen
Greek: σχεδιάζω
Hungarian: megtervez
Icelandic: hanna
Indonesian: merancang
Italian: progettare
Japanese: 設計する
Korean: …을 설계하다
Latvian: plānot; projektēt
Lithuanian: projektuoti
Norwegian: tegne
Polish: projektować
Portuguese (Brazil): projetar
Portuguese (Portugal): planear
Romanian: a proiecta
Russian: проектировать
Slovak: projektovať, navrhovať
Slovenian: napraviti načrt
Spanish: proyectar, diseñar, hacer los planos de
Swedish: rita
Turkish: plânlamak, plânını çizmek
i muz have been planning too much. i am beginning to detest it. arghs.
Monday, July 7, 2008
balloons neva fail to brighten up my day.=)
~CG at bbatok~
~PLAY ON @ bishan!~
~PLAY ON @ bishan!~
~Easter, or issit Family Day?~
~and lastly, in my very own office!~
happy bday to SK..... ROAR!
~the cake~
~the organisers (obviously bored)~
~the organisers (obviously bored)~
~the bday boy, and the cake holder (ready to do the sabo thing)~
~and the MEN (hahaha)~
Friday, July 4, 2008
on saving gaia...
sometime last week... email was circulated to get all of us to volunteer (note this word, it is very impt) to give up their waste bins so as to get us to save some environment by disposing of our waste into a centralised bin. i dunno how this is gonna work, perhaps centralised bin = less throwing of rubbish? after much deliberation, i figured out i cant live without my wastebin, so i aint volunteering. heh.
wednesday... BYO_W, aka bring your own ____ wednesdays.. paper bags, carriers, plastic bags, wateva.. so i ended up buying a box of green tea from sheng siong and lugging it back to the office without the plastic bag.. how unglam.
wednesday again... forgetful me was so pleased with myself that i could finally make it back home immediately after work.. decided to walk into NTUC to get some vegs. lo and behold, it's BYO_W at NTUC too! unwilling to be unglam again (especially so at tampines mall), returned the veg sheepishly to the shelf and left. =(
thursday... piece of sad news (ref to "sometime last week") now everyone in the office is to volunteer to give up their waste bin and contribute their rubbish to the general bin! COMPULSORY! oh my. as if i will stop blowing my nose and making wanton in the mornings now that my bin is confiscated. -.-
the same thursday... having had bad encounters trying to save gaia, i made my way to the gym. finally a comfort zone where i reckoned i will not have any more 'saving gaia' saga. collected my towel and all i had in mind is that i cant wait to meet D again *yay*, when the aunty at the towel counter happily announced to me that they too are going to have a 'bring your own plastic bags' day too..
zzz.
[crying out] someone save me!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
recess time between live show and results...
~eh i juz realised something! air-deline is wearing A for AIRdeline!!! cool!~
~erm, weiwei is acting cute with this huge roll of paper. ~
~erm, weiwei is acting cute with this huge roll of paper. ~
~finally a decent picture.~
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
i helped build a classroom!
called the project angel 10 (or something lidat), we helped build a classroom!
ok at least contributed to some bricks.. and so, my beautiful name is written on the wall of the classroom.. heheh..
ok at least contributed to some bricks.. and so, my beautiful name is written on the wall of the classroom.. heheh..
cOmplete randOmness
glad is feeling the after-effects of watching superband 'live'. it seemed like she had juz came back from a nite's out at zouk. she is feeling sad that 翼旋风 didnt make it, her eardrums are bursting, and her body is crying out for the bed.
den again, dreamfactory has gone on to the next round! more superband to come! anyone game for FIR next week?
den again, dreamfactory has gone on to the next round! more superband to come! anyone game for FIR next week?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)