Updates and reviews

I do realise it's been a long time since I've written long entries, but sometimes it takes either plenty of inspiration or lots of energy to work one out. I do miss writing long entries, yet because there is little time to blog immediately after a significant event, the feelings dwindle and the thoughts get interrupted, and it makes little sense to chronicle what's happened, because the lack of immediacy doesn't justify the entire works. *pause* Oh well.

Anyhow we shall attempt to work things backward, and put in more effort into noting what'd happened, because we so often forget the transient, fleeting moments that remind us that life isn't quite as bad as we thought it'd be. And well. It's also because I am afraid I'll forget. Because when things start tumbling in and busy-ness sets in, it's hard to sit down and think things through.

First things first, starting with the most obvious. I changed my blog background to what it'd used to be, despite the tremendous amount of time and effort spent creating the new layout(s), because I find that I'm still more comfortable with a layout that allows you to capture everything at a glance. And also because this is more 耐看, in a way, which encourages me to write more =) Entries enclosed in the tiny pink box just didn't make sense to me after a while. It felt too... restricted, almost sidelined by the layout and the accompanying pictures. And what really matters in the blog, I think, is still the words, so... *shrugs* There it is.

*pause* I'm sounding very solemn here. Weird. Must be because I haven't been writing in a while. Anyway.

Hey hey~! I see a letter for me... from the National Arts Council! Suscribed to the NAC ArtsFest Club on a whim a few weeks ago while browsing through their website, so here's my lovely membership card for "priority in selecting the best seats at specially discounted prices". The first time I got a programme booklet of the Singapore Arts Fest specially addressed to me, my mum had picked it up and went, in a somewhat amused manner, "Getting more artistic now, are we?" Of course, lah. I feel very refined and cultured receiving mail "specially brought to (me) by the bustling local and the international arts community". =P Seems like a pretty good deal though, getting discounts for upcoming Arts Fest performances and updates on the arts scene. Subscription date is over, regretfully, but you can always drop by the NAC website to check things out.

Have just finished watching Pride and Prejudice. Many thanks to Derek for lending me the DVD... And yes, I did enjoy the show a lot, despite the long conversations and the initial dragginess, because it has, quite unexpectedly, adapted the entire novel quite beautifully, capturing the nuances and the entire feel of a Jane Austen text, including her wickedly subtle humour and immense irony that is really extremely funny. Am never quite into period drama or British films, actually, because I tend to find them quite boring, and neither do I like novel adaptations because they're either too stiff or too sensationalised, but I guess this adaptation is quite the exception. I love the casting and the directing and the filming... The actors and actresses were amazing, they really did bring the characters in the novel to life, and kept up the entertainment while sticking relatively close to the text. It's well worth a watch if you've read and liked the book. Liked it better than Sense and Sensibility, which I caught back then in Lit class in JC, maybe because seeing Kate Winslet as Marianne after seeing her in Titanic felt kinda... weird. Hugh Grant, though, was looking exceptionally natural as his awkward, paisay self, as most of his roles go... which is perfectly hilarious and very much in character, I daresay. =P

Now that we're on the subject of movies, we might as well continue... I went to watch Monster-in-law with my mum and brother couple of days ago. It's quite a funny show, lovely light-hearted piece, yet... Hmm. I'm tempted to whine about lack of character development and not enough depth of feeling, but it wasn't so bad, lar, it's basically meant to be sweet and funny and quirky, a romantic comedy of sorts... But hmm. Am I being oversensitive, or are their scene transitions a little abrupt? Probably something to do with the censorship board... they had a couple rather obvious cuts in one or two places, which gave certain portions of the movie a disconnected kinda feeling... I guess the most apparent cut was one particular bit towards the end of one scene where the car drives off and the character exclaims "MOTHER FU-" and the show cuts abruptly to the next scene. In the middle of a word. Well yes, it's a swear word, but still... A bit odd, yes? And it's my ten-year-old brother who pointed it out to me. I was going "Huh?" and he explained, carefully, "You know, she was going to say mother... then, you know, the f-word" *rolls eyes* Defeats the purposes of censorship if a certain words are made more obvious by their absences. To little kids some more. Haha... the irony.

My mum enjoyed the show, though, and seeing that she's quite a film critic herself I'd say the movie was not bad on the whole. Probably I didn't enjoy it as much because I needed to bring my brother to the toilet halfway, which quite annoyed me, and also very much because the person sitting next to me was... er... a very appreciative audience. Amid very LOUD laughter at both funny and not-so-funny jokes and very enthusiastic squeals during several segments of the movie, I decided that she provided enough reaction for both herself and people within a two-seat radius, and didn't feel half as inclined to laugh any more -_- She reminded me of a certain newly-wed relative's husband, whom I met at a house-warming party... A big group of us were watching one of those delightfully hilarious 综艺节目 in the living room, and when the funny segments came up he would bellow in laughter and slap his knee and rock backwards against the sofa and smack his forehead and go "WAH LAO EH! HOHOHOHOHO..." I don't suppose there's any fault in laughing uproariously, especially in the company of people you're comfortable with, but... jeez. At that time and place, under the critical eye of older folks and the befuddlement of younger kids, and him being a new addition to this humongous family... I was feeling quite, quite awkward for him, even though he remained blissfully ignorant in his snorts and guffaws throughout the show. *shudder*

Entry is getting a bit long. Was gonna continue with an onslaught of KidsFest photos and narratives and various miscelleaneous updates but maybe we'll leave it to the next entry so it doesn't seem so overwhelming =) Till then, ciaos~