YES!

I sent an email to Christian yesterday afternoon, called John and XX to check with them. They sent mails earlier but didn't get any replies. So they were preparing for the worst, re-presenting today. So I woke up and anxiously checked my mail, to see that Christian sent me a reply saying he will talk to Dr. Yen about my thesis. So I'm through round one at last. Now the real work begins.

Theme

So I represented the idea to Christian on thursday and he seems receptive, asking me to find a "theme" for it. Then he scribbles down his email on the back of my proposal and asks me to mail him while he's going to be away.

Whilst I'm still thinking of themes and considering some, I feel good that this project seems to be getting somewhere. But, I was daunted by what he said, that manufacturing it would be a big problem, and of course I needed to make mine into reality.

So here's to themes.

Oh yes and I love 南拳妈妈。。。的夏天. Excellent stuff.

Sluggish

Feeling sluglike after waking from a ten hour sleep at twelve. Slept at 2 am after chatting to wen. So yesterday's crit session was over, and altho I got cut halfway by Christian, I got a really good vibe. It may have felt a little like I was getting slammed but I finally! get what he meant by focus and narrow down when they were giving me their critique.

So good vibes runnning all over for this project, or maybe more like a feeling of I need to achieve and I have an opportunity to do so. Given my past track record, I've spent each project learning the same leasson. Time. I spend too much of it doing other stuff and when I do design, I get a bit tired as I approach the final stretch. But! since this is my ricebowl, my only salvation, the only little piece of design dignity I have left in this institution, I have to succeed.

Rant

Pool squandered a one goal lead and just let defoe punish us, costing us two points and what would've been immense confidence. We controlled the game for much of the first half and slacked off in the second. Not unlike last season, strange considering the new man at the helm.

Decided that prof teh's suggestion for my thesis just doesn't cut it. Encouraged by friends to dump that idea and do what I want. So talked to dr. yen and christian, who seem to be more open to this idea. The word "potential" was mentioned. Good thing I've also got wen, who talked to me and I was just able to convince myself.

I love my new ear stud.

Moving Forward

Feeling kinda stressed since its year 4. Reviewed new thesis proposal with Prof. Teh. He accepted but asked me to get Christian as my supervisor. I'm going to school now to get that settled. Hopefully, my idea will pass through all channels from now till the end of time.

Also looking forward to the start of the new premiership season. Interesting times at Liverpool FC. Owen is on his way out, finally, and I'm none too bothered about it. I say good, use the money and buy an attacking midfielder. Gerrard will run the engine and we'll do fine without the misfiring midget, what with Baros having an excellent euro2004 and djibril cisse entering the fold.

Ever since I've cast my net with Pool, I've seemed to have done as well or as badly as them. This time round, I'm not going to be as bothered about whether they win or lose, but if I succeed or not. Screw football and other wastes of time. I've got one year to work my ass off, and hopefully, I can start today.

House of flying daggers

Just watched 十面埋伏 house of flying daggers, Zhang Yimou's latest piece of colour candy celluloid. It's a pretty spectacle, with some seriously beautiful shots. He always has a nice perspective, gorgeous sense for deep, rich colour. Sight aside, wenhui complained that it was rather awful and she said it was directed by zhang ermou. She preferred Hero.
I left the cinema feeling comparatively blank. Normally, I would've probably felt something or other, especially after going through "his portfolio" as wen put it. I cringed at the cheesy, modern-sounding speech delivered by Takeshi Kaneshiro and Andy Lau. They didn't look particularly convincing as martial arts heroes. Kaneshiro looked rather boyish and un-serious. Mr. Lau ah pek was in comparison, rather looking like he should have stayed in Infernal Affairs. OH, and he looks evil when he tries to smooch zhang ziyi.

Perhaps there is some kind of meaning in the film.
The main characters all go through changes in allegiance, which entwine with the drama of a love triangle, gloriously and literally shot toward the end, blinding snow and all. There are two factions in the movie, one is an underground organization from which the film gets its english title, whilst the other is the incumbent governing body. They both use spies and counter-spies to work against each other, and the main characters are but pawns on a chessboard. In the end, ziyi dies and the two guys are left with nothing. The song in the movie has some lines that hint at a bigger picture.

It's really a pity that Anita Mui had to go. I'd really have loved to have seen her in it and also what part her character would have played. I'm pretty sure it would have extended my interest in the film. I think she was quite possibly, a missing link/conclusion.

URGH!

Into year 4 of my industrial design course now... the last hurrah. Still searching for the right thesis topic. Since its gonna take a whole year to do, its gotta be substantial enough AND its also gotta be innovative enough...

Sigh, I always seem to be a late starter. Although this time round I started thinking about this since April/May. Thought I had some ideas before, during and after my China trip. Came back to find that my first 2 initial proposals weren't good enough. Came back with another great idea, with help from wenhui. Today, tutor asks me to double check with other tutors before committing to this project. So I gotta reconsider.

Back to the grind then.

Champagne Supernova

Boom!

Yay! Fireworks!

The family went out to Marina Bay today to watch the fireworks. We brought along a remote controlled airplane my dad bought from China. He was lucky. He shaved the tops of the trees on the maiden flight and basically kept it in the air best. After that, me and Sam just kept crashing it.

Moved onto kites, which we got from the store. Sam was basically getting his seriously high. Mine was getting in touch with mother earth. Just when I was getting it mildly airborne, somewhere over the treetop, this policeman comes over to get everyone to get the kites down, all because of the low flying helicopters.

I kinda regretted that I didn't bring my G3 and tripod out this time. Slipped my mind though my mom reminded me. So this shot is from my dad's old ixus.

Apparently, the show last year was better. Whatever. What I really look forward to is dinner afterwards. Which in this case was zhi cha at Tiong Bahru. Wonder what's on next year's menu.

Happy Birthday Sin39pore!

Singapore 39!

Today is National Day, August 9. Singapore turns 39. At least its supposed to be 39 years since independence from our former British colonial masters.

Every national day gets a logo designed for it. In this case its a l33t inspired piece, with 39 replacing GA. See above.
So maybe this new way of representing the word singapore shows how we're a tech savvy nation stepping into the future, we're hip and cool and with it!

Something hit my head. I think it was an idea! I blogged it naturally!

How to design... no, make national day logos 101

AKA 6 Steps to financial freedom for logo makers.

1.Find out how many years its been since independence
2.Find corresponding letters in SINGAPORE
3.Replace letters with numbers from step 1.
4.Add coloured stuff. (Every national anything has coloured stuff!)
5.Show stylesstic bigwig and make convincing proposal.
6.Voila!

eg. SINGA40RE! That's next year's one!
I took a copyright already.
But you can try it the year after.

August Song

Just back from a month long trip to China. Didn't really get to listen to any new music. But once I came back, Soulseek on! In China, perfectly legitimate (for real) compact discs cost around 10-30 RMB at most. Which is anything from S$2-7. Makes me wonder why I paid up to S$50 for those import cds... Of course, ever since the napster age dawned, I wondered why I even paid a single cent.

Right, right, right...
new music august. alphabetical order.

Guide
#. Artiste - Album - Source
Description - Rate

Comment

1. Arovane - Lilies - Boomkat

A duller Xela - 3.5/5
Ambient, clinky piano, hushed beats. A record that belongs to the city. Like a Westerner's view of what Japanese electronica could sound like.

2. Arto Lindsay - Salt - Life!

Electronica styled Antonio Carlos Jobim - 3.5/5
I like Arto. Like his voice, his semi-lazy style of singing, the laid back mood to his music. Not too much of a departure from his previous stuff, like Noon Chill or Invoke, just heavier beats, leaning towards hip-hop.

3. Badly Drawn Boy - One + One Is One - HMV

If Underworld went Indie - 3.5/5
I loved Hour Of Bewilderbeast and the About A Boy OST. Don't really love the two albums after. This one seems a bit more like a return to form. It sounds older, folkier, more Nick Drake. Like if some minstrel from the middle ages met with a keyboard and electric guitar maybe.

4. The Charlatans - Up At The Lake - HMV

Tim Burgess gone to see Franz Ferdinand - 3/5
They seem to have hung around the longest out of all the Britpop era bands. When a band has a best of comp, it signals their demise. See Blur, Pulp, Suede. The Charlies haven't. They're still around and still rockin' it. Not the most innovative record you'll find but decent I suppose.

5. DJ Krush - Jaku - Soulseek

If Akira Kurosawa had to use a soundtrack today - 3.5/5
Japanesely dark and brooding, and runs the gamut from using traditional Jap instruments to trip-hoppy beats, hip-hop and Jazz all over. A tense run through a bamboo forest like in Rashomon, dotted with moments of surreal calm.

6. Doves - Lost Sides - Q

Badly Drawn Boy please, more electronica, hold the folk - 3/5
This has been out for a while now. The review in Q wasn't too nice. In truth, it does sound like they just rehashed whatever they had from Lost Souls and bits of The Last Broadcast. But I saw this compilation disc in HMV and it had Darker, the third track in Sides. Which reminds me of the newer Sneaker Pimps.

7. Erlend Øye - DJ Kicks - Soulseek

21st century Electro Frappacino - 4/5
Mr. Øye mixes his own vocals and shows his varied taste for music, from Cornelius' Drop to The Rapture's I Need Your Love. The sound of today, mashed into an Ikea table. Imperfectly blended, but the jumpy cuts give it character.

7. Jay Chou - Qi Li Xiang - Poster in China

Skinny, mumbling Hip-Hop/R&B Chinese guy - 3/5
So into his 5th album, he sounds less fresh. But its still OK. Same mumbly hip-hop/R&B with lashings of rock here and there.

8. Kings Of Convenience - Riot On An Empty Street - Life!

Norwegian acoustic folk - 4/5
Lovely. Blissful strings that seem more like harps than a pair of guitars. Voices that blend into each other. Quaint boopy sounds that drift along fjords. As title suggests, a riot minus the violence.

9. Mel Torme - Smooth As Velvet - Soulseek

Gentleman sings Jazz - 4/5
I heard Mel sing Stardust on the Thai Airways flight back from China. Thought it was pretty brilliant. He sounds wonderful. Makes me wish I had his voice. Less flashy and sparkly than Frank Sinatra, Mel coos, crystal in the higher registers. This is smooth as velvet.

10. Phoenix - Alphabetical - Soulseek

Frenchie Electronica - 3/5
Somewhere between Air and Tahiti 80, with almost boy-bandish vocal tracks that nod toward Robbie Williams, like on (You Can't Blame It On) Anybody. It even goes "I thought I'd entertain you...". Perhaps the svengalis should take notice. But it does have funk/soul elements that make it sound unique in this day and age.

11. The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free - Soulseek

UK Hip-hop/Garage - 3/5
Original Pirate Material was quite the classic when it was released, that perfect UK hip-hop/garage record. Grand picks up where it left off. Good for a smirk listening to his narrative, perhaps straining for extended listens.

12. Various - Turn Left Turn Right OST - Turn Left Turn Right

Jimmy Liao in sound - 3/5
I don't really like Gigi Leung's voiceovers when she recites that poem. I cringed when she did it in the movie, I keel over now. But! The title track and also track 7, 她是784533... are gems.

13. Yellowcard - Ocean Avenue - HMV

New hot! punky American band - 2/5
HMV heralded this as some new hot band. Why I have scant idea. This is run of the mill punk-lite/rock. Sum 41 with another singer. Deleted.

Some guy likes my photo!

Blue Droplets

I posted this on stock exchange, www.sxc.hu some time ago. Today this guy e-mailed me telling me he was using it on his site, mm.bbspals.org. Not that I mind, in fact I find it quite the honor.

Took the photo sometime end May, 2004. Its really a shot of the rain, falling on the windscreen of the car. I macroed on the droplets and probably used a tungsten white balance on my trusty, bulky G3.

Clockwork Orange

Mmm. Just watched Clockwork Orange. Finally, after so bloody long. Looked high and low for it back when I was still a teenager. Got it in my hands last year. Put it on a shelf, never to be seen again. Went to China, got the DVD. Came back home, and finally I watch it.

Its a great film, touching on morality like. I love the framing, long shots and all. Love the sets, the language, the music, the rhythm... Its beautiful, weird, strange, absurd, silly, thought provoking... I don't see it as really being ultraviolent... *some Japanese movies are probably worse* I just saw the violence the way it was portrayed, matter of factly, not entirely grotesque, and with some measure of style.

Maybe I viddy something of myself in Alex, the protagonist. Maybe everyone has the same slanted, selfish mentality.

KPNV

OK, so the title for this blog comes from my name. If you removed the vowels and reversed the order of the remaining consonants, you get KPNV. Which is really just a fancy schmancy way of getting a dutch company vibe kinda name. *Think MVDRV*

You could say that all this crap stems from my mentality. How I prefer not to use my actual name and would rather hide behind some net moniker. But its probably because I need a name for stuff and its fast and easy, plus its corporate sounding. So maybe I sound like we.

I wonder how long this phenomenon will last, I suppose maybe a while... But, who cares.